Living the Travel Channel

Our last day in Kuala Lumpur we had to check out of the hotel by 10 am, but our flight was not until 7:30 pm, so we put our bags in storage and had some more fun. We still had 37% of the money we budgeted for the trip, so I went shopping! It was nearly impossible to find clothes our size, so we went into Gulati’s Silk House and bought 35 meters of various material (cotton, linen, satin, chiffon). I have my year’s worth of sewing cut out for me.
Then we took the train to the Central Market area. There was some amazing graffiti along the river.
In the China Town area we came upon Petaling Street.

It is lined with stalls selling cheap handbags, sun glasses, and illegal DVDs. We did not buy any of the above.

We met up with Adrianna and Andrew for beef noodles.

We each had a bowl of beef with rice noodles and egg noodles and a bowl of soup for a whopping 8RM each. (approx. $3.00)
It was very tasty. I really like Cantonese cooking, because it is very savory without being spicy. Very yummy!

By this time it was afternoon and we needed to head to the train station to retrieve our luggage and get on the express train to the airport.

Kuala Lumpur, Day Five, Part Two

The rain began while we were at the bird park, so our plans to also go to the butterfly park were rained out, literally. As you can imagine the butterflies head for cover, so there is no point in looking.

We took a taxi to the shopping center connected with the Petronas Towers to have a late lunch (around 4 pm) at a restaurant Adrianna recommended – Madam Kwans.

It began with Prosperity Salad (judging by the price, it’s the restaurant who prospers). It was tasty, but also fun. The plate was brought to the table with all the ingredients neatly in separate piles. The waitress then added the spices – pepper and cinnamon, and the sauce. We then joined in with our chop sticks and helped her mix it up.

Paul had nasi lemak. This is considered the national dish. It started as a breakfast meal, but is now eaten any time of the day. The ingredients may vary at times, but is usually rice (steamed in coconut milk), curry chicken, spicy sardines [correction: anchovies – I knew it was little fish], cucumbers and a hard boiled egg.
I had some nice, unspicy broccoli & mushrooms (with a considerable number of garlic cloves).
We spent some time in the mall looking in vain for some things we wanted. We then took a train out to the suburbs, so to speak, to meet Adrianna and friends for dinner. (Only four hours after our late lunch.) The first stop was to purchase some bak kwa, which is a thin layer of pork (or chicken) in a sweet sauce.

Next, we had a couple of drinks. The bottom layer is palm syrup (I think). Next up is a layer of various and sundry things like corn, gelatin, peanuts. I’m not really certain what all was in there. The top layer was shaved ice and fruit. My drink was coffee or carmel flavored (I’m getting old and forgetful). I don’t know what the name of this is, but will call it the Kitchen Sink Drink. It was cool and refreshing and tasted better than it probably sounds.

This is the place where we got the Kitchen Sink Drink. I’m not sure what to call it. It is a large area with a floor and roof, but no walls. Down each side are small kitchen areas and in the center is a common seating area. It seems to be the step in between street fair booth and stand alone restaurant.

Next was a full blown dinner at a Cantonese restaurant.

Six people ate (with plenty left over) for 120RM ($35.50 approx.).
Here we are with our lovely food guides – Adrianna, Liy, Mai, and Laine.

It’s not over, yet. We went to another place to have more. This is another layered drink, all liquid this time. The bottom layer is palm syrup, then milk, then tea. Mix it up and it looks like the one in the background. Very tasty.We were thoroughly stuffed by this time and it was getting late, so we called it a day.

Day four was physically difficult with not much pay off.

We went to the food court at the mall across the street for brunch. I had some lovely fried chicken, Swiss chard, spinach, cabbage and an interesting flat bread. The bread was round and had a sweet glaze on the outside. When I pulled it apart it had layers that were dripping with butter. How these people eat like this and don’t all look like Sumo wrestlers is beyond me. It must be the constant heat and humidity that burns off the calories. DaddyBird had nasi lemak, which is traditional breakfast food here. It usually includes rice, spicy meat, fried egg and cucumber.

We took the monorail to the central train station. We did find some lockers where we will be able to store our luggage on Friday, because we have to leave the hotel by 10 am and don”t fly out until evening. One productive item for the day.

We then tried to find out how to walk to the National Museum, which according to the map is a short distance away. HOWEVER, there is a highway between the two, so we gave up and got a taxi (teksi) for a whopping 7RM (less than $2).

We enjoyed the museum, although I was very footsore by then and also rather put out that there were no benches in the museum to provide a place to stop and rest.

We then tried to figure out how to get to the park where there is an aviary and a butterfly area. This, again was within a short distance, but across a major roadway. This time there was a pedestrian overpass. It involved a long set of stairs and the escalator was not working. So, we hiked up the stairs. Below is the view from the top of the stairs.

The first part of the park we encountered was the planetarium where we found Stonehenge. It was one of several recreations of ancient astrological observatories.

We eventually found the aviary, which it turns out is the largest free flight walk-in aviary. It was only 30 minutes until closing and it cost 42RM, so we decided that tomorrow, we will cut to the chase, take a taxi straight to the aviary, skipping the trains, walking and stairs, and get our money’s worth.

We took a taxi back to the hotel (20RM/$5) and I took a little nap. Around 9:30 pm we thought maybe we should get another meal under our belts before bed. We ended up at a hotel restaurant, which did not make Daddybird happy, but most of the restaurants open that late were serving spicy food that I cannot eat. Most of the meal was passable. Daddybird’s duck appetizer, pictured below, was beautiful, but tough and tasteless.

This day started late. DaddyBird was awake around 8 am, but I was not. I was awake around 10 am, but he was not. We were both awake by 1 pm, so that is when our day started. We headed off to meet our friend SkinnyLatte/Adrianna at Ninja Joe’s restaurant for pork burgers.
Six pork burgers – original, spicy, black pepper, oriental, sweet-n-sour, and teriyaki.

Then Adriana and some friends took us to a street market.
Where we had fresh sugar cane juice in a bag.
DaddyBird had shawarma.
There were many tables filled with wonderous wares. The bags in the lower center of this picture contain snails in the shell. Some of these things were recognizable and some were not.
There were lovely fish heads, fish of various kinds and squid of various sizes.
A table full of freshly butchered chickens with feet and heads still intact.
These women were selling bras. They were calling out to encourage us to buy, but clammed up when DaddyBird attempted to video their spiel.
DaddyBird had some fish noodle soup.
This cart had various foods on skewers that you could put in the boiling water to cook. “Steamboat Truck””
We then were driven into downtown Kuala Lumpur to a street famous for its food – Jalan Alor. We were, however, full so did not eat anything here.
To finish off the night, we had messy burgers. We had beef patties, wrapped in fried egg and cheese on  a bun with copious amounts of heart stopping sauces. Best not to count the calories or saturated fats.
There are many more pictures, but I won’t post them here now. Áfter I get home, I’ll put everything in an online album and those who want to see everything can page through at their leisure.