Dataran Merdeka!

Dataran Merdeka

Jalan Raja, City Centre

50050 Kuala Lumpur

(Coordinates: 3° 8' 52.25", 101° 41' 36.50")

I have a confession to make. Since moving into our apartment in May 2005 I have not ONCE been to Dataran Merdeka. Despite it being so ridiculously close I had not thought to come here, go figure. Brendan and Cat have been here plenty of times whenever there's an occasion but not me. I mean, I’ve been here to capture the New Year’s pyrotechnic display a few times but I’ve not paid a proper visit to this grand ole square since we moved in.

What can we say? This has got to be THE most photographed and visited site in Kuala Lumpur. Rather than the gleaming Twin Towers we’d always prefer the reverential Dataran Merdeka and the majestic Sultan Abdul Samad Building to represent Kuala Lumpur, pictorially.

While I am no professional photographer we hope that you will enjoy our rendition of the visuals in around this magnificent site. And oh, anyone knows what happened to the red octopus that used to sit pretty atop the CIMB building along Jalan Tun Perak?

designed by A.C. Norman and built in 1894-1897

iconic

95-meter flagpole

lying on my back to get this shot

jalur gemilang flying proudly

Brendan does this each time he sees Tuanku Abdul Rahman

gwiyomi anyone?

Kuala Lumpur's Heritage Trail

we didn't know this was here

yes, we love Kuala Lumpur

we were late by 3 minutes..

.. to visit the KL City Gallery

oh well, there's always next time

a recent addition?

what's she up to, eh?

the field where cricket is usually played on the weekends

the structure in the foreground is an eye sore

Mock Tudor styling of the evergreen Royal Selangor Club

also known as the Spotted Dog, where women are not allowed

can never get enough of this building (someone remove those tents!)

in case you did not know where we are

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

one final shot of this majestic building

ok, one last shot I promise

can you see our apartment?

the pedestrian crossing lights can take a while to change

Masjid Jamek

this building caught my eye

On another note, the decision to purchase our apartment located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur was initially met with much disdain from almost all quarters. Since Brendan planned to go to St John’s Institution it was only logical for us to seriously contemplate living in the vicinity. Since Cat does not drive (she had a valid license but not the gumption) in Kuala Lumpur the proximity to Sogo’s supermarket, Giant in Maju Junction and Mydin spurred us to buy the apartment. As luck would have it, a year later I changed jobs and my new office was also a few minutes walk way.

This did not go down well with the people around us who felt that it was more conducive for the family to be living in a residential area. These are the very people who are day-in-day-out stuck in snarling  traffic jams that deprive them of quality time to be with their loved ones, when hey, it takes Brendan and I only 10-15 minutes (by foot, the healthier transportation alternative) to get home. Others talk about the smog and general state of pollution in the city’s air. Well, we point to the fact that we have our very own greenbelt a stone's throw away in the form of the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, which happens to be one of the oldest virgin forests in the world within a city... so there! And on any given weekday once all commuters have left for home it can surprisingly be pretty peaceful (albeit the occasional blaring of engines from that dastardly fleet of dilapidated buses owned by Metrobus!)

So it is apparent that we have not once regretted our decision to live in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. And oh, we might be here again next weekend since there will be a "Ceremonial Trooping of the Colours Parade in honour of His Majesty Yang Di-Pertuan Agong XIV's birthday" on 8th June 2013, 8:30AM.