If ever there was a practical outworking of the advice ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’, then this past October would have fulfilled the brief amply and generously. Having spent the first week in London preparing for this latest trip to Kuala Lumpur, the rest of the month was split between working with my mother in the family home during the day, and catching up with my extended family and friends at night.
As a society, Malaysians understand perfectly well this dichotomy to balance an external work or personal life with family responsibilities. I have never once encountered anyone questioning the need for me to look after my mother: sitting with her during meal times, supervising her daily exercise and other activities, cooking some of her meals, accompanying her to hospital and managing her now limited social life.
Here are some of the things I did in KL in October. Out of necessity, they have all occurred after work hours, crammed into the five hours each day that I am not with my mother, in a taxi, planning or tidying up. I try to sleep seven hours each night.
On the very top of the Play Hard list: meeting my Canadian relatives. After dropping Toronto Uncle off to the airport at the end of the month, Cousin A and I agreed it was a very successful family reunion. For me personally, I appreciated having a few more older cousins to bounce ideas off, on matters of family, travel and health.
The Canadian contingent’s presence was a gift in and of itself, since they were so fun to be with. However they did bring presents as well, and as a fan of Alsace wines (in particular Vendanges Tardives and Sélections de Grains Nobles wines) I was thrilled with the bottle of Icewine from Ontario winemaker Henry of Pelham. Icewine is made from grapes that are naturally frozen on the vine at -8°C or lower, which makes its future risky with the threat of global warming. I am going to enjoy every sip of this wine.
The bottle Icewine is in the fridge and I aim to finish the bottle before leaving KL. But what to drink it with? For me, cake is usually the answer to everything. A new bakery, Culina, has just opened in the basement of the Shoppes at Four Seasons Place. I only discovered it as I was visiting the hawker centre on the same level. Besides cake, Culina also sells breads, croissants, biscuits and filled sandwiches.
On the Ground Floor of Shoppes by Four Seasons there is Kenny Hills Bistro where, with their related and nearby Kenny Hills Coffee Roasters in Suria KLCC mall, you can take comfort in over a dozen varieties of cakes and tarts, pies and quiches. Their peanut cookies are my go-to snack in the middle of the afternoon.
One of my favourite bakeries is Universal Bakehouse, which I discovered in its first week of trading back in October 2019. Everything here is top quality but it’s best to buy from the shop itself as my online deliveries have not been that good (21 Jalan SS 20/11, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya / there is a small outlet attached to If Only restaurant, Ground floor, Regal House, 1 Jalan U Thant, 55000 Kuala Lumpur / happily they have a pop up for the next three weeks in Isetan Suria KLCC).
By now you might think that I live on a diet of just cakes and bread, but I do eat plenty of fruit, salad and things with rice too. It’s just that when I am out with friends and relatives, I try hard not let the camera intrude on our conversations and shared enjoyment of food. As for salad, I eat one daily for my lunch and it is functional though not entirely joyless. My gut at least thanks me for it.
Of the meals I have had out, I only did not enjoy Grandmama’s beef rendang (avoid at all costs) and the chicken clay pot rice in the Shoppes hawker centre. Clay pot rice is one of those things we think we should introduce to visiting guests. Tampa Cousin (who used to be Boston Cousin until he moved to Florida) recommends Heun Kee Claypot Chicken Rice, 59 Jalan Yew, Pudu, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Listed below are some of the restaurants I can depend on when inviting friends out for something good to eat:
Lai Po Heen, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jalan Pinang, 50088 Kuala Lumpur
Mosaic, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jalan Pinang, 50088 Kuala Lumpur
Madam Kwan’s, 4th Floor, Suria KLCC or basement Pavilion Shopping Mall, Jalan Bukit Bintang
Putien Taiwanese Restaurant in Pavilion Shopping Mall, Jalan Bukit Bintang
Din Tai Fung in Pavilion Shopping Mall, Jalan Bukit Bintang
Tonkatsu by Ma Maison, 3rd Floor of Isetan, Gardens Mall, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Little Penang Cafe acts as my canteen: 4th Floor, Suria KLCC Mall
Village Roast Duck for homestyle meals and the best Cantonese roast duck in KL
De Wan, Bangsar Shopping Centre or LINC
Dancing Fish, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Jalan Maarof, 59000 Kuala Lumpur
ChoCha Foodstore, 156 jalan Petaling, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.
I don’t get to do much sightseeing when I am in KL. Mostly I take lots of pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers which is on my doorstep. However this time I took some photos of the Merdeka 118 Tower, during my walk around Chinatown with Toronto Uncle. Merdeka 118 is ostensibly the second tallest building in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (some photos from my trip in 2014 here, but I lost some other photos due to some recent server issues). To me, it is a vanity project as our city does not need another tall tower with offices and a shopping mall. It needs better infrastructure, affordable housing and a good clean up of the Klang River.
I made a rare visit to Batu Caves, the limestone outcrop to the north of the city, with Clubhouse Friend who was on a visit from London via Perth (Australia). I was very pleased to have climbed up the nearly 300 narrow and steep steps to reach the top, and then to climb down again. I was not impressed by the mounds of rubbish along the pathways and also, the monkeys were a bit aggressive.
I did many other things here and there, and can safely say I was never in want for something to do. This is the joy of living in the middle of the city, with most facilities within walking distance.
