Solo Trip - Kuala Lumpur (November 2022) - MinNature Malaysia People & Culture Collection

 

Welcome to the world of Malaysians, via MinNature Museum. An exhibit that captures the slide of life of Malaysian so well in such a small scale. These are the scenes of our lives, something we can all relate to, and close to our heart. For example the street view above, a typical shop house street, and the iconic roti man. Every kids love the roti man! They come with their bell, usually in the afternoon or evening, and not only do they deliver bread, they also have lots of snacks and junk food for sale! I lost a lot of money to him when I was young. Mainly I bought coconut candy, and bangkali roti kahwin (which is bangali bread with butter and kaya).  The roti man also provides credit, in a form of a 555 notebook! Haahaha. Ah, so much memories....

For the Malays living in the kampung life, scenes of a traditional kampung must also bring back memories of balik kampung.  For me, I live opposite a Malay kampung in Penang now, and I have a lot of fun watching the daily lives of the people living there, especially the pakcik in his sarong, the kids playing carefreely, the ladies all covered up going to the mosque, or the irritating teenagers with their motobikes.  

Above is a scene not so common in Penang, it captures the scene of a "pindah rumah". In some states, when a Malay move house, they literally move their house! Since the houses are made of wood, and placed on stone steps, you can literally lift it up and move it around!

Near the sea, or on small islands, there are also kelong life. I've visited one around one year back called Pulau Aman in Penang. Wooden platform built on sea water. You can usually order and eat seafood on such places. Fishing was the prime vocation here. Everything is always super laid back here, probably due to the gentle and warm sea breeze. 

Surrounded by sea water, kids are usually awesome swimmers. Toilet holes usually just lead right into the sea water! You can throw your leftover food into the sea too! It's not rubbish if it can feed the fishes below!

On the east side of Malaysia, as in Borneo, there is also the orang asli lifestyle. Above is a long house of the Iban, and a Iban warrior dancing in front. I've never been to a long house before, except maybe in a museum. But I've visited Kuching before, and saw the beautiful traditional dance of the aborigine people there. I recall there was also a lot wild board dishes being sold there by the Chinese living there, lol. We had wild board curry while we were there. A nostalgic dish my Dad used to buy back from the market on rare occasion when it was on  sale. 

The above was quite a cute scene of kids going to school, crossing the terrain like a pro! I guess this is more common in East Malaysia. I've lived most of my life in towns and cities, so hard for me to verify this. But it looks  something out of a Lat Cartoon if ever Lat grew up in Sabah Sarawak :)

MinNature also have a exhibit on bird nest trade in East Malaysia, and it was massive! If you've ever been into such a cave before, you would know how gigantic those caves can be, and how awesome those people working there, climbing those wooden ladder without safety nets or equipment. They are the real spiderman!

Nearer to home, the indian barber shop. Every guy I know in Penang has their hair cut by an indian barber, or at least, in my family at least. They were a lot cheaper than the chinese barber. And they gave very strong head massage! I've never been to one, since it's almost exclusively for guys only. I was always stuck in a chinese woman's hair saloon where they perm lady's hair. I hated being there as it was boring. Now that I'm all grown up, I still hate going to the hair dresser. In fact, for the past year, I've resorted to cutting my own hair since my favourite lady barber closed down ! Saves tonnes of money and time! And most of all, saves me the small talk I have to make. 

Hawker centers and food streets are a way of life for Malaysian.  A place where everyone can order the food they love to eat, and of course the sharing of food such as satay, cuttlefish kangkong, pohpiah, lor bak. The most fun activities, especially when you go out with a bunch of people that can eat a lot. But for some reason, I tend not to bring my foreign friends here, especially if they are angmoh friends, or 'angmoh' cultured people. Some are not used to the hygiene level, or the crowd, or the heat, or the food, lol. Boy are they missing out!

Durian seasons, you can also find durian vendors around. I've never eaten durian in a food street in Malaysia before (although I have done so in Singapore!). Mainly cause they usually overcharge. We locals usually buy them back and eat it at home where we can lick all our fingers in comfort!

I also took a photo of this BBQ chicken wing stall. Ah, the nostalgia is strong with this photo. Of dinners and late night at Song River cafe at Gurney Drive where my family use to go to. These are luxury dish, and I get excited every time there is an order being made. The smell and taste of it, heavenly. It was also something my 'MakYong' (god grandmother?) used to buy back for us for supper after her gambling session. Sometimes she brings home just BBQ pork sausages. Heavenly! Not the most healthy midnight snack, but so full of love <3

And every 7th month, the Chinese Opera is out in full swing entertaining the dead. I was a big fan of these operas! Whenever I see one, I would inform my Dad, and he would bring me there after dinner. I wasn't there for the show though, I was there for the food! Specifically the dessert like "Leng Chee Kang", and "Ngoh Xiang" (5-spiced pork rolls). Ah, those good old days. Now, it's hard even finding any operas!

But lion dance is forever still popular, especially during Chinese New Year. And I am never sick of watching them. Even now, whether in Malaysia or Singapore, if I hear the gong, I gotta go watch it. Especially if there are high stilts involve! It's mesmorising!

Above is a scene from the back stage of a chinese opera. You can always see this if you walk behind the stage. You can see them putting on their thick makeups, and you can see the musical instrument they use too. The costumes and the props are also visible. 

Lastly, scenes of home life. It kinda brings a comfortable feeling to the heart, knowing that someone took the time and effort to preserved such a mundane slice of life as hanging of washed cloth at home, hangers, random vase with plants etc. Someone must have loved their home very much to do all these. And I feel the passion very much in every little details they put into the display in this museum. 

Ending this entry with a pet dog and his dinner :)  Again, someone took the time to do this, appreciate it. It also reminded me of my childhood days, when 'MakYong' would cook the dog's pork rice at 1030am, and how I came running down from her home to ask what was the wonderful smell, only to be told that it was dog food ..... Whiskey and Brandy (yes their dogs were named after alcohol cause my "AhKong" god-grandfather was an alcoholic) has such wonderful pampered life!

Solo Trip - Kuala Lumpur (November 2022) - MinNature Malaysia Food Collection

One of my favourite exhibition is of food, of course! Something super dear to my heart, cause I love to eat! And this post is all about the food section. Above is a roadside Malay Kueh stall. It's a bit modern than I remember them to be. I did talk to one of the owner of the museum, and he told me they actually use some 3D printing to do up some of the miniature. For the above, aside from the mouth watering looking kueh, I really like the red plastic stool. They are a bit out of proportion with the table, but they look so nostalgic. 

Next is a typical Chinese breakfast stall, selling those chinese traditional kueh, but in this one, they have some indian snacks like putu mayam too. There is also always a big container of fried beehoon and mee for breakfast in any respectable breakfast stall. And Yam Cake, always there too. It's a sight that reminds me of breakfast in the market. Again, very nostalgic. Thankfully where I am staying now, I can still walk to the market and get this experience :)

Kacang puteh stall! With the kacang puteh man. I love this stall so much. They can be found usually after school while waiting for bus, or outside the cinema, or at the pasar malam. For me, I used to stay near a convent primary school. So every evening, I would walk there and buy 40cents worth of kacang puteh from the friendly Indian uncle who wears the traditional white sarong you hardly see these days. I must have spend a fortune there! All my childhood pocket money! When I'm feeling rich, I might even buy those chocolate coated nuts!

Cut fruit stalls, usually found in Pasar Malam, outside school, and roadside. I never buy from these stall though. Cause in school they always show flies around such stall. So due to hygiene purposes, I never buy fruits from cut fruit stalls. Now that I am older, the more I avoided them, mainly due to cost. I can cut my own fruits myself without paying extra thank you very much!

In Penang, we don't have a standalone chestnut stall. We have chestnut pushcart. And again, it brings back memories of night time stroll along Gurney Drive, and having hot chestnuts with my family. The smell of it alone triggers so much memories. Now that I am a grown up, I realize how expensive chestnuts are! I don't buy them as snacks to eat any more, but occasionally I buy the packets one and throw into my mixed rice as a meal. 

Satay stall. Not part of my childhood. In Penang, pushcarts are more of a thing. And we have halal satay, meaning with pork, and best of all, pork intestine! Interestingly the best satay I had was in Kajang by accident, when my friend got us lost in KL....It was a lamb satay :)

Dim sum, still very much an alive culture everywhere. You can go to fancy restaurants or cafe for them. For me, I always go to run down ones where old uncles sit around and complaint about life, each caressing their own teapot with their own personal tea inside of them, lol. If you have visited me in Penang before, you will notice I hardly ever bring you to a nice restaurant to eat. For me, the best food in Penang are eaten at the market, at the streets, the night market, or old run down restaurant. If they are sparkling clean, it would be expensive, and most importantly, not authentic. I like to eat at places where I have eaten since I was ten years old. I like to support those vendors, who kept the memories of my childhood alive. Plus, that is the real taste of the people of Penang :) If I went to a new restaurant with you, you can be sure we are not that close a friend :P

Youtiao and fried dough stall! Unhealthy, but part of my chinese culture. From time to time, I still eat there. But these days, I prefer my youtiao soaked in either porridge, bak kut teh soup, soya milk or coffee!

Lok Lok stall is also famous in Malaysia. Usually found in food center or night market. Strangely, I am not a fan. I only eat them if I am with someone and they want to experience it.  To me, every stick can be cheaper if I make them at home!

But it is part of Malaysian culture, so please preserve it!

Above is an old stall ZhiChar stall. ZhiChar refers to customised dish, meaning you can order anything and ask them to cook it anyway you like. But usually they already have a set of options available for you to pick from. I do love ZhiChar stalls, but I also find them expensive. Something to eat on special occasion only. Above is the front view, look how detail it is. 

And what is amazing that this here is the size view of it. The detail is amazing! I love the leftover rice on the scoop, the traditional chinese calendar, the red paint on the chopstick so that owners of the stall can differentiate which chopsticks are theirs. MinNature Malaysia, you blown me away with your details. 

Here is a roast meat stall. Looking at the hanging meat is making me salivate!

But what is amazing is the ariel view of the stall. Nothing is left out. I know we have VR these days, but looking at these seems to trigger more of my sense :)

Now if I didn't mention it, and you just looked at the above photos, would you have though those are real vegetables? 

And this is a typical dry good stall you can find in older wet market. Above is the front view. 

And this is the size view. I still buy from shops like these, especially the soya sticks in paperbags. I love them. I love pulling the bags from the hooks. 

Coming to an end now, above is a prayer offering table. I'm not sure if it is a Hokkien New Year setting, cause it has bamboo tied to the table. When I was younger, we use to pray like this, but not with a whole pig. We pray with cooked dishes and rice. Above is perhaps from a different dialect group, cause they have meesuah on the table. Perhaps Singhuanese, or putien area. Best thing about such prayers is when it's over, all the food has got to be eaten! Yum!

And lastly, the home dining table of a humble chinese family. Some of the best meals are eaten here. Usually involved white rice, fried eggs, soup and some meat dish, lol. A humble meal is sometimes the best meal to have. 

Solo Trip - Kuala Lumpur (November 2022) - MinNature Malaysia Intro

1st full day in KL, and my itinerary was to visit MinNature Museum for an hour or so since I got free complimentary ticket to it, and then head to LalaPort to see Team Lab and some window shopping. MinNature opens at 10am, or so it stated in their website. But true to the Malaysian spirit, it was not opened till around 1015am, which for me, was rather irritating ....

So in 2022 when I visited, the ticket cost around 20rm. In 2024, I just checked and it now cost 30rm! But hear me out, it is a place worth visiting as you will see from my entry, and the next few that follows. I totally love this place. I got a free ticket from a Subway event in Queensbay Mall Penang. I had to buy around 20rm worth of subway sandwiches to receive a goodie bag and a lucky draw. I got a subway-shaped bolster for the lucky draw and had to carry it around the mall..... Needless to say, I left the mall early instead of spending a whole day day as initially planned.... In the goodie bag, was a free ticket to this museum. And I kept it, thinking maybe I will visit KL one day and since it's FREEEEEE. But you might be happy to know, that I had such a wonderful time in the museum (ALONE TOO!) that I bought 20rm worth of stickers from their souvenir shops as a sign of support. Do note that this is something I RARELY do!

The museum is situated at level 1 of Sungai Wang. But at the ground level, you can see a glass exhibit of a miniature setup of olden days Sungai Wang. I thought that was pretty cool. Heck, I thought the whole museum was pretty cool (except for their punctuality). 

It was a rather small museum divided into a few halls. I though I'll just browse through it and be done in an hour. Oh how wrong I was! I spend so much time here that I totally missed my limited Japanese lunch set in Lot10! Cause by the time I was done, it was almost 1pm! Luckily, I still managed to have THE most delicious lunch at the basement of iSetan!

Some of the major halls exhibit of the museum is the grand Kuala Lumpur famous sights. Above is of the Dataran Merdeka padang. Besides KL, they also did landscapes of (almost) all the states in Malaysia. I say almost cause I don't recall seeing places like Perlis....

There was also a section all the races in Malaysia, with detailed explanation of them. Above is just the main races. There was a further long row of other ethnic races in another glass display. MinNature is extremely detailed when it comes to their display! It is amazing how much they can fit into such a small museum. You have to take your time to appreciate the detail though. Hence the long hours spent here. 

One of my favourite was of course the food display! Above is just a sample. I'll do a more detail post showing more photos of it later on. The display of food is a feast for the eyes, and makes one so hungry. But I think what was important was the way these display sometimes preserved a culture that is no longer in practise. It is sad, but some scenes are like from my memories and hard to find again in today's lifestyle....

I guess it's a rather nostalgic feel to it all. To see the old kitchen set up, or stalls, or shops. Some younger generation might not even be able to relate to them anymore. Misty eyes, that's what this museum made me felt. One minute misty eyes, one minute laughing hysterically. Luckily I was alone most of the time in the museum, lol. 

Here's a display of dirty dishes and trash at a food place. See! I told you they were detailed! Up to the greasy plates and trash on the ground, and orange plastic bags that are all too familiar to one's life growing up in Malaysia :)

This is a privately run museum. And what they show here has so much details and passion that sometimes I wonder why can't the government help them out a bit. They are practically the guardian of our heritage. And there was so much love for the country and culture in just this little small museum. Misty eyes indeed. 

But not everything about this museum is all series business. There is also a lot of puns. And ridiculously placed miniature characters being placed all over the place. You have to really spend a lot of time here to appreciate everything. I will do a post just on the fun side of this museum real soon! Just one recommendation when you visit this place, leave your adult brain behind. Be a child again when you enter, and you would have so much fun here! I promise! I know I did!

Ref: 

MinNature Malaysia @ Sungai Wang

Solo Trip - Kuala Lumpur (November 2022) - Morning Walk Around Lot 10

Good morning! First morning of my solo trip to KL, and I'm feeling cosy in my single room! I love that the window is just next to my bed, and there is a small table where I can put all my things on, and even have my morning coffee on. The street view is not too bad either. The morning view is a lot more normal as compared to the night. Students can be seen making their way to school, old people walking to the market, and workers hurrying to their work place. Pretty normal neighbourhood. 

If I look further, I can see the new sky scrapper of KL, the mobile-phone looking tall building. It's pretty stunning, and I still don't know what is its name, or where is it, or what is it for. It looks pretty cool, yes, but that was about it. Still, it was nice to get the view of it in my 32SGD room.

Breakfast was some reduced-to-clear cheese cake I got from Donki last night, and drip coffee that I've brought along with me. I may carry just a backpack, but I got all my comfort things in it, things that makes my trip more relaxing and comfortable. Good coffee happens to be one of them, and tea, and even milo....

I tend to be an early riser, and the place I wanted to go doesn't open till 10am, and it's only a 15minutes walk or so from my hotel. So I made myself comfortable in the room and decided to watch TV.  I really love the table lamp. The soft light really made the whole place so cosy. It was also on the hotel photo when I booked the room, so kudos for giving the customer what they saw in the booking site! 

The TV options was pretty good, but I wasn't much of a TV person. But I saw this korean cartoon on one of the channel, and it happens to be those short cartoon that I love watching. So I spend my morning watching cartoon on a pretty good quality TV! Did I mentioned that my own home in Malaysia does not have a TV, nor an air-con? This cheap hotel was pretty luxury for me! 

Around 9am or so, I decided to venture out. Above is the view of Bukit Bintang during day time. I like the monorail train going by among the tall buildings. It did looked pretty futuristic! But the traffic jam was still there. The train wasn't really that packed every time I took it. I guess cars are cheaper, and so is petrol. So everyone kinda just have their own car and drive. 

I went to explore Lot10. There is a connector between the Bukit Bintang LRT station with Lot10, as well as Sungai Wang.  Lot10 is more 'atas' and has an Isetan inside, Donki, as well as a Japanese food court among many other stores. Sungai Wang was more local. It has Giant, lots of small shops, a cheap local foodcourt, and MiniNature, which was the miniature museum I was going to. 

But it was still super early, so I went around and took some photos of whatever I find interesting. Like this super big teddy bear. Don't know what it was for, really. 

I also found the Chinese Food Court that my ex-colleague mentioned.  It was at the basement of Lot10, and according to him, it has delicious food at a very affordable price. So when I saw the sign, of course I went downstairs to check it out. 

It was indeed a themed food court, very nicely done. The food offered were chinese and some local selections too. But the price was more like Singapore foodcourt price! I was not gonna pay 15rm for a plate of noodles! After staying in Penang, everything in this foodcourt was expensive to me! It's a hard NO for me. 

I came across this cute Donki mural at Lot10, and it's Malaysia specific, so I took one shot for souvenir sake. 

There was also a weird Durian themed cafe. It looked plasticky, so again, it's a NO for me!

I did see the above and was interested. But it was not open yet, so I just took the photo, thinking I'll come and try it if I have the chance. Unfortunately, I never did. I found something even better that afternoon at another location call LaLPort! More on that coming soon.

After wondering around Lot10, I cross the road and went into Giant to browse around. It's amazing what you can find when you have too much time to kill. I think I bought a Korean Spicy Chicken Sauce there, and I recall it was delicious! I also got some superheroes packaging tissue paper cause I forgot to bring some along.... Anyway, around 10am, I make my way upstairs to look for the miniature museum. The next (or next few) post will just be about the museum, cause it was one of the most fun placed I've visitied! Stay tune!