27.1.08

KLPac, Sentul West and Tudung

To egg on my daughters’ interest in performing arts, I decided to bring them to the KLPac Open Day earlier today. In Sentul West.

Now those of you, who have been there, will surely agree that this is one cool place. Not just the KL Pac but the Sentul West area as a whole.

Apparently what used to be KTM’s area, this part of Sentul now boasts a perfectly manicured garden around the 35-acre park, with its crystal clear lake and an International Koi Fish Centre next to the KLPac. It is all pretty surreal, I tell you.

There are still a few KTM’s old buildings around the area. Some have been renovated to house ..er.. a developer’s office. Why, even the KLPac building itself is an angular contemporary structure with two 103-year-old brick façades. It is really a former train warehouse with funky glass walls.
And we had an interesting session at the KLPac Open Day. It was a fun outing with wonderful activities and interesting talks and workshops. Of course, there were also mini performances all around KLPac featuring music, theatre, dance, film and art.

One of the performances at the open day
One of the many interesting landmarks at the park
Asma and Arissa saw a microphone stand and started clowning around.
Of course Alia need to have her 5 second fame too
They went berserk posing for the camera. Sooo many tempat cantik
Then depa berangan jadi model... first is Alia
then Asma... berangan jadi orang yang kehilangan sesuatu (kot)
then finally Arissa.... pose world peace dia (kata depa one of the mamat in the background is a celebrity.)
On the way back, singgah kat Jalan TAR. Alia borong tudungs for her best friend Sakinah. Sebab Sakinah emailed kata kat London tak de orang jual tudung. Really?

27 comments:

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

salam pak Mior,

glad you've been to the International Koi Fish Centre and even blogged about it, or else i wldnt know you went there. the thing is, i've heard alot about this place and very keen on going but whats been holding me back from doing so is whether the place is wheelchair-friendly. you been there so tell me, tell me. gimme some good news.

Lee said...

Hello Mior Azhar, terima kaseh seribu for visiting my place.
Ahaa, first time you leaving your footprints too, ha ha. As its a 13 hours time difference, KL and Toronto, we BEHIND you 13 hours, no wonder I hear soft footsteps sneaking in at nights when I'm sleeping, ha ha...getting the scent of a man's cologne.
Coming from you, your compliments re my many episodes of 'Irene'...you certainly made my day, honest! Terima kaseh, Mior.
Hey, I like your name, "Mior". Sounds cool! Ha ha.
And Mior, you sure have one cool blog here too, and enjoy your stylish eloquence.
Sentul West? Holy Smoke! You mean Sentul has a E,N, S, and West now?
I stayed in Sentul in 1950's, about a mile from an old, small cinema showing only Indian movies, near a wet market.
Lots of cows and kambings and their ha ha, downloads on the roads. Took the Sri Jaya bus to school downtown MBS, only 10 cents then!
My playground was the many mining pools around there, used to take shortcuts across to Setapak from there. As well ha ha, fishing for tilapias, haruans and catching snakes and iguanas bring to school to scare the blazes out of my classmates and teachers and being rewarded with...1000 lines of, "I must not bring snakes to school"!!! Arhaaa ha ha. And my mother thought I was studying hard doing homework!
I did a posting on this wayyy back.
When and if I balek kampong to KL, I certainly will visit the Sentul I grew up in.
Mior, once again, terima kaseh seribu for your kind thoughts at my blog, for visiting....kita berjumpa lagi, ya? You have a nice day and keep well, Lee.
ps, drop in for coffee and kueh dada anytime, Mior.

anom said...

abg a.. glad to hear you, kak yan and the girls had fun in Sentul West..

Nasir and myself often go down there to visit the Koi Pond..mencari ketenangan and saja nak tengok ikan yang gemok2 tu..The thing that always amazes me is that, how different the surrounding feels once you enter into the Sentul West park.. from the buzz that's expected around Sentul and Jalan Ipoh, then into this peaceful and serene place. We enjoyed it too!!

I managed to bring mama, abah and ayah chik's family there once too. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Cuma Pipa geram sangat kat ikan tu macam nak terjun je gayanya dalam kolam2 tu..

Bila lalu kat the old buildings, mama, abah, achik and ayah chik start la with the histories of each building and what they have encountered there when they were younger..Esp - achik and ayah chik..

And brother kerp, if I may help you on your question, I don't think the Koi pond area is wheelchair friendly. Unfortunately, the whole design of the pond is based on Japanese garden so most of the main alleys are full of small pebbles and slabs of stones or made of kayu ala2 jeti. So sorry..

I am not too sure about the KL Pac Building though..

Unknown said...

Pak Mior,
I have never been there and in fact, I never knew such it is there. So this is some kind of enlightenment for me. I think I should allocate some times to enjoy the place.

Unknown said...

pak mior..:-) cool time spent with ur family there....
sporting tu anak2 dara pak mior, beraksi untuk bapak mereka mengambil gambar....hehehehe

idham

wanshana said...

Waaaaah...cool pictures!

But, forgive me for my ignorance. KLPac stands for...? I'm making a wild guess here - KL Performing Arts College/Centre? And they have a huge park in Sentul?! OMG...Where have I been all these while?!

Must make a point to check out the place one of these days.

Thanks!

Mior Azhar said...

Salam brother,
I guess my cousin Anom has answered your questions. Too bad lar. Anyway, you still can go over jalan-jalan lah. The scenery and environment there are fantastic. And you may drop in at the KLPac for some serious theater experience. Its a three storey building. Although I didn't see an elevator, I believe all its Pentas 1 and 2 are located on the ground floor. I'm assuming that all its plays and musicals are being held there lar.

Mior Azhar said...

Uncle Lee,
An honour to have you here. Terima Kasih Sejuta from me. I wish I can write as well as you.
And yes, who would have thought that Sentul has a cool park called Sentul West. Very colonial, isn't it?
Waaaah, you play with snakes? My goodness. If I was ever your school mates, I'll stay away clear of you lar macam tu. Snakes and me, a big no no.
Anyway, I must say outside the Sentul West, Sentul is pretty much the same, perhaps a little cleaner and not so congested as I remembered it (but then again I went there on a Sunday, so i't s probably not so still).
Thanks again Uncle Lee. For visiting.

Mior Azhar said...

Anom,
I've heard about the place from my colleagues. Lama dah but never had a chance to go over.
And yeah we had fun yesterday. The open day was er fun too. But what surprises the most is the Sentul West park.
Betul lar, the drive into the park alone gives you goosebumps. We were gaping.
It was kind of romantic too. Don't you think? And the ikan koi, masyaallah. I'm sure Haikal and Pipa must be beyond themselves there.
And I'm sure that this place must be Ayah Chik and Achik's playground back in the late 60s and early 70s. Entah2 depa nyanyi jiwa remaja kat sinipun.
Inipun the girls and that one woman dah ajak nak pergi lagi. Perhaps cuti CNY nanti nak pergi lagi sekali. Anom balik Penang ker nanti? Abg Aa tak kot sebab tak larat nak join jam kat sana.
And salam kat Nasir okay.

Mior Azhar said...

Akmal,
Yes, you should go over. The old buildings there are worth visiting.
Surely one of KL's best kept secret.

Mior Azhar said...

Pak Payne,
Family outing like this brings a smile to my face. A lifetime memory. And budak zaman sekarang, they are rather confident lar. Unlike their parents... hehehe. Kami ni masih malu-malu kucing.

Mior Azhar said...

Shana,
I was as ignorant. And yes, you must go. A lovely place. Imagine that, right smack in Sentul, there's a park macam kat UK during summer. Yes, where have we been? I'm sure the kids will love it.
And yes its the KL Performing Arts Centre - sedara mara the Actors Studio kot cause Faridah Merican and Joe Hafsham are sort of the otais here.

Lee said...

Hi Mior, hey, no need la address me as 'uncle', ha ha...even though I Saturday da sampai my milestone, ha ha. Just 'lee' boleh.
Thank you for your kind compliments, alamak buat saya malu la, ha ha.
You know I am terribly impressed with KL. I was last back in 2002....and my friend driving along Jalan Ampang, I enquired 'where is Jalan Ampang', ha ha.
Same for Federal Highway too...we already arrived PJ and I asked mana PJ?
Holy Smoke!
Really la, returning to Malaysia like going to a new country....
But this much I will say, I was there at the opening of Merdeka stadium one of the few thousands demonstrating Malaya's (belum Malaysia lagi) 1st mass drill by a lot of school participating.
Then next morning at the brand new stadium, witnessed the British Union Jack coming down for the last time, and the Malaysian Flag slowly rising, and the police band playing 'Negaru Ku' for the first time, originally "terang bulan", I think.
And I was quite close to the VIP stand when Tunku Abdul Rahman cried out, "MERDEKA", 7 times, joined in by the thousands of Malaysians, my young voice too, and Mior...I was 14 years old...(I think, ha ha), but had a lump in my throat, and tears came out too.....to witnessed such an awesome event. Till today I cannot forget that morning.
(Did not bring snakes then, arhaaaa ha ha).
I did!...A year later when Malaysia vs India football match at the stadium.
No more seats nak duduk...my friend and I discreetly lepas dua grass snakes in a paper bag....5 minutes later we got to sit down ha ha. Plenty of seats suddenly available.
We had to bite apples to stop our laughing! Arhaaa ha ha.
But we almost gave the game away by laughing when one fellow telling his wife and friends, "aiyohh yo yo, new stadium pun ada ular ka"!
We had to bite our hands to stop from laughing.
Oh ya, I will always remember Merdeka stadium and KL.
You keep well, Mior. Lee.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

thanks anom. kinda expected it wouldnt be accessible. i mean, hey, nothing new there.

am not really a fan of stage-lays btw so i shall give kl-pac a miss.

~The Urban Factor~ said...

abang aa...i first went there when i was still single, with friends to watch starlite movies. Imagine sitting at the open field near the KTM building, under the stars, enjoying excellent romantic comedies. It was very romantic indeed..

Then when I was getting married, went there again with friends for my bachelorrette party. It was sooo much fun! Memang enjoy berposing. The view's breathtaking. I especially like the open lawn concept and ada small white flowers surrounding it.

BEAUTIFUL.

(Credit to the landscape architect : Seksan Design..hehe macam promote plak)

Mior Azhar said...

Lee,
Oh my god. You were there? I'm mighty impressed. I haven't met a single soul who was there during the merdeka day. And finally I met you here in cyberspace. What luck! I'm so into history and trivia. So this piece of news is a big thing for me. Yeay, I now know of someone who witnessed the whole work on that day. Wow! And you take care too.

Mior Azhar said...

Yah,
Yes now I remembered where I first saw pictures of the place. It was from your blog. You were having a a girls' day out with your friends before your wedding last year. And I was thinking then, "manaler pulak tempat nih?"
You are working at Seksan ker? The only Seksan I know is the place in Bangsar where it occasionally hosts book reading session. The same one kar?
Anyway, take care. And salam to Amin.

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Mior
YTL did a good job transforming Sentul, a name which was synonymous to the Indian community.
The condo/apartment units look good from the outside.
KLPac is also a neat place. Unfortunately, public transport is lacking. You have to walk all the way out to get a cab but it is a nice walk nevertheless.

ZABS said...

Salam Mior,
Thank you for the info. Pernah lalu lintas kawasan ini semasa nak ke Sri Gombak dari Jalan Duta. Tapi KLPAC tu tak perasan pulak. Tapi da satu restoren kari kepala ikan di Sentul tu pernah pergi makan juga. Terima kasih sejuta, seperti kata-kata anda kepada Lee tu.

cakapaje said...

Salam Pak Mior,

Wah! Dah lama tak ke Sentul...dah berubah benar nampaknya! Hmm...

By the way, I dah tag you for the Muhibah thing ye :)

Mior Azhar said...

Salam Fauziah,
Sentul is no longer what it used to be. At least that part of area. I wonder if anybody have photos of that area, say, 20 years ago (or at least before it was transformed to its present state). I sure would like to see how does the area look like before.

Mior Azhar said...

Pak Zabs,
No problem. Perhaps you should visit the place one of these days.

Mior Azhar said...

Shah,
Alamak... what to write lar...I'll try lar but it won't be as good as yours.

Anonymous said...

Dear Bapak,

To me, the sound of a violin must have hailed from heaven. Its so beautiful it sends goose-bumps on my hands everytime I hear it.

Yes yes yes, I agree on your score about Sentul West area. A good friend of mine, Su Yin, lives there and I still cannot get over the charm of her residence.

Take care Bapak

Mior Azhar said...

Elviza,
Yes, that's the word I've been searching to describe Sentul west -Charming.
Thanks, and you keep well too.

zaitgha said...

yay i know this place...been there to watch some band contest a few times....but at that time not a blogger yet.....

but now so long have not been there ....nice posting here

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