Kuala Lumpur Revisited

---

Polly:

After the coldness of Hanoi, it was such a nice feeling landing in Kuala Lumpur. We were met with smiling faces and helpful people.

We caught a bus, then train into the city, the one hour journey only costing 5MYR each. When we got to KL Sentral station we grabbed a burger, then caught the KMT (Kommuter train) to Seputeh.

A couple of months ago my brother in law, Toby, secured a new job in KL so the Haslam family will be relocating in August. We thought it would be a good opportunity to do a bit of a recce of some of the residential areas for them. As such, we stayed at Alex's Homestay in Seputeh, one of the popular residential areas near the city centre, in the hope that we could gain some local knowledge at the same time as seeing the area.

The homestay was basically a big house with a few air-conditioned, lockable rooms. It was really homely and great to have a kitchen (in particular a cheese-toastie maker) and a lounge to spread out it. There were a couple of long-term residents there and a few, like us, just passing through. It was great to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city.

That night we strolled to the local row of corner shops and decided to grab a bite to eat at a Chinese cafe. They didn't have any menus so we ordered some form of rice dish, some noodles & some veg. The noodles were in a strange eggy soup and had funny bits of seafood floating around. I carefully avoided most of these but Ross, increasingly becoming the more adventurous eater, wolfed down the unidentifiable chewy bits...

Unfortunately, this culinary experience left him fairly fluid for the next 24 hours, so we spent the day around the house, relaxing. I was determined to finish my book, Shantaram, which was getting really heavy to carry around, so we made the most of the down time rather than venturing out into the heat and humidity.

On Sunday, with Ross feeling better, we explored Seputeh. It was really hot and, unlike when we visited KL previously in December, the thunderstorms were much less frequent. We marched around, taking lots of snaps for Tamzin & Toby, then sought some refuge in the coolness of the nearby Mid Valley shopping mall. Compared to the swanky malls in the centre, this was much more practical with loads of shops, a supermarket, food halls and even a gym.

The next day we hit Bangsar, another residential area. This was also nice, not as quiet, but with many more local amenities. My earache, which I'd developed in Vietnam, was getting worse, and fearing it would stop me diving in Borneo, we went on a mission to get some antibiotics. The first pharmacy wouldn't give me any, so we persevered and eventually got hold of a week's course of pills.

We spent our last day in KL exploring the park and lake, revisiting the Chinese Market, and finished of the day at a fish & chip restaurant in Bukit Bintang. Although a little pricey, it was probably the most British meal we've had in eight months and satisfied our stodge cravings. Ross had fish & chips with curry sauce and a pint of larger, while I chose steak & Guinness pie, mash, gravy and a pint of Guinness. They even had 'British sausages' on the menu, but we figured we could hold out for another six weeks for the real thing.

It was really nice visiting KL again. Compared to the rest of Asia it is such a modern, civilised city. I can't wait to come back to visit my sister and family, and with AirAsia's super-cheap flights out of Stanstead this should be a real possibility.

On Wednesday morning we checked out of Alex's place. He gave us a lift to KL Sentral from where we caught a bus back to the airport. We were so excited about Borneo and the prospect of diving at Sipadan, but I was still really unsure about my ear. Fingers crossed...

---

Photos

Frogs and crabs for lunch in the Chinese Market
In the tanks over Ross' left shoulder