Chinatown's Best-Kept Secret - KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA 

Thank you Doug for the introductory to this gem. Definitely a great spot for pictures and food. I'm visiting this early September, will definitely stop by.

It would be a fun kind of treasure hunt to pick out office buildings and then go inside to see if they do have a rooftop cafeteria or something like that.

Wan bissaka

You're welcome. 🙂

The Cycling Canadian You are definitely the early bird and surely not the late worm, judging from the time of your reply.

I never would have found it myself. A friend of mine - who is much more adventurous than I am - discovered it. I don't even know the story of how he found it. I'll have to ask him. So, St. John's Institution is still a functioning school today? (Albeit changed, as you noted.) I looked on Google Maps, and there is still a St. John's Institution marked there on the slopes of Bukit Nanas.

@@PlanetDoug Oh yes, it is still a functioning school. as mentioned, I feel that it has lost its charm due to the being taken over by the government, but the architecture and history is still there. It's an imposing red building at the top of Bukit Nanas (Nanas Hill). Right next to it is the all-girls Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) school (as opposed to our all-boys St. John's Institution (SJI) school), so you can imagine a lot of blooming teen crushes and the likes happening between the two school students. SJI is part of the La Salle schools established in Malaysia. lasalle.org.my/2018/04/06/brief-history-of-la-salle-schools-in-malaysia-the-brothers-of-the-christian-schools-fsc/

@faridah hanum not talking about the school's education prowess. SJI's more than just a place to go through your school years, get a certificate and graduate. It's the unique experiences that the old Johannians had before a Brother had to relinquish being the principal to non-Brother. It lost its charm there and then. I still remembered the days with Brother Lawrence as head principal. School pride has never been more evident than when he was there. Perhaps even earlier Johannians feel the same with their own experiences when a Brother leads the school. It just became a normal school when it became "Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St.John" before they realize what they've done, and changed it back to SJI. By that time, the damage is done, and it just became "like any other operating schools in Malaysia". To a Johannian like me, that's a grave insult.

@faridah hanum Just a suggestion, punctuation helps in making coherent sentences. Like I said earlier, I've not comment on the current education climate in the country, although there's a reason why alert, concerned parents who could afford it, put their children in private schools now. It used to be prestige and a seal of excellence being able to put your children into these select schools, but not anymore. And also, because of the government takeover, the charm and experience that was previously exclusive only to SJI during its missionary-led days, has now turned the unique school into your mundane "like every other school around the country" affair. So, despite us "not knowing what the deal was between the missionaries and the goverment", one thing for sure, the SJI I know of is gone and replaced with the bland, cookie-cutter, every other schools you see in any housing estate area in KL. Just choose a "Taman" and its school, you get the current SJI today. And that's not a compliment. I am not of the Christian faith, but my days at SJI were of tolerance, racially or theologically. I have no qualms assisting the elderly into the St. John's Cathedral at the school, nor do I feel that the school is surreptitiously trying to convert me away from my faith at every turn. It was a liberating and eye-opening experience for the 12 years at SJI, so I cant say I share your sentiments. Either way, we're skewing away from the point of this video. I'm sure all Doug wants is visiting interesting venues and buildings taking good images and videos to share on RU-vid, not hearing locals bicker about how things should be treated, done, planned or executed.

Me too

Yes, it could be quite nice at night, though they are only open until 7 p.m. Maybe it isn't dark enough by then to get really nice night views. I've wanted to go back when there is better weather and clearer skies, but it has been cloudy every day since that visit.

Yes, I'm waiting for a sunny day - maybe even go back early in the morning to get that nice morning light or late in the afternoon for golden hour. But it's been cloudy ever since. It's actually 6 in the morning as I write this, and it has been raining all night. If the rain stops and the sun comes out, it might be a good time to go back. The rain might have cleaned out the air. We'll see.

I was glad to find it. I always like to go to upper floors in buildings (or on hills) to get a look around an area from up high. As I said in the video, the owners have some ideas for making their restaurant/cafeteria more popular, so it might not be a secret for much longer.

And I think it will be the tallest building in Malaysia, right? I've been watching it being built for a long time.

Thank you! Yes, I did receive your message on the Da Vinci vlog. As I wrote in my reply, I rode on a GoKL bus the other day. I'm posting a video about it today, in fact. It worked out okay, but the experience didn't turn me into a regular bus user yet. 🙂 And I have downloaded the Moovit App. I haven't had the chance to use it yet, but it looks quite useful. I like it because it isn't just about buses. It also gives pretty good information about the MRT and LRT.

Good morning from Tokyo! 😃 Sorry if you had a bad experience with the GO KL bus service...just hope that you can get all the BEST services while you are in Malaysia. 😊. And did you know that you will soon get to use the newly renovated monorail service? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jcBXpirb4-0.html I’n glad that you like the Moovit app!! At last I’m doing something for you even though I’m not in Malaysia now. Btw, I’m from Penang, Malaysia but moved to Tokyo in 2002 after I graduated from FIT in NY. 😊 Really love your vlogs, it makes my day and it makes everyone happy!! Just can’t get enough of it!! 😬 Lastly, some informative news to share with you. 😊 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kfTSSeD3aeo.html

I didn't really have a bad experience with GoKL at all. The bus left quickly. It wasn't that crowded this time. It was comfortable and nicely air conditioned. The problem is just me and my personal dislike of buses. That's all. 😄 I think part of my dislike for buses comes from my sensitivity to motion sickness. I used to read all the time. I always had a paperback novel in my hands, and I'd read in the subway and I'd read while walking down the street. But I couldn't read in buses. The swaying motion and the constant stopping and going made me feel sick to my stomach. In a subway or on a train, I could look down at a book and feel fine. But if I try to look down at a book in a bus (or even in a car), I start to feel sick right away. That might be one reason why I developed the habit of never taking buses. I got bored in them because I couldn't read. I don't read very much these days, but the habit of not taking buses has stuck with me. Thanks for the link to the video about the monorail. I'd heard that 4-car trains were going to be reintroduced. But I didn't know they had been refurbished. So I'm really looking forward to seeing one. Maybe I'll do that today. By the way, if I seem to miss a comment that you've left on one of my videos, it might be because of the RU-vid commenting system. Their system is surprisingly primitive. For example, there is no way to filter comments, and I don't get a notification when someone leaves a reply to a previous comment. If you leave a regular comment, I can see it pretty easily. But if someone then replies to that comment or to a reply that I left, I have no way to know about it. The only way to see it is to manually scroll down through all the comments and look for them specifically. It's kind of crazy that such a big operation as RU-vid has such a limited system for comment management, but that's how it seems to be. So I saw this reply that you left only by accident. I went scrolling through the comments going down and down and down, and I saw your reply just by accident. If I hadn't done that, I never would have seen it. Maybe there is a way to see replies to comments, but I haven't been able to figure it out. I'll also have to keep my eyes open for a merbau tree. I don't think I know what they look like. 🙂

Ohh, the moon cake or lantern festival is around the corner, 13th September, be sure to get to Sin Sze Si Ya Temple. It may have some colorful and festive display to celebrate the full moon season. Keep that in mind.

It's good to be reminded of the upcoming Lantern Festival. These days, I lose track of time and I often miss festivals and holidays.

Good idea. And if the food doesn't seem that great to you, you can just have a cup of tea and enjoy the views. 🙂 It has a casual atmosphere and lots of seating, so that wouldn't be a problem.

@@PlanetDoug , Totally agree with your statement, the view on the top is good and mostly is also cleaner lol

I thought about going to Putrajaya for the celebration and parade on August 31, but I was worried that the traffic and crowds would be too much for me. If the parade was here in KL at Meredeka Square, I would probably attend. But in keeping with the spirit of Hari Merdeka, I went to see the Royal Museum the other day. So I learned a lot about the history of Malaysia and the royal family.

I kind of thought the same thing. I know there are quite a few rooftop bars and places like that in Kuala Lumpur. A lot of travel vloggers end up going to those fancy places. I think there is one well-known spot that is a heli-pad during the day and a kind fancy club at night. So it was fun to find a simple office building cafeteria with such a great view. My kind of place. 🙂

@@PlanetDoug indeed but a cozy and cheaper one would be popular too with the budget travelers eh?

Thanks. The opening probably comes across as quite goofy, but I didn't want to just open the video with me at the restaurant. I wanted to build it up a little bit. That may or may not have worked. 😄

It's worth a visit for the view. And what I like about it is the casual atmosphere. It's not an expensive rooftop bar. At heart, it's just an office building cafeteria, and you can get just an inexpensive cup of hot or cold tea and enjoy the view.

I guess it was a bit like my search for Shwapno, except this time I knew where I was going. I just wanted to build it up a little bit instead of just showing the place. 🙂 Yes, you're right. I think I got to the building around 3 p.m. Since then, I've been waiting for a morning or afternoon with some clear blue skies so I can go back and get a different view. But it's been cloudy every day since then.

From a food and comfort perspective, I guess these office cafeterias are nothing special. I just really liked this one for the view it gave of Kuala Lumpur and of Chinatown in particular. I've spent a lot of time walking around the streets of Chinatown, and it was incredible for me to see them from up above. It sounds like you work in an office building with a similar wonderful view. Do you want to let me in on that secret spot? I promise to only go late in the afternoon and avoid the lunch rush. 🙂

Yeah i work at dayabumi tower. Sometimes i take my lunch at ocbc tower just in front of masjid jamek. The view is great and the food is decent and it's air conditioned. There are more that i frequently went to but in the klcc area like public bank tower and ambank tower. But all require you to go through security for the access. If you think it's quite a hassle to go through security, the food court inside nu sentral mall near kl sentral has a great view too.

If you're asking for the one in this video, I don't think halal status matters to douglas and he probably don't know. And i know nothing about it status neither since I've never been there. But for the Most of the other cafes on the other buildings are mostly halal since they sought to cater every single worker in the building. These cafes are unlike restaurants. Often the foods and drinks that can be sold here are determined by the building management instead of cafe operators. The ones inside public bank tower, cosway tower, ocbc tower are food court style cafes so there are Chinese foods, indian foods and malay foods but alcohols and other non halal foods usually not allowed into these cafes because you shouldn't get drunk while at work and the other obvious reason. This is ONLY refers to OFFICE cafeterias/food courts. There are of course hip and trendy restaurants/cafes etc that serve non halal food which you can check their halal status on halal.gov.my

Thanks. 🙂 I was using the Rode Wireless Go for this video. But I wasn't using the actual microphone built into the Wireless Go. I had a lav plug plugged into it - the Saramonic SR-UM-M1. The Wireless Go transmitter was in my pocket, and the receiver was mounted on the camera. To be honest, I haven't been happy with the sound I've been getting when I plug a lav mic into the Rode Wireless Go. I'm usually in very noisy urban environments, and I have to speak quite loudly, and that seems to cause distortion. But when I use the Rode Wireless Go by itself, I don't experience that distortion. So, in quiet environments, the Wireless Go plus a lav mic works quite well. And out on the streets with a lot of traffic noise, I find that the Wireless Go by itself is the better option. But I'm still figuring these things out.

Weekdays: 7am till 7pm Weekends: 7am till 3pm

@@KhaledAhmed-eo5kj Ahh, silly me...I commented too soon. Just realized it was mentioned towards the end. Thanks!

why should learn khat??

I always enjoy spending time in Kuala Lumpur. 🙂 For me, the food up on the 18th floor at JM's Cafe was fine. I actually prefer simple, filling food, so it was great for me. I doubt it would impress true lovers of great good. I think the place serves mainly as an office cafeteria for the building. But you can't beat the view.

No problem. This restaurant wants exactly this.

I don't know if they will be inundated. Not that many people watch my videos. (Just the best people. 😄) But I assume they'd be happy if they got more business. As I said in the video, the owner is thinking up ways to expand his business and attract more customers. I've actually been down on the street outside this building on a few occasions recently, and I see dozens of tourists visiting the Taoist temple across the street and the Hindu temple right beside it. They're all taking pictures, but none of them know that they could pop up to that cafe and get some great pictures from up there. I actually wanted to go up to a few of these tourists and tell them, but they'd probably think I was some kind of crazy person.

@@PlanetDoug They just might think exactly this ! The owner certainly wants more customers. How else to fill those empty chairs? He's been devising a new menu and back in May 2019 was in the process of recruiting a new chef. KL is a city of food connoisseurs. To attract local people (beyond the wow factor of the Views), quality food is critical. I advised him that to attract tourists, all you need is marketing and simple snacks/drinks at the top. A sunset cafe/bar would be excellent. But alas, management refuses to consider this.

Thx for the intro on the various sights. Love the intricate craftsmanship of the Hindu Temple, must go and see the place and the Chinese Temple too.

Yes, I am back in Malaysia again. It has kind of become a travel base for me as I visit the surrounding countries. 🙂

It's on Jalan Tun HS Lee, which is just one block over from the Pasar Seni MRT station and running parallel to the Petaling Street Market in Chinatown.

They didn't have an actual menu that you could bring to your table and see the prices of various dishes. When I was there, they had a typical buffet of Indian dishes. You simply got a plate of rice and then chose whatever vegetable or chicken or other dishes you wanted. And then the cashier simply looked at your plate and calculates your bill. I think it's quite reasonable. A lot of office workers eat their lunch and dinner there, so they are looking for simple and affordable meals, I think. My meal consisted of two pieces of chicken, two pieces of tofu, some vegetables, a pasta/vegetable dish, rice, and ice tea, and they charged me 15 ringgit. So that should give you some idea. 🙂

@@PlanetDoug Thanks

I'm a bit nervous because most of the gear I'm using is somewhat new - and I don't have total confidence that the Panasonic is truly locked into the tripod or that the GoPro is securely attached to the Panasonic or that the Wireless Go is securely attached to the GoPro. Hanging one camera over the edge is a bit nerve-wracking. I've got this Tower of Technology with two cameras and a microphone. 🙂

:O

...the speak-easy bars in downtown Chinatown???

So you are not telling what is Chinatown’s best kept secret? Can I guess? Is it Susie Wong? Or the Deceased?

I never knew what to call this type of restaurant. When I lived in Taipei, my favorite places were also like this. I'd just fill up my plate and then they'd charge me according to what I took. My favorite Indian restaurant near my guest house in KL has the same system. I just always called them buffet style restaurants because I didn't know what else to call them. I'd never heard the phrase "Mixed Rice" before. I'll have to use that from now on.

I want to know, is it your 2nd trip to malaysia? cause the previous u had update your attendant to our country

@@PlanetDoug dun worry, we locals are glad to help by correcting u. Chinese called it 'chap fan' and Malays call it 'nasi campur' so basically it meant Mixed Rice. I admit it sound strange in English lol.

That's true in some cases, but I've been stopped plenty of times in Kuala Lumpur even when I wasn't expecting it. I remember making a long trip out to the Damansara area (long for me) to go to an Olympus service center for my camera. But it turned out to be in a type of office building, and the guards wouldn't let me go up without presenting my passport. That's happened quite a few times as I've looked for specialty camera shops and things like that that turn out to be in office buildings. I guess that's why I made such a big deal about talking about the security guard in this building. I normally wouldn't even try to go into an office building like that because the guards usually won't let me in, but this one is different and it's open to anyone to go up in the elevator. I've even been blocked by guards from walking down lots of streets in Kuala Lumpur. I'm just walking through a neighborhood exploring, but they won't let me go down their street because I don't live there.

@@PlanetDoug 4:33 looks like there are college in the building. It could explain why there's lax security there. As you noticed, there are a lot of gated communities here. Generally peoples are willing to trade convenient with security. But there's also some people upset about it & bring the matter to court. They see boom gate as a barrier that prevent them to enter their own property.

@faridah hanum LOL, if you say so. I'm not really saying guards are racist. However they tend to investigate races known to cause more problems. For the others, we get #Theatersecurity

You would have been first if I didn't put the Time Stamps into a comment. So technically, you are #1. 😃

@@PlanetDoug hehe tq2 🤗