Have Perut Will Travel...: 24H @ Central Market │ Mondo Cafe • Tajudin Nasi Beriani

Chinese New Year Day

We were completely cream crackered after last night’s long walk, so we allowed ourselves to sleep in. We finally woke up at a quarter past ten, took our time to shower, packed our bags, and headed down to the lobby to check out. Once again, the process was quick and painless.

Brunch Before Heading Home

Instead of rushing off, we walked next door to Mondo Café for brunch. We scanned the QR code, took our time choosing, and eventually ordered:

Chicken Parmigiana
Fish and Chips
Chicken Chop with Black Pepper Sauce
2 glasses of Peach Iced Tea
1 Apple Crush

Our Western style brunch, including a 10% service charge and 6% service tax, came to RM119.90 (≈ USD25/EUR23). It was hearty, comforting, and exactly what we needed after the previous night.

Beating the Crowds

After brunch, we planned to hail a Grab car, but traffic around the hotel was already turning gnarly. We decided to walk instead, luggage in hand, along Leboh Pasar Besar, hoping to catch a bus. No luck. We continued onto Medan Pasar and Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, but buses were nowhere in sight.

The area was absolutely packed with people from all over the world. At one point, we looked at each other and laughed—it felt like we were the foreigners in our own city.

Finally on the Bus

We kept walking north, crossed Jalan Tun Perak, and continued onto Lebuh Ampang. Finally, some luck. We caught RapidKL bus #173 for RM1.00 (≈ USD/EUR0.20), which brought us to our familiar bus stop along Jalan Munshi Abdullah.

From there, it was a short walk back home, where we were warmly greeted by our old friends Abang Razali and Kak Intan.

Wrapping Up a Festive Escape

And just like that, our 24 hour sojourn around the Central Market area came to an end. It was tiring, festive, crowded, and memorable—all at once.

If all went well, we planned to spend the next day enjoying a car free morning, easing gently back into routine after the buzz of the celebrations.

Happy Chinese New Year once again!