Loy Krathong By sheer coincidence, we caught the overnight bus from Golden Mile on the exact same night as the Thai festival, Loy Krathong. Golden Mile being a centre for Thais here, the pavement was lined with people hawking krathong - flower arrangements holding candles and/oor joss sticks meant for floating (loy) one's frustrations and negativity away. The base of the original krathong used to be made from the main trunk of the banana but is now made from styrofoam. Apparently some of the more expensive ones use a bread base. Wonder where they release the krathong.

Heritage Station Hotel The bus left quite punctually at 10pm and we got into KL around 3am on Thursday 13th. The hotel we booked was the Heritage Station Hotel, it's housed within a wing of the old Stesen Keretapi Kuala Lumpur (KL Train Station). It was very central - within easy walking distance of Tasik Perdana, Merdeka Square and Puduraya. Even Bukit Bintang is walkable (just head northeast through Chinatown) though not for the typical Singaporean. After the new train station, Sentral, opened in 2001, Stesen Keretapi Kuala Lumpur ceased receiving intercity commuter trains. It is still a stop on the KL commuter train network (KTM Komuter) and goods trains continue to use it though.

The Hotel was quite charming with a colonial-era lift and bar. I suppose the reason why it's only a budget hotel and hasn't been upgraded into at least a boutique hotel, is because it is cut off on all sides by major roads. The traffic is a constant rumble permeating the rooms. If you don't mind those drawbacks, I think you'll find the Heritage Station a decent base for exploring KL. Stesen Keretapi has a restaurant (not Charlies' inside the hotel but outside to the left of the hotel entrance) that served nice nasi goreng maksin (salted fish fried rice). The food attracts a sizable local crowd most evenings.

Muzium Kesenian Islam The first stop on Thursday after settling our bags in the hotel was the Muzium Kesenian Islam (Islamic Arts Museum). Unfortunately, they don't allow photos of the exhibition so I only have exterior shots. Sadly, the place is quite quiet with few visitors. Splurging RM43 on the buffet in the Museum's Middle Eastern restaurant rather than going out to hunt for cheap food was also a good choice - it was definitely a good meal. Sadly, like the Museum, the restaurant was seriously under-patronised.

Kuala Lumpur's Masjids Just by the Museum is the Masjid Negara (National Mosque). Completed in 1965, it is a very impressive structure. However, I think I prefer the other nearby mosque - Masjid Jamek. Masjid Jamek is the central mosque for Kuala Lumpur. Built at the heart of Kuala Lumpur where the Klang and Gombak Rivers meet (these days they are more appropriately called the Klang and Gombak Canals), it has a very homely and calm atmosphere contrasting with the tense bustle of the city around. However, I only got into Masjid Negara. Here are some interior photos of it:

A former Madam Kwan cook started his own restaurant, Grandma's, in Singapore. Grandma's, with a menu similar to Madam Kwan's, opened in Orchard Parade Hotel just before I came to KL.

In the evening, we went to consumerland (I needed my regular book fix which I found at a Kinokuniya) and managed to get a seat at a Madam Kwan's in KLCC. Madam Kwan's famed nasi lemak was good but I'll still stick to my favourite nasi lemak stalls at Adam Road and Changi.

Klang Gate Ridge aka Quartz Ridge Getting up late the next morning (Friday 14th) meant that the sun was already out when we began climbing the Klang Gate Ridge. This resulted in me getting a rather noticable tan as we got off the Ridge only at lunchtime. While the Ridge is rich in biodiversity with several specialised endemic plants, life was rather sparse along the route up. This is because the Ridge's south face has been severely impacted by encroaching development, resulting in a scrubby sun-baked desert. Happily, the north side facing the reservoir is still green with dipterocarp trees.

The view of KL was stunning though - it lay spread out before us in the southwest. To the northeast, we could admire Klang Gate Reservoir, Malaysia's first reservoir built in 1958, and Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve.

Odd that this potentially lucrative tourist destination hasn't been developed yet. Instead, it seems doomed to slow encroachment by developers intent only on leveling it for residential property. In most other places around the world, a path would have been built up and perhaps a ski lift too. You'd also get a parking area for tour buses, restaurants, a dam tour and perhaps water sports in the reservoir..... perhaps death might be a better option.

Getting back to town was actually rather quick and easy - we exited the trail just as a pair of guys started their car so we thumbed a lift to the bus stop outside. From there, the bus (T304) took us to Wangsa Maju LRT station where we had a late lunch before catching the train back. In fact, the travelling time from trail head to hotel was about the same time we took to down a simple hawker lunch.

Taman Tasik Perdana At what appears to be the tranquil heart of KL is Taman Tasik Perdana. Surrounded by significant national sociocultural institutions, it is rather quiet even on weekends (except that the taman (park) keeps a radio station blaring at all hours). Much of the park is of course a neatly trimmed biodesert meant to look stately and 'tamanly'. However, here and there are neglected spots hidden away from ceremonial view.

It was in one of these tucked-away corners that we found a rather interesting pond filled with tadpoles. Going back at night, the pond had come alive with tadpoles emerging and frogs hopping in the grass by the pond.

In another corner of the park was a bookworm: Outside the park, the roads were fringed by 'untamaned' secondary forest rich in insect life that intrigued us (meaning we took a lot of pictures). In the evening, we also did the tourist thing and visited Bukit Bintang then went to Jalan Alor for dinner. By total happenstance, we picked the most well-known restaurant, Wong Ah Wah, there for dinner: How we happened to pick it out of that long row? Well, all the other eating places had few customers and had touts trying to drag people in worse than Boat Quay. Wong Ah Wah on the other hand had all their staff rushing around the kitchen and nobody had the time to even look up, let alone tout. Unfortunately, we didn't order their famous chicken wings - guess that'll have to be the next trip.

Sungei Perdik Much thanks to Susan Wong Chor Mun for waking up at an unholy hour to take us birding at Sg Perdik on Sunday morning. Sg Perdik is a nice quiet vale well-known by birders. However, like most good quality nature areas, it is under development pressure.

We then followed the road upstream and found a little clearing with what I thought was a model of an orang asli hut. It turned out to be a film set for a movie about pre-colonial Terengganu and this is one of two outdoor sets for it. The other set of a marketplace by a river has been built in Terengganu itself. We (or rather Susan) spoke to the set director who had been researching on this for months. This set was apparently built in two weeks by a crew of ten. After a few days of shooting, it will be dismantled by week's end.

Perdik's insects are among the most interesting I've ever seen: At lunch, we had 清炒 (stir fried) paku (fern), a dish us suaku (swakoo) Singaporeans don't usually see. I first read about the young shoots of ferns, often known locally as 'fiddleheads', being edible years ago in one of Prof Wee Yeow Chin's books. However, the opportunity to try it never arose till now.

Merdeka Square That evening we walked to see Merdeka Square and the Central Market. At sunset, the road past Merdeka Square was blocked off to traffic and opened to pedestrians. Being a Sunday night, there weren't that many people around which made it a lovely quiet spot. The Central Market was a charming little tourist trap where I bought some nice fridge magnets of Mecca as examples of religious kitsch. I recommend eating outside the Central Market - there is a nice outdoor Indian restaurantt along the Canal just outside one end of the Market.

Taman Rimba Ampang Although we went to bird, the trip turned out more fruitful in terms of non-avian vertabrates: there were three different species of primates there - the Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fasciccularis), Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina), and Dusky or Spectacled Leaf-monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus) The park follows a stream up a narrow valley with both slopes covered with good tall trees. This results in less sunlight reaching the valley floor. Perhaps this is why we spotted so many reptiles sunning themselves.

I did notice birds up the canopy far, far overhead but they were only momentary glimpses - unidentifiable by a novice like me. Unfortunately, it was already Monday and we had to catch the early afternoon bus home. That meant I was in the hometown of Ampang Yong Tau Foo but did not have a chance to experience its original taste. Next trip I guess.