Short Trip to Kuala Selangor

Kuala Selangor is a town around 70 kms from Kuala Lumpur. We visited two main attractions there- Bukit Malawati and Kampung Kuantan.

Bukit Malawati is the place where the previous rulers built their fort of defense. There are several attractions available on the hill, including Altingsburg Lighthouse, Dutch and Malay handmade cannons,  the location of old Malawati fort, Historical Museum of Kuala Selangor, and many more. The attractions are connected by small roads which are closed to visitors during weekends and public holidays. Therefore visitors have to use tram service to move around the hill. We visited the hill on Friday afternoon, so we had no issue driving our own car there. 

Altingsburg Lighthouse was first built by Dutch some two hundred years ago, and named it after the Dutch Governor at that time. The lighthouse was then rebuilt in 1907 by British government, retaining the original name. The lighthouse is 83 meters high, sending light as far as 50 kms away towards the Strait of Malacca, signaling the location of the mouth of Selangor Rivers. It is still in operation today. 

The lighthouse is closed to public.

The Dutch cannons are located in front of Altingsburg Lighthouse, facing the Straight of Malacca. Dutch cannons are much bigger compared to Malay handmade cannons. This is a great place to enjoy the nice scenery around the estuary of Selangor River, while taking photos with Silver Leaf Monkey.

Historical Museum of Kuala Selangor District is just next to Altingsburg Lighthouse. It was a small museum with brief history of Selangor Royal family. We spent around 40 minutes in the museum.

The old location of Malawati Fort is located behind the museum. Today, only the stone walls and a few cannons can be seen there. Other structures had been long destroyed by war, or consumed by natural elements.

Batu Hampar or Bedrock is one of the old legacies from the fort. This stone structure is located at the entrance of the fort. Some believed the structure had been used for the execution of traitors, which had been denied by a few local historians. The real usage of the structure remains unknown. Can it be a coffee table for old king?

Old stone walls reveal the past of this area. Malawati fort was first built by Sultan Ibrahim- the second sultan of Selangor. The fort fell into different hands due to the political and military turmoils. 

The old location of Malawati Fort.

Silver Leaf Monkey, a threatened species in Malaysia, has grown extremely well in Malawati Hill. The monkeys are tame, human friendly, and presence almost everywhere on the hill (upper left). Monkey food was sold with RM 10 per pack. Although these monkeys are tame most of the time, they will get a bit frenzy during feeding time. So our advise- don't feed them if you don't want to have body contact with the monkey. 

There are a few other attractions nearby Bukit Malawati (upper left). During weekends and public holidays, visitors to Bukit Malawati are required to park their cars at the entrance to the hill and buy the ticket for the tram there (upper right). The is a Royal Mausoleum at the hill side (lower right). The mausoleum was not opened to visitor during our visit. The road on the hill is narrow. We saw several stone piles along the way. Are they historical relics? 

We spent around 2 hours on the hill. By the way, we saw some visitors walked around the hill by foot. There was no food and beverages sold on the hill, so we might need to bring enough drinking water and some snacks there. Mosquitoes were everywhere on the hill, especially at Malawati Fort area. So please get some insect repellents ready, just in case.

We continued our trip to Kampung Kuantan to see fireflies. Kampung Kuantan is located along Selangor River. We were lucky that night, the rain stopped around 4 pm. The night was cooling, and the fireflies were not affected by the rain water. Kampung Kuantan is located 20 minutes drive from Bukit Malawati.

The ticket counter opens at 7:30 pm, while the firefly watching tour starts at 8:00 pm. As we are required to queue at ticketing counter and the dock side, it will be great if we can arrange two persons in the group to queue at these two places at the same time. First, we bought our ticket for one sampan (non-motorized boat) with RM 50 at the counter, and then asking for others to join us. We took less than 1 minute to find a couple from Ukraine to share the boat with us. Every boat there can accommodate four people.  The whole boat tour took around 30 minutes.

Insect repellent is very important here as mosquitoes are fierce. We applied the repellent even onto our clothes. Insect repellent can be bought outside the ticketing counter as well with RM 5 - RM 10 per bottle. 

We reached Kampung Kuantan Firefly Park around 6 pm and found nobody there (upper left). However, the whole park was lighten up around 7:30 pm (upper right). After we bought our ticket, we need to queue at the dock (lower right). Life jacket is required before boarding the sampan. 

We were surprised to find an open air food court at the firefly park. 

Fireflies are sensitive to our flashlight. So the best place to take photo with firefly is here. 

Kampung Kuantan is quite far from everywhere. So if you are using taxi service or even Grab a car there, make sure you ask them to wait for your return trip. Fireflies are very sensitive to flashlight. So we can't actually take any photo after boarding the sampan. The fireflies are getting lesser there, despite continuous effort to conserve their habitat. We are glad to see our national energy cmpany, Tenaga Nasional is joining the conservation work now. We hope our small little fireflies can stay happily at Selangor River for a long time.

We went back to our hotel at Sekinchan at around 8:30 pm. We share our experience at Sekinchan in our previous post.

[Sekinchan] [Kuala Selangor] [National Zoological Park] [Farm in the City]

[A Short Trip to Kampar] [Kellie's Castle] [Last Tin Dredge in Malaysia]

[All our Destinations]

Things to do in Sekinchan, Selangor

Sekinchan is a major rice producing area in Malaysia. Located around 100 kms from Kuala Lumpur, the small town is a popular tourist spot on weekends and public holidays. The town is beautiful providing three different atmosphere- endless paddy field that change from green to yellowish in different seasons, simple fishing village that offers fresh seafood right from fishing boats, and slow-paced small town with eateries serving local dishes and shops selling local products and souvenirs. 

We spent two days in Sekinchan, explored the paddy field, walked down the village and the seaside, and tried the food there. A two-day trip was just nice to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere there. Let us share our stories starting from the biggest attraction in Sekinchan- paddy field.

Field with endless green paddy is breathtaking. The paddy field is around 5 kms wide.

Water is important for the growth of the paddy. The water will be drained during the harvest season.

Small roads are built along the water way. It is a great place for us to take a walk. 

Paddy Gallery is a must-visit site in Sekinchan (upper left). It is located at Malinja Road, in the middle of the paddy field. The gallery is within a huge rice processing factory (upper right). The visitors have the chance to learn more about the whole process of rice production, starting from the the growing of seedling to the packaging of white rice. The explanation is done through video and a tour guide. The gallery operates daily from 9 am - 6 pm. The entrance fee was RM 5.

The huge machinery for automated rice processing. Each white package on the far right contains 1000 kg of unprocessed rice.

We could buy different rice products at the end of the visit, including rice porridge and desserts (upper left), rice crackers (upper right), and rice for cooking (lower right). There was a planter machine located at the entrance. That machine plants paddy like a breeze.

A Ma House, or literary translated as grandma's house, is a small shop selling souvenir and snacks. The shop is located at Malinja Road (on the same stretch with Paddy Gallery), in front of a very big bird house (upper left). Antiques can be found in the shop (upper right), together with food and souvenirs (lower right). We tried some hand made cakes and shrimp rice crackers. The cake was soft, and the cracker was a bit salty.

Paddy field is located behind Sekinchan Town. We can't see much of it from the main road.

The second attraction in Sekinchan- the fishing village. The nickname of Sekinchan- "The land of fish and rice" (渔米之乡) revealed two important industries of the town. The fishing village however is not as pleasant as the paddy field. The air was not fouling, but  light "fishy" smell was in the air most of the time. There were several rows of village houses built along Bagan Road- the main street of the village. Redang Beach is around 3 minutes away by car. 

Redang Beach is the main attraction at the fishing village area. The beach area itself is small, either fills with coarse sand or sticky mud.

There is a small temple and a wishing tree nearby the beach. Many visitors happily hung their wishes on the tree. But we don't think the tree is happy with so many things hanging around its branches.

There is a Coca-Cola Souvenir Shop beside the beach (upper left). The shop is small, selling drinks, clothes, fridge magnets, key chains, and many other souvenirs (upper right). There was only one food stall in operation during our visit on Thursday (lower right). The tree house was recommended by many websites, but we found the tree houses there were not well-maintained. 

We found sitting next to the river mouth and watching the fishing boats returning back home was a great experience. The river mouth is just next to Redang Beach.

Fishing boats of all sizes were nicely "parked" along the river.

The entrance to the fishing village can be seen clearly from the main road (upper left). Shops (upper right) and temple (lower right) along Bagan Road. Motorbikes were the main vehicles in the village.

Ji Mei Lala Chien is located at the residential area beside the fishing village (upper left). The cook served nice fried la la clams with eggs (upper right). Although it was a small family running eatery, we found the fried la la clam and the fried stingray were special. 

We tried a few seafood at Guan Huat Restaurant (upper left). The stall is located at Bagan Road. It is a small simple wooden restaurant (upper right). We tried the shark meat sour spicy soup and stir fried shrimp with chili. The price, fair, and the taste, average. 

Sekinchan Town is located along the main road. There are many shops there, including several souvenir shops, restaurants and kopitiam. We tried a few of the restaurants there, and we would like to recommend 168 Restaurant and Tai Huat Restaurant.  

Kedai Kopi 168 is located along Tepi Sawah Road (upper left), nearby the paddy field. The wooden restaurant was small and simple, but always full with customers (upper right). We tried kung pau squid (lower right) and la la clam there. Good taste with fair price. We found that the restaurant next door also had quite a number of customers. You may give it a try too.

Tai Huat Restaurant, is located in the middle of the town (upper left), along Peria Road (upper right). The fried noodle (lower right) and chicken and barbecue rice were really good there. It is actually a kopitiam.

We visited Riri Fatt, which was recommended by many. Facing the main road, the restaurant, or to be more precise, kopitiam, is really easy to be found (upper left). The kopitiam had few stalls serving curry noodle (lower right) and prawn noodle. The curry noodle was average, but the prawn noodle was a bit disappointing. Well, that's our personal taste preference.

Sekinchan is busy during harvesting season on March and November (we can always call the homestay or hotel to confirm the exact harvesting date). We can see farmers working on the field while tourists amass to see the golden sea of paddy. Hotels and homestays are full, abd restaurants are packed with customers and stressed staff. However, if you prefer to have a quiet and peaceful trip, which you can enjoy walking along the paddy field without accompany by hundreds of visitors, and sitting in a restaurant and enjoy your meal peacefully, then you can opt to visit the town around February and October, like us. You will be able to experience the quiet side of Sekinchan.

Sekinchan is around 30 minutes away from Kuala Selangor by car. We took the opportunity to visit Bukit Malawati and Kampung Kuantan. We will share our experience there in our next post.

You can read more about our travel experiences around Selangor and Perak at:

[Kuala Selangor] [Sekinchan] [National Zoological Park] [Farm in the City]

[A Short Trip to Kampar] [Kellie's Castle] [Last Tin Dredge in Malaysia]

[All our Destinations]

Six Must Visit Places along New MRT Line in Kuala Lumpur

New Mass Rapid Transit System from Kajang to Sungai Buloh was opened on 17 July 2017. We took a ride on the new transit system middle of August. We would like to highlight 6 interesting places along the MRT line for both local and international visitors- Medan Sate Kajang at Stadium Kajang Station, Central Market and Petaling Street at Pasar Seni Station, National Museum at Museum Negara Station, Bukit Bintang Shopping hub and Alor Road Food street at Bukit Bintang Station. We can visit all these places in one or two days.

1. Medan Sate Haji Samuri, Stadium Kajang Station 

Kajang Satay, or Sate Kajang is famous, and deems to be the best in Malaysia. Want to take a bite on the original Kajang Satay? Then Medan Sate Kajang Haji Samuri is the place for you! The location- second last station before Kajang Terminal, if you are travelling from Kuala Lumpur. 

Medan Sate Kajang Haji Samuri is located around 100 meters away from the station (on the right side of the stadium, with a big yellow signage). The surrounding area used to be the busiest area in Kajang and finding a parking space was a big headache. Now, not anymore. With MRT, we can eat Kajang Satay hassle free. 

Medan Sate Kajang Haji Samuri offers several types of satay, such as chicken, beef, fish, mutton, and chicken liver. Chicken, beef, and fish are our favorite (upper left). The satay eatery is big (upper right). Air conditioned hall is provided without extra charge. There are some antiques displayed in the air conditioned room, including old irons, utensils, pottery, music instruments, and historical photo replicas.

2. Bukit Bintang Shopping Hub, Bukit Bintang Station

Bukit Bintang is a shopping heaven. It is the largest and busiest shopping hub in Kuala Lumpur area. Bukit Bintang Station has several exits, linking it to Pavilion KL, Fahrenheit 88, Sungei Wang Plaza, Starhill Gallery, Lot 10, Berjaya Time Square and several other shopping malls. Shopping is not our favorite, but we do visit Bukit Bintang once in a while. 

If you are fancy about luxury products, Starhill Gallery and Pavilion KL are the places for you. If you are a strong supporter of "the cheaper the better", then you can go to Sungei Wang, Fahrenheit 88, and Berjaya Time Square. You can find many nice eateries in Lot 10 and Pavilion KL.

The big cube-shaped digital screen in front of Lot 10 is an icon of Bukit Bintang (upper left). Fahrenheit 88 (upper right), Starhill Gallery (lower right), and Pavilion KL are located a few steps away from each other.

Mall hooping can easily take a whole day, or even two.

3. Jalan Alor (Alor Road), Bukit Bintang Station

Jalan Alor is quiet during daytime and turns into a busy food street in the evening. Restaurants and hawkers start their business around 5 - 6 pm till midnight, serving mostly local Chinese food. Limited Vietnamese, Thai, and Cambodian food are available as well. 

Some special Malaysian food can be found there, such as bat kut teh (pork rib with Chinese herbal soup), satay, Hainan chicken rice, fried oyster omelette, char siew pork, Hokkien fried noodle, and, a lot of durian (a bit expensive though, according to season). The overall taste of the food, above average.

If you don't really like the hot and sweaty weather in Malaysia, then you can opt for the air-conditioned restaurants. MRT Bukit Bintang Station Exit A is right beside Jalan Alor.  

5:30 pm, people start gathering at Jalan Alor. The street is closed to traffic. Somehow, there might be one or two cars coming in occasionally.

Customers can choose to sit outside of the restaurants, right on the road. However, for us, we always opt to sit inside air-conditioned room.

Fried chicken drumette or more popularly referred as boxing chicken in Malaysia (upper left), fried oyster omelette (upper right), grilled fish (lower right), and fried durian are some food that we like in Jalan Alor.

4. Central Market, Pasar Seni Station

Pasar Seni Station is located at the convergent point of two rivers- Klang River and Gombak River. Attractions nearby- Central Market and Petaling Street. Central Market was built by Chinese Capitan (leader) Yap Ah Loy in 1883. It served as wet market for the locals until it was transformed into local handicraft and art center in 1986. This award winning market is one of the most visited place in Kuala Lumpur. We strolled in Central Market for almost one hour before proceeding to Petaling Street. 

 The outlook of the market is well-conserved. Take a look at these old photos of Central Market.

Fully air conditioned building makes Central Market a cozy shopping mall for visitors. The shops were nicely decorated, selling various types of local and international products. 

Chinese-themed walkway in Central Market.

We could find some exquisite local products, including Luwak Coffee (upper left), Chinese artworks (upper right), wood crafts (lower right), and Malaysian batik. Other souvenirs such as fridge magnets, key chains, simple wood and bronze sculptures, t-shirt, rings, wrist bands, and snacks were available as well. 

5. Petaling Street, Pasar Seni Station

Petaling Street is no doubt another big tourist attraction in Kuala Lumpur. It is located around 150 meters from Central Market. Many tourism websites referred Petaling Street as China Town. Well, we don't really agree with that, as most of the shops there are neither owned nor currently operated by Chinese. Nevertheless, it is still a big tourist magnet, selling cheap items like souvenirs, watches, clothes, electronic gadgets, bags, and spectacles. Many of these items carries famous brands. Are these genuine products? That is the question that we need to answer with our wisdom. 

We can find some nice food at Petaling Street. Kim Lian Kee Restaurant provides special char-cook food. The restaurant was painted with catchy red colour, located at the junction in the middle of Petaling Street (upper left). The restaurant is nicely decorated (upper right). We took Hokkien fried noodle and roasted pork at the restaurant. The taste was not excellent, but good enough for us to come back again in future.

We would like to recommend some of the very old stalls at Petaling Street. First one is Kim Soya Bean (upper left), selling soy milk and douhua (soybean pudding) (upper left). The soy milk tasted nice and concentrated. The douhua was not fine and smooth enough, but tasty (upper right). Next, Air Mata Kucing (lower right). The drink was made by the mixture of long ngan fruit, winter melon, monk fruit, and sugar- a good thirst quencher at the middle of warm sunny day. The stall has been in operation since our first visit to Petaling Street more than 15 years ago. Last but not least, dried meat. Oloiya and Loong Kee are two old shops selling nice dried meat. We like Oloiya more, personally.

There are an Indian Temple- Sri Maha Mariamman and a Chinese Temple- Guan Di Temple nearby Pasar Seni Station. These temples are not very attractive for us. Nevertheless, you may consider visit them if you have never being to any of Chinese or Indian temple before.

6. National Museum, Muzium Negara Station

Another station for tourists- Muzium Negara or National Museum. Muzium Negara Station is connected to KL Central as well. National Museum is a good place for us the learn about the history of Malaysia through artifacts. We could walk to the museum from KL Central, but with the new MRT station, the museum is just steps away from the exit.

Our personal opinion- although National Museum is not the best museum in Malaysia, it is still a good one around greater Kuala Lumpur, which worth to spend one hour or two. 

Travelling with MRT is convenient, cheap, faster, and safer. With all together 31 stations along the line, the MRT connects towns around Kuala Lumpur to the cosmopolitan. As the MRT is designed mainly for the usage of the locals, many of the stations are built at the residential or local shopping  areas with low tourist interest (especially for international visitors). 

Nevertheless, with effective ticketing system, clean environment, high frequency of train (7 - 8 minutes interval), ample parking car park, feeder bus and taxi connections, and strategically designed walkways, the new MRT system will definitely increase the mobility of the people around greater Kuala Lumpur.

We started our trip from Kajang Terminal. We can buy the ticket from the counter (upper left) or via ticketing machines (upper right), or we can use "Touch & Go" card to pay at the auto gate (lower right). The platform was clean and the arrival of the train was clearly stated.

We found useful map in the station (upper left). These maps show the exits and the direction to the places of interest nearby. Some places of interest are connected to the stations by sky-bridge or covered walkway (upper right). Taxi station (lower right) and feeder bus stations are available for some stations.

A train can accommodate up to 1200 passengers. 

We can see the town and residential areas from the MRT.

Several MRT stations are connected to shopping malls by covered pedestrian walkway, including Taman Connought Station to Cheras Central Mall, Taman Mutiara Station to Leisure Mall, and Maluri Station to Velocity Mall. Bandar Utama Station is connected to One Utama Mall via feeder bus. These shopping malls are good places for locals to spend our boring afternoon. But if you have traveled thousand miles to Malaysia, we don't really recommend these shopping malls to you.

With new MRT line, we don't have to worry about traffic jam or parking problem anymore when we go for shopping. 

1-Utama Shopping Mall from the feeder bus station.

More information on stations, fare, ticketing, and travel information, please visit the official website of KL MRT. Ready to take a ride? Don't forget to wear comfortable shoes and bring along your umbrella. 

More about our experience in Kuala Lumpur:

[National Museum] [KL National Planetarium] [KL Bird Park] [Aquaria KLCC]

[All Our Destinations]