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Published: October 20th 2010
Greetings from the cultural melting pot that is Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia! We're going to have a fun contest in this blog and see if anyone can guess what Jeremy is holding in the photo below (and the two below that). This was a
seriously strange food that was seriously delicious (and that's the only hint you're getting)!! Post your guesses in our comment section and we'll see if anyone is even remotely close; we'll give you the answer in our next blog!
Anyway, before I delve into our newest destination, allow me to fill you in on our final day in Singapore. (I found out why I nearly died our first day, by the way. The temperature reached a sizzling 102F, and factoring in the soaring humidity, the heat index was just over 140F. Well,
no wonder we were sweating to death!) On Sunday we had the pleasure of meeting up with our friend Sher-May, who we'd met during her vacation to Queenstown last fall (er...spring for you guys). We took the train out to her neck of the woods, met some of her friends and family, and were treated to the most fantastic $2 bowls
Bizarre Foods - Malaysia
What is it?? Prize awarded to the closest guess!!of fried rice and (our new favorite) kway teoh - spicy, thick rice noodles loaded with seafood and chili sauce - yum!!!! Afterward, we headed down to the waterfront and went to explore the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, very reminisce of any of the mega-resorts on the Vegas Strip. We wanted to go into the casino to see the world's largest chandelier (a mere 132,000 Swarovski crystals), but alas, we'd forgotten our passports back in the locker at the hostel. So we contented ourselves with a stroll around the shopping complex and a journey up the observation deck of the "floating ship." Dinner that night was very high-class - Pizza Hut's new 7-cheese pizza. Oh, man, did it taste good.
On Monday morning, we awoke and went to see "Eat, Pray, Love" (excellent movie, highly recommend it), then splurged on some ice cream from the one and only Marble Slab Creamery. The afternoon was an easy transit on the metro to the airport, a 30-minute flight to Kuala Lumpur (who wants to sit on a bus anyway?), and a cruisey one-hour journey from the airport into Malaysia's capital city. If you don't know much about Malaysia,
don't feel bad - neither do we!! What we've discovered so far is that it is a predominantly Muslim nation, heavily influenced by Indian, Arabic, and Asian cultures, and exuding a strong western feel, too, from centuries of colonization by the Portuguese and British. KL sits approximately 3 degrees north of the Equator. The country has a Prime Minister and also a group of ruling Sultans. It has dense rain forests, coral reefs, and mountains well over 12,000 feet. I think the appropriate word would be "diverse."
Anyway, enough with the geography lesson. The fun began when we got off our bus from the airport and attempted to board the smaller shuttle-bus to take us the rest of the way. It was overflowing with a Chinese tour group and had been overbooked by one seat (one of ours, of course). We stood on the roadside for a good ten minutes while the driver conversed on his walkie-talkie, until we were sure we were going to be left to fend on our own. To our delight, the rather portly gentleman who'd been occupying the front seat offered to squeeze into the back so Jeremy and I could ride (together) in
the front seat. Of course, we couldn't both fit, so Jeremy somehow ended up straddling the center console with his head crammed against the ceiling. Our fellow passengers found this to be absolutely hilarious and spent the rest of the ride laughing hysterically at us - but hey, we were laughing, too. When in Kuala Lumpur...
Luckily, we were dropped right on the doorstep of our hostel in the "Golden Triangle" district of downtown KL. It was well after dark, but Jalan Bukit Bintang was hopping with restaurants, nightclubs, shopping centers, and a big LCD screen right outside our window, reminisce of a baby Times Square. The street signs are in Malay and Arabic. Scantily-clad teenagers stroll right alongside elegant Arabian women in full-length burqas. McDonald's, questionable massage parlors, and Indian curry houses stand next-door to each other. At all times, upbeat Indian music floats up from a shopping center across the street. An elevated monorail goes right by our window. The strangest thing is - if you looked solely at the architecture and plant life, you'd swear you were in some strange hybrid of Miami and Disney World. I kid you not. This place is fantastic. We fell
in love with it instantly. It has everything Singapore has, but it's a little grittier, a lot more energetic, and a lot more affordable.
So what is there to do in this cutural mish-mosh of a city? Eat. And it's good eating, too. You think Americans are obsessed with food? You think
we have restaurants and cafes on every corner? Oh, baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet!! This entire city is devoted to food. You can't go twenty feet without stumbling upon some sort of eating establishment. In two days, we've discovered the likes of all the usual fast food places, plus Chili's, Outback, California Pizza Kitchen, and Friday's. As it would be a terrible waste to eat in one of those places, though (even though I admit that a margarita from Chili's is calling my name)...we've been scouring the city and stuffing our faces with all the local Arabic, Indian, Chinese, and Malay food we can fit in our bellies.
Last night took the cake, though...arguably one of our best meals in the entire year. We stumbled upon a Middle-Eastern restaurant and bravely stepped inside (and yes, we were certainly the ONLY westerners and I was by
far the only blonde within a square mile). As fate would have it, the very friendly owner of the establishment (whose English was excellent) is dating a girl from California (go figure), and he spent half the evening pouring through the menu with us and listening to some of our travel stories. We took his recommendations on what to order, and the food started coming out. Freshly-squeezed watermelon juice and starfruit juice. The best hummus I've ever tasted, with fresh pita bread right out of the oven. Stuffed grape leaves. Roasted lamb shank and grilled lamb chops. The highlight, though, was the mahalabia - a creme-brulee-like custard made with (get this) rose water. Imagine rose-flavored creme brulee, and you've got it. The drinks, appetizers, and desserts were all under $2 each, and the lamb entrees were at about $6 each. Unbelievable. We thought we'd died and gone to heaven. Arabian food heaven. We just might go back there again tonight for some more mahalabia...
Today, we took a recommendation from Andrew Zimmern and Tony Bourdain (of Bizarre Foods and No Reservations on the Travel Channel) and headed literally across the street from our hostel to the famous underground Hutong
food court, run by Chinese families for the past three generations. There we found a bowl of our beloved kway teoh, washed it down with some sugar-cane tea, sampled some pork satay with spicy peanut sauce, and finished it off with the "mystery food" photographed here. All of this cost us less than $10. Amazing.
When we're not eating, we've been busy organizing our visas for Thailand. The trip out to the Thai embassy was a trip on its own, as we went down "Embassy Row" past every country you can imagine. We didn't know what to think when we passed the Iraqi embassy, surrounded by heavy barbed wire, and conveniently placed next to a Mercedes-Benz dealership. I don't know if "ironic" is the right word, but it will have to do for now. Applying for your Thai visa involves taking a number, filling out a form, and returning the following afternoon to collect your passport and your shiny new Thai visa. Yesterday (and today) we met up with a lovely girl from West Virginia (of all places) who is living and working in Thailand doing research on Burmese immigrants. She's a real fireball - on our way out
of the embassy, we agreed to share a taxi, and she expertly haggled the driver down to eight Ringgits (about $2.50). Heck, we'd been paying 25 Ringgits and thinking nothing of it!! (We have a long way to go on our haggling skills...we're simply too nice). So our visas for Thailand are good to go, although we're loving Malaysia so much we're not in any hurry to rush up there...
The pearl of the city is Petronas Towers, which you'll recognize from the Sean Connery/Catherine Zeta-Jones movie "Entrapment." They were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004, when a building in Taipei took over (and has since been eclipsed by one in Dubai). From a distance, they actually don't look that big. But up-close and personal...oh, yeah. Those babies are huge. And spectacular - especially at night!!
This afternoon we conducted an interesting social experiment. Along the street leading to our hostel are about a dozen "massage parlors" of questionable nature. As Jeremy and I walk past them together, the girls don't even give us a blink. Today, just for fun, I headed over to the opposite side of the road and let him take the journey
solo, just to see how many invitations he would receive. In the space of thirty seconds, my lovely husband was offered, "Hey, Mister! You want massage? We give
good massage!" about ten-twelve times (his estimate). A few bolder girls even crowded around him and tried to lure him into their establishments. From the opposite side of the street, I found this to be extremely entertaining. We poor women are ALWAYS the ones being hassled, harassed, hit on, and propositioned. I cannot explain the sheer delight I felt to finally see a guy have his turn at being the center of attention. We were both laughing hysterically by the time we "met up" again at the end of the road. I've never seen Jeremy so embarrassed. It was endearing.
Anyway, that is a little taste of what life is like in Kuala Lumpur. We have one more evening here before we leave (at some point tomorrow) for the seaside village of Melaka (also spelled Malacca, take your pick). It's about a two-hour bus ride for (breaking the bank here) 12 Ringgits, or about $4. Less than we were paying for our taxi ride to the Thai embassy - go figure!
In the meantime, I believe some mahalabia is calling my name...
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Michael Grimaldi
non-member comment
What is it?
Its definitely lung of some sort. I am gagging as I write this. Are the potato chips to help you swallow without holding your breath? Hope the remainder of your voyage is safe. Enjoy!!