Top New Things To Do In Kuala Lumpur – Masjid Jamek, Blue Pool and the River of Life

The area surrounding Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad, the oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur situated at the convergence point of the Klang and Gombak rivers, recently has been transformed thanks to the River of Life project. This convergence point of the Klang and Gombak rivers is how Kuala Lumpur city being named, which literally meant ‘muddy confluence’ in local Malay language.

Hence, due to the significance of this location right by the Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad, the government has decided to rejuvenate the entire area under the 1st phase of the River of Life project, where Blue Pool, is designed to visually transform the rivers into a stunning, sensory experience. The whole idea of transforming the confluence of Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak into a landmark waterfront in Kuala Lumpur is meant to boost the city’s tourism since August 2017.

This latest attraction in Kuala Lumpur is actually just a short walk from my office, but I only manage to check it out during the recent Chinese New Year break when KL city was left mostly empty. Big Teddy and I took a friend recently relocated to KL out to have dinner and drinks near Masjid Jamek, then a stroll along the Blue Pool and the river at night.

The Blue Pool (Kolam Biru in Malay)

Equipped with a Dancing Symphony Fountain, Blue Corridor, fog and lighting effects, visitors can expect a stunning visual experience when visiting this stretch of riverfront at the heart of KL. Every local knows that the Y shaped convergence point of the Klang and Gombak rivers was quite smelly in the past. With this massive clean-up and beautification project, the entire area was actually surprisingly pleasant when we were there.

The daily Dancing Symphony Fountain show, unfortunately, was nowhere near world class after what I’d witnessed in Dubai. The songs selections and sound systems were quite poor, we barely heard anything as we walked along the river during the supposed performance time slot.

We did love the gorgeous blue lights and foggy effects nonetheless (1,551 nozzles fitted to create atmospheric fog effects apparently). This part of KL had long been overdue to be rejuvenated and it’s about time to ditch its stigma of being old and dirty.

Getting There

We drove to Masjid Jamek and parked at one of those overpriced open-air carparks nearby. The best and cheapest way to get here is to take the LRT (Kelana Jaya line) and alight at Masjid Jamek. You won’t miss the mosque that the station was named after, and the Blue Pool and the walking paths are right behind the mosque, towards the direction of Dataran Merdeka or HSBC building.

So, if you are looking for some free things to do in Kuala Lumpur, why not check out this new display added to one of the oldest attractions in KL?

Check out my other posts on Kuala Lumpur here.

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