Hakka Restaurant,Jalan Kia Peng

If you've already sampled the food along Jalan Alor and now want a slightly more up-market but not too expensive experience without all the street noise,touts,hustlers and smells then a trip to Hakka Restaurant would be just the thing.

Located behind the Novo Hotel on Jalan Kia Peng next to the Borneo Barak Club,Hakka Restaurant has been serving good Chinese food for 40 years (although the present location is about 18 months old)

It's a huge open air place with great views of the Petronas Twin Towers and is popular with tourists and locals alike.If it's raining, an automatic roof is deployed to keep you dry.

Another plus-point is the clean toilets.(try saying that in Jalan Alor!)

The menu is quite vast and in order to sample as many dishes as possible it's best to go with as many people as possible.

The staff are friendly and will help you navigate the menu and the girls selling the Tiger Beer wear some of the shortest mini-skirts in KL!

If you're staying around the Bukit Bintang Area you can walk to Hakka Restaurant by going through the food street of the Pavillion Shopping Centre and crossing the pedestrian bridge signposted to the Convention Centre.

The restaurant is also within walking distance of the bars and clubs on Jalan P. Ramlee

Day Trip from Kuala Lumpur-ATV Quad Bike Adventure

Another trip to take you out from the concrete jungle and into the real thing!

ATV Adventures are a small,friendly outfit operating in Ulu Kelang,about a 5mile drive from Kuala Lumpur.To get there follow the signs to the Zoo,on the MRR2 and then take the small road that goes past the zoo entrance and winds it's way towards Kampong Kemeneh.

In no time at all you will notice the road getting increasingly narrower and a definite "kampong feel".The air seems cleaner and a bit cooler whilst the small rivers are clear and fast flowing.

It's a nice serene scene,children playing in the river,families having a pick-nick and the sound of birds and insects fill the air.The city seems very far away indeed.

What better way to have fun than to rip-it-up brash,noisy quad bike!

For RM 100 you can experience a 2 hour trek through the jungle to reach a small waterfall.

The adventure begins with a safety and training brief including a few laps of the tricky training circuit and then,off you go following the leader on a narrow muddy path climbing ever higher in the hills and navigating your way over tree roots,smashing in to low-hanging branches and splashing through muddy puddles.

It's great fun!

Hopefully,you'll arrive at the picturesque waterfall tired,muddy and sweaty and can then appreciate a paddle in the cold water.

At the waterfall there is a camp site where ATV Adventures hold their jungle trekking and other exciting activities.

After a short rest it's back to the beginning for the return journey and just as you reach the start-point you have the opportunity to take the ATV across a small river.

Trips start from as low as RM20.

The bikes all look fairly new and are well maintained.You will be asked to stick to a speed limit of 30kph when driving on public road and 40kph when off road....which seems way too fast on a narrow path!

The instructors/leaders are knowledgeable and friendly and encourage everyone to have a good time and drive at a pace that they are comfortable with.

The only hassle,as far as I can see is actually getting there, as you will need private transport.A taxi may not want to venture that far off the beaten track.

Day Trip from Kuala Lumpur-Whitewater Rafting

Escape the concrete jungle for the real thing!

If you're looking for a fun day-out, away from the city a great experience would be to go whitewater rafting.

A two hour drive heading north from Kuala Lumpur towards Ipoh will take you to Nomad Adventures' Earth Camp where a host of activities awaits.

The most popular is their Whitewater rafting trips on the Sungei (River) Kampar.

In total you can navigate 22 rapids ranging from grade 2-3 and can opt for a half-day,either morning or afternoon or a full day.

The morning session starts at 9am sharp-or so they say but we actually commenced closer to 10am...nevertheless you will have to make an early start from Kuala Lumpur.

Upon arrival a lorry then transports you for about 45 minutes to the point of departure where you undergo a comprehensive safety briefing and then,to ensure that you're fully awake you begin by actually swimming through a rapid!

Then it's onto the raft and away you go.

The guides are pretty good fun and knowledgeable about the river.

The first two or three rapids we hit were pretty big and it's not uncommon to fall overboard but the swim beforehand gives you a bit of confidence so as not to panic (too) much

After that and as you get the hang of it and the rapids become less severe so the guide can decide to take some rapids sideways or backwards just for the fun of it.

The biggest danger is getting hit by a paddle or hitting a rock with a tender part of your body.

Our trip finished at about 12.30 with some lunch and then it was time to face the boring drive back to Kuala Lumpur.

The half day trip cost RM 150 and when you add-in the long drives and early start it seems like a whole day.We arrived back in town at 4pm after leaving at the ungodly hour of 6.30 on a Saturday morning!

The same company also arranges various rock-climbing and caving activities but the rafting trips are very popular.Other companies also run-the-river and it can jam-up with 8 or 9 rafts waiting at the top of a rapid.

All-in all a pretty enjoyable day out.

Day Trip from Kuala Lumpur- Batu Caves

Depending on whether you want man-made or natural sights there are quite a few possibilities for day-trips to get you out of Kuala Lumpur.

One of the more popular and nearest "natural" sights are the Batu Caves.

One of the surprises of Kuala Lumpur is that you don't have to go very far to be out in the country-side ( calling it "jungle" sounds a bit too exotic) and see lots of greenery.

Batu Caves are about 15km outside the city on the outer-ring road and are the focal-point for over a million Hindus during Thaipusum,at other times of the year it's less busy but they are on the tour-group day-trip itinerary and are a popular destination.The cave complex is in a huge limestone outcrop and offers an interesting excursion and some fresh air.A climb of 270 steps leads you into the vast main cave which is where the Thaipusam pilgrimage ends.There are a few other caves to visit,some with interesting statues and sculptures inside.

To get to the caves ,you can get a taxi for about RM 25 or a bus for about RM2 with http://www.rapidkl.com.my/

Liberte,Changkat Bukit Bintang

Another little bar recently opened on the ever-popular street,Liberte has been carved-out from Le Bouchon restaurant at the top of the street,below Envie Nightclub.
Beer price is reasonable at RM 12.There are lots of tables and chairs outside on the patio to create a beer-garden type atmosphere,whilst inside most of the small interior is taken up with the bar-counter and it seems a little claustrophobic.
Nevertheless,it's always good to see new places open and it makes a good spot for a couple of beers before heading-out for something to eat or some serious partying.
The next new venue to open will be located at the Al Bait Restaurant,next to the Green Man where another bar is eagerly anticipated.......

Havana,Changkat Bukit Bintang

After a major and classy refurbishment Little Havana has now become Havana,although it's still the same size,it's now managed by the same guys who operate the Magnificent Fish and Chip Bar further down the street so we can expect the same level of quality and service. You will also notice a few similarities in decor and style.
Gone are the slightly wobbly bar stools ,tables and fountain to be replaced by an even floor with comfortable bar-height tables and a chill-out area with low seating and scatter-cushions.
The kitchen theme is Louisiana/Southern US style,with alligator on the menu and judging by the amount of wine bottles on the back wall,there is something for even the most discerning.
A barbecue area to the left of the bar also serves take-out.
The bar itself is a nice granite-topped slab whilst upstairs can still cater to private parties and events such as the Time Out Comedy Night,held on the first Thursday of the month.
For those that prefer aircon,the inside also offers a similar length bar plus TV.
All-in-all it's an impressive looking place compared to the Little Havana of old,especially the clean toilets!
As befits a major face-lift the pricing structure is a little higher than before and some may say that the previous rustic,almost run-down charm has gone but on the plus-side you still get an alfresco eating and drinking experience,a good size long bar to prop-up and clean toilets.

Jalan Bukit Bintang

Jalan Bukit Bintang is the premier street in Kuala Lumpur.Starting with the Pavilion Shopping Centre and running down to it's junction with Jalan Pudu the street is a hive of activity by day and by night.There are many up-market shopping malls and hotels located at one end of the street but as you walk further down past KFC it becomes cheap and tacky,especially at night.
There's absolutely nothing here except aggressive touts offering foot massage or young ladies and a few tacky souvenir stalls.
A pedestrian walkway at the side of Pavilion is lined with restaurants and cafes and you can get some very good value happy hour deals,it does get busy but you have to put up with the constant drone of aircon outlets,which doesn't make for a relaxing atmosphere.Each establishment plays it's own loud music in an attempt to drown out the noise from the aircon plus there are a couple of big screen TV's doing there own thing,the end result being a cacophony of sound.
La Bodega at the beginning of the walkway is probably the one that feels a bit more like a bar,whilst the restaurants at the other end have the best beer deals.
Star Hill Shopping Centre,which seems just to sell watches,has an interesting well-planned restaurant area downstairs in the basement and is worth a visit just to walk through the multi-coloured reflective link to the Marriot Hotel.

The only real nightspot not in a hotel is upstairs at The Ship situated opposite BB Plaza,it's been going for years and is a huge barn of a place with a very loud band and a hefty cover-charge.

It gets packed after midnight with a young,mainly local crowd.

The ladyboy show can also be good(harmless) fun and the "girls" quite like picking on expats in the crowd to try and embarass them.

The show has been runnung for years but it seems a bit of a contradiction that whilst semi-naked men pretending to be women dancing on stage is permitted by the authorities the same cannot be said for actual real women.....

For shopping,forget the bland homogeneous up-market malls and head to Sungei Wang/BB Plaza
It has a certain unique character and is full of owner-operated small stores selling cheap clothing,electronics and cheap shoes and is a breath of fresh air from the usual franchises and international brands.