Air Panas Community Hall - When will it materialise?

Remember the small community house opposite the Air Panas wet market? The one the authorities demolished last year? Well, according to the signage here, the place would be used to build a new community hall. Does anyone know when work will begin or will it remain just like that? Anyone who knows something are most welcomed to post a comment to enlighten others like me.

By the way, it was rumoured that a large futsal stadium will be built not far from the Air Panas firestation, opposite the Marian Convent Primary School.

Yes, there is a real hot springs in Hot Springs!

Yes, we at Wangsa Maju have a hot springs in Hot Springs!

Haha, you probably think I am joking - that there is a real hot springs in Hot Springs or better known now as Air Panas. Well, there is one.

In the days of yore, this place was merely a hedged compound of an old timber house by a huge shallow well which water is crystal clean and terribly hot. In the mornings, steam could be seen emanating from it from the other side of the road. The water sometimes looked boiling as sulphurous gases were released from the earth's bowels.


The pool is well landscaped, too!

The water is believed to be able to cure skin problems and arthritis. In the mornings, housewives could be seen washing their clothes there because the water containing a little bit of sulphur was believed to be able to kills fungus on the clothes.

Today, this place has been developed very well although the City Hall has not been intelligent enought to promote it as a tourist attraction - Come on! Where else can you get a hot springs within city limits? In any case, it is now within the compounds of a condoplex called Resource Springs (see below).



If you want to use the water to bathe, you have to pay RM1 per adult per entry. You have to bring your own water trough to scoop the water. There are bath cubicles and divided into men's and women's section. Foot soaks are also available.



ps: The coins you see at the bottom of the pool (picture top) are thrown by people who have made their wishes. Yes, this is also a wishing pond although no one really knows if punters ever won anything just throwing coins into the pool!

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Are there fish in Taman Sri Rampai lake?

Whenever I pass by this lake at Taman Sri Rampai, I would see some angler casting their lines into the waters and waiting patiently for god-knows-what. A bite, perhaps? Are there fish?

As far as I know, the lotuses are plentiful and fruiting too. If you like the bulbs, you can pick some by the lake's edge. Deeper ones are a danger because the water in some areas are not as shallow as it appears. There are also lotus fruits to enjoy, especially if you like the seeds raw. During the flowering season, March through May, the pink flowers that carpet the lake's surface is a sight to behold.

But fish?

Several years ago, City Hall threw a fishing competition here and released some patins. Rumour is still going around that there are some huge ones lurking in the waters, waiting stupidly to bite onto the baits of some lucky angler. Believe it or not, up to you. But every single angler I see there each day amazes me no end how some people could keep their hopes up every single day!



ps: This I know - there used to be lots of emerald chiclids that can be reared as aquarium fish here in the past. Not anymore.

Every town has its Joker - even Medan Idaman

This lady in yellow must have been in her 70s. If you are in Medan Idaman, you will see her for she is a familiar face there, busy chasing motorists who just parked or about to get out of their car. She will knock on your window if you have not yet gotten down, and if you had, she will politely ask you for one ringgit.

If you don't acknowledge, she will keep on asking, short of following you all around. If you still ignore her, she will head for the next 'victim'. Thank god she has not learnt the tricks of reverse psychology - follow you till you get so damned embarrassed and pay her off just to leave you alone!

Whose mother is she no one seems to know. I think she is a harmless creature who is probably spending her twillight years doing this just for kicks.

Maybe she just want to piss the motorists off big time and make some dough along the way.

Mind you, she is not a beggar. She just politely asks you for the money and if you don't give it to her, she doesn't verbally abuse you. Otherwise she would have upgraded her status to someone not quite right "up there".

To avoid embarrassment, the minute you spot her, just get quickly out of her sight.

I wish someone would claim her. If she is your mother, take her home. After a life of slogging, she deserves better than roam the streets of Gombak Fifth Mile. She just might get knocked down by a reckless motorist when crossing the busy road one of these days.

How to get from Wangsa Maju to KL City Centre in 10 minutes

Well, if you know your way around, there are many. You could use Jalan Jelatek via Setiawangsa. But if you are a newcomer, let me let you in on this short cut. It is well known among locals and takes you to Ampang Park in 10 minutes.

Head towards Taman Sri Rampai and subsequently Setapak Jaya. Follow the road to the end till you see an oxidation pond and continue along this one-way road and you will arrive at a downhill bend which subsequently takes you across a small stream. The road then forks into a T-junction.

Take the left of the fork and follow the road straight will take you into Jalan Semarak, or Jalan Gurney - which is about 7 minutes from Ampang Park and KLCC if there is no jam in town. (The road passes through some squatters' area (once known as Kampung Congo) now being developed for the DUKE Highway.)


Note: IN the mornings, don't use this road. It is very narrow and heavily jammed!

Oh those mamaks! Why do they have to book parking lots so early?

Look at the picture. This employee of a mamak restaurant was caught in the act. He wasn't too pleased when he realised his action was being photographed.

It was only 6:30pm and he is already at it at Medan Idaman. Here you can see he is marking his territory - putting chairs and tables on parking lots so that he will have extra serving space.

Not only is he depriving motorists of parking lots, he is also causing congestion because motorists have no choice but to double park by the lots he had booked.

This had been a regular occurrence in Medan Idaman, at Gombak Fifth Mile. Both the front and in the middle lanes. These restaurateurs have no respect for other people's businesses or the law and one wonders why the full weight of the law did not come down hard on them. Come on City Hall!

Many shop owners have confided that the congestion and lack of parking space had caused a drop in their businesses. A clinic nearby is also affected tremendously by the action of these selfish restaurant operators. Severely-ill patients were forced to walk several hundred metres away to the clinics because there were simply no parking space. I wonder why the other affected businesses bother to pay assessment fees when City Hall did not look after their interests.

Why can't they take up the parking lots after say 9pm when businesses start to close and nightlife kicks in? The restaurateurs would have the entire Medan Idaman to themselves and no one would raise an eyebrow.

The Origin of (Pasaraya) Ong Tai Kim (Supermarket)

Do you know that the Pasaraya Ong Tai Kim got its name from its founder, the late Ong Tai Kim?

This affable and plump gentleman started his business in the 70s and the original shop where he started from was a timber structure located across the road from where the current Pasaraya Ong Tai Kim is now located.

Several years later, the row of brick shophouses were built. If I am not mistaken, it was in the early 80s and the wooden structures replaced. Ong Tai Kim then moved to the newer premises, occupying two lots side-by-side and complete with a basement.

The row of shophouses formed the fringe of Kampung Lee Kong Chian or better known among the Hokkien residents there as Gong Bak Goh Kee meaning Gombak Fifth Mile (or Batu Lima in Malay) stretching from the southern entrance (in front of the traffic lights to Setapak Garden) to the northern entrance (after the bridge just a short distance from the junction to Taman Ibukota.

Today, Pasaraya Ong Tai Kim has become the icon of Gombak and is an often referred-to landmark that is synonymous with Gombak.

The complex today occupies five floors with the ground floor being the supermarket and sundry goods section.

Pasaraya Ong Tai Kim is open from 9am to 10pm. Parking is bad so be prepared to park far and walk. Within its vicinity is the Medan Idaman Complex, a shopping complex wannabe that caters to the local makcik and ah sohs. Oh, it is a heaven for handphones and accessories.