Explore Chinatown Kuala Lumpur

this afternoon the sky was cloudy,not blazing.i took the LRT down to Chinatown in Petaling street.It was fun and nostalgic.Think City has done a fabulousjob redesign urban space as a heritage site with old shophouses refurbished to small hotels,restaurants,cafes and artful back alleys with colourful graffiti.I remember mom taking us to shoe street or hai gai that had shops stacked with shoes.for chinese new year,we would go to chinese grocery shops with gunny sacks of rice and dried stuff from mushrooms to dried oysters.the fresh flower market was lined with wreaths of floral bouquets and colourful blooms.on weekend dad took us to feast on dim sum in hotel Malaya or at Mandarin Pacific hotel.on New years eve mom prayed at small Sin Sze Ya temple founded by Yap Ah Loy in 1890s.we bought mooncakes from Yoke Woo Hin, Kam Lun Tai and Bunn Cheong for mid autumn festival its a good place to eat Dai Pai Dong street food with good wok hey.i loved the roast duck dad bought from the one eyed man or dan ngan lao.the duck was fat and juicy. i found art supply shops in Chinatown with one selling chinese inkwash art supplies like scroll of rice paper and wooden carved stands.i bought a round cloth chinese fan that im planning to paint lotus flowers.then went to kwai chai hong to take pics of graffiti.the cafes and kopi tiam had old traditional vibes with dark stained furniture and cozy lamps.i discovered an art studio at purple cane tea art cafe.wonderful surprise.for 2 hours i can buy the canvas and use all the paint provided to paint my art in peace as kitty keeps on disturbing me when i paint in the dining room by jumping on chairs and table.i love drinking chinese tea and can eat my lunch and snacks there without a curious cat around.the art lessons are provided for 2 hours by a professional artist.thats a nice place to spend painting. then i went to RexKL to browse bookshop at book excess.As i took photos of buildings in Chinatown for my urban sketches,a young western lady asked if she could take photos.i thought she wanted to take some photos of herself in Chinatown but it turned out she wanted to snap a picture of me taking photos of heritage buildings . i really enjoyed myself rediscovering my childhood haunts and look forward to another food exploration trip with friends at old China cafe,the dai pai dong and curry laksa at Madras lane.i even discovered the old benevolent dramatic association where my 80 year old grand aunt used to sing chinese opera for charity shows in her younger days.i heard chinese classical opera rehearsal as i walked past. there used to be many chinese funeral parlours there with big scary wooden coffins displayed openly.so i laughed when i saw a sign saying the haunted bar will be closed for spirit cleansing.sure is a big joke.