25th Dec 2015 Fri
We woke up, too late for any Christmas
service. Regretfully, we had to give the 9 am service at Methodist Church a
miss.
Breakfast at Hotel Transit was especially
unremarkable. Is it always like this just because the hotel stay is cheap ? I
have no idea!
We headed to Bkt Bintang, shopping district
just less than 2 km off our hotel. I have decided to make a killing at the
mall! But it was slow mo for both of us – the heat was starting to build up and
so was the rain clouds. We darted in and out of sheltered walkways when the sun
eluded us.
All of KL descended upon Pavilion mall, it
seems. The Malaysians are really early risers! After many leisurely rounds, I
got an Esprit handbag for RM 500, with tourist discount. It was lovely and I am
happy with the buy.
Lunch was at TWD, simply because it was
dollar to dollar compared to SG. Located at the most posh sector of the mall
with an excluded premises, it serves very nice food too. We supped from noon to
2 pm , aided by the leisurely pace at which our food were served. I loved every
morsel except the cakes. By that time, we were so stuffed our taste buds could
not feel a single thing! For RM 99 per person for a 3 course meal, I am sure
this cannot be repeated in SG. Food, service, experience – they were impeccable.
We dithered whether to watch Ip Man at the
cinemas but it was sold out by the time we made a decision. I am not for
fighting shows, but the immense crowd in Pavilion made the cinema a nice
retreat. Which was not to be.
Pavilion did not yield any buys, and
neither did our snooping at Farenheit and Berjaya Times. The malls looked puny
in KL and I believe we missed the best because we were reluctant to venture out
of KL.
Time crawled and even our slow steps
couldn’t make the clock tick faster. We went back to Hotel Transit for a siesta
and rest our poor legs.
Evening time, it was back to Jln Alor, this
time for Chinese Zi Char. The skies opened and in our haste to get out of the
rain, went into the imitation Dragon View Restaurant. It was déjà vu, like in
Hanoi with the fake Cha Ca La Vong.
Dinner was anticlimax, because I have been
expecting a gastronomic experience. Bakuteh, rice, clams, veg and satay were
the most unremarkable and puts shame to chinese cooking in a non halal place. I
have tasted better in SG where half baked chefs make their killing. It was not
the money wasted that was lamented but the waste of stomach space on our last
day in KL.
So far, of the many meals, 2 were memorable
and those in western resstaurants. Malaysian food has lost its shine!
Then it is back to the hotel for a final
packing. Tomorrow we head back to SG, back to home where food is predictably
nice/yucks and things are within expectations.
SG, here I come!