You might have got the idea now that food is going to feature very heavily on my trip and today was is no exception.
After a very lazy start featuring another huge breakfast, swim and poolside read, we headed to Kuala Lumpur's Old Town, or what's left of it, for the 'Eat Pray Love' walking tour. I was unfairly concerned by the tour title, but the advert said 'come hungry', which had to be a good sign and we took that seriously - good idea. What followed was 4 hours walking with 5 far-from-stingey food stops along the way to taste all that this multicultural city has to offer. Interspersed between each food stop, were temples, mosques and further exploration of the old town, learning all about KL's history from it's birth in the 19th century as a tine mine and trading centre, through colonialism and up to the present day.
Our local tour guide, Sean (after Sean Connery), told us of the tour's fundamental purpose to raise awareness to locals and the government of the heritage that is lost in the knocking down of the city's old buildings. So few of the original colonial buildings exist today, the ones that do being unkept with brickwork riddled with weeds.
The three main cultures and respective cuisines in KL are Malay, Indian and Chinese. Our first stop was a charmingly grubby traditional Indian restaurant hidden from the street. Banana leaves for plates and hands for cutlery, we tucked into chicken, lamb and prawn curries, with sag, some other unintellible veg, poppodoms and rice. Downed a glass of water to then be told 'you may get sore stomach from water' wasn't a highlight but must be the 'all part of the fun' that everyone's been insisting on... Folding our banana leaves towards us to show our appreciation, we walked back out into the afternoon heat.
Next stop, Masjid Jamek, KL's oldest mosque. A gift from the British to the King 200 years ago, it looks like a Lego Taj Mahal, with huge North Indian domes contrasting with the British red brick. No entry for us, which let out a minor disappointed sigh from the melting tour group, but beautiful from the outside nevertheless.
We then proceeded through the old Indian financial centre, which still remains a bustling community but now less banks, more restaurants and pawn shops. Then through the old business centre with the few remaining colonial remnants and on to a Chinese Buddhist and Taoist temple dedicated to two Chinese generals, helpfully named Sin Si Yah and Sze Si Yah, fought off invasion from neighbouring countries in the late 1800s, gaining much admiration from Yap Ah Loy, KL's founding Kapitan. Inside you were stifled by heat and the stench of incense but we felt so welcome. Up on the main wall were the four Chinese animals that suffered bad luck in 2013 - I wouldn't call myself a believer in those kinds of things but when it was revealed that all my family's signs were up there, I admit it did make me longer on that thought...
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Swiftly on to Central Market where we stopped for what can be best described as an Indo-Malay pancake house which served Malay tea - tea and condensed milk that clearly required extensive pouring practice, as demonstrated by a couple of eager guineapigs in the group - and a menu of every flavoured roti you could imagine. We tucked into three... each... The first, an egg and onion roti with sambal and curried sauce. Me avoiding the egg, I demolished the whole platter easily. Second, my favourite, roti with kaya - a sweet coconut butter. And thirdly sugared and salted crispy roti, baked into a huge foot tall cone - amaazzinnggg. I was first - all I can say is that few others got a look in.
From there we moved on to a stunning Indian temple in the heart of KL's old town. Wrapped up in ad hoc saris and bare feet, we were allowed into this stunning open-air Hindu temple.
Our final district - China Town, swiftly stopping for an education in Malay fruit - dragon fruit, mangosteen, dourian (smells like rotting feet...), 'dragons eyes' and rambutan - a red hairy lychee-like fruit. China Town's central street offered designer goods galore and amazing smells from every direction. We tucked into yet more pancake-like delicacies, one sweet and coconutty, the other bursting with peanuts. This finished me off, I was officially full. But there was more...
Our final stop was an open air Chinese restaurant serving clay pot chicken rice with pork, chicken satay, greens and Chinese tea. I decided at this point it was my turn to play guineapig and opted to try the chilli sample. It all went fine and I was feeling smug and the girl who was waiting to take my picture was distinctly disappointed. She should have waited. 30 seconds in my tongue is burning and eyes streaming. Enter ice-cold Chinese tea.
Wow long post, sorry! Next stop Burma - can't wait :D
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