Kuala Lumpur

---

Suzanne here...

I'm finding Malaysia rather strange. In so many ways it is far more western than the rest of Asia. More jeans and t-shirts, nobody staring at us, more familiar chain stores and restaurants, cinemas and shopping malls, and lots of English. Yet in other ways it's more different than ever. Outside of the China towns you can't get pork, even in places like McDonalds. It's 'beef pepperoni' and 'turkey bacon'. Alcohol is hard to find too. I'm also sick to death of people talking to David and, as a woman, totally ignoring me. I'm also missing the 50p bottles of beer!

Our hostel in Kuala Lumpur, Backhome, seemed nice. Our private room was big, modern, clean, and we had a sink in it which was useful. We settled in and did a walking tour of the area, Little India. We struggled to find something to eat at first. David was still feeling a bit delicate and although we were surrounded by food, he wasn't up to curry that might not be piping hot and was bound to be a bit bony. In the end we stumbled upon 'Magnificent Fish & Chips'. I'd like to say I felt bad about eating in such a British place, but I don't. It was bloody lovely. Proper, thick chips with salt and vinegar. David had fish which was delicious, I had a steak pie which was just as good. Expensive, but a real treat.

The following day we decided to check out the Berjaya Times Theme Park, which is inside a shopping centre. The rollercoaster was good fun, but then David went on a spinning ride that made him feel ill. To be fair, he still wasn't feeling 100% right after his illness. I went on a few rides on my own, but it's not the same so we called it a day. On the way back we stopped off for a light lunch of roti canai, which I've become addicted to. It's so simple, bread and dahl, but so delicious.

My friend Claire says my blogs go on about food a lot. I can't imagine what she means. For dinner we went to the Coliseum Hotel. It's been there forever (since about 1920) and I'm not convinced much cleaning or upkeep has been carried out since then. We were a bit unsure about the place, but we'd been told it was amazing so decided to give it a go. First of all, the waiter practically told us what we wanted. We (luckily)decided to bow to his expertise. Then another waiter came and tied a bib around our necks (we did a quick check to make sure this wasn't only us!). Then the food arrived. Wow. A huge piece of thick, sizzling steak. It was among the most tender and the best flavour I've ever had. For the amount and quality of food, the cost was pretty reasonable too. I've since read a couple of less than complementary reviews of this place, mentioning rude staff and lacklustre food. Basically, if you go and order anything other than steak the staff are not going to be that impressed, and the food is likely to be disappointing. But order the steak and you are in for a real treat. It's a meal I'll fantasise about for years to come.

As it was New Years Eve, we then headed to the park at the foot of the Petronas Towers. It was getting busy, but midnight was far off, so we left and found a bar. Had a couple of beers and headed back to the park. By this time it was packed with thousands of people, but we found a bit of space where we could see the clock and the fireworks. It's somthing we've seen on TV so many times, and we were actually there. It was a real experience, and a New Years Eve we'll never forget.

On New Years Day we took our books into the beautiful KL Botanical Gardens and just relaxed. We stopped off again for roti canai... I can't get enough of it. We then relaxed at the hostel, then popped out to China town for some dinner. It was still early, so we picked up a couple of beers and headed back to the courtyard of our hostel. generally the hostel was great, but there was a problem with people sitting outside our room until all hours drinking and being loud when we just wanted to sleep. Not a peaceful place. So, we decided to take a 'if you can't beat them join them' approach. We drank our beer then fished out the bottle of rum we'd picked up on Langkawi. We also put some music on, at a respectful level. We only turned it up slightly when a group of Russians sat on the table right next to us and put their ipod on. How rude! Luckily their boring, insipid ambient trance nonsense could not compete with our heavy metal and they gave up. Ha! We won! (and we then turned ours down, we at least try to be considerate).

On the last day we visited the National Art gallery. There was some really good stuff, including a painting called Alien King Kong, which featured Slipknot lyrics which we found amusing. We tried to get some more roti canai for lunch but before we could order it, a banana leaf thali appeared before each of us. Oh well, it was very tasty. It did mean that we didn't want a full meal later, so we could finally try a famous Ramly Burger. This is a bit like the equivalent of a late-night kebab on the way back from the pub in England. It's proper 'dirty street food'. Watching the skill the guy made it with was something to behold. It was gooey, messy and delicious. That night we saw fit to finish the rum. Well, it seemed a waste to have to carry it to yet another destination, we are travelling light.

---

Photos

Kuala Lumpur
Steak at Coliseum Cafe

Kuala Lumpur
Petronas Towers

Kuala Lumpur
Lake Gardens

Kuala Lumpur
Alien King Kong - Slipknot lyrics from Prelude 3.0

Kuala Lumpur
Banana Leaf Thali - we only went in for a Roti Canai

Kuala Lumpur
Modern Art at the gallery