Have Perut Will Travel...: DIWALI Walkabout: Kolam Hunting!

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Thursday, 31 October 2024

DIWALI Walkabout: Kolam Hunting!

Happy Diwali in the City

This year, Diwali happened to fall on the same day as Halloween, which caused a bit of discussion among some people. With no firm plans, we decided to head out from our condo at half past eleven in the morning. We took a Grab car to The Exchange TRX for RM9.00 (≈ USD/EUR2).

Kolam at TRX

A kolam is a decorative design made using rice or coloured powders. It is placed at the entrance of a home to welcome Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of Prosperity, during Deepavali. It is meant to bring luck and joy to both the home and visitors.

At TRX, we went to the main foyer to look for the Diwali decorations. Sadly, we found only two kolam on display. We took a few photos, then spent some time browsing inside Uniqlo and LC Waikiki.

From TRX to Bukit Bintang

After that, we headed down to the MRT station. For just RM1.20 (≈ USD0.25/EUR0.25), we travelled one stop to Bukit Bintang.

We walked over to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur hoping to find more kolam, and we were not disappointed. There was a large Diwali display near the fountain at the entrance, and we were lucky to catch a five minute traditional dance performance as well.

More Walking and Lunch Time

We continued walking through the city streets, passing several roads before reaching Sungai Wang Plaza. We did not find any kolam here, so we went up to the third floor for lunch at Vinh City Vietnamese Cuisine.

We ordered:

Crab Paste Vermicelli Soup

Pineapple Fried Rice

2 Iced Vietnamese Green Tea

1 Hot Vietnamese Coffee

Lunch came to RM42.56 (≈ USD10/EUR9).

Tech Shops and More Diwali Décor

After lunch, we took a lift down, crossed the road, and briefly entered Plaza Low Yat. We looked at options for replacing our growing collection of external hard drives, but many of them cost several thousand ringgit, so we decided to hold off.

We then walked over to Berjaya Times Square. At the main foyer, we were happy to find another large collection of Diwali decorations, including kolam.

Last Stop, Then Home

Our final stop was LaLaport BBCC, but unfortunately, we could not find any kolam there. With that, we decided to head home. We took a Grab car back to the condo for RM11.00 (≈ USD3/EUR2).

In the end, we found three malls with kolam out of five. It was not bad, but it still felt a little disappointing.

Stay tuned as we headed south for a weekend road trip next.