Arrived in Kuala Lumpur

After a late morning breakfast I take a bus to Kuala Lumpur from Melaka. It is approximately a 2 hour ride. I have a food tour booked this evening at 5:30 PM so I hope I gave myself enough time to check into my hotel, rest and get to the meet up point. I am not feeling the best. My sinuses are acting up but I decide to power through the evening.

Hotel

My hotel is nice and new. The only problem is the plug is hidden in this compartment that doesn’t quite fit my adapter. I have to call the front desk for assistance and after 20 minutes we finally figure it out and I am finally able to plug in my gadgets, albeit awkwardly.

Chow Kit Food tour

I don’t feel great but I force myself out to the food tour. Doing a food tour first thing always gives me more confidence when I am out eating on my own.

We first stop at the market where we get to try some fruits. Many I have tried before but I am always happy to try them again.

We next stop for some roti and noodles. Some of the bread is filled with egg and accompanied by different sauces. We each get our try to make our own bread. It is harder than it looks so I leave it to the expert.

I learn about torch ginger which is an ingredient in many Malaysian dishes.

And we are to have cendol which I will not complain about. The guide uses this as an opportunity to get the group to try the durian. I am hesitant but partake anyway. It gets easier to handle each time I try it.

We stop next to get a Geeget burger. It is a beef burger that is halal and distributed to vendors who use interesting toppings.

We then try three different laksas (noodle soup). We are warned about the increasingly spicy of the choices but I find myself loving all of them and one of the spicier ones being my favorite. Have I developed a liking for spicy foods again?

I finally get to try Ikan Bakar (grilled fish). It is another dish I have been wanting to try but been too scared to order. This is a tasty mackerel.

My tour guide takes us to the last remaining village in the city. He doesn’t think it will be here long because it is getting forced out by new development. It is intact for now but the surrounding areas are all filled with luxury developments.

We try some satay. It is good but I feel myself start to get uncomfortably full so its hard to eat. We also try this fish paste in a banana leaf. I am not a fan.

Finally we try Nasi Lemak – fried chicken, rice, and sambal in a pandan leaf. I am excited about this because its been on my list. It is very good. We also have a mango shake and a dessert to finish it off. Everyone is very full after this so we take a walk and have a great view of the city.

I still do not know the way around the city yet since I just arrived. I’m pretty tired but I brave taking the free bus back to my neighborhood with a couple who were also on the tour. I don’t know where it will stop but its got to be a shorter walk than if I walked from where I am at ~ 45 minutes. I watch on google maps as we travel. It seems to be going in the correct direction then makes a turn away from where I want to be. I get off at the next stop with an anticipated 10 minute walk. The area I am in is very lively and crowded and I still don’t know where I am going. It takes me about 20 minutes to find my hotel but I eventually get to where I need to be. The area I am in sort of reminds me of a mini-times square. There are street performers and crowds. I am exhausted but try to have my wits about me because if there is an area to be pick pocketed, this is it. Maybe I’ll return when I have a ounce of energy.

The next morning I still feel like garbage. There is no coughing and no fever. Just this lingering sinus issue. I take some meds, get a quick breakfast from downstairs and decide that my grand plans for today are definitely not happening. I force myself out after around noon to visit some temples and get lunch.

That’s a tall thing in the middle of nothing.

I visit the highy recommended Mee Tarik Restoran to try the beef ramen. They hand pull all their noodles locally. My visit didn’t start well. Line is very long but seems to move pretty quickly and when it comes time for me to be seating they keep passing me by and seating people in line behind me. Eventually I get directed inside where there are no empty tables but as soon as one opens up they put another party there. I make a big deal about being passed up again and eventually they tell me to sit at this round table with four other girls who don’t seem to mind. As a solo traveler you are often overlooked even sometimes seen as a nuisance. It can be annoying at times.

The beef ramen is good but I find myself jealous of the girl at the table who ordered the braised beef ramen. That looks really good. If I return I will get that and an order of dumplings.

I walk around Chinatown a bit, visit a temple, and find a cute bookstore made from a repurposed theatre. I also see a couple more Chinese new year dragon performances.

Some hidden artwork pictures such as this Yayoi Kusama portrait.

My energy does not last though. Though I have no fever I am visibly sweating more than everyone else and just overall feel run down. I might be legit sick. Back to the hotel to rest. Hopefully a little rest now will keep me from being out multiple days of travel.

Chew Jetties and more Chinese New Year

I woke up early today, not on purpose but because that is what I do. I used the opportunity to chat with a friend back home about future travel (13 hours difference).

I read somewhere to go watch sunrise at the Clan jetties of Penang is a thing to do and since I am already awake I head down there. The Clan Jetties are this 19th century Chinese immigrant community that build their homes on stilts over the water. It is pretty unique. They open their community to visitors during the day (and sometimes nights since there is supposed to be a large Chinese New Year Party there Sunday night).

The jetty area does not open until 9 am to visitors so I am still too early. Luckily the char koay teow place that my tour guide recommended is open (Xen Teck) so seems like a good time to get breakfast and some of that extra strong coffee. There is a whole way to order coffee in Malaysia, kopi or kopi O or ??. I can’t remember the correct way. The default way comes with sweetened condensed milk that I was happy to try the first time (Do like the locals). But now I want it my way with unsweetened with just milk over ice. I thought I ordered it correctly but I got the sweetened one again. Good thing I do lots of walking to walk off all this sugar. The char koay teow is good; it is different from the one I had before since this has thinly sliced pork sausage in it (you don’t see it in pork in the other tourists areas out of respect of the Muslim community). It also had these little button like things that were slimy. I first thought they were mushrooms but they could be oysters? Sometimes it is better to not know. Anyway, the dish is good and satisfying, It is the breakfast I never knew I wanted.

It is still too early for the jetty so I do a tour of the street art nearby. One I believe is a Dutch artist and the others are local artists. The famous ones are from the Dutch artist.

Clan jetty

It is 9 am so I head over to the Jetties. I am glad I am there early before the crowds. Not everything is open yet but it is pretty in the morning light. It feels a little weird walking close to people’s houses. It feels intrusive seeing laundry hanging and watching people inside their houses (many doors were wide open to the outside). This is open to tourists so they expect this I guess, still feels weird. There seems to be a boat tour at the end of the pier but is not running. Not sure if it no longer runs or if I’m just too early. It is a small pier so not sure how there will be a big party here tomorrow.

Mansion

I tour the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, the 19th century mansion that is a good example of the Peranakan lifestyle. Peranakan are a distinct type of Malay. When Chinese immigrants, mostly rich, arrived in Penang they were often offered a bride of native Malay heritage, often very young. The resulting offspring are the Nyonyas (women) and Babas that you still see to referred to in the culture today. The marriages were almost always arranged and the groom could not see the bride (and vice versa) until they are to be married. The brides often wore this very heavy metal thing on their head that masked their appearance. I am glad I made it time for the tour because the guide was very descriptive on how life was back then. He even commented that polygamy was common a while ago because often the groom would not be happy with the bride chosen for him. Many native Malays are of this heritage.

One very interesting piece from this museum is a piece of blue jewelry. It is actually created from someone painstakingly attaching blue bird feathers. Birds were not killed for it but I am sure it was painful for them. It is not allowed anymore.

Thought about visiting another mansion, blue mansion, but I was tired and hot – big surprise. Besides I think it is pretty similar to the mansion I just visited. I go back to rest and cleanup for the night celebration.

Street party

They are still celebrating the Chinese New Year and there is a large street party in Chinatown. There are dragons, dancing, music, crafts and food. I brave it out for a little bit. I get some snacks and watch some entertainment. Eventually the crowd is too much for me so I search out a bar.

Speak Easy

I don’t like to drink much lately but for some reason I decide I want to visit all the speak easies I can in town due to my recently discovered sweet tooth. The tour guide from the other day suggests two in town. One he suggests never seems to be open when I try (or I don’t know the secret password). The other speakeasy he suggests is further away so it takes me a while to get up the motivation to go visit. Backdoor Bodega, hidden behind a store, requires reservations but I arrived around opening so they took me as a walk in. They have very inventive drinks and the staff at the bar took the time to converse with me.

Another night I happen upon a newer speak easy when I was trying to the other place suggested by my tour. Birds Nest is in a residential neighborhood. In fact you would never know it is a bar. The only reason I found it is because I followed some people who appeared to be going into someone’s house. Come to find out it sort of is. The owners, a couple, live upstairs. They’ve converted, and are still converting, the downstairs into a craft cocktail bar. They were very nice and offered me an orange and some new years crackers.

Nasi Kandar

I finally try Nasi Kandar at the very popular Hameediyah Restaurant. It has an odd setup where you order your food from one store front but then you go a couple store fronts over to eat. I had a nice gentleman help me with the process except I almost walked out of the first building without paying. This Malay/Indian fusion cuisine is a a signature dish of Penang: a plate of hot rice, some fried chicken, beef curry, some turmeric-laced cabbage, or what you choose. There is a short line but I went shortly after opening time in the mid-morning.

It wouldn’t be Chinese New Year without fireworks. I skip the evening celebrations at the the jetty but I get to participate anyway via the fireworks that are going most of the night. Good thing I have a long bus ride tomorrow because no sleep is happening tonight.

At some point I ended up by this McDonald’s that looked very interesting. I didn’t go inside but I caught a grab around here.

Happy Lunar New Year

After visiting the Singapore Botanical Garden this morning I decide to go back to the hotel to rest and cool down. It is really hot today. You think I would be used to it by now since I grew up in Florida but I never do. I shower and I nap. I nap so well that I am tempted to not wake up (jet lag). I force myself to wake up and start getting ready. I am meeting some of my new friends for a late dinner and a walk around the Chinese New Year celebration.

But first some of the lunar new year photos from during the day.

We start at one of the hawker centers hoping some of the stalls will be open. We find one that looks suitable. It has a dish that I have already tried yesterday so I want to try something different but it must have noodles because that is all I am craving lately. I order some noodle chicken dish and it isn’t that good. I should have stuck to what I know.

We walk around and see the large displays. Everything is so beautiful in the dark.

We head to a major shopping area and the crowds thicken. It has been a few years since people felt comfortable enough celebrating the new year in public so it seems everyone is out tonight.

The crowds get even busier.

We are outside the Buddha tooth temple. There is a queue set up for those to go in a pray after midnight. We can’t get anywhere near the stage but we can see and hear it from a distance. We wait in this area for a while.

As suspected I can’t make it until midnight. It is 11 pm and I don’t think I can stay up another minute. I say goodbye to my friends and walk back to the hotel I might have picked up some new year’s trinkets on the way out. Even with the crowds I feel lucky I am here to celebrate during this time of year.