Hey there everyone. I hope you are enjoying my most recent travels. I certainly am! So anyways, here’s what happened on day 3.
At 10:29 AM I again ordered a Grab car. I feel like I should also try some other ride hailing service, but so far this one is working well, and since I’m only here for a week, I figure it’s probably better to just stick with what works. The car arrived at 10:35 AM, and we were on our way from Mont Kiara to Chinatown.
After a short, comfortable ride, at 10:52 AM we arrived and I paid the bill of 14 RM ($2.97 USD). I understood that there were plenty of things around here to see, so with no particular expectations, we set off walking.
Keeping in mind the name of the neighborhood, I was happy to quickly come across the Guan Di temple. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but if you are in the area, may as well check it out.
We were here for about 15 minutes and then at 11:18 AM, right across the street I saw that there was also the Sri Maha Mariamman temple. As I live in India, I felt a bit silly checking out an obviously Hindu temple in another country, but I was actually glad that I did. This looked very different from what I’ve become accustomed to in both Maharashtra and Karnataka.
There weren’t too many people, but there was a lot going on, so I stayed here until 11:54 AM. They were still playing ceremonial music when I left, but I thought I had seen and heard enough. I mean without too much effort, I can probably easily find something similar in Bengaluru. Following these two temple visits, I figured I should now just look around a bit.
The wandering was fine, but I wasn’t really keen on buying random stuff, so at 12:50 PM we decided to get a tasty lunch at Chef Ma BBQ. The food was reasonably priced, and while the ambiance wasn’t fancy, it was comfortable enough. We paid a total of 77.5 RM ($16.24 USD) for two people.
At 2:15 PM, we decided to exit the restaurant and go over to the nearby Central Market.
It was a leisurely stroll, and we arrived at 2:30 PM. If gift shopping is your thing, then you will love this place, but I suspect that you can get most items for cheaper prices elsewhere. It was certainly a comfortable place, but I was more than ready to leave at 3:13 PM. As Huixian was feeling a bit tired we decided to get some tea or coffee somewhere nearby.
At 3:20 PM we decided to try our luck at Secret Recipe. It was a pleasant place to sit and chat, with attractive dessert items, but neither the cake nor the drinks were particularly impressive. As such, I felt that the bill of 24.35 RM ($5.15 USD) was a bit much, but then I guess we weren’t really paying for the food or drinks, but rather for the setting.
At 4:11 PM it was time to walk towards Merbaka Square. It was a good spot to take pictures and just rest a bit, but I would have liked to be able to look inside some of the buildings.
When the afternoon rains started at 4:53 PM, there was fortunately a sheltered spot to sit right across the street, next to the river.
I couldn’t really figure out the intended purpose of this shelter, but it was perfect for a small group of people to get away from the downpour. Maybe it was actually made just for this reason, since I understand that it rains like this almost everyday, and people do need a protected spot. However, I’m not sure.
Right at 5:35 PM the rain stopped, so we figured that we should try to do a bit more exploring.
Nothing was particularly amazing, but this nearby neighborhood seemed to have a more down to earth character than other places I had so far seen in Kuala Lumpur. As we were a bit far from Mont Kiara and it was starting to get dark, at 6:13 PM I once again activated my trusty Grab app, and at 6:33 PM was back in a comfortable car headed towards Mont Kiara 163 retail park.
We arrived at 7:04 PM, paying 26 MR ($5.51 USD) for the transport, and then browsed the shops and restaurants before choosing QingHeGu Korean BBQ at 7:52 PM.
Even though our meal of Pork shoulder for two was a bit pricey with a cost of 104.9 RM ($22.10 USD), I felt that it was completely worth it. Besides, when on vacation, it’s important to indulge a bit unless one is really counting pennies.
At 9:05 PM we were done at the restaurant and it was just a short walk back to the apartment. All in all, it was a great day, and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s trip as well. As for you, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope you are also making the most out of every moment! Finally, as always, if you have any questions, just drop a note in the comments below.
Travels with Jay 