Muzium Diraja (Istana Negara Lama) & Istana Negara

In 1957 which is the independence year of Malaysia, this was the palace for our Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Monarch) and Permaisuri Agong (Queen) until 2011 where they have moved to a new palace which is located in Jalan Duta. With 54 years of history and it has becomes a Muzium Diraja in 2013. Muzium Diraja is a museum where you will see how the castle exactly looks like in Malaysia. 
The parking in front of the castle is free but not ample. However, it is enough to accommodate the visitors as the maximum time you will be spending here is just 30 minutes top.
That's the admission fee. If you are Malaysian, you are required to show your MyKad to proof. They do have caddie ride to take you from the entrance to the castle and return for just RM2.00/pax.  
How I wish this is the view when I am looking out through my house's window. 
So the caddie ride will stop you here and you will get to visit the first site of the museum. This site is strictly prohibit you from taking any photography and video inside, Shoes are not allowed as well too. 
Basically what is inside here is showing you the living room, dining room, guest room, meeting room, study room, office, bedroom, theater room, bathroom and they even have a private dental clinic which will help the whole family for routine check-up once a week. I believe their teeth must be extremely clean.
The furniture and the interior design are aging as you all know it has been here for more than 50 years and counting. So it may looks kind of old. Well, things must be old to be inside a museum.
This the hall where royal ceremonies where held here and this place allows you to take photograph and video but no shoes are allowed too.
This was the place where we commonly saw in television where new Yang di-Pertuan Agong has enthroned, enthroning the new elected Prime Minister and Federal Titles such as Tun, Tan Sri and Datuk grant by Yang di-Pertuan Agong will be held here too.
This majestic palace was a home for 13 Yang di-Pertuan Agong within 54 years. Basically Yang-di Pertuan Agong is rotates every 5 years by the Sultan of 9 states out of 14 states in Malaysia which are in order starts with Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perlis, Terengganu, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Johor and Perak.
The last Yang di-Pertuan Agong who resided in this palace was Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah from Terengganu. The 3 major tasks play by a Yang di-Pertuan Agong are:
  1. Appointing new Prime Minister
  2. Delaying the disband of the Parliament
  3. Organizing a meeting with all Sultans including 4 Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Melaka, Pulau Pinang, Sabah & Sarawak).
The view from this Palace is absolutely amazing. The mix of greenery and expanding high rising buildings. This Muzium Diraja is definitely a good place to bring your kids to understand more about where Malaysia's rotating constitutional monarch resides.
15 minutes drive from the old palace to this majestic and grand new palace of Malaysia. Al-Mu'tassimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku Al-Haj Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah from Kedah is the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong that stays in this palace and his reign will ends by 2016. He is also the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong that has been enthroned twice. Not just that, he is also the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong who gets to stay in the old palace and new palace during his two times reign in this country.
You can see more visitors from other countries flocking here compare to Muzium Diraja despite the merciless heat from the sun. I feel quite proud to see such a beautiful palace in my country. For your information, you only get to take picture from the outside of the palace. Tourists are not allowed to enter the palace for viewing like in Muzium Diraja. It is common sense because you don't like to have some random people come into your house freely and posing to take photo and leave.
However, you can take picture with the guards here. They are standing straight and the same position and pose during their schedule. It is like a Buckingham Palace in England where Queen Elizabeth resides in.
Each sides of the huge gate has a pair of cavalry and a guard where you can take photos with. By the way, the horse is real...in case you are asking. The main highlight is during the changing of the guard. Twice a day the guards dressed in traditional attire and accompanied by a sound system will perform a ceremonial changing process outside the gates of the impressive building. At 10.00am and 3.00pm each day two guards will march in, while another two march out with full pomp and ceremony. Unfortunately, I missed the ceremonial time.
You will spend less than 10 minutes here since you can't go into the palace so there is no entrance fee, parking fee or photography fee here. Overall, it is good quick drop by experience if you have oversea friends who are visiting Malaysia. For your information, there are 3 different gates in this palace. You are advise to head to Pintu 1. So make sure your waze app is set to Pintu 1. By the way, both old and new palace are not accessible by common public transports except taxi.

Total Damage: RM7.00/pax (Museum DiRaja), Free (Istana Negara)
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Recommended?: Yes for family or tourist

Majlis Diraja
Jalan Istana
50460 KL
Wilayah Persekutuan Malaysia
Tel: 03-22671000
Opening Hours: 9.00am - 5.00pm (daily)

Istana Negara
Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim
50500 KL
Wilayah Persekutuan Malaysia

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