FOOD

Kuala Lumpur - Indian Banana Leaf Rice @ Seetharam

 Restaurant of choice: the bustling, insanely popular Seetharam Family Curry House. It's got outlets all over KL these days but the original in Brickfields has been operating since 1989, run by husband & wife team, S Manoharan and Prama Marimuthu.

Seetharam, like many Indian restaurants, offers for vegetarian & non-vegetarian food - displayed in separate buffet-like food counters.The vegetarian dishes don't contain any onions & garlic as well - as it's considered a sin to kill these plants by pulling their bulbous roots out of the ground. Asafoetida is used as a subsititute here.

Seetharam's vegetarian options were varied: from curries to deep-fried eggplants, okra & bittergourd, and a variety of spiced, stir-fried vegetables. One can order Indian breads like paratha (inexplicably called roti chanai in Malaysia), thosai, puri, battura, appam, or steamed versions like the net-like putu mayam and the cylindrical-shaped putu piring. One can also choose white rice or spiced briyani rice. Customers will be invited to self-serve from the food counters, laid out buffet style. You load your dinner plate with your food choices, get a seat, and one of the waiters will come by to take your drink order, take a look at your dinner plate & writes down the cost of your meal on a little chit which you'll show the cashier when you pay on your way out after your meal.

I trawled both the veg and non-veg food counters yesterday, and my resultant dinner plate consisted of :

- deep-fried Chettinad chicken, which was lightly spiced, crisp on the outside & still surprisingly moist inside;

- braised, julienned snakegourd, very lightly & subtly spiced;

- spiced potatoes, dotted with mustard seeds & scened with turmeric. The peeled, quartered potatoes were perfectly cooked till the outsides were about to break apart, whilst insides were soft & yielding;

- Stir-fried bittergourd curry - very unusual but tasty nonetheless. Unlike the Chinese way of cooking bittergourd, the Indians do not salt, wash & rinse the bittergourd first to lessen the vegetable's bitterish flavors. Instead, you get the full blast, lightly tempered with spices, sweet carrots and chillis;

- a light & fairly liquid vegetables-dhal curry, which consisted of eggplants, potatoes, cauliflower, gourd & other vegetables, scented with curry leaves & a gentler spice mix, spiked with tamarind juice. The curry went well with white, steamed rice.

The whole meal (plus a can of chilled 100-Plus isotonic drink) costed RM6.50 or only USD2.15!!

Seetharam Family Curry House

No. 237 & 239-G, Jalan Tun Sambanthan

Brickfields

50470 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03- 2274 6722

           

       

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park

Kl Bird Park is a public aviary and it's also one of the main tourists attraction of Malaysia. It opens daily from  9am to 6pm. You can get there by taking the LRT and take a taxi to the destination or the Hop On Hop Off KL tour bus. For for information on the tour bus on www.myhoponhopoff.com or call +603-26911382.

Map of the park

Price and operating hours

You can do lots of activities here such as taking picture with the birds which will cost you RM 10 per person or RM35 as a family/group and watching the bird show. There's also a incubator in the bird park as well as gifts shop and rest stops for you to replenish your energy. 

Hop On Hop Off Kuala Lumpur

We took the HOHO city tour bus and as students, we only paid RM 12 each for our bus ticket. Although you will need to show your student identification during the purchase. Operating hours are 9am to 8pm. For more information, check out their website at www.myhoponhopoff.com

Contact Information:
Tel : +6 03-9282 2713
Fax : +6 03-9282 2716
Hot-Line : 1800-88-5546

 

Us in front of the National Palace

Inside of the bus

In front of the National Palace

Open deck of the bus

Old Railway Station Kuala Lumpur

View from the bus

Transportation

Rail Lines in Klang Valley

Bus
RapidKL is the largest single operator of bus network in Malaysia. Bus fare charges varies with bus operator, where RapidKL buses uses daily pass system and Metrobus Nationwide, SJ Bus and Selangor Omnibus uses zoning system.

RapidKL Bus

There's also the Hop ON Hop Off city tour bus where you can pay for the ticket for either 24 hours or 48 hours and it takes you to the main attraction of the city. You can get down at any one of the stops and get on when the next bus comes. The interval between buses is around 20 to 30 minutes. Tickets can be purchase in the bus, through online shopping cart, authorized agents, authorized hotels and KL Hop-On Hop-Off counters. The counters are located at Jalan Bukit Bintang (main counter at stop number 6), Malaysian Tourism Centre at Jalan Ampang, at KL Sentral (arrival hall) and at Central Market. For more information go to  http://www.myhoponhopoff.com/ or call  +603-92822713 .

HOHO Bus

HOHO bus stop

Rail
LRT, Monorail, KLIA Express and Commuter Rail are the rail operators in Kuala Lumpur. There are two fully grade-separated light rail transit systems in Kuala Lumpur. The Kelana Jaya Line and Ampang Line. They are both operated by RapidKL.

LRT

Monorail

KLIA Express

Commuter 

Taxi
Metered taxis can be hailed throughout the city. However, traffic jams, especially during rush hour are fairly common in KL and it might be difficult to get a taxi during rush hour. There have been many incidents of taxi drivers charging extravagant fares, especially among tourists, therefore, tourists are advised to travel with taxis who charge fare according to meters, or insist on using the meter.Taxi stands are available around the city and most taxis will stop at the taxi stand.

Metered Taxi

Pictures taken from Google Images and Wikipedia.

National Monument of Malaysia

The National Monument is a sculpture that was build in remembrance of those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom, principally against the Japanese occupation during World War II and the Malayan Emergency, which lasted from 1948 until 1960. It is located in Kuala Lumpur. The historic sculpture has also marked its place in the book of records for being the tallest freestanding group of bronze sculptures. Situated near the monument is the Malaysian House of Parliament.

When we reach the monument, it began drizzling so we had to quickly take some pictures before it started to rain cats and dogs. Despite the gloomy weather, the view was amazing and breathtaking. There's also no entrance fees to be pay. It's open from 8am to 10pm daily.

It is the easiest to get here by taxi but if you're looking for a cheaper alternative, you take KTM Komuter train and get down at the Bank Negara Station. Walk towards the Bank Negara direction and follow the road sign to Jalan Parlimen or the Lake Gardens.