The Other Side of Kay Ell ...

Emila of Emila's Illustrated Blog is right now running a contest to reward her top commenters starting from now to the end of December. The blogger with the most number of comments will get some really cool goodies as prizes from a host of generous sponsors.

And since I'm always game for winning stuff, I've been commenting away like crazy trying to get up there with the favourites Nurul, Diya, TH, Nessa and Marzie who are all currently ahead of me by a huge margin! How the heck I'm going to even get a whiff of them, I have no idea seeing as how right on my tail are Marvic, Anny, Bain and Ken! Can't you people just go for a holiday or something from now till the end of December, ah? LOL!

Anyways, while commenting like a desperate fool, I came across her post about the launching of blog for FT which was held at the Pavilion recently. Blog for FT is basically a contest to encourage the public to blog about stuff from the Federal Territories of KL, Putrajaya and Labuan.

The whole idea behind this contest is to create a positive internet buzz about these Federal Territories, to promote the spirit of 1Malaysia, etc, etc ... For more info about this contest, check out Blog4FT for a much more detailed information regarding the contest.

Now I didn't want to enter the contest at first cos I'm such a bad writer and half the time put people to sleep with my posts. But then, I sat back and thought about KL and its places of interest. Quite a few came to mind instantly, The National Museum, The National Zoo, the Bird Park, Lake Gardens, Aquaria, KLCC, KL Tower just to name a few.

But then, KL is also so much more than just those famous places. There are so many small little shops, small little well known places that gives KL its distinctive character and flavour.

Take for instance Petaling Street or better know as China Town. Who among those who live in KL have not at one time or another paid the place a visit? Even tourist clamour to visit the place. The mix of people from all walks of life inter mingling gives KL it's uniqueness that gives meaning to the 1Malaysia theme.

Those of of you from way back would probably know of this quaint little old Chinese shop just behind Kota Raya shopping complex called Soong Kee that sells the worlds best beef ball noodles this side of planet Earth.

It started off as a stall by the five foot way and now they have their own little restaurant that is still patronized by many people, some of whom are not even from KL. I think if you ask anyone from the 80's or 90's and the chances are they'd probably heard of this place. It's beef ball noodles are simply iconic.

Taking a drive a little further down the road we come to the haven for those with an artistic flair, The Central Market which was at one time a real wet market right in the heart of the city now home to a host of extremely talented individuals from all walks of life. The moment you walk into the place, the air smells and feel different from all the art that is flowing in the air.

Next, take a walk across the street towards the Klang Bus Stand once a central point for buses heading out of the city. Here you'd find many people from all walks of life waiting for their respective public buses to take them home after a hard day at work. Often times while waiting you'd always see the same old familiar faces and end up becoming friends.

It's the small and often times forgotten places like these that give KL its character and soul. Take away all these and even with the amazing Twin Towers KL, the exquisite Aquaria, the towering KL Tower and Kuala Lumpur would be a place without a heart and soul.

*Note: The pictures shown were found randomly on the internet so credit and rights for pictures go out to the respective picture owners.