New Year's Eve 2013/2014 in Cyberjaya/Putrajaya

Happy New Year Cyberjaya

You might imagine that either or both of these cities would be pretty quiet - not to say desolate - spots in which to ring in the New Year.   But you would be quite wrong.  Alright, not too wrong about Cyberjaya. But Putrajaya?  Quite wrong.

In fact Putrajaya throws quite the party to mark the year end.  Big Malaysian Bank are sponsoring a (to me at least) staggeringly large concert running from 8.30pm to 1.00am.  Dato' M. Nasir, Soo Wincci and Dato' Jamal Abdillah will all be performing (amongst others), but I'm afraid I'm just not down with the kids these days so can't tell you much about them.

Nightlife in Cyberjaya!

Ireland, Not Cyberjaya

In recent years a new Yuletide tradition has emerged in Ireland, known as The 12 Pubs of Christmas.  This (frankly ill-advised) ritual involves a group of pilgrims donning ironically garish Christmas jumpers and drinking their way through the aforementioned twelve pubs.  This tends to cause much angst among bartenders towards the end of the night, as ever more drunken knitwear-wearers slop & stumble in through the doors.

So one can only imagine the effect were the same to catch on in Cyberjaya.  In truth it would be a thankless affair for all involved, as drunk and heavily perspiring participants grimly trudged back and forth between the only* three drinking establishments in town.  The owners initial delight would slowly turn from bafflement to disgust, as the ever more belligerently inebriated group of over-heated idiots lurched through the doors for a third and fourth time.

Bus J04 No More

You know, I don't think that Cyberjaya's major problem is it's over-abundance of public transport.  In fact I am going to make the crazy suggestion that in fact the opposite may be true.

If you are trying to create a real city - as in a place where people live and do stuff - then you don't want to turn it into a series of buildings people only get to and from by car.  Because then you have blank, empty streets.  Then you don't bump into people by accident (unless it's at the mall) and you don't foster the sense of the city as a living organism - there is no centre and no heart.

How's the Weather?

The average monthly temperatures in Kuala Lumpur range from an icy +27°C (81°F) in January all the way up to a sweltering +28°C (82°F) in June.

So what I'm saying is that it's hot all the time.  Just different varieties of hot.

So right about now (October to January, more or less) is the Monsoon season, which is hot and wet.  Expect regular downpours and cloudy days.  But still hot.

Whereas the rest of the time it's just hot, hot.  Blue skies and not so much of the torrential rain.  But still some torrential rain, it just clears up quicker.  Even when it's not raining, much of the time it can feel like you are walking around in warm soup. 

Singapore! (I'm not crazy about it).

Reader: This blog is supposed to be about Cyberjaya - and at a push Kuala Lumpur.  So how do you justify shoe-horning in an article about Singapore, which is a completely different country, last time I checked.  Well?  Explain yourself!
Me: Singapore is right beside Malaysia.  
Reader: Thank you for explaining! Gosh, I feel silly for having asked.
Me:  No, no, that's fine, no problem.  Just please don't question me again.  NEVER. NEVER. QUESTION. ME!  

Well, I'm glad we've cleared that up.  And to be fair Singapore was once a part of Malaysia, albeit only for 2 years back in the sixties, after which time it was generally agreed to split up again and just stay friends*. 

Either way it is just a short plane trip (or rather less short train journey) away from Kuala Lumpur.  

So what do you get from a visit to this tiny city state?  Well you've got museums, temples, shrines, a big wheel, food, bars, Chinatown and a Little India.  Quite a lot, all told.  So I should probably like it rather more than I do.  It certainly has it's charms, and a couple of days isn't enough time to fairly pass judgement on a country.  I can only say that from the tourists point of views there are more appealing destinations on the planet.  

Dining in the Dark Restaurant (Kuala Lumpur)

Outside the dining room

If you are like me, and many more of our fellow humans, then you probably check in with Tripadvisor once in a while to see how a particular hotel, attraction or restaurant is rated.  Well if you look for the most highly rated restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, 'Dining in the Dark' will show up on top of the heap (at time of writing at least).

So we reckoned we would give it a try, being as it's not your everyday dining experience.  Well you toddle along to Bukit Bintang  - having booked your spot in advance, naturally - and lounge about over a cocktail in a perfectly well-lit lounging area.  The friendly staff (and the staff were absolutely great when we were there) will try to prepare you for the sensory deprivation by sticking a blindfold on your head and getting you to try and pick small objects from a bowl of rice.  Which I found to be many times more difficult than I had expected.

When everyone is ready to go, you are led into the darkness by one of the blind waiters employed by the restaurant, hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you.  You are talked into your chair, like an air stewardess being guided through landing a 757, until you are comfortably in place.

There were about four courses, all served in small bowls or cups so as to minimise the spillage.  I won't introduce any spoilers by telling you what we had, as half the fun is in the guessing.  When you come out after the meal you are given a menu with photographs, where you discover that those olives you found a bit chewy were actually sheep's eyeballs.

History of Cyberjaya

Cyberjaya used to look something like this.

If you came out in this direction back in the mid-nineties, you would have found yourself standing in the middle of a palm oil plantation in what is now known as Cyberjaya.  Malaysia had plenty of palm oil plantations at that time, but what they did not have was a city specifically designed to facilitate the IT and hi-tech industry.  So from 1997 the transformation began in earnest as modern Cyberjaya started to emerge from the jungle.  Kind of appropriate really, as the whole enterprise was founded in the attempt to move the Malaysian economy away from agriculture and towards manufacturing and tech industries.

Malaysian Snacks - Seaweed

To many of us, seaweed is that slimy green stuff which can get wrapped around your legs as you're trying to wade out of the sea.  Here in South East Asia, they've unstuck it from their legs, dried it out a bit, and then packaged it as though it were something people might wish to eat in a non-survival situation.  

Seaweed is pretty ubiquitous in the shops around here, while (as previously mentioned) popcorn is almost unheard of.  Clearly, this is a sorry state of affairs, but then such is the rich tapestry of life.

Cyberjaya Street Mall

The Street Mall next to the bus station has seen it's status diminished as Shatsbury Square has grown.  And with a giant shopping mall in late stages of construction just across the road, it will be quite literally in the shadow of another rival before too long.  But that doesn't mean that there aren't a few good reasons to pay a visit to the Street Mall.

This Is What It Sounds Like, When Frogs Cry

They probably aren't really crying.  In fact, these guys sound quite cheerful as you can hear in the video below.

When I first heard these frogs, my initial thought was that a variety of Malaysian Elk had somehow wandered into a storm drain.  Realising that this was nonsensical, I then mused that perhaps cows were smaller here and had chosen the drains as a grazing spot.  I'll be honest with you and admit that the natural world is not my field of expertise.

Alamanda Shopping Centre

If you live in Cyberjaya for a while, then chances are you are going to have to pay a visit to the Alamanda mall in Putrajaya at some stage.  Although future Cyberjaya residents will no doubt have a selection of swanky malls on their doorstop, this is not currently the case.  Right now, you must do your grocery shopping in one of the mini markets, or else via Tesco online.  There are a decent amount of restaurants to serve the working population, but you won't find clothes or shoe shops anywhere.  Likewise, the cinema is a work in progress at time of writing, although if you are reading this from the future you may not be able to envisage a weekend without a visit to the Cyberjaya multiplex.  (How is the future anyhow?  Are you guys zipping around in hover-cars yet? Seems like we've been waiting forever for those things to get going).

Volcano Shabu Shabu - Cyberjaya

There are plenty of people writing blogs about food and restaurants, so that's not an area I focus on in these pages.  However I am happy to make exceptions for special cases, such as the Volcano Shabu Shabu restaurant in Shaftsbury Square.  

Now this place is what is known as a 'Steamboat' restaurant, a phrase which was completely unknown to me when I walked in the door.  In fact I was quite the bumbling hick on my visit to this particular dining establishment.  From the name 'Volcano Shabu Shabu', I got the impression that they served spicy food.  Hot like a volcano, see?  I have since learned that 'Shabu-Shabu' is a famous Japanese dish featuring thin slices of beef (and various other stuff) boiled in a pot of water.  It all makes sense now.

So anyway, we sat down and ordered a shared platter of various meats and fishes.  We were slightly surprised to see oven rings built into the table, but assumed it was for heating sauces or some-such.  The platter turned up extremely promptly, which is not always a good sign in a restaurant, suggesting that the microwave may have been used in the preparation.  Not the case here.  I tried a slice of meat, and it was just about frozen solid.  I ate it anyway, being pretty hungry.  We were discussing sending the whole thing back when the waitress arrived with a couple of pots full of water. She turned on the oven rings and pretty soon they were bubbling away nicely. 

Thean Hou Temple - Kuala Lumpur

The Thean Hou Temple may look like it has been around for a hundred years, but in fact it is a relatively recent addition to the city, having only been completed in 1989.  (I noticed that that intro is pretty much identical to the one I used for the Putra Mosque.  Apart from demonstrating some pretty lazy writing, it shows you how much Malaysia's growing wealth is evidenced by the buildings which have sprung up in recent decades).  Well this is a Chinese temple which incorporates elements of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, which covers most of your Chinese religious requirements under one roof.

Deepavali (Diwali) in Malaysia

Deepavali (also known as 'Diwali' or the 'Festival of Light') is the most important Hindu festival of the year.  It celebrates the victory of the powers of light over darkness, and is embraced by the large Indian community in Malaysia as a time of year to visit family and eat good food.  The Little India area of Kuala Lumpur is the place to go to sample the atmosphere, as you might expect, and it is located just outside Central Station in KL.  There is a large bazaar which is generally held in Brickfields, although this year it relocated to Masjid India. This was because local shop-owners had complained about losing business, due to stall-holders setting up outside their stores.  Which is understandable. Either way, you can experience the noise and colour by wandering about either location in the run-up to the Festival.  A lot of clothes shopping gets done in the run up to Deepavali too, as tradition states that new clothes should be worn on the day of the feast.

Putrajaya Night Market

You might not expect it amidst the gleaming metallic structures of Putrajaya, but there is a pretty impressive street market here every Friday from sundown.  Along with a variety of hot food from different vendors ranging from burgers and hot dogs (with chicken) to Malaysian nasi lemak and murtabak, there is something for all tastes.  Less so for vegans, but you guys can eat corn.  Stop complaining, it's good corn.

Kuala Lumpur Top Ten Attractions

Not sure what to see first in Kuala Lumpur?  Here is the experts' top ten guide to the city:

1. Petronas Towers
These iconic towers dominate the KL skyline, travel up to the walkway for fantastic views of the city



2. Batu Caves
This place of pilgrimage outside the city is guarded by enormous statues of Hindu Gods and squadrons of fearless monkeys

 3. Chinatown/Petaling Street
All the hustle and bustle of the Chinese market.  Especially worth visiting at night, grab a table and a bottle of Tiger and watch the world go by

4. Menara KL Tower
Kuala Lumpurs original super-structure. Zoom up to the observation deck for a stunning view of the city

5. Central Market
All your souvenir hunting can be taken care of in this art deco market.  Not the cheapest market around, but still worth visiting.

Cyberjaya: It's Not Finished Yet, Come Back a Bit Later.

Cinema in Cyberjaya

There have always been lofty ambitions for the new city of Cyberjaya.  Envisioned as a place to 'live, work, study and play', I think it is fair to go that there is a way still to go on at least a couple of those aspirations.

Oktoberfest in Malaysia 2013

The world has embraced this autumnal tradition from Germany, where people get together in a big tent in order to drink beer out of large mugs whilst singing boisterous folk songs.  As a Muslim country, you might imagine that Oktoberfest would not find a foothold in Malaysia, but you would be wrong.  While it is made pretty clear that Muslims should steer clear of this distinctly un-Halal gathering, the Chinese community in particular is happy to take part in a festival involving consumption of beer and pork in large quantities. 

Malaysian Snacks - Durian Flavoured Popcorn

Movie Night!  
So let`s get in the popcorn and settle down to an evening slumped catatonically in front of some cynically manipulative Hollywood produce.  
Movie Night!

Popcorn is surprisingly difficult to find around these parts though, so it took a bit of searching in the aisles to find this:

Putra Mosque

The Putra Mosque may look like it has been around for a couple of hundred years, but in fact construction only finished in 1999.  It sits majestically lakeside, and it`s striking pink dome draws the eyes of anyone passing within a kilometre radius.

Malaysian Snacks: Cuttlefish Flavoured Snacks

Recent investigations have led biologists to the conclusion that the Cuttlefish is the most intelligent of all the invertebrates, with a brain considerably larger than any of it's boneless peers.

Hari Raya Open House

I have to start off here by embarrassing myself with the admission that I had never heard of Hari Raya before coming to Malaysia.  Sorry about that.  

I'm probably not the only one though, so no harm in explaining.  I was of course familiar with Ramadan, the month of fasting observed by Muslims, and Hari Raya Puasa is a national holiday to mark the end of this period.

Jalan Alor

Jalan Alor

This is the place you had in your mind when you were imagining eating out in Malaysia.  You just didn't know it.

Jalan Alor is a street, but it's better than a regular old street.  This is a street lined with outdoor restaurants serving pretty much anything your heart desires and a few things your heart didn't even know existed before you came here.  Plus beer.

Kuala Lumpur Top Ten: Central Market

This is the place for all of your souvenir shopping needs.  Or some of them, anyhow.  And the market is housed in a newly refurbished art deco style building, so it looks pretty good too.



This is not the kind of place you are going to stumble upon hidden treasures, it's all geared towards the tourist dollar but still worth a visit just the same.

Renting an Apartment in Cyberjaya

Renting an apartment in Cyberjaya is not a cheap option.  In fact, it is probably just about the most expensive town in Malaysia in terms of property.  But if you are working here and don't fancy the hassles of a long commute, then go for it.

The problem is that right now, land here is expensive and so the focus has been on higher-yield properties.
Students crowd into the the more affordable developments, leaving the more expensive ones for the working stiffs.  Either that, or a commute.

Fireworks Competition - Putrajaya Lake

Around this time of year, the normally peaceful ambience of Lake Putrajaya is punctured.  The world is visiting, and they´ve brought fireworks along with them.  The World in this instance is represented by China, Korea, Malaysia, UAE, France, the States and Malaysia, and they have come to the lake to let off some rockets and see who is best at doing that.  More than most competitions though, the result really is not the most important thing.  Free fireworks.  Thats the most important thing.

Shaftsbury Square

One of the larger strip-malls in Cyberjaya is known as Shaftsbury Square, so you will most probably end up here at some stage if you are living in the area.

So, What Wonders Await?

Glad you asked.  First off, and most importantly, there's this:

Can you try out a 737NG Flight Simulator in your local shopping centre?  I did not think so.  Can't guarantee how long this offer is going to be in town though, so grab it while you can.

KL Sentral Station - Trains & Monorail in Kuala Lumpur

If you come to Kuala Lumpur, chances are that you are going to end up in this station at some stage.  And unless you are getting around solely by car or taxi, it's a useful place to know your way around.

With that in mind, the above is a plan of the area which may - or may not - help.

Malaysian Snack Food: Durian Fruit

The durian is a fruit famous for it's terrible stench, which is not a tremendous endorsement.  As an experiment (which you can try yourself at home) I entered the phrase 'durian fruit smells like' to see what came up, and was rewarded with some of the following suggestions:

Road kill.

Hot poop.
Feet, gasoline & fart.
Dirty gym socks.
Rotting flesh.
Poorly maintained public convenience.
Soiled nappies.
Dead cats.
Hell.

However some people swear by the things and you can find street vendors in Chinatown and thereabouts who sell nothing else on their stalls.

Kuala Lumpur Top Ten: Batu Caves

You have to go visit the Batu Caves if you're in Kuala Lumpur.  No, really.  I insist.

I felt kind of like I was walking onto the set of a mega-budget Indiana Jones movie when the giant statues which guard the caves came into view.  Didn't get a real sense of the spirituality of the place, possibly because this element of the caves was somewhat overwhelmed by the hordes of tourists swarming about the place taking pictures with electronic devices.

Malaysian (and Indonesian) Food: Cendol

This is a milkshake you are likely to encounter in your local Dairy Queen in Kansas, featuring as it does some rather unusual ingredients.

In fact when I ordered, the waiter was not satisfied until he pointed at the photo in the menu and obtained my consent before writing it down in his notebook.  Seems like the tourists usually go for Strawberry or Vanilla.

"So what's in this mysterious drink?", I hear you mumble politely.

Kuala Lumpur Top Ten: Petronas Towers

The Petronas Towers, the money shot for all budding photographers in K.L.  In a city of skyscrapers, the towers still cut an imposing figure against the skyline.  For about 4 or 5 years it/they was/were the tallest building in the world until Taipei came along and balanced another couple of stories on an even more ludicrously elevated structure.

Cyberjaya Bus Routes

The bus routes around Cyberjaya are not the simplest in the world, so I thought I would try to give you a snapshot of how they work.  The three we are interested in are the U429 and the Shuttles 01 and 02.

Here are my versions of the route maps, which should give you a pretty good idea of where they go, click on the maps for a close up view:

U429:    To Putrajaya Train Station

Malaysian Snack Food - Dried Fish Fillet

What's the thought that pops into your head when you see this packet?  Is it: 

(a)"Mmm, what a delicious looking savoury snack item!"
(b)"What exactly is the target demographic for this product?"
(c)"Why are they selling cat treats in the savoury aisle?"
(d)"Oh that's right, I had to pick up some dried fish twigs for the children".

Just asking.

I would like to be able to recommend these Dried Fish Fillet sticks, I really would.  I went in with less than sky high expectations myself, which proved a pretty good idea.  In fact if anything, they were worse than I had expected.

Malaysian Food: Murtabak Ayam

If the attached photo looks anything less than delicious, blame the photographer rather than the cook.  Which is another way of saying:  I know this strange looking brown lump does not appear tremendously appetising on first glance.  This is a Murtabak, a Murtabak Ayam (chicken) to be precise.  Kind of difficult to translate it exactly into English terms, but it's basically a chicken/omelette type of combo wrapped in some type of savoury pancake.  With combination of sauces to mix as the mood takes you.

Aquaria - Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Now I have been to a number of aquariums in my time, and I can confidently state that the Malaysian version is up there with the best of them.  They dispense with the duller varieties of marine life and go straight for the box office draws:  sharks, stingrays, piranhas - all the good stuff.  And they even throw in a bunch of creepy-crawlies, including snakes, scorpions and a large number of particularly gruesome looking tarantulas for good measure.  The particularly worrying thing about the spiders was that many of them had the word 'Malaysian' in their name, although I like to think that they are all jungle dwellers and thus not likely to make an appearance in my bathroom any time soon.

Giant Prehistoric Creature Terrorizes Local Resident!

 This, my friends, is what the locals would refer to as a 'small' Monitor lizard.  And as they can grow to up to a couple of metres long, this is technically correct. 

However, speaking as someone who has only seen a reptile of this size either in a zoo or on a television, it is quite large enough for my liking.

Malaysian Snack Foods - Green Pringles

What is strange to the western European palate, may be the most bland and everyday to the South-East Asian resident.  So basically, anything I haven't seen in my local supermarket at home finds a space here.  Until a couple of months later when they are all over Tescos and I am made to feel like a dope.

Welcome to Cyberjaya

Lakeside in Cyberjaya

First off, 'jaya' means 'Success', while 'cyber' means, well, something to do with computers.  So the city was constructed as Malaysia's answer to Silicon Valley, obviously trying to emulate the success of it's American role-model.

The city - or region if you prefer - is something of an anomaly when compared with the rest of the country.  People live in gated communities patrolled by security guards, and paying comparitively (very) high rents for the privilege.  There is no 'centre', not much nightlife to speak of.  Lots of foreigners earning lots of money.  Lots of techie related businesses.  There is also a facebook page about the area called 'Cyberjaya is not Boring', which you imagine is a title residents of Las Vegas, for example, would not feel the need to come up with.