Thursday 20 March 2008 was a holiday. That morning, I drove my car to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman to fetch Mr. Cheban, the Trek and Tour Agent of Nepal. He was in Kuala Lumpur participating in the MATTA Fair from 14 - 16 March in promoting trekking and tourism in Nepal.
I was like a tour guide that day, reciprocating the task that he is going to do when the 12-member team go trekking at Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal from 28 April 2008 - Yes! In three weeks' time!
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He stayed at the Swiss Hotel, which is just next to Dataran Merdeka – which conveniently was my first sightseeing location.
Mr. Cheban - The next location was the starting area of Pacesetters runners training runs at Bukit Aman.
Lake Gardens – where I showed him where Pacesetters Club stages the various runs..
I then take him to Putrajaya to see those magnificent bridges and Administration buildings. Going to Putrajaya via the new highway was just a breeze. The highway was wide, smooth and only a few vehicles were on the road..
From Putrajaya Convention Centre on one end and the Dataran Putra on the other end. I explained that this is another popular venue where Pacesetters runners train on Duathlon involving road racing bicycles..
Along Putrajaya Boulevard
In front of the Palace of Justice
The famous fishbone bridge.
We have lunch at the food court at Dataran Putra..
We later went to Alamanda, the renowned shopping complex in Putrajaya..
According to Cheban, he has to vacate from Swiss Hotel as the hotel was fully booked for the weekend (22-23 March). From Putrajaya, I took him to Masjid India area to look for other hotel accommodation. After asking two hotels there, we were surprised that the hotels were fully booked for the weekend. I could not believe it when the third hotel was also fully booked. So I asked the Front Desk, and the reply: "Possibly, it is due to F1 Racing." We actually walked round the entire Masjid India and Jalan TAR area enquiring for 7 hotels - all giving same answers.
Cheban has to stay near Masjid Jamid LRT station for ease in traveling and going back to KLIA on Sunday 23 March. So I took him to Petaling Street area to continue looking for accommodation. Ancasa Hotel and Hotel Malaya were fully booked also. Finally, we found one new hotel -- Winsin Hotel -- next to Kota Raya and in front of a row of Gold Smith shops near Jalan Silang.
We actually spent 2.5 hours looking for a hotel accommodation. It was only after that I realized the F1 Racing actually brought many tourists to Kuala Lumpur. Well, that was the effect when it was later reported that 125,000 spectators were witnessing the F1 Racing on Sunday 23 March at Sepang F1 Circuit.
Front (L-R): Tai, Cynthia, Cheban, LimKH, Chooi LinBack (L-R): Lok, Weng, PK Chan, Chiew Hong, KC
The other three members not here are: Dr. Hamdan, Yee Choi and Lili Ng.
At 5:30 p.m. I decided to continue the scheduled activity – to have a Chinese 10-course dinner near 1-Utama area with the other trekkers who are going trekking in Nepal.
We have a splendid dinner with good food amid good company. The followings are the feedback from Cheban: there are lots of greens in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, the grasses and leaves were radiating the vibrant green with the constant rainfall recently; the infrastructure was fantastic; and the people are very happy.
Cheban and Melisa
.Cheban distributed the brochures that he printed when he participated in the MATTA fair. He told us that he has chosen one photos taken in 2003 to be the cover photo. You know what? One of the lady trekkers in the photo were dinning in the next table! That was real coincidence.
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If you would like to arrange for the trekking trips in Nepal, you may contact Mr. Cheban at:
Mt. Manaslu Adventure Treks (P) Ltd.
P.O. Box 15145 Kathmandu, Nepal.
Tel.: 00977-1-4424632, 4423542
Mobile: 00977-98510-55876
Fax: 00977-1-4423542
Treks & Tours organizer to Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India
Written by KC
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