Not going away for the long Chinese New Year break? Before you decide to dedicate the entire four-day weekend to binge-watching Netflix (and/or Iflix), here's how you can make the most of the city when it goes quiet:
Eat
It's CNY. Hawkers and most independent cafés will be closed on Monday and Tuesday (and some even the whole week), so avoid disappointment by heading straight for the banana leaf joints, or have naan, chapatti and butter chicken at these top North Indian Restaurants in town. You can also take the classic route by having a plate of nasi lemak at these places.
Photo: Hizwan Hamid
If you absolutely must have lazy brunches in a café (because it's a holiday and all), head to Damansara Utama's Nara Kitchen & Co on Monday (or its sister outlet The Good Batch on Tuesday). Closer to the city, RGB & The Bean Hive and Acme Bar & Coffee will stay open throughout the long break, while Nutmeg in Bangsar, BreadFruits in Hartamas, Underground Société in Sunway and S.Wine in Publika (go here for fry-ups) will also be open. Weight-watchers can head to Eat with Mune, Goodness Greens (open on Tuesday) or the ever-reliable vegetarian restaurant Simple Life.
Photo: Hizwan Hamid
For good coffee, head to Thursdvys or Artisan Roast in TTDI, or try Phileo Damansara's Sprezzatura on Tuesday. Presumably, the CNY heat may get to you, so cool off with ice cream. Never the ones to deprive us of our need for ice cream, Inside Scoop outlets will take turns opening on Monday and Tuesday. If you're in Mid Valley, we like Mikey's Frozen Custard for its dense, creamy soft serve (also available in a toasted bun!), and if you can wait until Tuesday, head to Hail's Soft Serve for its signature pink peppercorn flavour.
More recommended places to eat: Ben's General Food Store or Sitka (open on Tuesday) in Plaza Batai, Idli Only Cafe or Rendez-Vous in Bangsar, Mezze in Damansara Heights (open on Tuesday), Cake Jalan Tiung in Shah Alam (open on Monday), Rimba & Rusa in Kota Damansara for pretty pics (open on Tuesday).
Do
If you're in a mall (and we know most of you will be), you'll most probably be able to catch some traditional performances (and God of Prosperity walkabouts), but if you want to see a cool lion dance minus the shopping crowd, Concorde Hotel will play host to an acrobatic lion dance performance by Kun Seng Keng troupe (Feb 9, 11am) – even Chinese acrobats will make an appearance. Meanwhile, Aquaria KLCC not only brings back its underwater lion dance show (Feb 8-9, 4pm) this year, it's also debuting the Scuba Monkey King Feeding Show (Feb 8, 12noon).
Want to take it easy? Hang out with cats at Purradise Cat Café (TTDI's unofficial happy place) or go watch a movie – 'The Revenant' and 'Ola Bola' come highly recommended. Alternatively, watch 'The Monkey King 2' or 'From Vegas to Macau 3' for something more CNY-esque.
Teenage Head Records
Music fans need only head to Teenage Head Records (the friendly Subang record store with an even friendlier owner) to stock up on vinyl records, CDs and cassettes both old and new (prepare to spend hours here).
Okay, now you can go home and watch Netflix. Happy Year of the Monkey!
Want to toss some yee sang this CNY? See our list of unusual yee sang dishes in KL.