A Hidden Gem - The GMBB Centre

Wherever we travel in the world, we usually try to see as many of the key tourist things that the place has to offer – or at least the ‘tourist things’ that we are interested in. However, we also like to explore our neighbourhood areas too on days when we don’t want to do anything too ‘touristy’. Today was one of those days…

Right beside where we are staying, there is a building we have been walking past almost daily since we have been here, and we have kept saying we should pop in to see what it is about. We often saw people entering and leaving, but we weren’t sure whether it was a workplace of some sort for people rather than something open to the general public. Well, today we were planning to visit it as it’s a holiday weekend in Kuala Lumpur for Thaipusam and Federal Territory Day, and we think the shops and most places will be very busy with families.

Thaipusam is a Tamil Hindu festival celebrated on the first full moon day of the Tamil month of Thai, coinciding with the Pusam star. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the victory of the Hindu god Murugan over the demon Surapadman.

Federal Territory Day is a territorial public holiday observed annually on 1 February by the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya in Malaysia. The date marks the anniversary of the transfer of Kuala Lumpur from the state of Selangor to the federal government, which occurred on 1 February 1974.

The GMBB Centre

The GMBB Centre is a creative community mall and hub that aspires to support, sustain and serve the creative arts community in Klang Valley. It is used for small groups and artists, where they can lease space, start the upscaling process, hold events, create partnerships and run various programmes and workshops. The centre is all about helping the community to grow, while bringing different communities and passions together to add more value. As a hub, it functions in a collaborative, collective and connected manner.

From the outside, it looks like a small centre, but once you walk in, you discover there are actually nine floors to the place. It’s a little deceptive from the outside. The centre has been operating since 2018, but its official opening in 2024 was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since its official opening, it looks like it has been growing in terms of the number and types of artists.

As we turned the corner to arrive at the building entrance, we found that there were several stalls open outside the building, some selling food items and others selling jars, sauces, jewellery, etc. It very much had the feel of a community fair about it.

It was a fascinating place and so much better than we expected it to be. It was probably about 80% occupied in terms of space and units. We loved the variety of sellers: various crafts, artworks, book shops, workshops, cafes, exhibits, communal and co-working spaces. Some of the things that stood out to us were the little dioramas on display of old cars in various environments, there was a little letter display which encouraged people to write a letter for someone else to read, and once you had done this, you picked someone else’s letter to read. I mean, how lovely is that? Having a little exchange with a total stranger – I did think that you could have a little mischievous fun with this, like tell the reader you were a world-famous artist, author, actor, etc., and put a voucher for a new film/book into the envelope for the lucky reader.

We very much enjoyed walking around this facility and spent a lot longer here than we anticipated. We also had a brilliant lunch here at a fabulous little café on the second floor. I had the massaman chicken curry, and R had a pork basil dish.

If you are in the area, it is well worth a visit. Have a look at the video below if interested, although it was filmed in late 2024, so it was quieter than it is now.

Day 70: 1 February 2026

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

After lunch, we meandered back to the apartment, stopping off at the Church of St. Anthony, which is right beside the apartment block. It’s a lovely little white church with the towering Merdeka 118 building in its background. I also need to take a photo from the pool area, as it is a beautiful sight to see the church spire and the Merdeka from the huge, infinite swimming pool. There was a service taking place at the time we popped over, so we didn’t intrude but just had a little walk around the outside of the church.

Afterwards, I went for a swim (I have been swimming every day since bumping into our health-conscious YouTubers!), and R caught up with some bits and pieces.

Then later in the evening, as we were reading, we finally got to see a torrential downpour of rain as the heavens opened up. I couldn’t really capture it in a photo, and even in the video, it doesn’t look that impressive, but it was quite something. We couldn’t even see the Petronas towers or the KL tower as the clouds and rain obscured them! It didn’t last very long – maybe 20 minutes or so, but it was torrential.