Category Archives: Pictures

McDonald’s Branch Codes

I was having dinner at McDonald’s Tun Perak (popularly known as the Masjid Jamek branch) when I noticed its receipt said #101. 101? What did that mean? Was it the 101th outlet ever to open in Malaysia? Driven by such curiosity, and knowing that McDonald’s Bukit Bintang was the first ever outlet to open in Malaysia, I went down to that outlet after that, to find indeed, that it was #001!

I then set out on a journey to find the branch codes (Jessica Choong says that is what these numbers are called) and see which were the earliest McDonald’s in existence. There was a certain amount of suspense when you go to a really old outlet and discover its number! There was also disappointment with certain outlets, e.g. McDonald’s Bandar Utama Drive-Thru (popularly referred to as McDonald’s Centerpoint), which William Lau thought would be #053 (and I betted #055). I won the bet, with him buying me a cone sundae, because its branch code was in fact #133. We both thought it came soon after McDonald’s 1 Utama (old wing), which was known to be #050 (I later found this to be in fact, #056 – but the 50th in existence; source: http://mcdamansara.blogspot.com/2008/08/badminton-ttdi.html).


My journey was documented with receipts, on my Instagram.


This soon developed into a hobby when I had no better hobbies.

Interestingly, I have been to all the McDonald’s outlets that I went to again to get branch codes – meaning I’d been to a lot of McDonald’s! I intentionally did not contact anybody from McDonald’s to get the full list. That would spoil the fun and sense of adventure!

As for why I’d been to so many McDonald’s, it is not that I am a big fan, but for some reason the people I hang out with tend to prefer McDonald’s for many practical reasons. It is in fact the cheapest place you can have a gathering in an air-conditioned place, in most neighborhoods. Nobody would have any objections to meeting at McDonald’s when you don’t know where to meet, or where to eat. It is a landmark for many people. We’d have our camera meetups (Teh Tarik sessions) at McDonald’s. We tried KFC once, but it was messy trying to have fried chicken and play with cameras at the same time! The fact that KFC was a piss-poor, badly managed fast food chain in general, didn’t help their case – same for A&W. You get a consistently better experience with McDonald’s.

The other interesting thing about the branch codes is that it shows the growth of the middle class – McDonald’s outlets opened in order with the expanding new townships and areas. It didn’t open in high-class areas like Starhill Gallery, and it also closed in areas that were no longer frequented by the middle class (Petaling Street, Citypoint Dayabumi, Hang Kasturi/Central Market). McDonald’s is quite apparently, a middle-class barometer, and an indicator that your area had “made it”.


The element of suspense soon died towards the end of my journey, when I found McDonald’s SS2 – it had a JAKIM Halal certificate on the wall beside the counter, printed large. There it showed #16. More importantly, though, is that I realized I could find all outlets on the Malaysian Halal Directory! There, the full list of existing McDonald’s outlets were, complete with branch codes!

However, the outlets that were then closed were not part of that list, and I had to Google around, finding just a few. Addresses were easy to find, branch codes not at all. Some branch codes were triangulated from https://web.archive.org/web/20120114063410/https://www.mcdonalds.com.my/abtus/corpinfo/milestone.asp for example the Awan Besar/Kesas one.

I noticed that if an outlet moved to a different location it may or may not change branch code (#191, formerly the Mutiara Damansara Drive Thru at Kidzania, is now at The Curve, but Mutiara Damansara Drive Thru got a new branch code.) The original 1 Utama branch #056 moved to the new wing and became #256. Fortunately, the Cold Kiosks and McCafes all share the same branch code as the restaurant they are in – to one weird extent that the Cold Kiosk in Carrefour Subang is #018, just like its parent in Subang Parade, across a road! (The Subang Parade branch also has a Cold Kiosk inside!)

The First 21

From http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HLJUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=apADAAAAIBAJ&pg=2928,1045656&dq=mcdonalds+taman+tun+dr+ismail&hl=en, it says:

Presently, McDonald’s 21 stores are in Johor (one), Malacca (one), Ipoh (one), Penang (two), Klang (one) and the rest in Klang Valley, the newest being the Ipoh store which opened last Dec 15.

So we know there were 21 outlets as of 19th March 1990, with the latest being Ipoh City, but that was #023, given that #002 Plaza Yow Chuan has moved, and #009/#010/#011/#013? TTDI has closed. After accounting for Johor, Malacca, Ipoh, Penang (both) I don’t know which is the first one in Klang (but it would be #009/#010/#011/#013?) and I don’t know where 3 more outlets in the Klang Valley were.



McDonald’s Bukit Bintang is outlet #001. This was photographed 27th September 2009. This is the Jalan Bukit Bintang/Jalan Sultan Ismail junction, before the MRT construction work. Note the open space on the left, in front of Maybank in the Yayasan Selangor building, where buskers, street performers and skateboarders and the general public could do what they wanted there without having to pay. Note McDonald’s #001 (the first branch, opened 29th April 1982!) and the Giordano signboard above it. It has been a Giordano signboard for ages, but no more. The Quicksilver to the left became an A&W for a short while, and is now a Starbucks, while the shop on the far-left is now a Burger King. You might even spot a short-lived Steven’s Tea Garden (now closed, busted as an MLM) next to KFC!



This was taken at its launch. I am not able to trace the original photographer. It apparently used to be a Lee How Fook restaurant.



McDonald’s The Mall (gone) is outlet #014. I was here a lot after visiting PC Fair or anything in PWTC. Such memories! Here’s a teh tarik session with some photographers.


This is the only picture I have of Mcdonald’s Bangsar Shopping Centre (gone), and sadly, not from the inside.

All that you’ve read above was written in 2013; now fast-forward to 27th April 2022, and I’ve been to every single McDonald’s that is still operating in the state of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (commonly referred together as the Klang Valley.) I ended my journey in the northernmost McDonald’s in Selangor, McDonald’s Sabak Bernam DT, outlet #344.

Avril Chan, working at Leo Burnett, who services McDonald’s as a client, picked up on my Instagram journey and got her colleagues to contact me. Through them, I found out that the 3rd outlet was McDonald’s Tuanku Abdul Rahman! I did not push them for the first 21, though. This was the only outlet I knew from official channels.

Below is the list of McDonald’s in Malaysia that I could scour from various sources over the years, in Google Sheets. I don’t know branch codes for some outlets that have closed too long ago; the list starts with some mystery outlets where I only have an address but no store name, and I don’t remember how I got those addresses.

Here is the list of McDonald’s in Malaysia! Note that some links there may break as the Internet is not great at keeping links alive across the years that I’ve maintained this list.

I don’t like travelling in general, but if I was in a particular state in Malaysia I’d try to visit the oldest McDonald’s in that state. McDonald’s Holiday Plaza (Johor) #006 and McDonald’s Soon Seng Plaza (Malacca) #012 were in very old buildings which added a feeling of travelling back in time.

Edited 21st May 2022: I found my favorite old McDonald’s, Sri Serdang #145, and notably the most ghetto! This was photographed on the 4th of April 2012, before I even realized there were branch codes. The outlet is two separate shoplots which wrap around behind a staircase; the staircase leads to residential units upstairs.

More links:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19890614&id=vaFUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NpADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6542,3297471
http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/burgers-french-fries-and-diet-coke/
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HLJUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=apADAAAAIBAJ&pg=2928,1045656&dq=mcdonalds+taman+tun+dr+ismail&hl=en
https://web.archive.org/web/20120115043919/http://www.mcdonalds.com.my/highlights/address_coupons.html
https://www.facebook.com/537331353064041/photos/a.547961045334405.1073741827.537331353064041/569538143176695/?type=1

Separately, I’ve also been to all 7 Taco Bell outlets in Malaysia (they’re all in the Klang Valley so this was easy), as well as the first and only Jollibee in Peninsular Malaysia, in Sunway Pyramid.


In the middle is the first A&W in Malaysia, with KFC #002 to the right, taken 5th June 2013, when this KFC was still operational. Both these outlets have closed down. KFC has store IDs, but it seems to be a running number not exclusive to Malaysia.

1) 79, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, gone
2) 120, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, gone by May 2014 (from Google Street View)
3) PJ State (existing, store ID 1010010)
4) SEA Park (existing, store ID 1010052)
5) Wisma Thrifty, gone

As you can see this makes it difficult to prove that there were no outlets between PJ State and SEA Park, and I have to rely on claims on the Internet:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/malaysian.heritage.and.history.club/?multi_permalinks=4125919274151488&comment_id=4126587204084695¬if_id=1621850449649554¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif
https://www.facebook.com/groups/159240410930305/?multi_permalinks=1977203672467294&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen
https://www.facebook.com/groups/down.memory.lane.malaysia/permalink/1621132951407703/?comment_id=1621208521400146&reply_comment_id=1621213838066281

I’ve also done a list for A&W here:
Amburgers & Wootbeer

I also went to visit legendary old A&Ws and ones that were closing down:
From Seremban To Subang

Edited 24th May 2022: I’ve been interviewed by FreeMalaysiaToday!
Meet the man who has visited every McDonald’s in the Klang Valley

There was also an article on WeirdKaya that quotes the above article.
Think you love Mekdi? Probably not as much as Albert Ng does

Added 20th September 2022:
I appeared on McDonald’s Malaysia’s Instagram stories as a Superfan!

Rock The World 17

9th December 2017: Rock The World 2017 at Car Park B, KL Sport City, Bukit Jalil.

KL Sport City is pretty, but you don’t have to walk through it to find the car park.

I came in time for Thy Regiment.

Even Bukit Jalil National Stadium in the back is real pretty! The revamp was for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.

I have yet to crowdsurf.

Thy Regiment, full of energy!

I brought two lenses with my Sony Alpha 7s. This was from the Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 SSM ZA. Gotta love Eric’s expression behind as he walks through the stage! (Well I think that’s Eric…)

This, too.

It gets close and gives enough context around the subject.

Cool shades, bro.

A wild Big appears!

Color mosh time.

The crowd was given packets of colored powder.

On go, usually with Butterfingers – The Chemistry (Between Us) blasting on the speakers.

Some opened their packets earlier though.

Poor dude right under the right leg of the crowd surfer. At least he’s not wearing steel boots.

This crowd surfer is so familiar! I’ve probably seen him at previous Rock The Worlds, doing exactly the same thing. I wonder if he recognizes me, too!

I don’t usually get colored despite being relatively in the action. This time was different.

Massacre Conspiracy, regulars.

It rained, and for some reason all the powder mixed into this bloody red. Slayer – Raining Blood comes to mind!

Masdo.

They keep it old school.

Gotta love these vintage instruments!

That and their shades.

Meanwhile, in the ROTTW booth nearby, Abang Rom is having a chat.

Chaps hanging out on a wooden bicycle.

This concert was sponsored by Tune Talk.

This is not my food truck.

I really like this banner.

This is not from the banner though.

I had this for dinner. Not bad.

Gerhana Ska Cinta.

The regular big ska band!

The second lens I brought was the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Seven Collar T-Shirt. Here’s Ham, on guitar and special effects.

Here’s Duan on vocals, guitar, and feeling.

The 135mm always comes in handy for drummer shots.

Zip Zieller.

Rock and roll is gold.

Naratu.

Ijam, also of Restraint, who would announce his departure from Naratu on the 2nd of January 2018.

Big the emcee, in the artiste lounge.

Punk-faced Bunkface.

Nope I don’t know what’s up with the camel.

Then came the last act…

Emmett I!

The band featured all my friends. Here’s Josh from Seven and Tokyo Blue, or at least how I remember him.

Izuan Shah of Auburn.

Julian Lim of The Infernal Conundrum and Bokazzi.

And of course, Emmett Ishak, most known as the vocalist for the now disbanded Butterfingers.

He brought back his grunge glory days, singing in English.

Still the rock powerhouse.

A guest drummer came on stage. It was Loko, his bandmate from Butterfingers!

So you had the regular crowd-pullers – such that Rock The World has been the same – and yet, differently, I’d noticed that they have been very strict to the schedule, which I could really appreciate since I could leave after the concert finished and still take the LRT!

MPew 36


I finally got around to modifying my TakaraTomy Transformers Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron. He has a cannon that has a button that makes sounds. I wanted the trigger to make the sounds, too!


The finished product on one side. The other side has no wire, obviously. I picked this side so that my right hand would partially hide the wire when holding it.


What you need: A switch, a soldering iron and soldering paste, a screwdriver, and a lot of force to open the cannon. I couldn’t figure out how to open it cleanly.

The cannon’s switch is peeking out, with two legs.


The other two legs on the cannon’s switch, when shorted, trigger the sound. So I could just add another switch on this.


This is how the switch goes back in, with my new switch’s wires coming out from the slot in the front. It looks like it was meant to be easy to modify, if you could figure out how to open it properly.


I didn’t manage to figure out how to open it, so I melted off the parts highlighted in red so it could go back in.

Rock The World 16

17th December 2016: Rock The World 16, at Car Park B, Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

A new structure, a big tent to house the food trucks and tired rockers!

Up on the big Main Stage…

…was Republic Of Brickfields!

You’ll all know it from Aru.

Slyde emcees for the Acoustic Stage.

Electronica…

…out of a box…

…from the likes of…

KVLTS.

Most shots with the Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA.

Disagree.

David who I’d not seen on guitar for a long time.

It was good ol’ singalong time.

Kids enjoying themselves.

Rest and relax. This tent was the best idea ever, as it usually rains at Rock The World and everyone runs to the hills. Well no, not really.

Otam.

Joined by a full band!

Eu Gene on ukulele bass!

Saxophone!

Electric guitar!

Classical guitar!

I took a break and had myself one of these Pau Mushroom Viral Putrajaya. Filled with a chicken-mushroom paste, it was actually really, really delicious. Don’t be fooled by its hipster food look, it’s really awesome!

Color mosh time!

Oh Chentaku.

Cool Tarik T-shirt!

Jimmy with Jack watching behind.

Look ma I can reach behind my back to hold my bass…

Jack and his scalloped Telecaster.

High energy rock and roll!

They were throwing out free shoes. Box included.

Emcee Big for the Main Stage!

Feeltupenting.

Back at the acoustic stage…

…which you might be able to discern from the different background.

Restraint.

No restraint in rocking on stage!

Wei bro lama tak jumpa!

Love it when the band visits the lonely drummer at the back.

Dish.

They had quite an ardent fanbase!

Color moshed.

The vocalist jumps in.

The Padangs.

I like photographing them when they kneel down.

I’ve never noticed this before.

What a sofa was doing there, I don’t know.

Interesting names!

Gerhana Skacinta.

Big, big band.

Some familiar faces.

Modescape.

Cool Korg!

That’s right!

Plague Of Happiness, another big band.

Masdo.

Awesome fans!

Retro surf pop yeh yeh!

Couple.

More rock and roll.

They have too much fun on stage.

Wearing Beatles influences on their sleeves and straps.

A.C.A.B..

Good ol’ skins.

Portaloo queue. This was hilarious! One guy appeared to be impatient and wanted to cut queue, but his friend stopped him. He eventually broke free and instead of going to the toilet, he entered an opening to the bushes behind where a few guys were peeing in the bushes. He shouted, “JAKIM! Apa buat di sini?” A bunch of us laughed loudly!

Daarchlea.

I love their Opeth-like introduction.

It then goes into some super heavy death metal.

Massacre Conspiracy.

Cool shirt!

Five strings for more bass.

Bittersweet.

They have the instruments to suit their retro sound.

Old Automatic Garbage.

I like this backlight.

Good ol’ Radhi-O.

The OBS: A Singapore Story Documentary Screening + Album Showcase

5th May 2016: The OBS: A Singapore Story Documentary Screening + Album Showcase at The Bee, Publika.

After the Q&A session, The Observatory took to the stage.

Art rock, experimental and electronica, apparently. As I’m not too familiar with the genres I’d say Radiohead comes to mind.

I’d first heard of Leslie Low, bandleader, on the Junk Vol 2 CD. His mellotron on All Things New was an instant favorite.

The music with the band was harder, though.

The documentary was eye-opening – it started with the history of the Singapore music scene (or lack thereof) due to government clampdown.

How ironic it is now that international bands play there and not here, even if we promise you can mosh and crowdsurf here.

One more of this otai and his shiny guitar.

Night Before Tomorrow (NB4T) x Phyla LIVE at The Bee

30th April 2016: Night Before Tomorrow (NB4T) x Phyla LIVE at The Bee. This was the first of the Urbanscapes 2016 events I’d go to which is not at the Urbanscapes House. Here’s one of the organizers, Jin Hackman!

It was at hipster central mall, Publika. Here’s an indoor busker.

First up: Home Court, a duo with Jocelyn…

…and Dae Kim, who I’d seen everywhere.

The performance was captured with a panoramic sphere camera setup.

Performers would ebb in and out with the flow.

Santaroena.

I took a walk to the ATM, and snapped this.

My Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM let me get close.

The Bee had its tables moved to the back, making an breakdancing spot.

Similarobjects.

All shots with the Sony Alpha 7S with no flash.

Orang Malaya in the crowd.

Moonlight!

Mushroom Buttons.

Fatim.

This is how you make a shoutout.

Ashley Chan and Albert chin-chin-chin-chin-chin.

I’m in love with her hair. I also am not sure who took this picture (was it Rizki or Arthur?), but I remember somebody bought me a drink, which is why I don’t remember so much.

Fauxe.

Harv.

Unconventional Science.

Soundstruck : LIVE (April 2016)

29th April 2016: Soundstruck : LIVE (April 2016) at The Bee, Jaya One. First up, Sino-french-tinged Yinthong!

Kim on the guitar and vocals beside her.

Kuizz Shah.

Priscilla Xavier.

Night Skies & Visions.

Damn I am jealous of her hair color.

Lyanne Low Hui-Yi.

I know this bluehair!

Doin’ a Flea.

Special guest performer all the way from Singapore, Daphne Khoo!

Kent Sim, emcee.

After party jam…

…with David Soh and Annabel Michael.

Open Mic @ Barlai #24

28th April 2016: Open Mic @ Barlai #24, at Barlai, Jalan Sin Chew Kee. Nicholas Sia has some songwriting chops with a distinct grunge voice.

Ian Tai who is a natural at the microphone.


Here, he does a cover of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, because Purple Rain isn’t his only song, y’know?

Redzwan Awang.

Alien Lipstick Fire.


This is their original, A Try.

Andy Kidd, who has the most interesting lyrics from Australia.

Ending the night, host Shaneil Devaser. Everything in this blog post, by the Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM on the Sony Alpha 7s, hence the wideness.

Feedback Open Mic ft Lukarts & Sophia Andersen @ The Bee Publika / April 2016 Edition

26th April 2016: Feedback Open Mic ft Lukarts & Sophia Andersen @ The Bee Publika / April 2016 Edition. Here’s emcee and organizer Reza Salleh!

The Suave.

I was all like, our local version of Eddie Vedder!

Seibelle?

Isaac Ho.

The Mox?

The unstoppable Reening Lau.

He has a band!

Manics.

I knew I’d seen her before, on one of them Malaysian Youtuber channels!

Sophia Andersen, first featured act.

Her guitarist.

Chirin Chirin, stitched together.

The Message.

The Vist.

The keyboardist.

The Michael.

The second featured act, Lukarts.

C_C And The T_T

22nd June 2016: Jazzy Friday at Laundry (April 2016), 22nd April 2016!

First of two acts: Talitha Tan!

Checkout them guns yo.

You never know what you’re gonna get with this girl, as her band is also called Talitha Tan.

Her infectiously cute guitarist.

Second of two acts: Crinkle Cut!

More from the Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC that I rarely bring out.

Vicky Chin, guest keyboardist.

We don’t got stars, so we serenade bokeh balls instead.

Ashley also sings in a choir! She also teaches piano. I’ve just not seen her with a guitar.

I scuttled over to pee and passed this busker, who had a backing track, from one of our fine 80s glam metal Malaysian bands.

Yuuup.

Random picture of the Don.

Random picture of the Talitha.