This Is Kuala Lumpur.

To millions of people, Kuala Lumpur is a city of opportunity, a point of transit, a cultural melting pot, a challenge, a home. This is a daily photo exploration of KL through the eyes of one of its lifelong inhabitants. My name is Wan.

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Al Ibrahim was born in Nigeria, but he's seen enough of Kuala Lumpur and has experienced enough of life within its confines to regard KL a place he can call home. He's #thisiskualalumpur's Featured Photographer #4 - check out his awesome work and spend time with the man during his talk and photowalk at Urbanscapes 2017!

"Al Ibrahim is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and an all round creative enthusiast who really knows where his towel is. His work stems from love, loss, and longing; his photographs - especially - are tinted by shades of sadness and melancholia.

When he's not making, looking, or thinking of images, Al enjoys zines, podcasts, and rock climbing.

Black. Nigerian. Artist."

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Say hi to #thisiskualalumpur's Featured Photographer #3! Zam Nayan’s first brush with photography was in 1994, when he struggled mightily with a Nikon FM2 to take photos for his high school’s yearbook in order to impress a girl. Zam then decided that impressing girls shouldn’t be so complicated. He prefers to take pictures with his iPhone now. In 2011, Zam founded TinPix, a group bringing together ‘mophogs’ - serious and seriously talented photographers whose weapon of choice is a quick and nimble smartphone. When not mophographing (we believe that’s the correct term), Zam is a filmmaker, video artist, and graphic designer, operating under his outfit  HURI (http://huri.co). Check out Zam's awesome shots, and spend some time with the mophog OG at his talk and photo walk, at Urbanscapes 2017! #rediscoverKL

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ilifm has made herself an indispensable part of Kuala Lumpur's thriving independent music community, from writing up last night's awesome gig, to managing the stages of KL's biggest concerts, to - yup - capturing the raw energy of musicians onstage with her trusty cameras.

"ilifm photographs to remember—her amazing friends, her favourite musicians, her cats, favourite corners of the earth. She also contributed articles to the country’s best music and lifestyle magazines, often to accompany the photos she took. There was also a time when she traveled with some of the biggest names in the local music industry as a tour manager and also tour photographer. These days, ilifm appreciates being at home, spends her time studying and researching popular music and photographing her mother’s footsteps. http://ilishot.me"

She's going to be front and center at Urbanscapes 2017 as one of #thisiskualalumpur's featured photographers, with a talk and photo walk planned for anyone wanting to get familiar with KL, music, and shooting both!

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Hi guys. Even though I've been posting to This is Kuala Lumpur. solo, #thisiskualalumpur @ Urbanscapes 2017 will be a group effort - and I'm excited to introduce to you our first featured photographer: 

Prakash Daniel is the founder of Beards of Malaysia, which features the diversity of Malaysians with a healthy predisposition to finely-groomed explosions of facial hair. One of the photos Prakash took for that project bagged him the South East Asian Prize Winner in the Open Category at the 8th Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards 2016. Prakash also shoots live music, having immortalised the likes of Tom Jones, Jason Mraz and Sum 41 in action. When not taking photos, Prakash is a stand-up comedian.

Prakash will be exhibiting his work at 2 Hang Kasturi as well as delivering a talk and guiding you on a walking tour of his personal section of Kuala Lumpur. See you guys there! - Wan

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... aaaaaaand here we go. This is Kuala Lumpur. is now officially part of Urbanscapes' 2017 lineup - I've got a ton of updates to share with you in the run-up to May 5th, but for now, just remember to come lepak with #thisiskualalumpur at 2 Hang Kasturi nanti. Kita ambik gambar sesama ok If you’re thinking of checking out the exhibition, do me a yuge favour and say you’re going on the official Facebook event page (it’ll help me con the sponsors into thinking I’m kind of a big deal)

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Update on a new #thisiskualalumpur project tomorrow. But for now, a new logo. 

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As a fellow Malaysian, I was very excited to stumble upon your blog haha😂 Keep up the amazing work 💪🏽🇲🇾

Hey, thanks, fellow Malaysian! 😀

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Collecteral by Design Union, exhibit floor. 

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Collecteral by Design Union, pt 2.

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Dropped by Collecteral by Design Union over at 2 Hang Kasturi today. Loads of fascinating designs from the portfolios of local and regional artists. The exhibition began on October 22, and will run on till October 30. You have until Saturday to check it out. RM10 gets you in, or you can just hang out the main lobby downstairs and act all artsy fartsy for free.

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Ampang bound. #thisiskualalumpur Chan Sow Lin Station. 

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For Malaysia Day, I decided to take my wife and my niece for lunch at one of Kuala Lumpur’s oldest kopitiams, Capital Cafe on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman. Back when it was still called Batu Road, Jalan TAR was where many of Malaya’s (and subsequently, Malaysia’s) members of Parliament would book rooms in guesthouses when they were in KL for parliamentary sessions. While I suppose the more affluent ones would have their meals at the Coliseum, the Capital Cafe was there to serve the rank and file.  My personal history with the restaurant is not as illustrious, but I remember it fondly just the same. My late brother first took me there when I was 11 or 12, and treated me to Capital’s famous kuey teow kung fu. (They don’t serve it anymore. I think the cook passed away, and didn’t share his recipe.) The restaurant hasn’t changed much by way of decor, and that’s a beautiful thing. The marble-topped tables are still the ones they had in the 50s, as are some of the solid wooden chairs. Photos of KL during Malaysia’s infancy are plastered behind the counter, along with old knick knacks (and some killer vintage cameras). They even framed one of their old menus from back in 1956.  Selamat Hari Malaysia ke-53. #thisiskualalumpur

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The new LRT trains look pretty good. (They'd look a lot better with some dope graffiti on the cars, but hey, that's just me.) #thisiskualalumpur Sultan Ismail LRT Station. 

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Jaga kedai / minding the shop. #thisiskualalumpur Petaling Street 

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Devotion at night. #thisiskualalumpur

Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, Jalan Tun HS Lee

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Cerita malam semalam.  #thisiskualalumpur

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I miss being able to see the Genting Highlands from my apartment window.

Hell, I miss being able to see anything from my apartment window.

Go away, haze. You bother me.