Bicycling my Brompton 6.7 km to find food on the 2nd day of the nation-wide coronavirus lock-down (or rather a movement control command) in Malaysia, Thursday 19 March 2020 at 5:20 pm.

The Kuala Lumpur Chinatown area is virtually closed down, as it is now possible to bicycle easily down the otherwise always busy Petaling street market. This Chinatown market street is shut down down for good reasons, namely to reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

After unsuccessfully trying to buy chicken at Chinatown, I instead make my way up to the Mercado supermarket in the Pavilion shopping mall at Jalan Bukit Bintang, where I use my folding Brompton bicycle and basket as my shopping cart. This is very convenient, as I hereby avoid having to park the bike or carry it around. The friendly cashier is also impressed by my special “Brompton shopping cart” setup :-)

I bicycle back home through the desolate streets of Kuala Lumpur. So, odd and eerie to see the normally bustling Jalan Bukit Bintang with bumper to bumper traffic now being virtually empty of cars and people – and even during rush hour on at Thursday evening!

Clearly, the global COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people and our way of life around the World. These are special times. Hope we get through it as unscathed as possible.
- - -
The video is filmed using a GoPro 8 mounted on a chest-strap
My bicycle route map can be viewed on this link: https://www.komoot.com/tour/162666572...
- - -
Highlights from the video include:
2:05 Solving my GoPro 8 wind noise issue with a piece of cotton strapped in front of the three microphones
2:25 Fogging. Blowing smoke to kill insects. When I saw it first time, I mistook it for a fire!
7:15 The 118 Tower – the tallest building in Malaysia when construction completes.
7:38 Bicycling through the shut down Petaling street market of Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur
10:48 Some thoughts on the city council mandating food delivery motorbikes to be electric scooters
15:03 Location where the first oil palm tree was planted in Malaysia
15:54 Entering Mercado supermarket (Pavilion @ Bukit Bintang)
17:07 Using the Brompton as my supermarket shopping cart. Very convenient.
19:13 Nice cashier lady at the Mercado supermarket, who is doing her part of fighting the coronavirus – and she is also impressed by my Brompton-shopping-cart setup, and my free parking ;-)
23:17 Empty road in front of Pavilion Bukit Bintang during rush-hour. Something is really amiss!
26:37 Map with my 6.7 km bicycle route
- - -
Bicycle map route: https://www.komoot.com/tour/162666572...