Jalan Bukit Bintang... eat, shop and stay awhile...

One of the most popular KFC restaurants is in Bukit Bintang. It operates 24 hours a day.
City Hall's (DBKL) mobile office is often parked outside the restaurant.
Across the road from the restaurant is the BB Plaza, one of the more popular shopping destinations in KL.
UDA (Urban Development Authority) building adjoins the BB Plaza Complex.
The Selangor Foundation building is next door at the corner. Maybank, the largest local bank has a branch here.
'The Ship' restaurant which advertises as serving the 'best steak in town' is along Bukit Bintang.

Next door to BB Plaza, along Jalan Sultan Ismail, is the Sungei Wang Plaza Complex.

When inside the building, the only way to know when you have left one complex and gone into the other, is to look at the floor - they are different, color and design.

Across the road (Jalan Sultan Ismail) from Sungei Wang is the Park Royal Hotel. This hotel started as the Regent Kuala Lumpur.

The Lot 10 complex is also here.

As mentioned in my earlier post, there are many Middle-Eastern restaurants here.

Here's another one...

... and another one.

The Grand Millennium, which was also at one time the Regent Kuala Lumpur.

Many buildings which started as office complexes have been converted to cater to the changing times.
The KL Plaza, a residential cum shopping complex. The shopping has all but stopped here due to the stiff competition of the neighboring complexes.

It houses the popular Planet Hollywood.

The Marriott at Star Hill.

The Star Hill has evolved to serve an exclusive niche clientele.

The grand entrance to the Marriott.

The Westin is next door.

Menara Keck Seng is next door. This building is host to the Singapore Visitors Centre.
The Pavilion, among the latest of the mega complexes in KL.

The Pavilion stands at the site of the BBGS (Bukit Bintang Girls School). It is said that former students of BBGS are not to visit this complex and are to spit at it when they pass this way.

The golden bull that stands outside the Pavilion at the junction of Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Raja Culan. It was to commemorate the year of the bull.

Jalan Bukit Bintang... shopping, shopping and more...

A taxi driver once told me that the area is called Bukit Bintang (literally star hill) due to the many cabaret stars who resided here during the heydays of the BB Cabaret. I'm not sure if that is true, but this is still a popular shopping destination, especially with the many shopping complexes or malls here.

Let's begin at the junction of Jalan Bukit Bintang with Jalan Pudu. This was the location of 2, then famous, cinemas - Cathay and Pavilion. Both have since been demolished and in its place is this car park.

On the other side is an old hotel the Emerald. Bormas, that popular photocopy centre we saw in Jalan Ipoh has an outlet here.

Across the road (Jalan Pudu) on an elevated level stands the Kuala Lumpur police contingent head quarters.

Further along Jalan Pudu is the (in)famous Pudu prison known locally as the Pudu Jail. At one time it boasted on having the world's longest wall mural.

There are a number of budget hotels along this short stretch.

They are brightly painted with eye-catching bill boards.

In addition to some motor repair and accessories shops there is also this business from a bygone era.

I do wonder who their clients are.

There are all types of business operating along this street. Here we see a mini market.

The Royal Bintang, may be considered a new comer in the hotel business.

The green building at the end of the road is the Sun Complex. Some colorful stories are often told with regards to the ongoings at this place.

Here you have 2 convenience store chains operating outlets side by side.

The circular construction on top was probably the first revolving restaurant in Kuala Lumpur or maybe Malaysia.

The Federal Hotel, which boasts the revolving restaurant, was the first luxury hotel built to house the international guests who came for Malaya's independence day celebrations.

As is typical anywhere in this country, food is never a problem. Organic food is also available here.

This seems to be a new franchise restaurant chain.

Another old hotel along this street...

... the Malaysia Hotel.

This was the place of numerous massage parlors that offered more than just a massage. These days, however, they have become more respectable, at least that's what I can deduce from the sign boards.

I thought that this was a man wielding an axe. When I later saw it un-wrapped, it was a 'teh-tarik' man.

With the influx of tourists from the Middle-East, its no wonder that many restaurants serving Middle-Eastern food has sprung up in the area.

Sentul - The face of things to come

I had my secondary education in Sentul - La Salle and Methodist Boys Schools. It was a railway men's town then, consisting mainly of railway workers' quarters. This was the late 1960's early 1970's.

I do pass Sentul every now and then, and also occasionally shop at the Sentul Pasar wet market.

The other day, I noticed something like a new railway station being constructed. I happened to have my camera with me, so I decided to take some shots to share.



A new station is under construction. This will be bigger and hopefully, more comfortable than the existing one.

These are probably the last days of this station that has stood here from, I'm assuming, before independence.

The police station and living quarters nearby appear to be deserted.

The place has been walled up. There was no sign of anybody, not even a guard, at the premises.

Unlike at most abandoned buildings, the sign here has not faded.

Another view of the abandoned building, notice the high-rise in the background.

It would appear that the quaint little railway men's town is fast changing its facade to become an exclusive residential address.