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Art flourishes in a bubble world in the heart of the city.

A common route by foot from Central Market/Pudu Raya/Chinatown/Kota Raya to Bukit Bintang is along Jalan Raja Chulan, which will take you about 45 minutes to an hour.

On a nice day, it’s a soothing walk past the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve ^[2] right in the middle of the city. And for the first time since my close to 30 years of living in KL, I spotted the Forest Reserve office, which had a sign saying there were WIFI facilities provided. I wasn’t sure if that meant I could get WIFI if I trekked up the primary forest.

Earlier, when FL2020 walked towards this bubble world, she heard a group practising dhol ^[3] drums and saw a wall of scrawled with angst-filled, urban graffiti. It was as if she stumbled upon the twilight zone of a hidden art scene.

Also, notable was a small community of government quarters and pre-war shoplots at Lorong Raja Chulan, just off Jalan Raja Chulan.

A resident, who was cutting grass with a parang — a short sword-like knife usually about 3-4 feet long — told FL2020 that the quarters were built in 1957 — the year of our independence.

It was really like walking into a time warp as it was kampung life just a few minutes from Jalan P. Ramlee — an entire street populated by clubs, bars and restaurants. From here, one can see the KL Tower and the Am-Bank building rising high into the cloudy skies.

Two young children, probably aged between four and seven, were also playing in a garden with a homemade swing hanging on a tree all right in the middle of the city. Unbelievable.

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‘Merdeka’ government quarters that were built in 1957.

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Kampung life in the middle of the city?

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And I am not sure what this mansion is……