Welcome to my Kuala Lumpur. To start, I'll intoduce you to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman or Jalan TAR for short. Jalan TAR starts at it's junction with Jalan Ipoh / Jalan Pahang / Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz until it's junction with Jalan Parlimen / Jalan Raja /Jalan Tun Perak. There are many budget hotels, shops and eateries along the road. Tomorrow we'll commence our walk from the Chow Kit Monorail Station at the Jalan Ipoh, Jalan Pahang, Jalan Raja Muda junction.
I was at Borders at Time Square the other day when I noticed a book, "A Walking Tour - Kuala Lumpur". Every time I have visitors from out of town, I always have this challenge of where I am going to take them. My sister and her husband will be visiting in February/March ’09 and I want to be prepared. So this seemed like the ideal book for me.
I browsed it. It was interesting, so I bought a copy.
Only upon reading it did I notice that it contained certain ‘facts’ which at best can be considered as outdated:
“Did You Know? In excavating for the foundation of the houses which now form the town of Kuala Lumpur, it was usual to dig up a large number of skeletons, the bones of those who had fallen during the years of Selangor’s internecine strife. As many as 16 skeletons would be discovered in digging out the foundations for a single house.”
Or
“The red hibiscus is called bunga raya locally (which means ‘shoe flower’)…”
Now I said to myself, why not I walk about my city observing what I consider would be of interest to ‘out-of-town’ers and publish them in a blog.
I intend walking one street a week and sharing what I see there, adding any memories I have of the place and any stories I have heard or read.
An if you want to check out the book, it’s by Irish siblings - Audrey Southgate and G Bryne Bracken, and published by Marshall Cavendish.
The above is a rough sketch, not to scale.