Malaysians would definitely knew the place, in the city of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Even the foreign visitors would not miss their opportunity to visit the place of shopping paradise; Bukit Bintang. It is a shopping and entertainment district in the heart of KL famous for its’ retail belt all over the place along with cafes, bars, night markets, hawker-type eateries, clubs, hotels and highrises. Bukit Bintang is the most happening and mostly-visited area in Kuala Lumpur, giving it a nickname of being the Golden Triangle of the city.

Many locals especially youths would definitely pay a visit to this area commonly, especially in the weekend, that would cause serious congestion in traffic and huge crowd of people. Not only shopping malls here are crowded with people, even the outdoor streets and walkways are flooded with locals and foreigners. The MRT that surrounds the area further facilitate transportation while enabling sightseeing over the heart of KL. The bad thing around here is the road system, which is so ineffective that it can cause serious traffic congestion easily.
There are already around 10 shopping malls, just in the area itself, without counting the many others in the other part of the city. The malls are Sungei Wang Plaza (distinctive by its small shops, narrow walkway, low-ceiling, and many events organized here), BB Plaza (right besides Sungei Wang), Low Yat Plaza (IT Sales Center of KL), Lot 10 (popular by its bright green facade), Berjaya Plaza, Imbi Plaza, Starhill Gallery (concept of 7 unique floors), Fahrenheit 88 (new one replacing KL Plaza), Berjaya Times Square (largest mall in Malaysia), and Pavilion KL (a high-class contemporary mall).
I think I don’t have to describe all about the 10 malls in the area. All malls are different and are with their own style, character and brands. The number of the malls available itself is already a statistic that proved the highlight of the area which is on shopping, very much suitable for the youths especially girls! Special grand events or celebration like new year countdown or independence celebration would also be held around the area where people would gather for concerts, parties, fun activities, etc…further excited by the fireworks display over the sky of Bukit Bintang. By the time, roads would be closed and the fun begins which you would be cramped in crowd of countless people.

Not to forget, there is this indoor theme park which is the largest of its kind in Asia, Cosmo World in Berjaya Times Square, current 10th world largest shopping mall, easily identified by its twin towers of hotel, office and serviced apartments dominating the skyline of Bukit Bintang at height of over 200m (current top 10 tallest buildings in Malaysia). The mall also contains the largest IMAX theatre by GSC cinema in South East Asia. Here, you can eat, work, play and have fun to the fullest.

Back to the architecture of the area, let’s narrow it down to malls first. Some malls are built in 1990s, a time when modern architecture of mainly concrete dominated KL. These designs are considered beautiful at the time, but not at this period of time when glass is more popularly used as the main material. In Bukit Bintang, I like the design of Pavilion KL especially it’s main atrium topped by a skylight and distinctive by the arrangement of escalators and it’s recessed-down level from the main entrance. The design definitely reflects the high-class representation of the mall which mainly contains shops of famous and expensive brands like GUCCI, PRADA, LV, etc. I find the open-air courtyard in the mall quite interesting too, which facilitates natural ventilation.

Many other malls are also being renovated to be with the latest trend of shopping malls like Fahrenheit 88 which replaced the old infamous KL Plaza. The renovated mall looks much better eventhough it’s a small building, but the intention is there. Public walkways around these malls and streets are also transformed into a better path with modern paving, decorations, lightings, kiosks, sculptures and huge screens for advertisement. That is a good idea of even making the streets and walkways special and outstanding than the others outside the Bukit Bintang area. Some old buildings like shophouses still remain there, but mainly are transformed into specially-designed cafes, pubs and hotels while still maintaining their effort of conserving and preserving these buildings.

Anyway, now I find that Bukit Bintang is not at its best yet, as it still does not has its own identity or character that can make it more outstanding than others like Times Square in New York, Orchad Road in Singapore, etc. Actually, I have no idea where is the boundary of the Bukit Bintang area, but I’m just sure that there is no boundary or limit of nightlife or shopping moments there. Eventhough I live in Greater KL, but I seldom go to Bukit Bintang due to the serious traffic congestion which I hate the most. For locals whom had not been there before, you should try and go pay a visit. You would have endless fun, and a full day is absolutely not enough for you. For foreigners, do not miss the chance of visiting this area, quite close to other prominent tourists’ spots in KL like Petaling Street and KLCC if you have the desire for ‘shop till you drop’. The picture below shows Bukit Bintang’s skyline which is at the center between KL Tower and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. (The picture is not the latest and so Pavilion KL’s highrises are not seen here yet)

(All the pictures here are obtained from searching through internet and are not mine)
Another series completed…’Yes Sir, Sorry Sir’
Posted in Others... with tags 2011, comment, drama, hong, kong, plot, rating, review, series, sir, sorry, tvb, yes on May 28, 2011 by vincentloyYesterday is the airing of final episode of this TVB series entitled ‘Yes Sir, Sorry Sir’ which in Chinese is ‘點解阿Sir係阿Sir’. It is a privilege for Malaysians to watch it at the same time with Hong Kong audiences through Astro on Demand. However, I didn’t buy the package and so I have to wait for several hours (means the next day) to watch it online. It is a 30-episodes long drama focusing on Lo Sir becoming as an undercover and worked as a teacher (whom would be eventually called as Sir also which explain on the origin of the title) to investigate on the man behind the drug influence into young children especially in schools. The main casts are Moses Chan, Tavia Yeung, Ron Ng and Linda Chung.
I find the story or the plot of the drama is interesting eventhough this idea had been adapted to several movies long time ago (remember Stephen Chow movies as undercover in a school?). However, the development of the storyline totally differs from one another. The supporting casts like the students in the school (K4) had given a great performance despite they are a bit over reacting at some moments. The not-so-good thing about this drama is that it is being dragged in the middle of the story to an extent that I felt boring watching it and even had a slight feeling of not to continue watching it.
The character that I like the most from this drama is the bowling teacher portrayed by Linda Chung. She acted very well especially in her behaviour change from an arrogant and unfriendly teacher to a caring and friendly person. I am really moved by her performance especially when her heart is broken by what the others did to her. She really did a good job here, even better than Tavia Yeung as the first female lead in this series. For me, Tavia had no breakthrough performance here.
The character that I dislike the most is obviously the main character, the undercover portrayed by Moses Chan. I can say this is the worst performance from him which can easily annoyed many people. Why do I say that? His acting is seen as too childish in this series, with his unusual facial expression and behaviour which is sick to my eyes. Remember the ways he poses in front of Tavia, remember the ways he meet the police officer, remember the ways he get jealous by Tavia being close to Ron Ng in this series, and many more. All these just destroyed his acting in this series, and I am really get enough by all these disturbing scenes. The only part he did great is at the last three episodes when everything turned serious. For Ron Ng, similar to Tavia Yeung, there is no breakthrough performance for him, and so not much comment.
The last three episodes are the only episodes that really brought my attention. I don’t really get interested or excited from the other 27 episodes as there are nothing to bring the level of intensity of the story up. Out of 10 points, I rate this one 6.9, mainly credit to the few last episodes as well as the great performance by Linda Chung. Her crying this time really affected my emotion and brought up to my attention unlike last time in her excessive crying scenes in ‘Moonlight Resonance’ that annoyed me previously. This time, she did a good job. Have you watched this series?…and do you have similar thought or comment to this series?…
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