Riau Junction

A couple of this blog's Malaysian readers asked me if I could post photos and a story of Riau Junction.

Here are the photos that I took a few days ago.

Riau Junction is a medium-size mall located on the junction of Jalan LLRE Maradinata (previously the street was called Jalan Riau and hence the name) and Jalan Trunojoyo. This mall used to be a gift and book shop before being taken over and rebuilt by Yogya Department Store into a mall.



The architecture of the new building is nice. Quite a few people say that it's nice shops too inside. But I'm not a mall-goer, so I've never been curious enough to go inside.

Jalan Riau, by the the way, used to be some sort of a quiet military housing complex lined up with big trees and colonial-style houses. Now, half of it at least have turned into a crowded commercial area with shops, restaurants, hotels, and factory outlets. You can still see some of the colonial-style houses here of course, but they are fast going under commercial pressure. I'm sad that the city's government has not done enough to prevent this city from losing its rich historical architectural heritage.