Today’s tour we joined by default. Through unfortunate circumstances friends of Robin and Bob are not boarding till Dubai, which left Bob with 2 spare tickets for a foodies tour of KL. To get into KL we caught the Princess on your own shuttle which drops you off at the Petronas Towers. Our bus guide took us over to our meeting point at the main entrance, easy to find as there were 2 race cars hanging from the ceiling.
We needed to find the light rail system that would get us to Bangsar Station. Here we were met by our guides from Urban Adventures http://www.kualalumpururbanadventures.com/Kuala_Lumpur_tour_kl_food_experience
To get us started, we were given a drink of Sugar Cane Juice, sweet but not as sweet as you would imagine. It was also flavoured with lemon which made it even easier to drink.
We were then walked around the backstreets through residential areas until we reached the Indian influenced area of Brickfields, where the architecture, music and food is loud and colourful. The streets are beautifully decorated and lined with Indian fashion and fabric stores. We stopped first at a flower market where us girls were given a lovely bracelet of Jasmine.
Then we stopped at a roadside restaurant for some Indian Cuisine.... All the food was served on a Banana leaf and meant to be eaten with fingers but it was recommended we used a fork unless we wanted yellow fingers for a few days. All our foods were served with explanations, and small tasting plates were also set out for us to try different things.
As we walked out we got to try some Indian style nibbles from the sweet vendor just outside. Further down the street we stopped at a street stall where they were frying things that were similar to donuts, Banana fritters, chick pea patties and samosas. At this stall they sell over 3000 pieces of fried food every day to people passing by.
This was not just a tour of food but a chance to walk down streets that we would not normally walk down if on our own. The next was one of KL’s seedier streets, much like a mini red light district. There were no signs of this, most likely cause it was in the middle of the day. We stopped for taste of Gulab Jamun, to describe it , a round ball, donut in texture but heavier, deep fried and dipped in syrup.
What do you get when you mix shaved ice, plum sugar, kidney bean and coconut milk jelly?....... Cendol of course... What does it taste like? Rice pudding.... it was actually quite refreshing even with all that sugar.
Time was running out for us but we made one last stop at the Banana Fritter Man’s Stall.... straight from the fryer the batter was crisp and the banana delicious....... Our guides told us they sell on the street all day and drive their Mercedes home at night
By this time we had made our way back KL Sentral.... you could say the heart of KL’s train system where all lines meet.... we all jumped on the train but our guides and the rest of the group jumped off for their culinary treats in China Town at the next stop. We stayed on until we reached KLCC station which is just underneath the Petronas Towers, or so we thought....
It was like déjà vu; we walked out of the station and nothing looked familiar. After walking in circles and not recognising anything we asked a security guard for the main entrance... he pointed and gave directions on where to go..... hmm hang on this doesn’t look like where we are supposed to be.... back inside we asked at the information desk....” we want the main entrance , you know the one with the race cars on display.” She thought for a moment and said “ walk outside and cross the road”..... Well we weren’t even in the Petronas Towers!!! Over we go and yes we were THAT COUPLE..... Everyone was there but us.... Traffic didn’t seem too bad and we seemed to get back to the ship quite quickly ... or maybe I just slept the time away.... Not Sure why we had to have such an early sail away ( 4pm ) as we were only going up the river to Penang.
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