One of the most popular suburbs of the Klang Valley is in Ampang. Home to thousands of expatriates, foreign embassies and international schools, Ampang is close enough to the city center and far enough to be away from the noise.
Ampang Location Facts
Facts about Ampang
- Currency: MYR (Malaysian Ringgit)
- Dialling code: Ampang is part of the Klang Valley. This means that it observes the same prefix numbers as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor which is +603 for land lines. Calling mobile numbers will require you to use the standard ones as provided by the telcos.
- Airport: Ampang can be reached via the nearest airport which is Subang International Airport while the KLIA and klia2 airports are accessible as well.
- Airport Tax: applies for both domestic and international flights
- Distance from airport to city centre: Subang International Airport is located about 40 kms from Ampang. Meanwhile, the KLIA and klia2 airports are about twice that distance.
- Temperature: This township experiences annual temperature of about 25 and 36 degrees Celsius annually
- Climate and Weather: Tropical with high humidity
- Common languages: Bahasa Malaysia, English Language, Chinese and Tamil
Transportation in Ampang
To get to Ampang, you can hail a taxi from any of the airports. A trip from Subang International Airport will cost you about RM40 while it is about RM90 if you coming in from KLIA/klia2. Grab and Uber services are more affordable and easily available as well.
Highlights around Ampang
Ampang is located very near to the city centre of Kuala Lumpur and other nearby attractions. Among them include:
- Zoo Negara – The national zoo is located within the border of Ampang and Wangsa Maju. This is where you get to be up, close and personal with some of the tropical animals of the country while there is a Panda park as well.
- Genting Highlands – From Ampang, you are within a stone’s throw away from the foot of Genting Highlands known to be one of the most popular entertainment places of Malaysia. There is the only casino of the country here while a theme park awaits the younger ones.
- Shopping – nothing beats shopping in the city. From Ampang, you can shop at places like Ampang Point or take a short drive towards Suria KLCC and Avenue K which are all located along the main Ampang road.
- Batu Caves – Each year, about a million devotees come here to observe Thaipusam. On other days, you can come here to just enjoy the sights and sounds of the Hindu temple on the cave.
Foods around Ampang
There are a lot of interesting foods around Ampang. If you are adventurous when it comes to food, there will be quite a lot of options to choose from which include:
- Yong Tau Foo – this is located in Pekan Ampang and it is one of the most popular places to try out the Hakka dish.
- LookOut Point – A scenic place to dine that overlooks the KL city and its surroundings
- Korean – Check out Restoran Nak Won at Ampang’s Business Avenue which is known to be the Little Korea of Kuala Lumpur. Another option you can go to is the Hanwoori
Once popular for tin mining
Ampang was once a thriving tin mining centre back in the olden days. There were very limited housing areas such as:
- Ampang Malay Village
- Taman Dagang
- Bandar Baru Ampang
- Ampang Town
- and Ampang Jaya.
Ever since development projects were planned for this district, the number of residents increased tremendously. One would have noticed that there are a large number of expatriates residing here particularly South Korean immigrants. Decades ago, there were more village-type houses but today, there are abundant of high-rise buildings in the district.
Home to embassies and high commissions
Perhaps, Ampang is more well-known for the plenty of embassies such as United States, Thai, Russia, France, British and China situated along Jalan Ampang. Tourists and visitors are encouraged to spend some time to check out this district because there are plenty of sites with historical value in Ampang such as Eng Choon Assembly Hall that has transformed into Malaysia Tourism Centre (MaTiC) and Selangor Turf Club Horse Racing (demolished in 1997 to give way to Petronas Twin Tower). Other than historical sites, other must visit attractions in the district are Zoo Negara and Taman Rimba Ampang.
Nearby attractions around Ampang
Zoo Negara located nearby Taman Melawati first opened its door in November 1963. With more than 5,000 animals here, this would definitely be a fun and educational trip for all. Meanwhile, the less popular Taman Rimba Ampang is an impressive recreational lowland rainforest ideal for picnic outing. For those are are already in the district, remember to head over to Ampang Homeland Yong Tau Foo Sdn Bhd or Foong Foong Restaurant to tempt your palate with some mouth-watery Yong Tau Foo.