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This morning we went to breakfast with the owners of the BnB we're staying at since our stay includes breakfast. They took us to a Chinese wet market along with another traveler who is staying at another one of their properties. We all shared a few dishes that are standards for breakfast, and it was so good! Really a place where locals go. Both Michael and Christina were so passionate about KL, food (my kinda people!) and just an interest in their guests and where they're from.
There are so many beautiful buildings here! You have elaborate mosques, temples, old colonial buildings and structures. After breakfast we went back to the room to catch up on picture offloading from the camera, sorting our laundry to get it washed then headed out to Chinatown. In KL central, everything is really walking distance, it's not super close but you can definitely walk around. The weather is humid and hot but every time you walk by a store front you get a nice chilly treat due to the a/c going on full blast.
On our way, we stopped at the bus station to purchase our tickets that would
take us to Lumut, where a ferry would take us to our next destination, Pangkor. Chinatown was a busy place, lots of stalls selling all sorts of stuff, not only Chinese stuff but also Malay and Indian. We wandered as usual, by passing all the typical t-shirts and key chain stalls. One guy selling dvds stopped us, I believe he was Malay. He first asked us where we are from and he after hearing that we were from America said that we indeed would should buy some dvds and starts to flip through his thick binder full of dvds. We told him we didn't need any dvds but if he knew a good place to eat at. We didn't have a particular preference so I just picked vegetarian. He pointed us down the way and said that if we need a dvd later, come see him. Persistent but friendly guy. So we followed his directions and ended up walking through an alleyway that was quite a sight. It started as a poultry alley, with people cleaning chickens and buckets of guts and all the glory. It was a sight that shocked even me. If you have been to a place
that sells live poultry, yes, they do this in the states, it's not a real pleasant smell but it's part of the territory - this was like 3 times worse. It was also like wet market wet on the ground too. Trust, me I walked quite quickly right through that place and ended up at what looked like a market's foodstalls that were cleaning up for the day. There weren't many options available so we just shared a small plate of chee cheong fun, basically rice sheet roll chopped up with a sweet/salty/tangy sauce. It was nice and silky!
After leaving the stall we went back to the main strip of the market and wandered around some more and then it started to RAIN! FAT DELCIOUSNESS WET COOL DROPS! People had umbrellas or ducked into shops but John and I just continued walking it in for the pure relief of the hot and humid weather. The rain was a treat but perhaps it was just an omen of things going south! We were trying to make our way over to the Central Market but wasn't sure of the direction so asked a lady who was so graciously
walked us over to the market herself. People in Malaysia have really bee super nice! The Central Market was indoor, like small mall with two floors, much of it souvenir items and batik fabric.
Before heading inside we ran into a couple of food stalls so begins John's adventure again in another country. He walked by a samosa stand and never able to refuse a samosa bought one. Most of the time samosas are overly greasy to me so I passed, esp since the vendor didn't have many and I don't know how long ago it was made. I did have a bite, it was 'eh' while John finished it up. I saw a novelty stand, a waffle dog stand, so kind of like a corndog with waffle coat instead. I ordered it and waiting while the vendor finished making one for another customer. John waited to pay while I ordered a fried chicken cutlet (YUM! It was good). After paying for chicken I walked back over to the waffle dog vendor I happened to see that she took a hotdog out of a tupperware box that was stored in a toaster oven (instead of a cooler)
and it was all red flag in my head (!!!!). I told John quietly and he said he saw it too. Well, after getting the waffle dog ( didn't want to be rude and say we didn't want it anymore) we walked into the Central Market. John was busy eating the waffle dog (I told him I didn't think it was such a good idea, esp. since it also had some red and white sauce on it). I did try a bite, it wasn't impressive, and the sausage wasn't even hot and the sauces tasted kind of fruity. So I browsed the shops until we reached the foodcourt. I wanted to get a drink and there was a kopitiam there, but John told me he had to run to the toilets (which you had to often pay for here). So I went to get my fruit drink and waited for John. He finally came back and said his stomach cramps are getting bad, we chalked it up to traveler's diarrhea and left the central market and decided to head to the textile museum.
As the minutes ticked on John's stomach cramps got worse! We finally ended up walking along a main road, heading toward the light rail station because John wanted to go back to the house and rest a bit. I was trying to convince him to go to the dr. so we can get something for his worsening cramps. They were getting to the point where he would stop walking when one hit him. We came across a festival of some sort and stopped in to check it out (hey it was along the way!) Finally I convinced John to go to the hospital, we stopped by a security post and asked the closest direction to a hospital and he sent us over to the medical response team tent for the festival. We walked over there and at this time John was cringing in waves of pain and pretty pale. They said that the hospitals nearby are closed and the nearest one wasn't that near! They made John sit and gave him juice and asked him what he ate (samosa, and hotdog from food stall). So at this point we all know John got food poisoning, this is me again back in Vietnam Nha Trang with him getting worked over by a bowl of noodles at a street stall in 2008. While worried, we did find it a bit humorous that we're doing a repeat.
The fun starts when the medical team tells us they called an ambulance, both John and I were concerned since we know what an ambulance ride is like in good ole America (a big burnt hole in your pocket!), we had limited funds with us but needed to be prepared, but they assured us the ambulance ride is free (thank you Malaysian government!) and it would be the best route since it was rush hour and difficult to get to the hospital with any other route at the time. So John and I got a free tour of the city in an ambulance ride 😊. The traffic was pretty bad so it was a good thing we were in the ambulance, even though people don't really give way to it like they do in the states. We finally arrive at the hospital and the team takes us to the emergency entrance but the bored guy at the reception told them to take John to the clinic which turns out to be a building behind where people come with non-emergencies. I fill out paperwork and am given a number while John sat and powered through the cramps. The hospital clinic wasn't too crowded luckily, but everyone we had to work with was bored and uninterested (playing on smartphone…) not really the greatest bedside manners. Finally we come in and see a doctor who happened to be friendly and helpful. John was given a prescription for the cramps and rehydration pills. The doctor said that he just needs to rehydrate and let his system flush out the bad stuff and that his food poisoning isn't too far in advance (John finally learned his lesson from Vietnam and let me get him to a hospital early on this time!).
After the hospital visit, the whole bill was $15RM, a total of $5 USD, ambulance/Doctor/meds included! Such a bargain, John said that it was a cheap tourist experience, oye!
We walked our way to a light rail and made our way back to our food street near the house and got him chicken porridge and water. I got some frog porridge and chicken wings. It was a little early to turn in but I guess we were pretty exhausted from the day's events so we called it a day early in our nice and cold air conditioned room.
So yes Kim, John did get sick again LOL.
http://s9.photobucket.com/user/Tanyahh1/library/The%!E(MISSING)ating%!t(MISSING)rip/KL%!<(MISSING)/a> - usual password
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Tot: 0.219s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0872s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Loved your hospital experience
Sorry you got sick but loved hearing about the adventure. Don't eat anything unless you see them cook it. The photos of your wonton noodles looks great. Glad that didn't make you sick. Stay healthy and happy travels.