Gypsy Bar, Changkat Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Mmmm...not sure what I think about this.

I mentioned a while back about local residents complaining about the noise coming from the street.

Well, in an effort to anticipate any clampdown from the local council Gypsy Bar have fitted this horrendous looking glass wall dividing inside from outside.

And it's sort-of changed the atmosphere of the place.

Inside is even colder and noisier than before whilst sitting outside it's a bit quieter and you can hold a conversation at 11pm without shouting (too) much.

However, it's also a little warmer sitting outside now and the air can be a little stuffier but worse than that, if you look into the bar it's like you're sitting outside a shop.

You get used to it and after a while and tend to ignore it, but it is bloody ugly.

I know why it was done, just that a bit more thought could have gone into it first....like black aluminium frames instead of silver.

There's also no TV to watch outside but I understand that one will be fitted in time for the World Cup.

There's Just Too Many.....

If you take a walk around Jalan Bukit Bintang/Jalan Alor/Changkat Bukit Bintang area, you may find that...
There are just too many...
Convenience Stores..... selling nothing but potato snacks and fizzy drinks...
Money Changers....must be at least 25 just on Bukit Bintang alone.(Best rate is the one just down the steps in BB Plaza)
Backpacker Hotels....how did so many suddenly spring-up?
Foot Massage places and their annoying touts...nearly as many as there are convenience stores and some do more than feet. The general rule (so I've been told) is that if the touts outside are wearing some sort of uniform/T Shirt then it's usually legit. If they are old and tired and worn-out looking girls from China outside, then you may get a happy-ending inside.
But keep your eyes closed and think of someone else....
And those retards with no teeth who hang around Bukit Bintang offering Nice Young Lady Beautiful Massage,Sir?
Coffee Bars....like any city now I guess they are everywhere but I have a big problem paying as much for a coffee as I do a beer.
and talking of beer....how come there are so many;
Irish Bars..
Tapas Bars..
Italian Restaurants..
they seem to be taking over....

If somehow you could combine all the elements above, you'll probably have the most popular place in town..

The Best Chinese Food in Kuala Lumpur?....

...probably can be found at Restoren Crystal Jade Kitchen. There are a few dotted around town, my favourite being at the Food Court level in Pavilions on Bukit Bintang.
They are also at Mid Valley, The Gardens and Lot 10.
Rather surprisingly they are actually a Singaporean outfit.
Yeah, I know, Singaporean Food is usually crap.
But they've got it right this time, or altered the recipes for the more discerning, grown-up palates of Malaysians.
Some of their restaurants are halal whilst others serve pork.
Downstairs at Pavilion is non-halal whilst they have one in the walk-through near La Bodega that is halal.
It's a nice place for a splurge on a Sunday lunchtime or at any other time really.
You know you've found a good restaurant when you have to wait for a table, although the staff seem to turn the tables quite frequently so you don't have to wait too long, say 5-10 mins.
Crystal Jade offers good Dim Sum and a very extensive menu.
Price range is mid+ level and, as you would expect for that price the service is always good.
Amongst my favourite dishes would have to be the White Radish Cake Fried With Beansprouts which seems to be cooked in a unique style here, you can always tell an upmarket restaurant as they snip-off the unsightly bits of beansprout! the Beef Noodles are also good and some of their Dim Sum comes with a dip consisting of Soy Sauce mixed with HP Sauce-a truly great combination. The wild-fried rice is very tasty but the dish from heaven has to be without doubt Deep Fried Prawns in Wasabi Sauce.
Yeah,it's pricey but once-in-a-while it does good to treat yourself.
The only bad thing to report is that it's in a bloody shopping mall and the air con can make it a bit chilly after half an hour or so.
Oh, and if you sit on the soft bench seats it seems that the table is a bit too high, either that or I'm a bit of a short-arse.
Definitely worth a try though.

Taman Negara National Park

The official tourist literature goes on and on about this place.

Me? I wasn't quite so impressed.

Nevertheless, a visit to Taman Negara is on a lot of people's to-do list and it is another excursion to get you out of the concrete jungle and into the real thing.

It takes about 8 hours to get to the National Park from Kuala Lumpur.

You will need to stay overnight for a couple of days to make it a worthwhile experience.

There is a coach service that departs the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Jalan Sultan Ismail at about 10am for a 5 hour journey via Jerantut to Kuala Tembeling from where a speedboat will take you on a 2-3 hour kidney-crunching,bone numbing ride to Kuala Tahan-the Park Headquarters.

It can be a fun journey but the boat ride is a bit too long. And hot.

At the park itself the only place to stay is at the Taman Negara Resort, which is predictable in it's mediocrity.

The food is dreadful.

Across the river, a RM5 boat-taxi ride away from the "resort" is a motley collection of ugly floating restaurants, moored in place by huge ropes that are easy to trip over in the dark.

The food here is also dreadful.

It's always a constant surprise to me that so many Malaysians seem to be constantly eating-or talking about eating that they put up with such crappy restaurant food.

And, in true local style there is the litter and rubbish strewn along the riverbank.

But, like so many Malaysian experiences, you don't go there for the food.

People go to Taman Negra to experience the jungle, which is now called "Rain Forest".

Tigers, Elephants, Panthers, Leopards, Monkeys, Tapirs-you won't see any of them.

Unless you are very lucky and are off the beaten track camping in the jungle.

If you want to see animals go to the Singapore Zoo.

The Taman Negara Resort encourages a few wild boar and monitor lizards by putting food out for them and for most people these are the only animals you'll see at the park.

You may see a few water buffalo during the boat trip.

The park headquarters provide useful maps and walking along the trails can be fun and you'll see lots of big trees but the most popular and easiest trails are cleared of any growth and are about 6ft wide.

Theses trails can get very crowded.

And littered.

Much more fun than walking/tripping over in the jungle trails is a speedboat ride shooting the gentle rapids-wet and fun!

Or try a walk along the canopy walkway amongst the tree-tops.

At night, you have a choice of either sitting on the terrace above the river drinking beer or of going to bed early. even if you bring a book, the lighting at night is too dim to read by.

The views of the mountains, rainforest and rivers can be quite spectacular and can refresh/re-charge even the most jaded person who is stuck in the concrete of Kuala Lumpur and if you've never seen rain forest before, you'll find it amazing.

Tiger Crystal Beer

This bottled beer was launched onto the Malaysian market a few months back.

Initially I avoided it like the plague due to the exorbitant asking price of....wait for it....wait for it....RM 17 a bottle!

I guess my response was similar to many others with the result that Tiger couldn't shift it.

So, those clever marketing people at Tiger have come up with a very good promotion.....sell it at the same price as that of their draft Tiger.

Which is nice.

So,at Gypsy Bar you can get a bucket of 6 bottles of crystal for RM 60.

Healy Macs sells 5 bottles for RM55.

Now,here's the thing...it's actually very drinkable beer.

It tastes like San Miguel Light or any other cold-filtered light beer.

It's also not quite as strong at 4.5% ABV as regular Tiger which is, I believe 5%ABV.

A friend of mine described it as "inoffensive" but I would go better and say it was clean, crisp and quite refreshing and doesn't leave that sticky aftertaste that draught Tiger does.

And,if you've ever woken-up with a "Tiger Head" after a heavy night I have to report that so far Tiger Crystal doesn't seem to result in such a near-death experience as a night on the draft can result in.

It's only available for a "limited" time-whatever that means, probably until they sell it all so you've got to get in quick.

Gypsy Bar are always running-out since I discovered it...

Update 6/5/10

Only in Malaysia would they have a "promotion" and actually increase the price!

Tonight Gypsy Bar are having a beer promotion night for Tiger Crystal with promotional girls etc etc.

The price for a bucket of 6 has been increased to RM65.

Still good value but it made me laugh when I was told "we are having a promotion and the price is increasing...."

The Most Expensive Beer in Kuala Lumpur ?

A strange topic for me to blog about as I'm a bit of a cheapskate who searches out the least expensive beers in the best bars.
Gypsy Bar, Changkat Bukit Bintang is probably the least expensive good bar in town but what do you think is the most expensive bar in Kuala Lumpur?
Any imported beer is costly unless it has somehow magically bypassed Customs and is either from the duty-free havens of Langkawi or Labuan or has come over the border/sold under the table from Thailand,Indonesia or even from further away like China.
Distance may also be a factor, I understand that is why Sol Beer, which is brewed in China is cheaper than Corona beer from Mexico.
Gypsy Bar have their pricing very competitive with original, legit Paulaner at RM 25 for a big bottle (500ml) whilst Weissbrau at Pavillion charges a ridiculous RM 55 for a similar size bottle from a different brand.
For locally brewed beers, that horrid Starker beer was available at RM 33 for 500ml for a short while at Gypsy Bar and still sells for a bit more at OverTime in the Life Centre.
Hotel Bars will always be pricey and they even take pleasure in being known as expensive places as they feel it gives them a certain status.
So choose from the bars at The Mandarin, Shangri La, Traders or Hilton.
I've been told that Zeta Bar at the Hilton now sells 500ml of locally brewed Tiger Beer at RM 40.
Can anyone beat that?

East Coast Islands

If you get the opportunity to get away from Kuala Lumpur for a couple of nights there are quite a few options.

I would highly recommend a trip to the Islands in the North on the East Coast.

Choose from;

Redang Island, Perhentian Besar, Perhentian Kecil or Lang Tengah or even Tioman, further South.

They're all pretty much the same....

If you've never seen a tropical island before, you will be spellbound and even if you have, it's still great.

There are however a few things to bear in mind.

1. Getting to them is slow and tedious and involves either a coach (12 hours ) or flight (1 hour) to Kuala Terengganu or Kota Baru then a hour-long taxi/minibus ride to the jetty on the coast and then a 45minute speedboat ride.

So,even if you fly it can take7 or 8 hours,including all the waiting.

2. It's expensive for what you get-Islands in Thailand offer much better value-for-money.

3. The accommodation ranges from "expensive and shoddy" to "really expensive and really shoddy".

4. The food is pretty average at best.

5. There's nothing to do at night.

In my experience,Malaysia doesn't seem to be able to offer or even want to offer good beach holidays.There are no 'centres" just ribbon developments all looking pretty much the same.

What they call a resort is usually a few poorly maintained dark and dingy chalets with a restaurant offering poorly prepared and tasteless food.

If there is a picture of a few pebbles behind the reception desk they call it a "spa".

But...and it's a big BUT

6.The Beach is usually fantastic!

And that's why we put-up with the substandard amenities and service.

Unfortunately..

7. Most of the coral is dead or dying.

In the last few years it's quite noticeable how much this is happening and on most islands you've got to either get a boat trip away from the main island or if you're really lucky there may be a small remnant of coral hanging on at the tip of a headland on the island.

Places I've enjoyed staying include;

Redang Reef Resort, Redang-Very friendly and lively and I saw some huge Bumphead Parrot fish at the top of bay (almost as big as a cow!)

BuBu Resort, Perhentian Kecil-Has a nice bar area and slightly better rooms then most.

Places to avoid include;

Perhentian Island Resort, Perhentian Besar-The absolute worst place I have ever stayed. NEVER, EVER stay here unless you want smelly rooms, blocked toilets, indifferent staff, food that was going rotten, dirty sheets and a half-drained swimming pool covered in algae (but it's on the best,best beach ever)

Coral View Island Resort, Perhentain Besar, shares the same beach, is still dark and dingy but a bit cheaper.

Lang Tengah Island-they tell you it's "surrounded by it's own coral garden" but what they don't tell you is that it's all dead coral.

The Marine Park itself,on Redang is a bit farcical with more tourists than there are fish and it can get very crowded with orange life-vests bumping into each other.But there is a Giant Grouper that lives under the pier.

Tioman Island, all right, it has cheap duty-free beer but when I was there the place was filthy- dirty with litter strewn everywhere. I didn't like it at all.

Most packages to the islands include all food but believe me when I say that you'll be happy to escape your "resort"and move from restaurant to restaurant along the beach-some are quite good and they can be found dotted along the main beaches of most islands.

It's easy to get a beer,about Rm 8 for a can.

I've also heard that you get better customer service if you go early in the season(May-July)

and that later in the season, staff quit, are not replaced, the remaining staff get overworked, wages may be delayed etc etc. Except for the dive staff that is,they are always friendly and helpful wherever you go.

Also, I've never ever found a comfortable chair to sit on,all those wooden slats can get very uncomfortable.

Don't get me wrong, I just love the beaches and snorkeling and have encounted all manner of reef fish including Parrot fish, the huge aforementioned Bumpheads, Clown fish,Sting Rays, Sharks up to about 4ft in length,Giant Grouper and turtles.

On a good day, visibility can be about 30-35ft down.

But be prepared for some discomfort on land.

And yes, The sand really is that white and the sea really is that blue!