Kuala Lumpur: a trip made special by photos, Lydia and Ika, and roti

Kuala Lumpur has the reputation of being a city with "not much to see".  In fact, its listed in my guide book as the 3rd most recommend place to visit in Malaysia.  I however had a fantastic time in KL.  I felt like I got to experience China, India, and Malaysia all on the same trip.

Nicole, my CS host, is Malay-Chinese.  Her ancestors from 3 generations ago came to Malaysia to escape internal conflict in China.  She is 33 years old and teaches private Mandarin lessons, mostly to expatriates, for a living.

I met Nicole in front of the Starbucks at Kuala Lumpur City Center or KLCC, famed for its twin towers which are the tallest in the world.
We walked around the complex and she took several photos of me in front of the towers.  She kept on saying, "This is a great spot for a photo!".   When we were in her car on the way home, she pulled off of the road and said, "Great spot for a photo!"  We got out of the car and took more pictures!

Taken along the main road

Taken along the side of the highway.  Indeed a great photo spot!

We then stopped for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.  She ordered char siu mien, which is barbecued pork with noodles, wonton soup, and cane sugar tea.  The barbecued pork was excellent!
  

Char siu mien

Shui Jiao, Chinese dumpling soup

Chicken curry

We arrived at her house in Sedung, about 30 minutes away from the city center.  She lives with her family (as most Chinese non-married women do) and her sister, brother and father were watching TV in the living room.  I greeted then with Apa Caba, shook hands, and introduced myself.  They were incredibly warm and friendly to me and asked me several questions about my travels and what I do in NY.

Nicole showed me upstairs where I had my own room.  It was really nice to be in a house after my recent stays in hostels.  Its really nice to not have to worry about locking your things, or who will be making noise in the room at night.  Nicole told me about some of the highlights in the city, and showed me how to get to them on a map.  She told me to leave with her family in the morning since she had to leave early for work.  I asked if I could put in a load of laundry and her sister Jace washed my clothes for me!

The next morning, I got up and showered.  Jace asked if I wanted Milo for breakfast.  I told her that would be great.  I haven't had Milo in years!  My mom made it for us all the time when we were kids.  I subsequently read that Malaysias are the world's largest consumer of Milo, because it used to be a nutrient supplement.  Every restaurant or cafe you go to several people, young and old, will be drinking Milo.

Her dad asked if I wanted to go with them to the hospital that morning to visit their grandmother who was recovering from a hip replacement surgery after she fell and broke her hip.  It wasn't exactly on my itinerary of things to do but since I'm in the habit of agreeing to whatever is offered to me I said "sure".

On the way to the hospital, we stopped to get breakfast.  I had curry mee.

 Curry mee

 Dad and brother

 Jace and I

On the way to the hospital, her dad took a detour to show me the Royal Palace.  He parked the car so I could get out and take photos.

When we got to their hospital room, I greeted her mom and aunt with "Apa Kaba" which literally translates into "how are you?" though its used to say hello.  Her mom and her aunt smiled with delight.  Her grandmother was asleep.  Her mom then asked me if I wanted to see the grandmother's bone.  Again, I didn't particularly want to but I said, "ok".

She held up a specimen jar with the grandmother's head of the femur inside.  It was just sitting on the table.  I asked what they were going to do with it and her mom said she was going to "Take it home as a memory".

Jace asked me if I wanted a tour of the Chinese medicine department.  I was really curious to see what it looked like so I happily agreed.  As soon as we entered the department, the air was thick with the smell of herbs.  We stopped in front of an acupuncture map and Jace explained the practice of acupuncture to me.

Pharmacist weighing herbs

Acupuncture map

Jace told me what I found a hilarious story about Chinese medicine doctors.  It has a lot of similarity to American Western doctors.  She said that experienced Chinese doctors will give usually 6 herbs to treat an illness.  Inexperienced doctors will treat the same illness with 20 different herbs.  I laughed when she told me and said its the same thing in America.  Patients coming from the ED will often started on 5 different broad spectrum antibiotics.

After that, Jace said it was a good time for me to head to the Central Market.  She walked me half way their.  Before going there I stopped at Starbucks to use the internet.  I needed to touch base with Lydia, a couchsurfer who said she couldn't host me but could show me around the city.  I had emailed her the night before and hadn't yet had a chance to check her reply.

When I checked my mail, she had to I could meet her that day at KLCC at 10:30 AM.  I felt terrible since it was already noon!  I skyped called her and apologized.  She was very nice and said she would come and meet me at Starbucks.

Lydia is one of the sweetest persons I ever met.  For one, she took the whole day off of work to show me around the city.  She is the type of person who buys extra food at a restaurant just to feed the stray cats that are there.  She volunteers at the Christian church, even though she's Muslim, because her mosque doesn't have a volunteer group, and in spite of the mean stares she gets from other Muslims who happen to see her.  She goes into her car to get money to give to the beggar who approaches the dinner table.

Lydia, her cousin Honey, and I walked to the Central Market, which showcases and sells arts, crafts, and clothing from Malaysias various ethnic groups.  Lydia knows so much history and was able to share so much insight with me.  It was like having a private tour guide!

Wau bulan a Malaysian hand made moon kite

Lydia and I in front of the Little India stall

Kebaya a blouse-dress set originating from Indonesia

Songket a handwoven fabric

Wayang Kulit a shadow puppet used in plays

We stopped in the food court to get drinks.  Lydia ordered 3 different types of drinks just so I could try them all!  I had cincau, asam boi, and soya cincau.  Cincau is a jelly made from grass.  Honey told me it cools you down when you drink it.  I didn't like the taste or consistency of it very much.

I told Lydia that I wanted to see the Batu Caves.  It is far away from the city center by public transportation so she called her friend Ika who has a car to see if she could join us and drive.  Ika ended up getting lost on the way the Central Market, which Lydia found funny.  But she told me that the roads in KL are always changing and maps are updated to reflect the change.  When Ika found us, she told us that it was really excited since it was her first time in the Central Market.

We first stopped at the National Museum wince it was close to the central Market, though it took us nearly an hour to get there since Ika didn't follow Lydia's directions.  Lydia walked me though Malaysia's history from its initial colonization by the Portuguese  then the Dutch, and finally Britain.  She told me that the Portuguese built a large stone gate using gravestones as building material. 

We then left for the Batu Caves which has the world's largest statue of the Hindu deity of Murugan.  I had to climb almost 300 steps to get to the top.  Inside as dark and creepy.  Water was dripping down from the rocks.  It smelled like bat dung.  I walked to the temple and was painted for "good luck".

Batu Caves

After the caves, Lydia asked if there was anything else I wanted to see.  We then went for dinner.  Lydia suggested I try Nasi ayam panggang, which means fried rice with roasted chicken, more commonly known as chicken rice.  It was served with soup.  I started drinking the soup by itself then Lydia explained you are supposed to pour some soup onto your rice, and then eat the rice with the chicken.

 Ayam paggong (roasted chicken), served with rice and soup

Ika and I

One the way to the train station where they were going to drop me off, Ika said, "Do you want to see monkeys?"  I said sure.  We drove by a natural conservation area.  Instead of seeing monkeys, we saw several wild boar just feet away from the car.

We had yet another impromptu stop!  We drove by a fruit stand and Ika asked if I ever had rambutan.  Its a small fruit encased in a spiky reddish brown shell.  I've seen it all over Asia but didn't know how to eat it so never tried it.  I was so grateful I had Lydia and Ika to help me try so many new things.  Lydia, got out the car and bought me a bag full of rambutan.  She showed me how to twist it open and suck on the fruit on the inside.  It reminded me of gunips, which are eaten all the time in the Caribbean.

I showed her a picture of 2 fruits I saw in the market that morning.  One was a pomegranate and the other was dragonfruit.  Then she stopped at a supermarket to buy me these fruits.

We got to the station and Lydia and Ika got out of the car to send me off.  We were all really sad to leave.  I had so much fun with them that day.  Ika said she just finished her exams and really wished I could have stayed longer, and that we could have gone on a road trip together.  I jokingly said that going to the museum in a way was like a road trip (since it took us so long to get there).  I told them I may have some free time at the end of my trip and may come back to KL.

Never did Ika or Lydia accept any money form me.  I tried to pay for gas, my museum ticket, drinks, and dinner and they always refused.  Ika even paid for my train ticket back to Sedung.

I texted Nicole to let her know I was okay and that I was taking the train back to her place.  She texted me back to say she could pick me up at the station at 10:30pm.  I got the early so she suggested to wait at a restaurant.  I used the opportunity to eat some more roti.

The night I arrived at my hostel, I, by chance ate at of the best roti restaurants in KL.  It is just 3 buildings down from my hostel.  So when I arrived and was looking for food, it was a easy choice.  The workers all spoke minimal English.  When I walked in, one of the workers said, "Tosi, Tosi".  I wan't really sure what he was saying so I asked for a menu.  Well, the menu was all words and no pictures.  He also gave me a photo album which has pictures of all the dishes they cook.  However, the photo album has no words!  Its a guessing game.  And he kept saying "Tosi, tosi" so I said sure.

It was the BEST roti I have ever had!  I went back the next morning for breakfast (skipping the free one offered at my hostel) and ordered roti 3 times!  I had roti tisu then roti pising twice because it tasted that good.  Not to mention that at 2 Malaysian ringets (about 1 dollar) it was so super cheap.

I found out that that restaurant was one of the best in KL because I started talking to 2 guys sitting next to me.  Both are from KL, though one moved to the southern part of Malaysia.  He was in KL visiting his friend.  They both came to this restaurant specifically for the roti and said that the cooks there were the best for roti in KL.

Anyway, back to the train station.  I ordered more roti even though I had eaten nasi not too long ago.  Nicole texted me when she arrived and we went back to her house.

Roti canai

Before going to bed Nicole had me take this picture.  She says she has each of her CS guest take a picture of a surfing pose while standing on her bed.  I was already in my night clothes so it is especially funny!