My regular weekends when in Kuala Lumpur are made up of lunch outs and visiting a mall or two. However, on one particular weekend, it was the bomb diggity! Something I've never done before and wouldn't do often, but was great nevertheless!
Whether you're a potential tourist or a bored local, here's three activities you could consider adding to your schedule to spice up a weekend!
1) Visit the MPO, KLCC
The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) had a jazz concert, Mardi Gras in New Orleans sometime in April. While I wasn't too keen initially cz I'm not really into jazz, I agreed to it after some convincing by Char.
Ps: My ticket was partially a birthday gift! Thank you, Char :*
pre-concert at Secret Recipe
We met Jonas and his girlfriend, Svenja there too! The meet wasn't exactly planned cz he decided at a last minute to bring her catch it, on the day she arrived in Malaysia to have a nice, chilled romantic evening. Awww :')
We spent on the cheapest seats in the house which costs RM120 per person (front most)... before Nicky informed me the student price- RM15 *face palm* So take note!!
A difference I noticed between regular concerts and orchestras was the seating price. Regular concerts- more expensive to be closer to the stage. Orchestras- more expensive to be further away from the stage! It all makes sense, of course, just that it never cross my mind before this! Nice to learn something new every day :P
While we enjoyed the bluesy jazzy music in the front row, I was also slightly cringing from getting saliva-misted by the star of the show who was passionately blowing his trumpet LOL
After the break, the fearless Tim and Tom decided we should take the back seats which were empty. Of course, they asked the staff by the door if it was possible and they got a green light! I was fairly surprised, but not complaining cz I definitely enjoyed the show better from the back! Nicky, my JB church friend came to join us at the back too! haha
All in all, it was a great new experience for me. The music was good, the musicians were great. Safe to say I enjoyed the knee-slapping interactive part of the show too, where the guy sang of his love for Malaysia haha
For what's on and more details, check out their website: MPO!
Char, Nicky, Tim, Tom on the LRT
2) Breakfast at Imbi Market
A planned-in-my-head-but-spontaneous breakfast adventure kicked start as we ventured off to Imbi Market (aka Pasar Baru Bukit Bintang) on the monorail! The last time Gup and I tried looking for the market in 2013, we couldn't find it. Now's the perfect chance to wing it! hahaha
Imbi Market is easy to find, now that GPS is widely available. If you decide to go sans technology, it's about a 10-minute walk from Berjaya Times Square, somewhere behind the row of shops in the photo above. Just ask around :P
we found it!
Only problem was finding a place to sit cz it's packed with people! You're bound to share tables with other customers, so just a heads up.
Imbi Market food area has a lot of good food. From wet popiah rolls to laksa to Hainan coffee, just explore the place!
My personal favourite is Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea. Before I get to the food and drink, let's talk about the one issue you'll encounter there- flagging down the uncle to place your order. He'd be shouting around in Cantonese (not out of rudeness, but as warning of hot water and being in a hurry) with high speed movements that you'll feel both a sense of accomplishment and intimidation when you successfully get him to take your order. Intimidation only comes if you can't speak Cantonese like me, although he understands English just as well.
They have two types of toasts- bread and bun. The bun gets sold out really fast, so it depends on your luck. It's just sooo good, crisp on the outside but warm and fluffy on the inside. The bread is good as well, so I wasn't too disappointed when I didn't get the bun during my first trip. Also, the four of us had so many cups of Hainan coffee that I lost count :X
half-boiled eggs
The food stalls close around 12pm-1pm, which was when we left. The uncles got excited and happy when Tim and Tom helped them out with stacking the chairs LOL
Bonus picture: Tim the bush baby
3) Catch an Arts Festival
Around KL, there's usually some arts-related events that are going on. Just gotta look for it (here's a good webite: Malaysia Major Events). Not to mention, universities have events and festivals opened to the public as well! So ask your friends and exchange information!
Being in a public university, although there's many events from time to time, I rarely attend cz I don't have anyone to go with. I did, however, attended a play by the Varsity Christian Fellowship one time and it was pretty entertaining.
FESENI (Festival Seni) is held annually by the colleges in University of Malaya. The twelve colleges compete in various acts on different nights, like the Indian dance, Chinese dance, sketch, singing...etc.
I decided to check it out one night because....Gup was performing!!!! Also, Char and Muiz were my companions hehe That night was for the creative dance category. No idea what 'creative dance' really mean because they all have a local traditional dance theme to it. And not to mention, some were scary as hell that I started to wonder if it was a cult activity of some sort LOL
only RM3 for entrance!
The performances were done and as they were waiting for the results to come in, we met our Pulut Princess! Gup's role was a princess who feeds her people pulut (sticky rice). Cute concept and her team was dancing with plates on their palms, impressive!
met the funny Aida
I'm not too into arts, but it's quite entertaining when one is bored. At the same time, you learn a bit of other cultures!
If you're easily bored like me, plan for an eventful weekend! Not to mention, an early hike up Broga Hill to catch the sunrise would be refreshing too as it is pleasing to the eyes. But I didn't add that into the list cz I haven't done that haha Consider adding these into a weekend or two, where you want to do something, but no idea what.
*FESENI photographs by Charmaine
Wicked Weekend JB edition, maybe?
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