A Walk Down Memory Lane - The city I live in ...

Well, I've been meaning to do this particular pictorial blog entry for some time now, but was just too lazy ... Anyway, it so happened that today I had an assignment in the area, so I thought, "Well, why the heck not, can kill two birds with one batu" .... So, let me take you, dear reader, on a walking tour of this city called KL, in the footsteps of a ten-year-old girl, circa some 20-odd years ago ....














In the distance, you can see the Pasar Seni LRT station ... Well, that used to be the site of the city's bus terminal, or Klang Bus Stand (well, that's how KLites used to call it anyway) .... I remember that if I had wanted to return home, instead of going to my mom's office after school, that I would walk to the terminal, and waited like for the longest time, for the bus .... It was a very frustrating thing for a 10-year-old ....















This bridge was not around during my primary school years, but I think it was when I entered college, so definitely more than 15 years old .... You take it to cross to CM (that's Central Market for the uninitiated) from Dayabumi .... For some reason, I remember this one time when A & I were crossing it when this reporter stopped us to ask about National Service .... I still have the press cutting, and my ugly mug on it .... That's how I know the bridge was built before 1993 ....















Okay, that's the bridge we would cross to get to CM, and me to the bus terminal, before the aforementioned bridge was around .... That's the Klang river, right? .... BJ, are you a KLite or not? .... Look, it's been a while since I've been to this area .... I'll tell you the consequences of that in the following few pix ....



















Now, if I got really frustrated waiting for the bus at the aforementioned bus terminal, I would go to the one in Lebuh Ampang, which is instead of turning right here just before that white building to go to CM, you would have to go straight on .... Lebuh Ampang is somewhere there lah .... I seem to recall waiting for the bus at Lebuh Ampang was equally frustrating ....















And still on the same bridge, if you make a 180-degree turn, you can see this yellow building, of which next to it is, or rather was, my mom's office .... Not the whole building, mind you ...



















I was trying to aim for that metal plaque, which has the name of the building where my mom's office was ....



















And right across from my mom's office is Dayabumi, that white octagonal-shaped building, which I believe is one of the first highrise commercial buildings in the city .... Why it's significant to me? Because for the better part of my primary-school years, I would go to the McD's there right after school, while waiting to go back with my mom, if I decided not to go home on the bus .... Now you know why I'm hooked on junk food, who knows, probably I have mad cow's disease by now .... Can't really blame my mom, I was the quintessential latchkey kid .... Makes you wonder why I don't mind walking around the city all by myself, well, wonder no more, 'coz I'm so used to it ... Well, I stay clear from certain parts ... Haven't walked around Jalan TAR and the Chow Kit area for a very, very, long time now ....

Anyway, I think that McD is still there, but didn't go and check just now .... I used to go there every afternoon, so much so that I got freebies :) .... That McD, I think, is one of the first outlets in the country .... Now you know that I'm quite old actually ....














My destination lies somewhere next to the National Bank, which is the dull grey building in the middle .... In the foreground is the Royal Selangor Club, with that European architecture, which I had never stepped in all these years, until today ....














Well, like I said, I haven't been here for quite a while, and I do mean quite a while .... So, imagined my surprise as I walked to this building, and found it to be the city library .... I think I stood there stupefied for a few seconds .... I asked the people there how long it's opened its doors, and they said at least five years ....

Apparently, the libary opened after that stupid huge flash flood submerged Dataran Merdeka's undeground plaza circa 2003, where one of the two KL The Actor's Studio theatres was located .... Now, both are closed *sighs* .... KL is famous for its stupid flash floods ... I know that there was that great flood before I was born ....

Anyway, I can safely tell you that the last time I was here was when I took my students to see Twelfth Night, and that was in 2002, I think ..... Yes, I know, I'm the shits .... I don't know my city anymore ..... Btw, I took an FB quiz to find how Malaysian I was, and I'm only 25 per cent Malaysian .... Actually, I'm quite happy with that .....














And right next to the city library is a sight that took my breath quite literally .... This is one thing KL CityHall has done right - the city children's library .... You see how terrible I am .... I didn't know the existence of these two libraries until now ....

But this site is very significant because this was where the Selangor state library was located, which is now the National Library .... I remember some days after school, I would stop by and borrow some books ..... I was an avid reader when I was a kid, now I'm just bloody stupid .... Don't even know the city libraries .... Apedah! ....

When the state library moved to a building along Jln Raja Laut, if I'm not mistaken, I still went there to borrow books .... But when it moved out and got its own building, and is now known as the National Library, located in the middle of nowhere (actually along Jln Tun Razak, that I know, okay), I stopped going ..... What is it now? A white elephant? ...

So, what else, I became member of the city library right away ...














KL 2009 ..... Right in the middle, you can actually just make out one of the towers of the Petronas Twin Towers .... I remember that if I didn't walk behind the Royal Selangor Club, I would walk along in between Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad and Dataran Merdeka .... It wasn't called Dataran Merdeka last time .... Ah trivia for you, what was it called? (Actually I forgot myself) .....

And during Merdeka Day rehearsals, I recall all these big army tanks would roll by slowly, and everyone stopped to look ..... And many years passed, when I myself would take part in the Merdeka celebrations .... My college was chosen to sing the year's Merdeka theme, and I took part in the choir ....

















If I'm not mistaken, the exact spot of the S'gor state library is where that big electronic screen is .... There was a frangipani tree next to the library, and I used to pluck a flower and took it inside the library, and then smelled it until the scent faded ....




















The route to the library from where my destination is ... Getting closer now .... There's Dayabumi from afar, in the first pix ....



















And while I passed by the Royal Selangor Club, I went inside and took this pix ....

Hang on, I just remembered something ... My batch had an end-of-year party here ... So, guess not my first time here then .... Aiyoh, how could I have forgotten that?? .... Still have all the pix, with me wearing oversized pants ....





























To get to my destination, one has to go through these short tunnels in the middle of this roundabout ....

I hadn't realised how low the tunnels are until I reached the first one .... Could easily touch the ceiling ... I'm not tall, you see, so these tunnels are pretty low .... They weren't when I was 10 ....

The smell hasn't changed though ....
















And here it is - my primary school :) ... The first thing that came to mind was how ugly it looks in orange .... Well, maybe it's amber ...















I used to go out the backgate after school, and walked down this path .... One time, and it had just rained, there was this minibus that sped like mad down the road, and splashed like a great bucket of rainwater over me while I was walking down the path ....

You remember those crazy minibuses? ... Before they became pink, they had been in many colours, as colourful as their drivers .... Needless to say, I wanted to scream colourful words to the moron driver that drenched me from head to toe, but then I was 10, and hadn't known any swear words ....



















This is exactly where the backgate used to be .... You could still see the stone slabs lining the path to the iron-wrought gate ...














My class was one of those on the top floor .... And I remember playing netball on that court, and sucked BIG TIME ....















And facing the school, right next to its front gate actually, was the city's education department ....

The building is no longer there .... I remember vaguely this was where my father used to work ....

And that's the end of this pictorial blog entry .... Don't think I'll go to other parts of KL to do another one ....