Corners Of Concrete | Breaking Necks In The Streets Of Kuala Lumpur | Part 2

The last location we were at in Part 1 was in a side street in the city center having dinner at the hawker stall. Now all is full, we decided to hit another busy neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur. This area is full of night spots, bars and location to at least four shopping centers. This is Bukit Bintang (Starhill).

 Bukit Bintang wasn't all glitz and glamour before since Jalan Tong Shin in the area was the focal point of the 13th May 1969 racial riots that occurred in the city. Even though it was a dark period for the city, but it resulted in the creation of Malaysia's pledge of allegiance, the Rukunegara.

Fast forward to the late 1980s, corporate powerhouse Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay proposed a plan to transform the neighbourhood with retail development. After much planning through his company, YTL corporations, the neighbourhood of Bukit Bintang was named Bintang Walk. Ever since then, the neighbourhood continues to reinvent itself and turned into the place it is today.

 Now Bukit Bintang has became an attraction to tourist, seasoned shoppers or a place to see and be seen so there wouldn't be a better place to stop by to people-watch. The place is a perfect example on how diverse Malaysia is. Not only we see the locals, but we also see the foreign tourists that actually flock to Malaysia, especially Kuala Lumpur. Caucasians, Middle Eastern, Asian, just to name a few.

After just a few minutes there, we couldn't help to realize that we were actually being watched too. Most of the people that past by could help seeing these MadRush built cars. One reason could be not many S-Chassis owners would take their car to Bukit Bintang. Just to see a pristine road going 180SX is hard nowadays. The best incident would be when this single Caucasian guy who was walking across the street broke his neck three times to see the rides. He even pulled out his iPhone to snap a photo of them. Thanks for the love!

   Now, after going to these two places, where else would we go? KLCC and Petronas Twin Towers were iconic, Bukit Bintang was dope. So we thought we should stretch these cars' legs. That only means one thing, time for a drive. Malaysia, especially Kuala Lumpur is full of highway systems due to the high volume of traffic we have. Even though I am still unsure if it solves the traffic problem, but the good thing about it is, once its late night, when not much people are out, these highway systems are a perfect playground to drivers and performance cars like these. 

The Ampang Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH) opened in May 2001 to reduce congestion on Jalan Ampang that connects the district of Ampang in Kuala Lumpur's eastside to the city center. This highway is now a usual daily commute to most but it is also one of the optional routes to some of the local highway racers. But don't get your hopes up, they rarely use this route due to limited distance and presence of authorities. 

In personal preference, I would say that this highway is to me the most scenic highway in the city. So let's say if you brought your nice ride down to KL, a drive on AKLEH at night is a must. Besides, one of the best ways to see a city skyline is to see it from its main elevated highway. Pretty similar to Tokyo's Bayshore Expressway (Wangan) or New York's Henry Hudson Parkway. After miles of driving and sight seeing, we decided to end the night with a late night supper in Jalan Duta. Hope you enjoyed our tourist guide to the city of Kuala Lumpur. 

Don't forget to like Mat Canyon and MadRush on Facebook. 

Corners Of Concrete | Breaking Necks In The Streets Of Kuala Lumpur | Part 1

The city of Kuala Lumpur is a very vibrant city. It is not only the capital city of Malaysia, yet is also the hub of commerce and tourism. The name Kuala Lumpur is derived from the words 'kuala' which is defined as 'river delta' and 'lumpur' that means mud. Therefore, it roughly means 'muddy river delta'. The city was named Kuala Lumpur because the area is where the Gombak and Klang river meet. In fact, these two rivers that run through the city is brown in colour due to the mud that flows with the river.

Kuala Lumpur has come a long way ever since the days Chinese Kapitan, Yap Ah Loy governed the city. From a chaotic tin mining site to the metropolis where two million people call home. What would be a better way to explore the city center than to cruise on its streets in two beautifully built S-Chassis built by MadRush.

 Our friends from Garage Life recently finished building and restoring their rides at MadRush. Both built with two very different intentions. One functional daily driven 180SX and one slammed and show-stopping S15 Spec S. Both very beautiful rides that we will show you later on in coming posts.

Starting off at the corner of Jalan Ampang and Jalan P. Ramlee, we first see the ever iconic Petronas Twin Towers. Currently the tallest twin towers in the world standing at the height of 452 m. Even though it has lost the tallest building title years ago to Taipei 101, it is still a feat of engineering since the structure is largely built with concrete.

If that is not mind blowing enough, the building location itself is actually one of the worst places to build a skyscraper since the land that Kuala Lumpur sits on is not totally solid ground. This is due to the numerous underground caves that are present under the city due to years of tin mining.

Proceeding to the back streets of the area, it is clear to see that Kuala Lumpur has totally transformed from an old and laid back Asian city. Especially when one ventures in the area known as the Golden Triangle which refers to the KL city center. The streets are lined with glass and steel and dotted with high end night spots like Beach Club Cafe and Zouk.

As we continued, we passed by Healy Mac's Irish Pub. As we checked our surroundings, we noticed the customers drinking in front of the pub broke their necks looking at our rides pass by despite the fact there was a Porsche parked outside, they still took the time to see these late model Japanese sport cars by even though it is totally out of curiosity. 

As the sun was about to set, we settled down in a side street in the area for dinner. While we settled down, we decided to shoot in the middle of the side street since the area had a nice charm of its own. A quiet pocket in a bustling city. After that, we settled for an economic dinner at the nearby hawker stall. Where do we head of next, stay tuned for part 2.

Don't forget to like Mat Canyon and MadRush on Facebook.