Lonely Planet Kuala Lumpur, Melaka & Penang Page 13

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  Masjid India, Kampung Baru & Northern Kuala Lumpur

  Neighbourhood Top Five

  1Kampung Baru Meandering around the low-rise Malay village in the heart of the high-rise city, where many residents live in traditional wooden houses fronted by flower gardens.

  2Titiwangsa Lake Gardens Jogging, cycling or strolling around Lake Titiwangsa while admiring the view of the city skyline, or viewing the buildings at eye level on a helicopter tour.

  3Masjid India Pasar Malam Immersing yourself in the Saturday night market around Masjid India, KL's other Little India.

  4Bazaar Baru Chow Kit Stimulating your senses at the market and pausing to sample local delicacies.

  5National Visual Arts Gallery Viewing works by Malaysia's top modern and contemporary artists.

  Explore Masjid India, Kampung Baru & Northern Kuala Lumpur

  For decades the area around Masjid India was known as 'Little India', until, in 2010, Brickfields was dubbed KL's 'official' Little India. But being stripped of its title has done nothing to alter the character of Masjid India, sandwiched between Jln TAR and Jln Munshi Abdullah. Visit during the bustling pasar malam on Saturday for maximum India-meets-Malaysia atmosphere.

  Mostly northeast of Jln Sultan Ismail is Kampung Baru ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; LRT Kampung Baru), meaning ‘new village’. The land here was reserved for Malays by the colonial administration in the 1890s, and the leafy residential streets are still lined with charming wooden houses. It's a lovely area to stroll around, marvelling at the contrast with the skyscrapers of the KLCC and Bukit Bintang in the background.

  Spread around the northern end of Jln TAR, Chow Kit is named after tin miner and city councillor Loke Chow Kit. The zone's rep for sex and drugs means it can be slightly shady at night, but don't miss it by day for its magnificent wet and dry market and tasty places to eat.

  North of here are a couple of green spaces that also merit exploration: Lake Titiwangsa for the park and the National Visual Arts Gallery; and Sentul West, a redevelopment of railway yards into a gorgeous private park, home to the excellent Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre and a couple of pleasant places to eat and drink.

  Local Life

  APerforming arts Catch local drama, dance shows and concerts at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, based in the leafy surrounds of Sentul West.

  APark life Titiwangsa Lake Gardens is a popular hang-out for families and courting couples, especially at weekends.

  AMarkets Browse the stalls laden with fruit, veggies, meat, fish, herbs and spices at Bazaar Baru Chow Kit.

  Getting There & Away

  AMonorail Convenient stops for this area are Medan Tuanku, Chow Kit and Titiwangsa.

  ALRT The Ampang and Kelana Jaya lines have stations in these areas.

  AKTM Komuter Take the Batu Caves line to Bank Negara and Sentul.

  AGOKL City Bus The red line goes to Titiwangsa and Chow Kit. The blue line goes to Medan Tuanku monorail station.

  AWalking Masjid India and Kampung Baru are easily and best explored on foot.

  Lonely Planet's Top Tip

  If you're in town during the Muslim fasting month don't miss the Ramadan street markets in Kampung Baru, where you can buy all manner of tasty delicacies to break the fast. Just remember not to start eating until after sundown.

  Best Places to Eat

  A Kin Kin

  A Limapulo

  A Ikan Bakar Berempah

  A Yut Kee

  A Capital Café

  Best Places to Drink

  A Coliseum Cafe

  A Butter & Beans

  A Bistro Richard

  Best Shopping

  A Royal Selangor Visitor Centre

  A League of Captains

  A Bazaar Baru Chow Kit

  1Sights

  1Masjid India & Around

  Loke MansionHISTORIC BUILDING

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-2691 0803; 273a Jln Medan Tuanku; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri; DMedan Tuanku)

  Rescued from the brink of dereliction by the law firm Cheang & Ariff, Loke Mansion was once the home of self-made tin tycoon Loke Yew. The Japanese high command set up base here in 1942. After years of neglect, the mansion has been beautifully restored; access to the interior is by appointment only, but you're welcome to pause in the driveway and admire the whitewashed exterior any time.

  Bank Negara Malaysia Museum & Art GalleryMUSEUM

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-9179 2784; www.museum.bnm.gov.my; Sasana Kijang, 2 Jln Dato Onn; h10am-6pm; dBank Negara)F

  This well-designed complex of small museums focuses on banking, finance and money and is not dull in the least. Highlights include a collection of ancient coins and money (and a slick interactive screen to examine their history), a gallery of the bank's private art collection, a surreal 3m-long tunnel lined with RM1 million (in the Children's Gallery), and a history of the Islamic banking system (which must comply with sharia law, including prohibitions against usury).

  Get a taxi from Bank Negara.

  Masjid IndiaMOSQUE

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jln Masjid India; LRT Masjid Jamek)

  The original wooden mosque that gave the area its name was built in 1883, and replaced by a bulky red-granite tiled modern structure in 1963. It's not much to look at, and you can't go inside, but it's fronted by a busy market and surrounded by stalls selling religious items and traditional Malay costumes.

  The area's famous Saturday night market runs along Lg TAR, behind the mosque.

  2Neighbourhood Walk

  Masjid India Ramble

  Start Masjid Jamek LRT station

  End Dang Wangi LRT station

  Length 1.5km; 1½ hours

  From the LRT station walk one block southeast to Lr Ampang. Lined with money changers, Indian cafes and street vendors selling sweets and flower garlands, this street has long been the preserve of the Chettiars from south India. Note the 1old shophouses at Nos 16 to 18 and 24 to 30, and the ceramic peacock tiles on 2Chettiar House.

  Return to the station, next to which is the venerable 3Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru. Opposite, Jln Melayu curves around to the covered arcade of market stalls at the pedestrianised end of Jln Masjid India. Pick your way through the tightly packed stalls to find the Indian mosque 4Masjid India. The area is a riot of sari stalls, gold jewellers and DVD and CD shops playing Bollywood soundtracks at full blast. The atmosphere is enhanced on Saturday afternoon when a 5night market sets up along Lg TAR, the lane sandwiched between Jln TAR and Jln Masjid India.

  Next door to the 6Coliseum Theatre, at the south end of Jln TAR, is another colonial relic – the 7Coliseum Cafe, where Somerset Maugham once drank. Stop here for a reviving beer or meal, then continue north along Jln TAR past scores of colourful fabric shops.

  An art deco movie house barely recognisable beneath huge banner ads, the 8Odeon is on the corner at the crossroads of Jln Dang Wangi and Jln TAR. Head east along Jln Dang Wangi, taking the first road on the left: on the next corner, opposite the car park, is the grand colonial era 9Loke Mansion.

  The parallel street to the east is Jln Doraisamy, a strip of restored shophouses turned into bars and restaurants and rebranded athe Row. Continue down Jln Dang Wangi and turn left on to Jln Kamunting to reach the much-loved kopitiam (coffee shop) bYut Kee. Dang Wangi LRT is nearby.

  1Chow Kit & Kampung Baru

  Bazaar Baru Chow KitMARKET

  (Chow Kit Market; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 469-473 Jln TAR; h8am-5pm; DChow Kit)

  This daily wet-and-sundry market serving the Chinese and Malay working class of Chow Kit may occupy a slick new building and the surrounding alleyways, but it hasn't lost its heady, chaotic atmosphere. Though the stalls are now easier to navigate, you'll find the same hangars loaded with fruit, veggies and freshly butchered meat, with vendors shouting their prices to drum up business.

  Spilling out from the main fruit and veg market there's a warren of stalls selling clothes, t
oys and other commodities. You can also sample hawker and kopitiam food and drinks here.

  Durian stall, Bazaar Baru Chow Kit | GWOEII/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Tatt Khalsa Diwan GurdwaraSIKH TEMPLE

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 24 Jln Raja Alang; DChow Kit)F

  This is the largest Sikh temple in Southeast Asia and the spiritual home of KL’s 75,000 Sikhs. There’s been a temple and school here since 1924, though the present building dates from the 1990s. Visitors are welcome to enter and see the main shrine with a guide but they must wear a headscarf (headwrap for men, which will be provided at the entrance) and pants or a long dress. There's a free vegetarian lunch on Sundays, open to all visitors.

  Sultan Sulaiman ClubHISTORIC BUILDING

  (Bangunan Warisan Kelab Sultan Suleiman; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jln Datuk Abdul Razak; LRT Kampung Baru, DMedan Tuanku)

  Dating back to 1901, this is the oldest Malay club in KL and is said to be where the meetings took place that led to the foundation of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO; the lead party in the ruling coalition). The original club building was demolished in the late '60s. In 2007 a local architectural firm constructed an exact replica, which is located across from the new club at the back of a field.

  Masjid Jamek Kampung BaruMOSQUE

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; http://masjidmjkb.org.my; Jln Raja Alang; h9am-noon, 3-4pm & 5.30-6.30pm; LRT Kampung Baru)F

  Founded in the late 1880s, this is Kampung Baru's principal mosque; it has recently been expanded and sports a handsome gateway decorated with eye-catching tiles in traditional Islamic patterns. Entry is permitted outside of prayer times, as long as you are respectfully attired.

  Stalls around the mosque sell religious paraphernalia, including white kopia and black songkok, the traditional head coverings for Malay Muslim men. Outside the mosque, look for the map that shows the seven smaller villages that make up Kampung Baru.

  HISTORY OF KAMPUNG BARU

  Worried about the declining number of Malay residents in the capital, the British set aside 224 hectares of land in the late 1890s – on what was then the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur – as protected Malay agricultural land. Settlers were encouraged to plant crops in this new village: Kampung Baru. In what seems like a miracle in 21st-century KL, Kampung Baru continues to look very much like a Malay village – albeit minus the vegetable patches and rice paddies. This means that alongside well-maintained traditional wooden homes you also have unsightly shanty shacks. Apart from Malays, immigrant Indonesians and Thai Muslims also live here.

  2Neighbourhood Walk

  Architecture of Chow Kit & Kampung Baru

  Start Chow Kit monorail station

  End Dang Wangi LRT station

  Length 3.5km; two hours

  From Chow Kit station, walk south along Jln TAR and cross over to the entrance to 1Bazaar Baru Chow Kit. Explore the market's shaded alleys and hangars, pausing for a snack or a drink along the way. Emerge, blinking into the bright light, on Jln Raja Alang, heading east to the Sikh temple 2Tatt Khalsa Diwan Gurdwara. Visitors are welcome to go inside to see the prayer hall or stop for a free cup of tea or simple meal in the canteen. Further along is 3Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru, the area's principal mosque.

  Where Jln Raja Alang turns south, continue on the smaller road ahead to the end where you'll turn right at a two-level apartment block: 4two palms in a small field perfectly frame the Petronas Towers. Continue south past the site of the former Saturday night market where a flash new residential skyscraper is under construction.

  At the junction of Jln Raja Muda Musa and Jln Raja Mahadi stands a photogenic 5turquoise and white painted house dating from 1931; explore Jln Raja Mahadi and the cross streets to see more such traditional wooden houses. Cross Jln Raja Abdullah to Jln Datuk Abdul Razak. At the end of a playing field is the handsome black-and-white painted reconstruction of the original 6Sultan Sulaiman Club. Continue west along Jln Datuk Abdul Razak, stopping at the corner to look at 7Master Mat's house, a handsome blue home built in 1921 by a former school headmaster. Look for the coconut trees in the garden; the family planted one for each child. Turn left and continue past the new Sultan Sulaiman Club building.

  South along Jln Raja Abdullah, off to the left, you'll pass more wooden homes as the concrete city starts to resume. Just before the end of this walk, at the footbridge across to Dang Wangi LRT station, look carefully for one more 8wooden yellow house.

  1Titiwangsa & Sentul

  oNational Visual Arts GalleryGALLERY

  (NVAG, Balai Seni Lukis Negara; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-4026 7000; www.artgallery.gov.my; 2 Jln Temerloh; h10am-6pm; DTitiwangsa)F

  Occupying a pyramid-shaped block, the NVAG showcases modern and contemporary Malaysian art. It's always worth turning up to see a variety of interesting temporary shows of local and regional artists, as well as pieces from the gallery's permanent collection of 4000 pieces, including paintings by Zulkifli Moh'd Dahalan, Wong Hoy Cheong, Ahmad Fuad Osman and the renowned batik artist Chuah Thean Teng. On the ground floor, the National Portrait Gallery hosts regularly changing exhibitions.

  The interior is dominated by a swirly Guggenheim Museum–style staircase that provides access to the main galleries. The side staircases are also used to showcase artworks.

  oTitiwangsa Lake GardensPARK

  (Taman Tasik Titiwangsa; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jln Tembeling; DTitiwangsa)

  For a postcard-perfect view of the city skyline, head to Lake Titiwangsa and the relaxing tree-filled park that surrounds it. If you’re feeling energetic, hire a motor boat, go for a jog, hire a bike, play some tennis or even go for a spin in a helicopter. The park is a favourite spot for courting Malaysian couples. It's a 10-minute walk east of the monorail station.

  Sentul WestPARK

  ( GOOGLE MAP ; Jln Strachan; dSentul)

  On the western edge of the city the industrial and natural heritage of an old railway depot and workshop was transformed into a park called Sentul West. The back half is exclusively for residents, but anyone can wander the leafy grounds and photograph the ageing brick shops and warehouses. The KL Performing Arts Centre is also here, and around a pretty lake you'll find several restaurants and cafes with decks for taking in the bucolic scene.

  LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

  P RAMLEE MEMORIAL

  The brief life of P Ramlee, the charismatic singer, actor and movie director who was Malaysia's biggest star in the 1950s, is chronicled at the P Ramlee Memorial (Pustaka Peringatan P Ramlee; GOOGLE MAP ; www.arkib.gov.my; 2 Jln Dedap, Taman P Ramlee, Setapak; h10am-5pm Tue-Sun, closed noon-3pm Fri; DTitiwangsa), a short taxi ride north of Titiwangsa. The modest bungalow Ramlee shared with his wife, Saloma, has been remodelled to incorporate displays about his 250-plus songs and the 66 movies he starred in, along with personal items such as handwritten lyrics and his piano.

  Ramlee may be a legend today, with a road named after him in Kuala Lumpur, but when he died in 1973 from a heart attack aged only 44 he was reportedly penniless, his style of music and movies having gone out of vogue. His final song, and the title of an unmade movie, was Air Mata di Kuala Lumpur (Tears of Kuala Lumpur), its melancholic lyrics reflecting Ramlee's feelings of failure and loss. His grave lies beside that of Saloma in the Muslim Cemetery ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; off Jln Ampang; h7am-7pm; DBukit Nanas).

  5Eating

  5Masjid India

  oKin KinCHINESE$

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 40 Jln Dewan Sultan Sulaiman; noodles RM7.50; h8am-6.30pm Tue-Sun; DMedan Tuanku)

  This bare-bones shop is famous throughout the city for its chilli pan mee (board noodles). These 'dry' noodles, topped with a soft-boiled egg, minced pork, ikan bilis (small, deep-fried anchovies), fried onion and a special spicy chilli sauce, are a taste sensation. If you don't eat pork, staff do a version topped with mushrooms.

  Masjid India Pasar MalamHAWKER$

  (Night Market; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Lg Tuanku Abdul Rahman; street food RM5-10; h3pm-midnight Sat; LRT Masjid Jamek)

  Stalls pack out the length of Lg
Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the alley between Jln TAR and Masjid India. Amid the headscarf and T-shirt sellers are plenty of stalls serving excellent Malay, Indian and Chinese snacks and colourful soya- and fruit-based drinks.

  Masjid India Pasar Malam | JOHAN DESIGN ASSOCIATES/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Capital CaféMALAYSIAN$

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 213 Jln TAR; dishes RM4-6; h7.30am-7.30pm Mon-Sat; LRT Bandaraya)

  Since it opened in 1956, this truly Malaysian cafe has had Chinese, Malays and Indians all working together, cooking up excellent renditions of Malay classics such as mee goreng, rojak (salad doused in a peanut-sauce dressing) and satay (only available in the evenings).

  Yut KeeCHINESE$

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-2698 8108; 1 Jln Kamunting; meals RM6.50-16; h7.30am-4.30pm Tue-Sun; DMedan Tuanku)

  This beloved kopitiam (in business since 1928), run by a father-and-son team and their crew of friendly, efficient staff, serves classic Hainanese and colonial-era food: try the chicken chop, roti babi (French toast stuffed with pork), toast with homemade kaya (coconut-cream jam), or Hokkien mee.

  oLimapuloMALAYSIAN$$

  ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %03-2698 3268; 50 Jln Doraisamy; mains RM17-45, set lunches RM9.90; hnoon-3pm & 6-10pm Mon-Sat; DMedan Tuanku)

  Its tag line is 'baba can cook', the baba being genial Uncle John who is often to be found greeting guests at this atmospheric and justly popular restaurant. The Nonya-style cooking is very homely, with dishes such as ayam pong teh (a chicken stew) and shrimp and petai beans cooked in sambal. The set lunches are good value.