Jalan Sultan Ismail

The Bank Islam building. Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad was the first Islamic Bank in the country.

When Bank Islam was incorporated in the 1980's it enjoyed a 10 year monopoly to allow it to establish itself. It was only after the 10 years that other banks were allowed to operate Islamic windows. These days most banks Islamic operations are through Islamic Banking subsidiaries.

This stretch of Jalan Sultan Ismail, from Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman till Jalan Ampang was non-existant in the 1960's. From Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman till Jalan Raja Laut and further, it was known as Broadrick Road. From Jalan Ampang till Jalan Imbi, it was Treacher Road.

SME Bank set up to assist small and medium enterprises.

SME Bank is a subsidiary of Bank Pembangunan, our industrial development bank.

University Kuala Lumpur's city campus.

The campus building is part of the larger 'Vision City' complex.

A large part of the complex is abandoned, awaiting confirmed buyers before construction is resumed.

This reminds me of the time in the early 1970's when this stretch was completed, it cut through an urban pioneer (a.k.a. squatter) settlement. When KL played host to the PATA (Pacific Area Travel Association) conference, both sides of this stretch was boarded up to prevent delegates to the conference from seeing 'the other side' of KL when passing this road.

The Menara DBKL 3 is sanwitched between the University and Bank Pembangunan buildings.

As you may recall the Menara DBKL 1 and 2 are in Jalan Raja Laut.


Some 'kampung' style wooden houses of Kampung Baru seen from Jalan Sultan Ismail.

What was to have been the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, still abandoned since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997.

Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel.

The KL Tower, raising majesticly atop the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve.

Wariseni along Jalan Ampang. It lies on the pathway that connects the Bukit Nanas Monorail station to the Dang Wangi Kelana Jaya Line station.

A 'wakaf' or rest area at Wariseni.

An information map of the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve.

I must admit that in all my life as a resident of KL, I have never ventured into the forest reserve. It is now one of the things included in my to-do list for this year.