Day Trip to Bukit Apek, Cheras

Another trip to get out of town away from the concrete jungle and into the real thing.

Bukit Apek is a small but steep hill in Forrest Reserve land on the outskirts of Cheras.
It's only about 15km from KL City Centre but is a whole world away in terms of the environment.
But you have to really* want* to go there as it's quite difficult to find.
Head out of KL towards Cheras on the Grand Saga Expressway and look for the signs for Taman Cuepecs/Taman Awana.It can take a while driving around as some of the roads are so new that they are not yet on the map.
If you can find the big Econsave building and a Shell Petrol Station you're on the right track....now try and find Jalan Awana 23.
The trail itself starts at the end of the residential housing and is marked by a water treatment pond.
There is a lot of new development going on here and the hill is being slowly eaten away to be replaced by suburban housing and the noise from the construction can be heard for the first hour or so of hiking.
The start of the trail is very steep and came as a bit of a shock as I was soon panting and out of breath however after a while it evens out a bit and there are even a few downhill stretches.
But I was still panting and out-of-breath.
It's a steep and strenuous hike-and slippery in places.
Bukit Apek is also known as "Old Man's Hill" and yes,there were lots of older people out for a vigorous walk (some just barefoot) and they all seem a hell of a lot fitter than me....
I believe there is a local volunteers group who have taken on the task of looking after the trail-and they've done a good job.

The paths are clearly marked,there are a few litter bins in strategic places and they have strung-up some ropes to help you navigate the extra steep and slippery bits.
The trail begins by passing through an untidy rubber-tree plantation and the smell of the dripping latex somehow reminded me of primary school art class.
It then descends to a small stream/play area before climbing again towards a Chinese Shrine/Alter that comes complete with psychotic monkeys.
Then it just gets steeper and steeper.
It's hard work.
The trail is divided into 6 stages.
Overhead you're covered by tree branches and leaves so there is little direct sunlight.
Between stage 4 and 5 the path divides with one trail heading towards the summit whilst another heads to a waterfall.
As we were a little bored with the scenery we chose to go the the waterfall.
It begins with a nice level path passing through what looks like an old abandoned oil-palm plantation and then rapidly becomes a very,very steep and rutted trial where you will thank the guys who put the ropes here as without them you would be well and truly struggling.
If you need to hold onto the tree branches for support-take care as some are thorny palm stems that would ruin your day.... and your hands!
There are some truly magnificent tall trees here.
The waterfall itself is OK,a cascade of about 30 feet in total and the water is clear and cold but....no surprises...the amount of litter strewn around the place is truly disgusting...and this is despite the litter bins and signs reminding you not to litter.
I bet the volunteers are tearing their hair out trying to keep this place clean and tidy.
People have erected a tarpaulin cover and placed a few chairs and stuff and it looks like an abandoned refugee camp.
It was quite disappointing.
Needless to say the hike back was truly taxing and draining,going downhill is harder on the legs than going uphill but it was with relief that we got back to the car.

It's a very popular trail and all the fellow walkers we met were very friendly.
Great for a work-out and for some fresh air but not so great for scenery.
All-in-all it took us about 5 hours to get there and back.
You'll need about 2 litres of water-and maybe a hiking stick
And  you wont get any near-death experiences like you will on Bukit Tabur....which you can read here

A Bridge to Nowhere.....

I came across this the other day and thought it so bizarre that I had to write about it.
The road junction of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Raja Chulan,at Wisma Cosway is one of the busiest in town.

About 9 months ago it was decided to slightly alter the one-way system with the result that one of the traffic islands was made redundant.
So,there was this big triangle of land that no one knew what to do with.
"I know!" said some guy in the local council..."Let's build a bridge!"
I can imagine other people looking at him thinking WTF?....and then a bit later on saying "What a brilliant idea...you've earned your promotion!"
"But there is absolutely no need for it" a lone voice of dissent is heard to cry.
"Why don't we concentrate on fixing the uneven pavements around town or even try to unblock the drains"
"You're fired for lack of imagination" says his boss...."Besides,we need to give that grumpy old blogger something to complain about!"

The Red Victorian Bar/Bistro

Situated just around the corner from Havana on Changkat Butik Bintang,opposite the Chinese Temple,The Red Victorian has been open for a couple of weeks now.
It's a Bar/Bistro with a rustic/simple feel to it.
It's always good to see new places opening-and even if I don't like them,I always wish them well.
The Red Victorian (yes,it is painted red) is going to need to do something a bit special in order to attract a good crowd and I'm not really sure what that will be.
The only draft beer they sell is that disgusting Starker/Jaz. I don't think I need tell you how bad that is.
Bottled Beers are available at around RM15.
The food menu is nothing to shout about and is a bit "so what"..It's also fairly limited in choice.
There is the compulsory Pasta section that every restaurant in KL seems to offer and then one beef dish.a chicken and a fish etc etc...
It's like they're offering something of everything but don't really have an identity or uniqueness.
I think they're trying to recreate a relaxed,casual atmosphere.The furniture is functional but the outside seats are those horrid Starbucks style steel chairs that cut-off blood circulation to your legs.
And because there is so much competition on the street they will have to do something a bit special to get bums-on-seats.
At the moment it looks like only the owners friends go there...maybe that will change over time.
As I said,I wish them well but I don't see a reason to spend any money here yet.

UPDATE 20/3/11
The Red Victorian is now under new management.
The people at Gypsy Bar have now assumed the managerial role at the Red Victorian.
Gone is that disgusting Starker Beer to be replaced with a mug of Tiger at RM 10 net-probably the best value for money around Chankgat Bukit Bintang at the moment.
There have been changes to the menu, it's still fairly limited but has a few interesting items (Spanish Sausage and stuff like that).
When I dropped-by it was still fairly quite but seemed to be picking-up a little.
Knowing how successful Gypsy Bar has become,compared to what was there before (Hemingways) then maybe in a few months Red Victorian will be full!
Anyway, Good Luck to them!

Xmas Lights at Pavilion Shopping Mall (part II)

I had to go back to Pavilion at night to see what the Xmas lights looked like....not as impressive or tacky as I thought they would be....But...
What has happened to Bukit Bintang?
I've always thought it was a bit tacky at night with all the foot-massage places,pimps and taxi-drivers touting for business as I've mentioned before but take a walk between Pavilion and Lot 10 on the side of the street with all the Middle Eastern restaurants and you'd be amazed at how grubby,tasteless and depressing it has become...there's a row of of Middle Eastern beggars with their children and a few touts selling fake and/or stolen watches.handphones and toys...it's like a mini-thieves market.
Now,as all this happens on Kuala Lumpur's main shopping street right next to the Millennium Hotel I can only assume that the authorities are aware of it and let it carry-on to provide a service to tourists,as they think that it's what tourists want to see....

You get that real third-world experience on Bukit Bintang of finding High-end expensive fashion like Gucci and Hermes shops right next to a guy sitting on the pavement selling fake watches.

Nyonya Curry Laksa @ Precious Restaurant,Central Market Kuala Lumpur

I have generally avoided noodle-soup type dishes in the past,not because I don't like them but because I can't eat the bloody things as my chopstick skills are not sufficiently developed to grasp the slippery noodles.

I end up wearing more food than I've eaten and get really sulky and ratty!
However,on a recent visit to the tacky Central Market I stumbled across Precious Nyonya Restaurant,on the first floor at the front of the building and for a change I ordered a bowl of Nonya Curry Laksa.
It was gorgeous!
And I ditched the twig-technology of chopsticks and used a fairly modern invention of a fork and spoon and was able to eat the dish and not wear it.
The restaurant was a real discovery for me...There are very,very few places in town where you can get good Malay or Nyonya food ( a sort of hybrid Malay/Chinese cuisine) and to find this restaurant right in the heart of the tourist belt was surprising in that a) The food was great and b) It was patronised by many locals,so you knew it was not just serving bland crappy food to tourists who don't know any better.
The decor was interesting with old antique furniture,the service was average,the prices were OK but the food....yeah! the food was great!

A good friend of mine used to rave about Curry Laksa in Singapore and I never tried it because I knew I couldn't master the skills to eat it....so it's taken me 10 years to try it....what a waste...Nyonya Curry Laksa is a bowl of coconut flavoured curry soup with noodles,bean sprouts,tofu, fish balls,prawns and a hard-boiled egg and a few green beans floating on top.
What makes it fantastic is the flavour and smell of the curry sauce.
I can't recommend this highly enough and I want another bowl...right now....
You can find many Laksa dishes in the foodcourts of most shopping malls....but it will not taste anywhere near as good as this.

Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2010

The last time KL held a Motor Show was about 5 years ago...I can remember being amazed by the way the public were allowed to get up close and personal to the cars on show and how many cars were covered in greasy,sticky finger-prints....and how many guys pretended to take a snap of a car but accidentally pan left and take a picture of the glamour-model posing next to the car instead.

So,five years later,what's changed is that most cars were displayed behind red-rope and you had to ask to sit in them...It was a little more sedate and well-behaved than previous and although the newspaper said that 28.000 people attended on the opening day,it didn't feel like it.

The show was mainly a vehicle(pun intended) for local companies and their international marques....there was no Alfa,Bentley,Bugatti,BMW,Citroen,Ford,Jaguar,Land Rover,Mercedes,Porsche,Renault,Volvo or even Volkswagen present...Indeed Volkswagen chose to launch their new cars at a street party on Changkat Bukit Bintang a month earlier rather than attend an International Motor Show.

What you got was Proton and their Lotus offshoots and Perodua,Hyundai,Kia,Honda and Toyota as well as Naza and their branded Peugeot's and their exotic brands of Maserati,Ferrari,Aston Martin and the only new Rolls Royce Silver Cloud in the country,a really ugly brute of a car by the way,as well as their bike-brands of Harley Davidson,Ducati,Apprila and Vespa(!)
Interesting to note that although there were some hot,cute and even elegant female models posing with the cars that Naza's exotic and expensive section had a a guy standing there,as if to say "We don't want to lower our brand by having girls drape themselves over it"
Admission was RM15 and it took about 90 minutes to slowly wander around the 4 exhibition halls.

It was a bit disappointing,I was expecting more marques but it was OK-ish
Of the 100 or so cars on display I would think that at least half of them were not real....they were design concepts or Work-in-Progress-not yet available,like the new Lotus Elite.
It would have been nice to see a few racing cars and some classic/vintage models.
If you want to drop-by,it's held at the PWTC
until 12th Dec.

Healy Macs Changkat Bukit Bintang Kuala Lumpur

Healy Macs has been open for about a year and I must say that when it first opened I was fairly non-plussed about it....yet another Irish Bar in KL....It was all a bit predictable and delivered exactly what you would expect...

I'd drop by on a very infrequent basis,mainly to watch late-night F1 races (Canada and Brazil) or some very disappointing World Cup clashes (England v Germany;which surprisingly my German friend rather enjoyed-can't think why....)
However,I've got to say that after spending a very enjoyable Monday night there that I'm quite impressed with the place!
And not just because the quiz team I was with won 10 free beers-although that was a bonus!
I think that the secret to Healy Macs is that, pure-and-simple.. it's an honest-to-goodness Pub.
Not pretentious in any way. Not full of posers or wanna-be gangstas.
Just full of people enjoying the beer,the food and the atmosphere,or "craig" as it's called in Ireland.
The staff are friendly,well-trained and attentive without being pushy and you don't have to shout for service.
I still think that the beer is a bit pricey at RM 11.50 ++ for a mug of Tiger but at least it's now the same price all night.
They also have lots of deals and special offers going on, so look at all the blackboards before you order,for example 2 pints of Tiger at RM 25 or a bucket of 5 Tiger Crystal at RM 55 nett is pretty good.
Other nights it's "buy 2 get 1 free"...or some other promotion.
It always gets a good crowd and can get very lively indeed,the later it gets.
What I also like is that their website (click the title above to link) publishes all the prices-a nice touch.
Guinness drinkers say that they pour a perfect pint.
The food is pretty good as well,with big portions on offer.
Healy Macs has been so successful within it's first year that I was informed that they will be opening bars in:
Kertih,Penang,Malacca,JB,Sri Hartamas and Kota Kinabalu.
And Good Luck to 'em!
Now have to revise for next Monday's Quiz Nite.....