Classic Malaysia

JONKER STREET

Jonker Street – the centre street of Chinatown – was once renowned for its antique shops. However over the years it has turned to clothing and crafts outlets as well as restaurants. The best part of Jonker Street is the night market on Fridays and Saturdays that sells everything from tasty treats to cheap keepsakes.

ST. PAUL’S CHURCH

The ruins of St. Paul’s Church are at the summit of St. Paul's Hill. Built on the site of the last Malaccan sultan’s istana (palace), it was constructed by Portuguese fidalgo (nobleman) captain, Duarte Coelho, in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life during a storm at sea.

Roofless and covered in ferns, it was originally called the Nossa Senhora da Annunciada (Our Lady of the Annunciation). Though it has been in ruins for more than 150 years, it is a beautiful, breezy sanctuary (reached after a steep flight of stairs) set near the remains of A’ Famosa fort.

BABA NYONYA HERITAGE MUSEUM

At the beginning of the 16th century, merchants and entrepreneurs were lured to Malacca’s shores due to stories of the city’s burgeoning success and wealth. In particular the city saw an influx of Chinese traders who arrived in droves in an effort to escape Manchu rule. These entrepreneurs went on to marry local Malay women – descendents of these marriages were known as Peranakan or ‘Straits-born Chinese’.

Their relative success resulted in these expatriate merchants becoming the principal wealth catalysts of the thriving city. The ‘Babas’ (male Sino-Malays) flaunted their affluence by purchasing Dutch townhouses and transforming them into out-and-out palaces. The interiors of these homes were opulent and stuffed to the tee with Dutch-influenced fixtures including hand-painted tiles and Victorian lamps.

Petronas Towers

Petronas Twin Towers were once the tallest buildings in the world. Now the world’s tallest twin structures, the 88-storey buildings were designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates with both towers joined at the 41st and 42nd floors (175m above street level) by a 58 metre-long, double-decker Sky Bridge.

Standing 452 metres tall, the Petronas Twin Towers retained its world-title claim to fame until 2004 when Taipei's 101 was built, measuring 508 metres tall. Today, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (opened in 2010) retains the spot as the world’s tallest building. Located in the KL city centre, the Petronas Twin Towers’ architecture is Islamic-inspired and the buildings primarily house the corporate headquarters of the Petronas Company and other offices.

When the Petronas Twin Towers were completed in 1998 they were declared the tallest buildings in the world, surpassing the 442-metre-tall Willis Tower in Chicago, U.S.A. At the base of the Petronas Twin Towers is Suria KLCC, an upmarket shopping mall that is very popular with tourists.

Tower One is fully occupied by the Malaysian state oil company Petronas, and its subsidiaries and associate companies. Tower Two is mostly taken up by multinational companies such as Accenture, Al-Jazeera, Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, Boeing, IBM, McKinsey & Co., Microsoft, Reuters and more.

Chinatown Kuala Lumpur

At the heart of Kuala Lumpur is an area which never sleeps, and far more colourful and bustling than its bigger and more glamourous neighbours, KLCC & Bukit Bintang. Chinatown, based in Petaling Street, is also known as 'Chee Cheong Kai' (Starch Factory Street), a reference to its roots as a tapioca-producing district. Deeply immersed in Oriental culture, heritage and history, Chinatown is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist spots in Malaysia.

Chinatown is also a well-known bargain hunter’s paradise, a place where you can find all sorts of stuff from Chinese herbs to imitation goods. At night, its main market area, Petaling Street, transforms into a lively and vibrant night market, filled with hundreds of stalls offering all kinds of goods at dirt-cheap prices.

Chinatown Attractions
Chinatown’s biggest attraction is perhaps the rows and rows of stalls selling all types of merchandise from food to clothing at bargainable prices. But look further and you will find that there’s more to Chinatown than fake branded goods.

Just around the corner from this paradise of bargains are temples that have been around for more than a century. Built in 1873, the Sri Mahamariamman Temple is the oldest and most elaborately-designed Hindu temple in the country, while Chan See Shu Yuen Temple and Kuan Ti Temple are fine examples of Oriental architecture with open courtyards, symmetrical pavillions and embellished roofs.
 
Chinatown Restaurants
Chinatown is practically filled with Chinese restaurants and hawker stalls selling all sorts of delicacies from steamed buns to seafood. Almost everywhere you look, a Chinese restaurant greets your eyes, the glorious smells wafting from its kitchen beckoning you to come inside and sample what’s cooking.

But those are not the only things you can find here; there are many more popular delicacies that are unique to Chinatown and can’t be found anywhere else in the city. What’s best about these places is that they are all open until late at night, well into the wee hours of the morning.

Chinatown Nightlife
The nightlife in Chinatown is in a league of its own; it’s not about rows of clubs, pubs and bars offering music-and-alcohol-fuelled entertainment, but the extra colour that seems to grow more vibrant at night, lighting up Petaling Street and its surroundings. The Reggae Bar and The Beatles Bar are situated just across the road from each other, offering a laid-back environment to chill out in.

Chinatown’s night market serves as the area’s main attraction – even bigger and more happening than during the daytime – giving you a kind of nightlife that is quite different from what you may be used to. Soak in the atmosphere of this legendary night market as you trawl the rows of shops and stalls in what is deemed the mother of all night markets.

Chinatown Shopping
Chinatown’s most well-known shopping area is undoubtedly located along the stretch of road called Petaling Street. Marked by a huge, green awning sheltering shoppers from rain and daytime heat, the street is practically stocked to the brim with shops and stalls along it offering all kinds of goods at dirt-cheap prices, from fake branded fashion items to delicious hawker food. The best thing is, the prices can be brought lower still as haggling is the way of life here.

But besides Petaling Street, there are also quite a number of shopping centres around Chinatown, with three malls and a touristy bazaar called ‘Central Market’ (Pasar Seni) serving the area, which, although not as grand and glamourous as their counterparts in the city’s more upmarket areas, offer plenty of good bargains within its walls. Aside from Petaling Street market and shopping malls, there are plenty of independent shops dotted all over Chinatown.

Chinatown Activities
Believe it or not, there are more to Chinatown than hunting for bargains and shopping ‘til you drop. Chinatown is practically littered with foot massage parlours and foot reflexology centres. There is one in every corner, claiming to be the best in town. They’re not only strategically placed, but also reasonably priced as well, making it convenient for visitors to just drop in for a much-needed pampering for their tired feet after a long day hunting for bargains.

Alternatively, you can simply take a walk around, preferably with a camera in hand, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Kuala Lumpur in its most raw form – unbridled and unpretentious.

Batu Caves

Located approximately 11 kilometres to the north of Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves is a limestone hill comprising three major caves and a number of smaller ones. Considered one of Kuala Lumpur’s most frequented tourist attractions, this 100-year-old temple features idols and statues erected inside the main caves and around it. Incorporated with interior limestone formations said to be around 400 million years old, the temple is considered an important religious landmark by Hindus.

Cathedral Cave – the largest and most popular cavern in Batu Caves – houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100-metre-high arched ceiling. At the foot of Batu Hill are two other cave temples – the Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave – which houses numerous Hindu statues and paintings.

Batu Caves during Thaipusam
Batu Caves is the focal point of the annual Hindu festival of Thaipusam, which attracts thousands of devotees and visitors. Usually held at the end of January, the procession begins on the evening before the Thaipusam Festival at the Sri Mariamman Temple in KL city centre.

The procession more often than not, arrives at Batu Caves in the wee hours of the morning the next day; the entire celebration commences then and is a colourful event that lasts a total of eight hours. In the past the festival has attracted more than one million pilgrims, making it one of the largest gatherings in the world.

Kavadis
Many disciples carry their offerings – containers of milk – to the Lord Muruga on large, brightly decorated ‘kavadis’. Kavadis are two huge semicircular ornate pieces of wood or steel which are bent and attached to a cross structure that can be balanced on the shoulders. These frameworks are also usually combined with various metal hooks and skewers which are used to pierce the skin, cheeks and tongue. The kavadi is decorated with flowers and peacock feathers and some can weigh up to as much as 100 kilos.

Some disciples also fulfil vows that they have made to the Gods by having their bodies pierced by hooks, needles and even skewers and visitors are often fascinated by the dedication of devotees.

The truly amazing feat is when followers begin the arduous climb up the 272 steps to the top of the caves – the trek requires a stunning amount of endurance as they often have to work against the press of the bustling masses. Priests wait at the top to sprinkle consecrated ash over the hooks and skewers piercing the devotees flesh before they are removed.

Information
Opening Hours: Daily, 06:00 - 21:00
Address: Batu Caves, Sri Subramaniam Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603 2287 9422
How to get there: 13km north of Kuala Lumpur How to get there: Take Intrakota bus No 11D from the Central Market or the Cityliner bus No 69 at Jalan Pudu to get to Batu Caves. Taxis are also available anywhere around city.

Tea Plantations

No trip to Cameron Highlands is complete without a trip to the tea plantations. This is one of the main attraction that’s got to be in your “must see” list. You can visit the factories to learn about the tea making process and you can also sit down and enjoy a cup of tea at the cafe. The view overlooking the plantations is beautiful and perfect for the picture album.

Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang

Standing on a hilltop at Air Itam, near Penang Hill, Kek Lok Si is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. The complex is divided into three zones while the temple grounds comprise the hill entrance, souvenir, food and drinks stalls and the turtle liberation pond. The mid section of the temple houses temples, gardens, the pagoda and the four heavenly kings pavilion; meanwhile the hilltop plays host to an enormous statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin as well as more gardens and temples.

Comprising a series of monasteries, prayer halls, temples and beautifully-landscaped gardens, this national icon was built in 1890 by Beow Lean, a devout immigrant Chinese Buddhist. The ten-acre site was purchased in 1893 and the initial temple structure was built on the summit of He Shan. 20 years later, the two-decade long additional construction of this sprawling house of worship is largely funded by donations from the Penang Straits Chinese community.

The complex is a cornerstone of the Malaysian Chinese community. Also known as the ‘Temple of Supreme Bliss’, it features a maze of souvenir kiosks as well as a turtle and fish pond. The turtle pond – known as The Liberation Pond – was built because according to Chinese tradition, turtles symbolize longevity, strength and endurance and the act of capturing and freeing a turtle is a symbol of spiritual liberation.

Kek Lok Si is both carved into the rock face as well as perched atop the slopes of Air Itam. The main attraction here is the impressive pagoda of Rama VI and at the centre of the complex, the seven-storey, 30-metre high tower is acknowledged as the ‘face’ of Kek Lok Si. Topped with a Burmese crown, Ban Po Thar – the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda – displays a collection of alabaster and bronze Buddhas and has a Chinese octagonal base while its middle tiers are of Thai design. Meanwhile sited in the Hall of the Devas, are statues of the Four Heavenly Kings – each of the Kings allegedly controls one of the four points of the compasses – Kwang Mu (Guardian of the West), Tou Wen (Guardian of the North), Ch'i Kuo (Guardian of the East) and lastly Tseg Chang (Guardian of the South).

Additionally, there’s a three-storey shrine with a large Buddha icon that was donated by King Bhumibol of Thailand – you can find several temples here as well as shops and a vegetarian restaurant. At the highest level there is a 36.5 metre-high bronze statue of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy; in the future 16 ornately decorated bronze columns supporting a roof over the statue, as well 1000 two-metre high statues of the goddess are planned to be built.

At the apex are a couple more temples, a fish pond, sprawling gardens and 12 animal statues that represent the Chinese zodiac. Kek Lok Si temple houses tablets and imperial Buddhist sutras gifted by Manchu Emperor Kwang Xi and Empress Cixi of the Ching Dynasty; these historic relics are kept in the temple archives. The impressive complex is usually crowded with visitors and is located approximately three kilometres from Penang Hill.