FT Day Walkabout │ Mechimakali • Petaling Street

It’s Federal Territory Day!

Federal Territory Day is celebrated every 1 February to mark the formation of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 1974. Today, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Labuan enjoy a public holiday, while the rest of Malaysia carries on as usual.

Since we had the day off, we took the opportunity to visit a friend who had recently moved his eatery.

Visiting Old Friends

Dipendra and Rabitha once ran Hamro Nepali Restaurant at Medan Pasar, but rising rent forced them to close. After some time away, they finally reopened under a new name — Mechimakali Restaurant.

We wanted to support them, so we left our condo late morning and began our walk along Jalan Munshi Abdullah, heading south. We continued onto Jalan Melaka, passed Masjid Jamek LRT Station, crossed Jalan Tun Perak, and walked along Jalan Benteng.

We paused briefly at the Old Market Square Clock Tower, where their old restaurant once stood, before continuing across Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin and turning onto Jalan Tun H S Lee. Soon, we arrived at Mechimakali Restaurant.

Lunch at Mechimakali

We caught up with Dipendra and Rabitha before ordering:

• Chicken Kanna Set — RM20.00
• Lamb Kanna Set — RM25.00
• Momo (dumplings) — RM15.00
• Coca Cola — RM3.00

Total: RM63.00 (≈ USD15/EUR14). A little pricey, but novelty cuisines often come with a premium.

We wished them all the best with their new venture and continued our walk.

Chinatown Walkabout

We headed back toward Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin, crossed Jalan Yap Ah Loy, and turned onto Lebuh Pudu. From there, we continued to Jalan Petaling.

We crossed Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lok and passed under the iconic Chinatown archway. The last time we were here, the area was quiet — today it was bustling. We walked to the end of Jalan Petaling, turned right onto Jalan Sultan, then right again onto Jalan Hang Kasturi.

We crossed over and took the escalator up to Pasar Seni LRT Station, where we boarded a Kelana Jaya Line train to Wangsa Maju. The fare was RM3.20 (≈ USD/EUR0.70).

Buses, Errands, and the Journey Home

At Wangsa Maju, we crossed the pedestrian bridge and caught a Rapid KL Bus #250 to SOGO Kuala Lumpur for RM1.70 (≈ USD/EUR0.40).

From SOGO, we walked toward home but made a few stops:

• LuLu Hypermarket for a loaf of bread
• A murukku stall where I bought several packets of nuts for RM10.00 each
• Haniffa Department Store, where Cat picked up a butane gas lighter refill

We then headed home, satisfied that we had easily met our 7,000 step daily quota.

Looking Ahead

We have nothing planned this weekend, so our next videos will likely revolve around our upcoming trip to Kuching.

Please stay tuned!

(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)

📍 Location:
Old Market Square Clock Tower - https://goo.gl/maps/FsDfA2ZCK5Jygs199
Mechimakali Restaurant - https://goo.gl/maps/Jn1Mf9vD3izXKFdZ7
Chinatown Kuala Lumpur - https://goo.gl/maps/YD72Qu3wFW2CRVTb8
Jalan Petaling - https://goo.gl/maps/eZUp534APkRta27Q8
Pasar Seni LRT Station - https://goo.gl/maps/iUAkWzskTCzGnJmu5
Wangsa Maju LRT Station - https://goo.gl/maps/sNxheG5NKi917Unr5
SOGO Kuala Lumpur - https://goo.gl/maps/MYU4cGzGiEzX8kMy6
LuLu Hypermarket Kuala Lumpur - https://goo.gl/maps/ycBhN3fBC2SJ7Uub6
Haniffa Department Store - https://goo.gl/maps/ZpQyNGJKkvJC1LX88