RUNNING WITH PASSION: Christmas Morning LSD: The Most Beautiful KL Street Arts

What do you do on the morning of a public holiday? We did it like any other runner would - RUN!

I didn't know what was on the menu when Abang Omar invited for the LSD run. Neither did any of the other runners who joined the LSD this morning. We set off at the Masjid Bukit Aman after the Subuh prayer, into part of the Perdana Botanical Gardens before taking the tunnel out to KL Sentral. From there we headed to KL city centre, passing by Central Market, Petaling Street, Pudu Sentral, Jalan Alor enclave, KLCC, Kampung Baru, Chow Kit, Sunway Putra Mall, Bukit Tunku before heading back to our start point via Padang Merbok.

I must say it was the most beautiful LSD I have ever done, right in the KL city centre. We had plenty of photo-stops where the best street arts are found - some hidden while some are prominently displayed. These masterpieces can be found in alleys, on walls of buildings or propped up in a public parking lot. Didn't know that there are so many Instagrammable back alleys in Kuala Lumpur!

The run was concluded with a greasy plate of Char Koay Teow and a glass of kopi peng at the Tangling food court. Yummeh!

Check out some of the photos along the route of our 18km run this morning!

Merry Christmas to those celebrating!

This is the tunnel connecting Perdana Botanical Gardens to the KL Sentral side

What a beautiful morning for a run! Heading out to Jalan Stesen Sentral.

From KL Sentral we ran towards to Central Market

Pasar Seni LRT on the right side of the Klang River.

The River of Life project aims to transform the Klang River into a vibrant and livable waterfront with high commercial value.

Pasar Seni or Central Market - a centre for Malaysian culture, art and craft located in the heart of the city

Kasturi Walk - an open-air flea market set featuring some exciting street food and crafts along Jalan Kasturi, a lane running alongside Central Market

A newly painted street art - Mowgli - Legend of the Jungle to promote the Netflix feature movie.

Getting assaulted by sights, sounds and smells as we run through Petaling Street (Chinatown), one of KL's busiest street

KL Tower in the background.

Pudu Sentral on the right as we headed towards Bukit Bintang area.

Selfie time @ Jalan Alor Enclave which is part of the DBKL's project to turn alleys in Golden Triangle into pockets of sunshine.

The walls of old buildings have been given a vibrant coat of paint.

The once dingy alleys, unappealing sidewalks and lanes, and creepy narrow pathways riddled with rubbish, drug addicts, drunkards, vagrants, and snatch thieves in the city are now repurposed into vibrant and colourful tourist attractions.

Meow!

We almost had the place to ourselves. It's best to come to this place early in the morning before it gets too crowded with tourists.

How many animals can you spot on this wall?

Forget running for a while and walk to admire the pretty street arts here.

Check out the cute cats painted on the windows of Melange Hotel.

Even the water tanks are not spared from this beautification project. :)

A replica of the Spanish Steps is included to give the waterfall a 3D effect, so people will feel like they are walking over a stream. This artwork was inspired by the Alor stream that used to be here almost 100 years ago, according to the DBKL project architect. When researching the history of Jalan Alor, they found an old map dating 1921 showing a stream with trees and vegetation that was here before the buildings came up.

Q: Why did the Owl invite his friends over? A: He didn’t want to be owl by himself.

The shades of the rainbow.

I supposed those cloud-like lamps will light up at night.

Kingfisher

Some tourists already getting a head start at the most Instagrammable alleys in KL.

This mural in Jalan Alor is a gentle reminder to remain child-like and enjoy the simpler side of life, like blowing bubbles...

International and local street artists have incorporated flora and fauna including butterflies for a refreshing perspective that can only be described as extraordinary.

After we had enough selfies, we headed to Jalan Sultan Ismail. towards KLCC.

Around km 8, in front of Menara KH.

Kay El Cee Cee

Another selfie for the album.

Jalan Yap Kwan Seng almost deserted on a Public Holiday morning.

Spotted a graffiti near an eatery before our turning to Jalan Tun Razak.

Making our way through Kampung Baru - a traditional Malay village in the heart of KL. Here, we ran along the famous food stretch of Jalan Raja Muda Musa before heading to Chow Kit.

Durian - fresh and fermented (tempoyak). You can buy the fermented durian at RM20 a tub at Kampung Baru.

Passing by the busy Chow Kit Wet Market.

The Chow Kit Wet Market is the largest wet market in Malaysia.

You can get everything here, from a wide variety of fish and seafood products to spices and vegetables.

Cutting though the Chow Kit bazaar

More street art - seen here a vandalised painting of the late Sudirman Hj Arshad, one of the most prominent singers in Malaysia.

A cute street art hidden in the alley of Chow Kit. After Chow Kit, we headed back to Bukit Aman by using the back way, via Sunway Putra Mall and Bukit Tunku. It was a hilly climb, hence no picture here. LOL!