House Guest - At last!

22 hours after leaving Raleigh

We were excited to make use of our guest room and to introduce Malaysia and its food. We wasted no time. Two hours after Trace arrived we headed out to Pasar Sini (Central Market) where we found rambutans, mangosteens, and sate. The sate was freshly grilled from a stand on the street - too taken with the ambiance to remember to take a photo. Maybe if we make a trip back.


Trace still had enough energy to keep going. We walked to one of our neighborhood favorites, Ipoh Chicken Rice, for chicken rice, roast pork, and bean sprouts. All delicious. We were stuffed and welcomed the walk back. Trace benefited from our eating and testing food. We had eliminated meals and items were mediocre.

Good food - long day

Chicken - all ready to be devoured

The next day we were off to Batu Caves on KTM Commuter - a piece of the KL transportation system that we try to avoid. Our trip was uneventful. The caves been upgraded since our visit in 1984, but a monkey still provided entertainment. In 1984 we took a snap of a monkey eating a lollipop. In 2011 we saw this one licking an ice cream cone very expertly.

One thing that has not changed were the 272 steps up to the cave.

We felt that this was the perfect time for  Trace to sample coconut water. We found a restaurant and settled in for a banana leaf meal. This one was a vegetarian version.  

Our trip back was more typical KTM Commuter - the train stopped for over 1/2 hour. No explanation. One passenger sprawled out and slept - others looked out at the window to see what was going on. A picture of Malaysian tranquility - we tried to imagine what would have happened if this was Manhattan. Given the delay and the prospect of a really crowded car on the last leg of the trip we opted to switch to the LRT to return to our apartment. Dinner was at Uncle Chili's - a restaurant in the basement of the mall. I had Singapore fried mee hoon, which is what I always have. The consensus was that I had the best dish of the evening.