Chow Kit Wet Market

The nasi lemak was just average. However, the stalls are indeed popular, judging by the long queues waiting to pack food.

Among my favourite places for nasi lemak are: Restoran Gembira, Section 3, Shah Alam; a stall along Jalan Raja Abdullah, Kg. Baru near the current temporary Dang Wangi Police Station; and Malli's, Taman Bunga Raya near the TAR College. Malli's caters to the evening and dinner crowd, while the other 2 are for breakfast.

Across the road after Jalan Chow Kit is Jalan Raja Bot. This road is closed to traffic. Food and other stalls have taken over the road. There is a small lane to allow cars to pass to the car park at the rear of the building in the corner.

This is the home of the Jalan Raja Bot market. "Raja Bot market? What Raja Bot market?" That's the puzzled response you'll probally get, even from locals, if you ask for directions to the market. Everyone knows it as the Chow Kit market.

Fruit stalls greet you when you enter the market proper.

You can get many types of kampung produce at the fringes of the market, like the lady below, selling petai.

Here is a stall with a colourful display of cakes.

You can also enter the market from Jalan Raja Alang. Here too you will be greeted by fruit stalls.

This is the building that housed the original market. Due to popular demand, the market has way outgrown this building. A number of extensions have been added, but the majority of the trades conduct their business from make-shift stalls.

There I told you, this is the Jalan Raja Bot market and it is managed by the Petty Traders Development and Management Department of City Hall.

A butcher at his stall in the market proper. The butcher is hidden behind his wares, the guy in the front is a customer.

A view of one of the extended sections of the market selling vegetables and stuff.

This is probally the largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur (exception being the wholesale market in Selayang). Every kind of local and imported produce is available here. Meat, poultry, fruits, vegetables - be it fresh, frozen, preserved, canned - whatever you need, you'll most surely get it here. And at very reasonable prices.

What all that varity means to me is that you also get the mixed aroma associated with such a place. That why the first thing I do when I get home is take a shower.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

Formerly named Batu Road, the name was changed in the early 1960's to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, to honour our first King.

His Majesty the King (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) is elected for a period of 5 years by the 9 hereditary Malay Rulers from among themselves. The first King was from Negeri Sembilan, whose ruler is called Yang di-Pertuan Besar, unlike the other states who are ruled by Sultans. The only other exception being Perlis which has a Raja. The states of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak are represented by Governors (Yang di-Pertuan Negeri).

Despite the numerous shopping complexes and malls that have sprung up in all parts of Kuala Lumpur, Jalan TAR is still one on the busiest shopping streets earning itself the distintion of being KL's Golden Mile.

While there are multi-storied departmental stores along Jalan TAR, there still remain some traditional ones that cater to the everyday needs of KL's inhabitants.

The first junction off Jalan TAR is Jalan Chow Kit which connects to Jalan Raja Laut. Although Jalan Chow Kit is small as roads go, it lends it's name to the whole area that spans from the monorail station to Jalan Sultan Ismail, North to South, and Jalan Raja Laut to Kampung Baru, from West to East.

Jalan Chow Kit takes it's name from prominent local Chinese tycoon, Loke Chow Kit. Chow Kit & Co. is said to be KL's first department store catering mainly to the Europeans, but it was never located in the Chow Kit area.

Wikipedia notes that Loke Chow Kit's daughter, Miss Sobreen, was the first Malayan teacher hired by the Bukit Nanas Convent (now SMK Convent Bukit Nanas).

There are lots of fruit and drink vendors, and other petty traders operating from some of the alleys and side-walks along Jalan Chow Kit and Jalan TAR.

If you walk along Jalan Chow Kit, don't miss the traditional wooden Malay house there. It was featured in the local papers some years back. Although I've passed this road many, many times over the years, I only noticed the house after that article came out.

Just across the road from the wooden house are stalls that sell Malay and Indonesian delicacies.


I think I'll stop here for a bit of nasi lemak before I continue.

Let's start with the Chow Kit Monorail Station

The Chow Kit Monorail Station sits right on top of the intersection of 4 roads, namely, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Pahang, Jalan Ipoh and Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz. It was the location of a round-a-bout (known locally as 'bulatan' in Malay and called circle or circus in different parts of the world) the Bulatan Jalan Ipoh. Given the ever increasing traffic in KL, many round-a-bouts have made way for traffic lights.

A view of the station as seen from Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz.

Jalan Pahang. This road links to the federal route 2 which goes all the way to the east coast. Route 2 runs from Klang, the Royal Capital of Selangor, all the way to Kuantan, the Capital of Pahang.

The Institute of Medical Research (or IMR) is at the junction of Jalan Pahang and Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz. It is more than 100 years old and is amongst the most prestigious research institutions in the world.

The institute's initial mission was to implement scientific research into the causes, treatment and prevention of tropical scourges prevalent in Malaya at that time.

Over the years, the institutes direction has changed from disease-oriented research to problem solving which includes behavioral and health systems research.

Further along the road is the Hospital Kuala Lumpur, originally set up by the British as a hospital for the poor and later grew to be the KL General Hospital. It now plays the role as the National Referral Hospital where serious cases from all across the country are transferred here treatment.

The Grand Seasons Hotel is situated along Jalan Pahang, across the road from the IMR.

Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz was formerly known as Princess Road. The yellow and green building at the junction with Jalan Haji Hussin was the Keramat Supermarket, a department store which was a land-mark in its own right during its heyday. It has been closed and abandoned for the last few years.

Further along the this road is what used to be the TPCA Stadium belonging to the Tamilian Physical and Cultural Association. It has been since been taken over by the National Sports Council and renamed the Stadium Raja Muda.

This is Jalan Ipoh which links to federal route 1. Route 1 links runs from Johor Baru in the south to Bukit Kayu Hitam in the North thereby linking Singapore to Thailand.

Stay tuned for my next post, when I start walking along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.