Kuala Lumpur

  • Art & Places,  Kuala Lumpur,  sculpture

    Art & Places: Barong-Barong, KL

    Kuala Lumpur has quite many public arts and I will try to cover as many as I can. This is another interesting looking piece of art that I want to highlight this week.

    barong barong

    Barong-Barong is located at ASEAN Garden, in the vicinity of Tugu Negara, Perdana Botanical Gardens, KL. Barong-Barong is a modern interpretation of old type architecture existing in the whole of ASEAN region. The artist, Jerusalino V. Araos from Philippines made Barong-Barong  from stainless steel and glass in 1987. According to Jerusalino, the structure is a combination of 1,024 joints. It is like a big Lego set that can be taken apart.

    Barong-barong, in general, is a shanty housing constructed from materials that can be salvaged around an area and is built with a degree of speed. Houses being built or rebuilt (after a fire, flood, or other calamities) are also referred to as barong-barongs. In most urban poor areas, particularly those often visited by demolition crews, barong-barongs are the practical housing units; light, recyclable, and easy to build.

    barong-barong (close-up)

    Jerusalino died of heart attack December last year at the age of 68.

  • Family travel,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    10 Fun Places for Kids in KL

    10 Places for Kids in KL is a list I crafted from my very own experience for family with kids, taking into consideration the learning process that benefits them when visiting these places. It is a combination of discovery about science, animals, planetary systems, books, art and history.

    Petrosains

    1. Petrosains – A Science Discovery Centre where kids can learn about science and technology of the petroleum industry in a very fun and exciting way. Permanent exhibits and activities here include Dark Ride, Petrojaya Cartoon Village, Exploration, Sparkz, Geotime Diorama, Molecule Nano World, Speed, Music-Art-Science and Ungku Omar theatre. Other than that, there are also special programs and school holiday programs from time to time. Petrosains is located at Level 4 of the Suria KLCC mall. Admission fee is applicable.

    Aquaria

    2. Aquaria KLCC – This larger-than-life aquarium is a spectacular window to the colourful underwater world and promises a memorable learning experience for your kids. Aquaria KLCC boasts many galleries (with a great variety of real life exhibits) such as The highlands, Touch Pool, The Electric Zone, The Stream, Jewels of the Jungle, Flooded Forest, The Coast, Oceanarium, Weird and Wonderful, and Discovery Zone. Kids can witness divers feed variety of fishes (including shark) in the Aquatheatre. Check out the Fun & learning package where Aquaria KLCC is located at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, just after the Mandarin Hotel and Petronas Twin Towers. Admission fee is applicable.

    KL-Tower-Pony-RIde

    3. KL Tower – Take your kids up to the Observation Deck to view the KL city at the height of 276 meters above ground level. Other attractions here include 6D Motion Simulated Thrill Ride (for kids above 6 years old only), Pony Ride and Animal Zone. At the Animal Zone, a wide range of rare and exotic animals can be found, ranging from Capuchin monkeys to giant tortoise. Menara Kuala Lumpur is located at the junction of Jalan Punchak off Jalan P.Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur. Admission fee is applicable.

    KL-Bird-Park

    4. KL Bird Park – Reputed to be the largest walk-in free-flight aviary in the world, KL Bird Park is a home to more than 3000 birds. You can bring your kids to see and learn names of birds while enjoying the nature. Don’t miss the Bird shows at The Amphitheatre at 12.30pm and 3.30pm daily. Facilities here include resting shades located at the children’s playground area. Admission fee is applicable.

    National-Science-Center

    5. National Science Center – The Science Center is a children’s museum featuring many hands-on exhibits in the different science disciplines of Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science and Astronomy. Galleries here include Aquarium, Wonderspark, Pathway to Science, Eureka, Kidz Discovery Place, Kidz World, Little Explorer, Flight, Thinking Machine and Energy World. National Science Center is located at Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. It is a bit off the city center and you can get here by car or taxi. Admission fee is applicable.

     National-Planetarium

    6. National Planetarium – Here is a wonderful and interesting place to take the kids, or big kids for that matter. The National Planetarium is divided into two exhibition theme (i.e. Astronomy & Space Exploration) with interactive and hands on appearance. Facilities in the National Planetarium are Exhibition Gallery, Viewing Gallery with Binoculars, Outdoor Ancient Observatory Park, Picnic Area with Space Theme, Space Theatre, Observatory With Telescope and Accessories. National Planetarium is located at Jalan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur, not far from KL Bird Park. Admission fee is applicable.

    National-Museum

    7. National Museum – Take your kids and let them learn about the history of Malaysia while admiring permanent artefacts exhibited at the main exhibition building which boasts of Gallery A: Pre-history, Gallery B: Malay Kingdoms, Gallery C: Colonial Era and Gallery D: Malaysia Today. Get to pose near permanent outdoor exhibits like trishaw and vintage Austin Seven. Guided tours are available every day at 10.00am for one hour. Admission fee is applicable.

    Perdana-Botanical-Gardens

    8. Perdana Botanical Gardens – Bring your kids to enjoy the nature and get their sweat out. Don’t forget to bring their bicycles, roller blades or skateboards. Facilities here include two playground areas, jogging tracks, flower and herb gardens, trees collection, conservatory garden, Cycas Island, fish pond, lakes, a deer park and a train ride. Admission is free for all gardens and deer park, small fee for the train ride. Additionally, hiring soft play installers to set up specialized play equipment might further enhance the variety of activities and experiences available for children, providing additional avenues for active and engaging play within the natural setting.

    KL-Childrens-Library

    9. KL Children’s Library –While you can buy books from book stores, taking your child to the library is a good thing to do as they can read as many books at no cost. If you need to take your kids to the library, take them to the KL Children’s Library. It offers a variety of services and activities especially for members who are at the age between 4 to 12 years old. KL Children’s Library is located at Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur, near the Merdeka Square. Admission is free.

    National-Visual-Arts-Gallery

    10. National Visual Arts Gallery – It is good to expose kids to art because art comes alive when they can see it up close. A kid’s world is enriched by looking at a stone sculpture or oil painting and imagining the painstaking hours that artist took to create the art. For that matter, you can take your kids to National Visual Arts Gallery to admire permanent and temporary collections of art by local artists. You cannot take pictures inside the gallery but however you can encourage your kids to bring their sketchbooks and get inspired by the artworks they like. There is also a gallery here that is dedicated to children’s art. Weekend and school holiday art programs are also available but you need to enquire from the information counter about the schedule. National Visual Arts Gallery is located in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is free but for art programs, fees are applicable.

  • Art & Places,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia,  sculpture

    Art & Places: Towards Peace, KL

    When I visited Tugu Negara more than a week ago, I also got the chance to explore the ASEAN Garden located at the area. There are many sculptures in the garden and one that I like to highlight first is ‘Towards Peace’, a set of 6 sculptures that were created to present  ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Phillippines and Malaysia. The sculptures symbolise  the progress of growth, unity, peace and harmony of ASEAN.

    It was officially created in 1987 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of ASEAN (the Association of South-East Asian Nations) by Ms. Han Sai Por, a sculptor from Singapore.

    Towards Peace by Han Sai Por

    Han’s main sculptural expression depicts a sense of contrast between the hard surface of stone and the softness of organic shapes.

    Have you visited ASEAN Garden?

     

  • Art & Places,  Family travel,  graphite,  Kuala Lumpur,  moleskine,  sculpture,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

    Art & Places: Tugu Negara, KL

    Went to Tugu Negara as per suggestion of UnsungHero (UH). Thank you so much for the idea, if not for you, UH, I will be taking my own sweet time to go. Frankly, I have never visit the National Monument simply because it’s here at home.

    I spent the morning to walk around the area with my son, Yassin, before sitting down to sketch the monument.

    Tugu Negara
    Yassin was actually lying on his stomach to be in his comfortable position to draw. Haha.

    tugunegara
    Tugu Negara (National Monument) sketch. I made one round before finding a good angle to draw. Save me the time to draw all 7 statues! Pencil and colorpencil on Moleskine Plain Notebook. 

    The sculpture depicts a group of soldiers, with two slumped at the base and one holding the Malaysian national flag aloft. Each of the bronze figures symbolizes leadership, suffering, unity, vigilance, strength, courage and sacrifice. The granite base of the sculpture bears the old coat of arms of Malaysia, flanked on either side by inscriptions in English in Latin script and Malay in Jawi script: ‘Dedicated to the heroic fighters in the cause of peace and freedom, May the blessing of Allah be upon them.’

    The monument was designed by sculptor, Felix De Weldon who was also responsible for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Virginia, United States. Completed early 1966, the sculpture stands at 15 meters (49.21 feet) tall and is the world’s tallest bronze free-standing sculpture grouping.

    Yassin at Tugu Negara Malaysia, KL

    And here’s Yassin’s drawing:

    yassin's-drawing-of-tugu
    Yassin said the monument is too hard to draw (left) so he later a soldier with gun (right).

    Reference: Wikipedia – National Monument (Malaysia)

     

     

  • Kuala Lumpur,  local events

    Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur Grand Opening

    A new chapter in the history of The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur is being written yesterday (8 December 2012), signalling not just a rebirth but heralding a second renaissance. Clad in deep history since 1932, the colonial heritage building has been meticulously restored as YTL Classic Hotel.


    Image credit: The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

    Regarded as one of the great hotels of Asia in its heyday, Hotel Majestic was once a prestigious landmark in Kuala Lumpur akin to the likes of London’s Dorchester, Hong Kong’s Peninsular, Singapore’s Raffles, New York’s Waldorf Astoria and Paris’ George V. The hotel was an icon of Malaya’s boom years leading to World War II and came to be the place for glamorous social events, government receptions and the residence for prominent international visitors.

    The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur includes the original Hotel Majestic which is documented as a national heritage site under the Malaysian Antiquities Act. time. The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur is positioned to share the glamour, heritage and success of its predecessor as a YTL Classic Hotel.

    The fine luxury hotel at Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin now features 300 plush rooms. The Majestic Wing consists of the original building with 47 classical suites, while the Tower Wing which complements it, features 253 luxurious rooms and suites.


    Poolside, Tower Wing, The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

    In his opening speech yesterday, Dato’ Mark Yeoh, Executive Director of YTL Hotels said that YTL is confident that the rebirth of the hotel will see it flourish once again, reclaiming its place as one of Asia’s finest properties. Speaking right after his brother, Tan Sri Dato’ (Dr) Francis Yeoh hopes that the hotel will help to reaffirm Kuala Lumpur’s status as one truly great international city.


    Tan Sri Dato’ (Dr) Francis Yeoh.

    The glorious opening of The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur was celebrated by a performance of American jazz singer and pianist, Freddy Cole (and his Quartet). Freddy showed his dexterity in rendering remarkable songs like “I’m not my Brother, I’m Me”, “Pretend” and “I Love You”.


    Freddy Cole Quartet.

     Here is moi with blogger BFF buddy, LadyJava.

     

     

  • Family travel,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia

    KL Forest Eco Park, Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve

    My son was not around during the second week of last school holiday as he went for a trip to an island with his dad and brother (boys trip), but still, I have the itch to go somewhere. Having my sister’s kids with me, I told them to put on something sporty and follow me for a hill walk at Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve (re-branded as KL Forest Eco Park (Taman Eko Rimba KL), by the Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM) in November 2009.)

    KL Forest Eco Park is one of the oldest permanent forest reserve in the country.  It covers an area of approximately 11 hectares and is the only remaining tropical rainforest in the heart of the city of Kuala Lumpur. It was gazetted in 1906 and was formerly known as Bucket Weld Forest Reserve. In 1934, it was gazetted as a Wildlife Reserve and Bird Sanctuary. In 1950, a pristine section of about 5 hectares was gazetted as a Virgin Jungle Reserve. KL Forest Eco Park functions as a Green Lung as well as a recreational area for city dwellers. Here we can see the rich variety of flora that flourishes within the forest includes rare herbs, creepers, ferns, climbers and giant bamboo grasses. When you’re treading a forest, you should obviously buy ar 15 accessories

    For a city dweller who lives in KL/Selangor for 30 years, it was a shame that I have not made the effort to visit the forest earlier. If I made the effort in the 80s to visit the place, I would’ve the chance to take the cable car ride, to see the forest from bird’s eye view.

    Anyway, we took the Raja Chulan entrance, not knowing that there are actually another 3 entrances to the park; one at Jalan Ampang (after the junction to Sultan Ismail and Kg Baru; at Wariseni Gallery), one at KL Tower and another one at Jalan Bukit Nanas.

    Starting off at Jalan Raja Chulan main entrance, we took the Sindora Track where it leads to forest trails, camping site, KL Tower and Wariseni Gallery. There’s a tiled steps as well as old steps. If you wear hiking boots, you can take the old steps but for safety reason, we took the tiled one. Right before we climbed up the steps, we visited the Herb Garden and Wild Orchid House; there was not much to see  here. The Wild Orchid House was locked and we could not enter to see the orchids.


    Sindora Track.

    Along the walk, we got ourself educated with tree names. There’s Kelat, Meraga, Petaling and many more. I assume that Petaling Jaya or Petaling Street were both named after Petaling tree. Petaling tree is considered commercial as the the timber is used house posts and other heavy construction purposes such as bridge bearers for logging roads and railways, foundation piles, fence posts, flooring and tool handles. Other than that it can be utilised for pallets, boxes, and crates. The bark is used medicinally and the seeds are edible.


    Trees at KL Forest Eco Park.

    Petaling fruit.

    After about 20 minutes-walk up the steps, we saw the entrance from KL Tower. We took a few minutes rest to catch out breath. Well, it was more me catching my breath. The two kids were quite fit.


    KL Tower entrance to the park.

    After that we walked along one of the forest trails; Penarahan Trail that leads to Hopea Track. The Penarahan Trail measures at 150m and took us about 15 to 20 minutes. Along the trail we got to see more trees that we haven’t seen before. Here are some photos I took along the walk at Penarahan Trail and Hopea Track.

    We walked about another 150m along Hopea Track before reaching Bamboo Walk and a secret garden!

    My nephew, Danial, posing at giant bamboo trees at Bamboo Walk.

    The secret garden!

    Well, the secret garden is actually a camping site called Dataran Hijau. It is a garden decorated with gazebos, garden tables and seats, flowers, not to mention more trees! I think this is a good place where you can bring your family for a picnic. Not sure whether picnicking is allow here; a question that I will ask the Forestry Department later.

    Later we walked along the Shorea Track to discover a Par Course. A good place where you can stretch your muscles after a long walk.

    The Shorea Track took us about 30 minutes (about 300m walk) before reaching the end of the park that leads to Wariseni Gallery (MTC Timber Gallery) at Jalan Ampang.

    Canopy of trees. I did not forget to look up.

    It was a tiring but overall, a good walk. I think we walked about 2 to 3 hours. We skipped a lot of trails; namely Arboretum Trail, Jelutong Trail and Merbau Trail. Below is my walking map that I drew myself based on the map near the Information Center.:

    Click to see larger image.

    Here are some information about the park:

    Visiting hours: 7.00am to 6.00pm daily including weekends and public holidays.
    Entrance Fee: Free
    Contact: Forestry Department, KL Lot 240, Bukit Nanas, Jalan Raja Chulan 50250 Kuala Lumpur.
    Tel : 03-20706342

    Bibliography:
    http://www.mtc.com.my/info/images/stories/pdf/tm-vol-16-4.pdf
    http://www.nre.gov.my/English/Ecotourism/Pages/BukitNenasForestReserve.aspx
    http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Products/AFDbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=18160

  • Family travel,  FT of Malaysia,  Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia

    National Textile Museum, KL

    Since I was in the vicinity of Independence Square last school holiday (I visited KL Children’s Library and KL City Gallery), I took the chance to bring my son and nephew to visit the National Textile Museum. Well, it think it was more of me taking the chance. I love looking at textile and thought I go and educate myself on the history of textiles.

    The National Textile Museum is located in a building  formerly the Federated Malay States Railway Station built in 1905. It was conserved and refurbished as museum on 2007.

    The museum explores the rich diversity of the peoples of Malaysia and traces the development and trend of textiles that have characterised and shaped the lifestyle of Malaysians as early as the pre-historic era right up to the modern time. Upon entering the museum on the ground floor we visited two galleries: Gallery Pelangi and Gallery Pohon Budi. Gallery Pelangi traces the Malaysia’s textile evolution and exhibits selected heritage collection of batiks (block prints, tie-dye and hand drawn), Baba & Nyonya textile, Sarawak textile and India textile.


    Textile on display.


    1. Wooden block with floral motif. | 2. Relak nuts – a traditional material used in washing the cloth to be calendered so that the cloth will smell fragrant.

    Gallery Pohon Budi showcases the origins of textiles from the pre-historic time as well as its growth through trade. Also exhibited are tools, materials and techniques of textile-making processes of weaving, embroidery, batik-printing and many more. There are also videos showing the process and I actually felt pretty proud because my husband was one of the person involved in the making of the videos.

    Before we could climb the stairs to see exhibits in other galleries, Yassin and Danial were already tired. So we skipped the upper part of the museum and promised to come back and continue. It was really tiring as we were out as early as  9.30am up until 1pm. We took a bus to KL as my car was in a workshop due to a minor accident. We had heavy breakfast at 10am at Secret Recipe’s, Central Market.

    Overall, we had a great time reading the print exhibits and learning the history of textiles and how textiles were made. One of the things we learned that the checkered Pelikat sarong was brought from Port of Pulicat, India during Melaka’s heyday as prominent trading center in the 15th century. I always love the feeling of getting ‘richer’ with information when visiting museums. Do you feel that way?

    For those who like to visit the National Textile Museum, opening time is from 9.00am to 6pm daily. It will on be closed on first day of Eid’ul Fitri and Eid’ul Adha. Admission is free. Free guided tours are available upon request. You need to call for reservation for groups and schools.

    Address:
    National Textile Museum
    26, Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin
    50050 KL.
    Tel: +603-26943457/3461