TREC stands for Taste, Relish, Experience, and Celebrate. As Kuala Lumpur’s largest entertainment and F&B Hangout. With 30 brands in their area including international and regional brands, TREC has five zones – Zouk KL, Electric Boulevard, Alley, Hive and Terraces. Built on a 7-acre site along Jalan Tun Razak with front-row views of the spectacular greens of the Royal Selangor Golf Club, it offers a wide variety of eateries, bars and lounges, cocktail bars, gastro pubs, cafes, and live music venues.
In TREC’s Electric Boulevard, inspired by bright lights and the big city ambience, the venue comprises two blocks of double-storey shophouses featuring popular homegrown bars, eateries, cafes and clubs. Hive is a 2-block cluster of double-storey semi-detached shop lots housing casual and mid-scale restaurants, bars and lounges with an alfresco vibe. Each shop lot features a dual-frontage opportunity with views through the front and back.
Terraces, the Jewel of TREC, has unrivalled front-row and rooftop views of the prestigious Royal Selangor Golf Club, and features some of the signature foreign F&B and entertainment brands. Behind Terraces is Alley which is connected to TREC’s multi-level carpark. Journey through the walkways to find emerging bars.
And finally, the famed Zouk club is located on the other side of TREC. However, take note that Zouk KL is temporarily closed and only available in their Genting outlet.
To begin our evening out, the BUZZ team went club hopping at TREC, after selecting Iron Fairies KL, The China Bar, Anakron, Reggae Bar Extra, Beer Can Thin, and Kuna. We went at midnight on a Friday night, where the fun truly begins (we were told).
From TREC Entry 3, the first club we visited was Iron Fairies KL. Immediately after stepping into the bar, we were mesmerised by the golden decor inside Iron Fairies. Designed by Australian-born interior designer Ashley Sutton, Iron Fairies feels like a magical wonderland complete with hanging vials of fairy dust and written wishes from couples hanging inside little pockets, hoping for their love to last forever.
As the biggest Iron Fairies in the world, the place boasts an enchanting experience for customers with two areas – Fairy Dust Factory and Butterfly Room.
Inside the Fairy Dust Factory, the setting resembles an iron ore mine with a mythical twist, and going up the mezzanine floor lets you tantalise your earbuds with the amazing live bands. Music ranges from old-school house to funky disco, to raw techno and all experimental subgenres in between.
The dark enclosed Butterfly Room leans towards the darker side of a magical ethereal fairytale as the crowd dances through the night under 50,000 butterflies hanging from the ceiling.
For snacks, we tried their fat-cut English chips served with hollandaise sauce, and potato wedges served with tartar sauce. To get our night started, we had a citrusy Tequila-based cocktail called Fairy’s Revenge; Dust Factory Rummy, a spicy rum-based cocktail with a tropical twist; an Amaretto and gin blend with elderflower syrup and lime juice, Butterfly Juice; and lastly, the citrusy Absinthe-based Sugared Fairy with egg white.
Next stop, we went to The China Bar, which had an Oriental twist to its decor. With red paper lanterns and gold patterned designs, the music in The China Bar ranges from Hip-Hop to Afro beats. If you’re ready to dance the night away under the neon strobe lights, make sure you get close to the DJs in front where you stay hydrated under the cool mist.
For drinks, they serve Oriental spiced Opihr gin-based Osmanthus Breeze with apple juice, or you can have The China Bar which is a citrusy rosemary and vodka drink with a watermelon foam. If you’re feeling peckish, give their momos a try, which are handmade Nepalese dumplings stuffed with minced meat and tom yam gravy.
After we bid farewell to the dragon in the cool bar, we hopped on over to Kuna. It is pronounced “koh-nuh” and derived from the Hindi word “kona”, which means corner (an apt name for the corner bar). The downstairs bar has a spacious outdoor seating area where you can enjoy their live band in a more laid-back setting.
We even managed to request a song from the singer, and enjoyed their performance. Besides a live band, Kuna also has Al Fakher shisha with a variety of flavours to choose from, from apple all the way to vanilla.
On Kuna’s second floor is their lounge, where you get to chill and listen to some music. The chill bar brought out our playful side and we even competed in a drinking competition. Among Kuna’s signature cocktails are the Nusantara (Dark Rum, Rosso, Djamu, and Honey Spiced Syrup) and Khatulistiwa (Rum, Banana Liquor, Pineapple Juice).
Of course, we also remembered to stay hydrated and drink water whenever we needed to (which helped us prevent a hangover the next day!)
Another tip to stay safe during a night out is to plan ahead. In TREC, there are a variety of places to go to, so make sure you’ve done your research on the different types of places – along with their menus – to make the night more enjoyable.
Of course, you never know what might happen, so always make sure you let someone whom you trust know where you are going, who you are meeting up with and when you expect to return.
After having a couple of sips, cheers, and good vibes at Kuna, we made our way to the next location, which is called AnaKron. The essence of this AnaKron club, which is a magnificent combination of exquisite Victorian and the power of modern features, will astound you the moment you step inside.
The bar can be seen to represent the amalgamation of the old and modern eras in the atmosphere and formulation of the space. This is something that can be said about the area as a whole. With their tagline “Anakron is always ON,” this club suits people who seek a wild night to remember, as the DJ plays a set of great hits throughout the entire night, and we eventually vibed along with all of them.
After that, we make our way to the Reggae Bar Xtra, which is popular and well-known for being one of the bars in Kuala Lumpur that people look forward to visiting the most. This is one of the most talked-about bars in the city, where R&B, EDM, and Hip-Hop music are played all night long.
We were then served a bucket of Heineken beer straight from the carton, which was an absolutely incredible and memorable experience. It is unquestionably a low-key and unpretentious bar, despite being a TREC nightlife hotspot frequented by tourists, expatriates, and locals. The bar room was rather large, outfitted with vibrant LED lighting and a powerful sound system. Everything is literally “Extra”, as its name suggests.
It is definitely an ideal spot for socialising and for those who want to mingle around. The fact that a line was starting to build outside of this pub is evidence that it is an essential destination for anyone travelling to TREC KL.
The night came to a close with our last destination being the Beer Can Thin. If you are a fan of techno, you will find that this is the perfect nightclub for you, as the ambiance is solely dominated by techno sounds, and the club is in fact a primary hot place for popular local Malaysian DJs.
You are sure to fall in love with this bar because it provides an ample amount of space, which includes a sizable area for dancing, an interior that is lit with neon, and an exciting DJ setup that features a gigantic screen at the front stage. Beer Can Thin is also the location to go to if you want a bar that has a brighter lighting scheme.
That night, among the many talented DJs who were performing, DJ MAX FACTOR and DJ DENKA were the ones who really got the party started.
As our exciting evening came to a close, we reflected upon our time spent clubbing at TREC KL and recalled how it was a great night filled with excitement and positive experiences.
After making reservations for our Grab drivers, we waited in the specified spot close to the building’s main entrance. Our chosen driver only needed about five to seven minutes to get there, so we hopped on board and were back in our respective houses in no time, bringing together our best experiences and memories that we could never get anywhere.
Planning is an important aspect of every decision. If you’re planning to drink, always designate a non-drinking driver in advance, call a taxi, or arrange for a ride home. Never allow your friends or anyone to drink and drive. (Usually, it takes about five to seven minutes for a Grab driver to reach TREC.)
Stay Safe
Despite the fact that clubbing is all about having fun, it is important to take care of ourselves and our belongings
, not just in the club but everywhere. Always be aware of your surroundings and become acquainted with your destination before you arrive.
A few precautionary measures could avert catastrophic injury, trauma, and any other undesirable consequences. Perhaps clubbing has changed since over the years. Maybe going to clubs isn’t the same as it used to be. Because drugs and alcohol are available, it is often easy to lose your inhibitions and not notice any bad energy at an event.
Always keep an eye on your drinks. Even if you need to go to the bathroom, ask a friend to hold your drink for you. Club drugs like GHB are easy to slip into drinks because they have no colour, smell, or taste. You won’t even know you’ve been given something until it starts to affect you. If possible, drink from bottles or hold your drink in front of you. If you start to feel weird or start to show signs of being drugged, like losing consciousness, feeling dizzy, throwing up, or being confused for no reason, tell a friend immediately and have someone take you to the hospital or home right away.
