Christmas in KL

25^th 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!