Wai Yeng Kong

Skip the fancy hotels (and even fancier prices) for a chic weekend getaway in these small, boutique hotels in KL instead. From restored houses to minimalistic bed and breakfasts and decidedly Malaysian hotels paying tribute to local culture, these stylish hotels guarantee an unconventional stay you won't forget.

The best public libraries in the city for the bookishly curious, and kids.

Getting fit doesn't have to cost a thing at these running trails. We tell you where you can run on tar roads while still staying close to nature at Putrajaya Presint 3, go up the challenging slopes of the infamous Ammah Hill, jog at the popular KLCC Park and more.

You can now outsource your household and business errands, find legal help, get laundry done, and everything else in between (that’s legal) at the tap of your smartphone.

Hushed libraries and food courts during non-peak hours aren’t the only places in KL for you to sneak in some quiet time: If you’re looking for a spot free of the city’s hollering kopitiam uncles, loud mall rats and honking taxis, retreat to these quiet spots in KL for a calm hour or two of relaxation. It won’t beat a long spa session, but you’ll be free from the chatter and din for a while.

From 40-minute eye treatments to 30-minute facials, here are the best beauty treatments under one hour in KL.

The residents of Salak South are still living their days in a haze of ’70s nostalgia. But the small, Mandarin-speaking town was established way back in time – 1952 to be specific, when the British isolated the villagers from the Malayan Races Liberation Army during the Malayan Emergency. Jalan Besar, the main street abutting the LRT station, is populated by old-timers who live in close contact with disparate parts of the past. They have seen the war; they’re making ends meet with the trades bequeathed to them by their forefathers; they, naturally, also know where the best yum cha place in the area is. The first generation of shopowners and merchants pumped life into this sleepy town, but they also saw their communities wither as younglings left their nest to join the big city – this is a dominant, recurring theme among languishing townships. So it’s no surprise to find old sign boards dated from the ’50s still attached to storefronts, or medicinal hall owners putting their slightly rusty but trusty weighing scales to good use. Much of the activity in the neighbourhood now hinge on family businesses and longstanding eateries. Slowly, the outside world – drawn by Jalan Besar’s architectural jewels – starts to rediscover the battered corridors, ornamental grills and vintage roofs again, by way of independently hosted photography excursions and walks. The neighbourhood seemingly lacks a collective community spirit when you meander by. But you only need a snapshot of a group of ol

As if time has held Pekan Sungai Besi hostage, the town has remained fairly untouched for the past 80 years. Many have walked unsuspectingly into this former tin-mining hub, unaware of its economic significance that weaved KL’s rich tapestry. While skyscrapers have cowed our heritage sites into docility, Pekan Sungai Besi – with its pre-war buildings and ex-military community still intact – quietly thrives in its safe little bubble. Our knowledge of Pekan Sungai Besi is patchy at best – you probably know it as the congested kampung next to the Sungai Besi LRT station; the undocumented vestigial of the early settlements during the Emergency period. The town, labelled as a secondary heritage zone under the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020, was promised a RM10million facelift in 2013, but as of today, the roads are still riddled with holes, the drains clogged, the wet market in disrepair. In street names we find stories and our ancestry. But the original road names in Pekan Sungai Besi, like ‘Market’, and ‘Post Office’, didn’t reflect the historical importance of the area; they’ve since been renamed Jalan Suasa, which alludes to a type of yellowish metal that contains a mixture of copper and gold. The buildings dating back to the 1930s, however, serve more powerful narratives – they recount the lives of ex-miners, the old but highly essential trades of tailors and barbers, and the architectural footprints of colonialism. Pekan Sungai Besi’s old-school magnetism comes in part from its

Christopher Wong, a KLite like so many of us, did not know that a stately, white building called Loke Mansion existed. The people working in the Medan Tuanku area, where Loke Mansion is located, possess no knowledge of the significance of this venerated relic, and neither did our city’s best navigators, the taxi drivers. Previously, Loke Mansion was mentioned very briefly in Time Out KL when we encountered it during our city walkabouts – we knew it as the former residence of business tycoon and philanthropist Loke Yew; now home to the Cheang & Ariff law firm. But little did we know that we were staring at a breathtaking manifestation of immense wealth and power, and a poignant example of the city’s struggle to safeguard its physical history. 'Will our future generation know who Loke Yew is?' Loke Mansion, constructed from an amalgam of dissonant yet harmonious architectural styles, wasn’t what you see today. The Chinese moongate and balustrades, the Dutch-style gables with a hint of Moorish splendour, and the Malay window shade designs were once shrouded in foot-high grass, overlooking a muddied compound which had been turned into a carpark. It was a natural flood pond, a breeding ground for mosquitoes as well as a decaying ghost building colonised by drug addicts and the homeless. The decrepitude gave off an uneasy vibe, as if it was readied for another impending high-rise, until Dato’ Loh Siew Cheang – managing partner of the Cheang & Ariff law firm – restored the mansi

Dain Said is not telling us his age. ‘You’re judged by your age,’ he says with a faint British accent. Age is often seen as something to be feared, to be patronised, as if we’d be penalised for not looking and ageing a certain way. Dain, like Madonna, is telling us that we can’t live outside time, but we can still tell a story – build a legacy, even – that could outlast ourselves. Dain spent most of his formative years in the attic of his London home, where his family had relocated to from their kampung in Tumpat, Kelantan. He left school at 15, but was constantly devouring books and poetry, which spoke to him a private language of love and nuance, whose fictional worlds enlarged him as a person. ‘“Iskandar”, my friends used to call me that in the UK. “The headmaster is asking for you”. I had a very checkered educational background.’ Thomas Hardy, Susan Sontag and Joseph Conrad may have a place in Dain’s personal literary pantheon, but it is film that truly fascinates him. The filmmaker graduated from London’s University of Westminster in Film and Photography in 1990, before directing short films, TV shows, advertisements and two feature films locally: the unreleased ‘Dukun’ in 2007, and the awardwinning ‘Bunohan’ in 2012. ‘Bunohan’, a product of Dain’s unifying aesthetic and dramatic sensibilities, earned its rightful place as Malaysia’s entry for the Oscars’ Best Foreign Language Film category. It’s a tour de force of cinematic energy, where action clashes as mightily as

‘I believe in creative infidelity,’ says U-Wei Haji Saari, who has always been fond of adaptations. The award-winning filmmaker transposes text to the big screen without losing thread of the action and heart, creating the cinematic equivalent of the novels he adapted from while paying tribute to their literary latticework. His films are purveyors of semi-neorealism, shedding light on strife in starkly human terms and the plight of the oppressed, ordinary people. Book-to-film adaptations are as ambitious and brave as they are potentially disastrous. But U-Wei evokes the cadence of the source material and crystallises the plot with lush cinematography, like his version of William Faulkner’s ‘Barn Burning’, ‘Kaki Bakar’ (1995), which was screened at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard category. He reveals not only the vastness of the author’s imagination but also his own respect for culture, literature and the sympathetic depiction of the common man. Alas, expectations can be managed, but not popularity. U-Wei’s previous films, ‘Kaki Bakar’ and ‘Jogho’ (a story of vengeance set in the bull-fighting Patani Malay community of Southern Thailand), failed to rake in ticket sales locally even though they wooed the foreign crowd. This made the production crew for ‘Hanyut’, the director’s latest, a little anxious – the film, pegged at a RM18 million budget, is only being played in Malaysia now after a three-year delay due to lack of promotional funding. The oversized budget has invited mu

Artisanal carpenters are rewriting the rules of woodworking, crafting top-drawer furniture with bespoke designs in their backyard. Here are the seven names to watch. RECOMMENDED: Best secondhand furniture shops in KL

Leave it to the veteran chefs at Leng Kee to bring it home with a menu built around seafood dishes. Staples such as siong tong lala, salted egg sotong and seng kua (luffa gourd) tofu won’t exactly knock you back in your seat but they’re still reassuringly good. The kitchen is especially adept with Cantonese-style cooking, breaking convention once in a while with dishes like the Hakka-inspired braised pork belly with preserved vegetables – the sheer variety of dishes, as well as the restaurant’s speedy service, are compelling reasons for the restaurant’s firm popularity and staying power. Leng Kee is one of the shrinking number of Chinese restaurants that serves a straight-up meal while scoring big in the flavour department – it just goes to show that you don’t have to be fussy to draw a following.

August 2011 I love the butt of my duck. Crackling crispy skin, tender meat with a smoky undertone – yeah, I’ve heard ’em all about a roast duck. But if you know your bird, you’ll chomp down to the bum – the chewy, richly-flavoured, and disgustingly (it’s a fowl’s ass after all) adipose-packed duck butt is quacktacular. All the herby essence is collected at the duck’s bottom and if you snip it into tiny slabs, they make an excellent beer snack. The queue at Sun Ming starts at 11am and come any later than 2pm, you’ll have to eat cucumbers for lunch. Although the restaurant replenishes yummy ducks from the roaster throughout the day, Sun Ming closes when all its dishes run out. The biggest draw for me is still the unfussy, honey-glazed char siew – the fatty layer and charred bits are unmistakably well-proportioned. Always, always ask for the special char siew sauce. Commendable too were the fork-tender siu yuk and yong tau fu. And while you’re at it, go the whole hog with a generous helping of slightly blackened yet moist duck liver sausages. Offal too bourgeois for you? Wait till you see the number of happy (chicken) feet swimming in our ABC soup. Chicken parts, which aren’t served to you, like shinbones, neck and giblets are simmered with peanut, watercress, black bean or old cucumber to make soup. The steamed broth is mildly-seasoned, allowing the vegetables, chicken remnants and herbs to elicit their natural piquancy. The real clanger here is perhaps timing – if the chicken

The revelation that there are still eating places which exist serenely above the clamour of foodie fashion is deeply comforting. The food at Good Taste is irreproachably dai chow-classic, although the dimly-lit restaurant could use a pump of Febreze. The photos of dishes plastered across the walls, which are in fact their menu in entirety, are reliable predictors of what will actually arrive at the table. It’s interesting how the chef has maintained a disciplined vision of his cooking while leaving plenty of room for you to enjoy something your sceptical Cantonese grandmother would probably frown on. Like the intriguing Mongolian-style chicken strips, deep-fried frogs, or the braised pig trotter cooked with salted fish and dried shredded squid. But you’ll never go wrong with their signature ‘yat zi guat’ (RM24): This huge slab of pork rib is on par with the archetype that’s been served at upscale Chinese restaurants. The sticky-sweet glaze pushes flavours into a pleasant, intense realm of smokiness – mop up the sauce with the fried mantao and try not to smile. A plate of stir-fried kalian (RM15) isn’t going to start a conversation but upping it with a smattering of salty muy choy (preserved mustard greens), minced pork and cili padi will. With every dish that exits the kitchen, what becomes clear is that Good Taste is still gunning for that pared-down Cantonese approach while ruffling expectations once in a while to deliver an element of surprise. The chef can whip up a tradi

Passion, and a desire to showcase the different types of local wood to the world, prompted two former schoolmates, Daniel Salehuddin and Khairul Asyraf, to get their woodworking business on its feet. The duo was working on a kufic art project for their newlywed friend, and they developed an interest in woodworking along the way. A business idea was immediately hatched – Daniel and Asyraf (together with manager Fiqkri Ismail who joined them last year) began to construct furniture using local materials such as meranti, nyatoh, kasah, balau and resak, producing long-lasting goods like their best-selling herringbone-patterned dining table. Fine Grit is already looking at a factory for mass production, but a café or a residential area with their stamp on it isn’t a dream too far away.

Fatt Hei Len is shaping up to be Cheras’s estimable answer to stellar Cantonese fare. The restaurant is constantly perfumed with a heady scent of siu heng wine emanating from the all-time favourite steamed fish that servers shuttle between tables. Props must be given to the chefs’ unflashy precision as they bring refined cooking reserved for swanky restaurants to a neighbourly scale: The sticky-sweet pork ribs, steamed rice in lotus leaf, and salted egg prawns easily qualify as wedding banquet entrées if you pay no heed to the plating. Fatt Hei Len adheres to the principles of modest cooking while delivering bold flavours, but trust the restaurant to whip up a showstopper occasionally, like their claypot prawn porridge – a comforting, shareable dish that makes everyone at the table huddle around.

For those who have to switch trains at the congested Chan Sow Lin station to commute toward the city centre, good news – you don’t have to do that anymore. According to Bernama, commuters using the Rapid KL LRT Ampang Line can travel directly from the Ampang station to Sentul Timur starting from tomorrow (Dec 1, Thursday). Previously, auxillary police personnel and Rapid KL staff were stationed at Chan Sow Lin’s Platform 1B to facilitate the crowd during peak hours in the morning. With the new signalling system (or technically termed as the Communication-Based Train Control) now in place, all Ampang and Sri Petaling Lines will be using the new six-car AMY trains instead. According to Rapid Rail chief executive officer Datuk Zohari Sulaiman, all Adtranz trains serving the Ampang Line since 1996 will be completely decommissioned.

The humble beginnings and life of Datuk Lee Chong Wei as a sports icon will get the big screen treatment, chronicled in an upcoming film, ‘Rise of the Legend’. Teng Bee, who previously directed the 2012 film ‘Kepong Gangster’, will be helming Chong Wei’s biopic. The national shuttler only gave his approval to film his life story after three years.   Chong Wei bagged his second silver Olympic medalPhoto by: Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia         Slated for a release in 2018, ‘Rise of the Legend’ will only begin filming in 2017. No word from the production team if Chong Wei will be making an appearance in the film, but a nationwide audition to cast the right candidate to play the Malaysian hero will take place soon. It’ll be a Malaysian film, for Malaysia.

Director Tunku Mona Riza’s ‘Redha’, a film about a father who comes to terms with his son’s autism, has been selected as Malaysia’s official entry to compete for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards on February 26 next year. ‘Redha’ is the fourth film to be sent for consideration by the Oscars committee after ‘Puteri Gunung Ledang’ (Saw Teong Hin, 2005), ‘Bunohan’ (Dain Said, 2013), and 'Lelaki Harapan Dunia' (Liew Seng Tat, 2015). The film, starring Nam Ron, June Lojong, Nadiya Nisaa, Remy Ishak, Ruminah Sidek, Susan Lankester, and child actors Harith Haziq and Izzy Reef, has won several accolades previously including Best Actress and Special Jury Award at the World Premiere Film Festival 2016 in Manila; Merit Award at the Los Angeles Awareness Film Festival 2016; and the Special Prize for Humanism in Cinematography nominated by the President of Tatarstan.  If you haven’t watched the film yet, here’s a trailer to get you started:  

There’s a strong reason Kampung Baru – the sole traditional Malay village in urban KL – remains one of the most charming places in the city. Houses built in the 1900s; the blunt beauty of derelict flats juxtaposed against the quaint shops of old-fashioned Malay tailors, songkok makers, barbers, and cobblers; the nasi biryani that transcends generations – they are all familiar ingredients of a warm neighbourhood.         A traditional kampung house stands against the background of towering high-risesBy: Kong Wai Yeng               Kamal Sellehuddin, who fell in love with the village while working as a photographer with The Star for six years, began documenting Kampung Baru as more and more village lots are being sold to developers. Waves of gentrification flood the city, and Kampung Baru – sitting on prime land – is directly in its path. Some of Kamal’s photos reveal personal anecdotes of the people living in the area: Mr Zainal, who rented out his home to Malaysia’s first Minister of Agriculture during the ’50s, refused to sell his house even though the minister deeply insisted because Zainal treasures it too much; Kak Chu, a third generation Kampung Baru resident, claims that although no residents have been forcibly evicted, many have fallen lure to the simple offer of money.     Mr Zainal and his century-old houseBy: Kong Wai Yeng               If we’ve learned anything in the last decade of gentrification in KL, it’s that there will always be a next.  But there are way

Themed ‘What Lies Beneath’, the annual FreedomFilmFest (FFF) returns with reasoned assessments into one of the most gripping global issues of today: human rights. From August 20 to 27, the week-long film festival will showcase 30 honest-to-life stories and host the inaugural Freedom Talks Series as well as masterclasses by renowned filmmakers Marcus Vetter and Sean McAllister . Here are the five films you should look out for:     'The Borneo Case' by Dylan Williams and Erik Pauser         The Borneo Case (90 mins)Dylan Williams and Erik Pauser, Sweden/SarawakAug 20, 2pmAn unlikely cast of investigators dwell deeper into the ongoing destruction of the Borneo rainforest and the billion-dollar profit that have been siphoned into secret bank accounts and property portfolios around the world. Follow them as they try to make sense of what has happened in Sarawak for the past 30 years.     'Kisah Pelayaran ke Terengganu' by Amir Muhammad and Badrul Hisham Ismail             Kisah Pelayaran ke Terengganu (65 mins)Amir Muhammad and Badrul Hisham Ismail, MalaysiaAug 20, 7pmAmir Muhammad journeys to the laid-back and conservative Terengganu, painting a story via a travelogue format, interspersed with quotes from the book ‘Voyage to the East Coast’ (1838). The latter is a work by Munshi Abdullah (also referred to as the father of Malay journalism), which contains scathing observations about the state and the men who live in it. The film will kick off the festival alongside two recipi

Many of us rest on the assumption that the disabled community in KL are consigned to monotonous, isolated lives. But that’s far from the truth. Most of them – some with intellectual potential far beyond their education years – are living quality lives as blind masseurs (the Malaysian Association for the Blind provides woodwork and telephony courses for the visually impaired), kitchen helpers and restaurant managers. Starbucks Malaysia recently launched a new outlet at Bangsar Village II, dedicated to employing hearing-impaired baristas. Working closely with NGO Society of Interpreters for the Deaf (SID) to facilitate the hiring, training and coaching of deaf employees, this first-of-a-kind outlet for Starbucks globally has employed ten deaf ‘partners’, who work alongside three hearing staff.     More info about their initiativePhoto: Kong Wai Yeng         A cool wall that spells out ‘Starbucks’ in manual hand signs graces the entrance, while the hectic counter atmosphere has been replaced with just the sound of whirring coffee machines. The ordering process is pretty straightforward: 1) Mark what you want on the menu card 2) Pass it to the cashier, and he/she’ll give you an order number 3) Wait for your number to pop up on the designated screen 4) Get your order     Menu cardPhoto: Kong Wai Yeng               If you’re one of those obnoxious people who place complicated orders (‘Decaf soy latte with an extra shot, half inch foam, and cream, at 120 degrees’ aka ‘I am a jer

The greatest thing about Taman Cheras, also known as Yulek, isn’t the food. That sounds almost blasphemous, but what really defines Yulek is the decades-old rumah pangsa – the four-storey, walk-up flats. The buildings are structurally angular, but the battered walls are carved out in pretty geometric patterns. Inside, houses – separated by a skylight crisscrossed with clotheslines – huddle tightly together along a sprawling, sun-kissed corridor. Their balconies, cluttered with plants, bird cages or shoes, tell better stories: The retro grills frown disapprovingly on the new crop of whitewashed shops; while their inhabitants – like live exhibits on display – dawdle around, stealing a nap, reading or clipping their nails. We’re all just participating in their daily lives. Photo: Kong Wai Yeng In general, the neighbourhood is clumsily conceived. Shops are scattered in a casual disarray; you never quite know which junction to turn but they mostly lead to the wet market – a cacophony that vibrates with life. The emblematic Yulek resident is a fast walker and an even faster talker; one who can haggle as effortlessly as he or she can skedaddle. Parking here, of course, is a nightmare (hello, this is Cheras). Tempers flare, people swear. But all these will be forgotten when a steamy bowl of pork noodles is brought right in front of you. Hold on, did we mention that it takes at least 35 minutes for your pork noodles to arrive? Well, good luck. Drink this Tong sui Photo: Kong

For many people living in the Bukit Bintang area, life without Imbi Market on Jalan Melati is inconceivable. The wet market, home to a mammoth offering of fresh produce and local food, had to relocate again after 30 years to make way for the mega Tun Razak Exchange project (60 years ago, the market occupied the space where Fahrenheit 88 is located currently). More than 250 vendors were expected to shift since April 22 to the Integrated Commercial Complex (ICC), which accommodates up to 293 stalls for market traders, a food court with 83 lots, along with 576 parking bays for cars and 92 for motorcycles. The complex will soon introduce a banquet hall that can fit at least 1,000 people, as well as a multi-purpose hall equipped with badminton, volleyball and basketball courts. Ah Weng Koh We’re happy to report that Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea is up and running, and the owners have taken up a separate shoplot on their own, away from the Medan Selera that’s just next door. The kopitiam is an institution that has inspired deep loyalties: Regular customers – even before the shop was officially launched – are seen lapping up toasts, soft-boiled eggs and Hainan tea on a riotous morning. Some of the famous food stalls from Imbi have also joined Ah Weng Koh’s little corner, including Sam Kee (Ah Joe) wantan mee, Sisters Crispy Popiah, pork noodles, curry noodles and the famous ginger chicken noodle (giong yong watt kai min). Sisters Crispy Popiah Pork and seafood noodles We didn’t spot

You may have heard of French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed, most recognised for his ‘Perception’ project in the Garbage City settlement of Manshiyat Naser, located in downtown Cairo. The mural, painted across 50 different buildings, can be viewed as a whole only if you stand back and view it from a hillside looking down on the dilapidated houses. You may have also heard that eL Seed left his mark in KL, having painted a ‘calligraffiti’ on the walls facing Wisma Allianz in Lebuh Ampang. We passed by the area recently and were surprised to find that the graffiti has been whitewashed. Now, only faint traces of purple and blue paint are left on the pipes that are attached to the walls.  The original graffiti by eL SeedThe hidden-in-plain-sight graffiti – which boasted broad strokes, colours, and the Malay adage ‘melentur buluh biar dari rebungnya’ written in Jawi script – was created when eL Seed was in town for the MOCAfest last year. For more info about the artist visit elseed-art.com.

Why would any self-respecting adult fantasise about sitting on a jagged throne spiked with – legend has it – the swords of a thousand fallen enemies? But this is the iconic Iron Throne of the Kingdom of Westeros after all, one that has endured much bloodshed with a monarchical power that cannot be bought, even if you have a bank account the size of the Lannisters’. Luckily, you can now sit on the Iron Throne (albeit a replica) for free this weekend. In conjunction with the premiere of ‘Game of Thrones’ season six, the most coveted chair in pop culture will be making its round across three locations: Publika (Apr 23, 11am-5pm); Sunway Pyramid (Apr 24, 11am-2pm) and The Curve (Apr 24, 4pm-7pm). Better, those who decide to take pictures with the throne might also win exclusive ‘Game of Thrones’ merchandise. Surely, they’re thinking of giving away dragons, yes? ‘Game of Thrones’ season six premieres the same time as the US on Apr 25, 9am with same day primetime encore at 9pm, HBO (Ch 411/431).

Once again, KL is listed as one of the most dangerous cities in the region. (If the list on 10awesome.com website in 2013 is to be believed, we’re also the sixth most dangerous city in the world.) Travel and world geography website Worldatlas.com – who claims to be a highly trusted web resource for travellers, students, educators, governments and anyone interested in exploring the world – ranked Kuala Lumpur as No. 2 on their list of ‘Most Dangerous Cities In Asia’, followed by PJ at No. 3, Klang at No. 5 and Johor Bahru at No. 10. The result is based on a user-contributed website Numbeo.com, which created a set of crime indices to compare global cities based on relative levels of crime, safety, law and order. It’s important to note that the nature of the survey is mostly perception-based, posing questions such as ‘How worried are you of being mugged or robbed?’, ‘How much is the problem violent crimes?’ (this is not a typo), etc. All four are said to be infested with risks of falling prey to snatch thieves, scammers, pickpockets, rape, robbery and murder. For instance, the website claims that the Larkin Bus Terminal in JB is ‘infamous for occasional pickpockets’; ‘violent clashes among [Chinese and Indian] gangs being quite frequent’ in Klang; ‘the dense population of PJ… as well as the thriving business community are probably all partly responsible for attracting criminals’; and last but not least, ‘pickpockets and scam artists flood the streets of Kuala Lumpur daily’ and ‘

If you’ve got a story to tell, be it about the environment, climate change, indigenous communities, environmental health, urbanism, mobility or even environmental activism, send in your work and win up to RM3,000. All genres, including full length documentaries and feature films, TV and short documentaries, short films, animations and PSAs, will be given equal consideration. Early bird deadline, March 31; latest deadline, June 30. The KLEFF will take place at Publika from October 14 to 16. For more info, visit kleff.my.