A day in KL

We usually do not venture into Kuala Lumpur (or KL as it is fondly known) simply because the suburb where we live has basically everything we need. But occasionally, we do venture into KL for the museums and if we want to do something "artsy-fartsy".

Kuala Lumpur is the federal district; surrounding Kuala Lumpur are various towns and cities that make up the Klang Valley (a population of roughyl 8million inhabitants). Think downtown Boston surrounded by the various towns and cities that make up Greater Boston.

http://www.wikitravel.org/

Above is a picture of the Klang-Valley Transit System. As you can see, it is a busy conglomerate of different transit lines taking one to the various towns and cities all over the Klang Valley. If you follow the pink line, you will see that one of the final stops is a place called Kelana Jaya. This is where we live. Follow the pink line further and it will take you to a stop called KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center). And where does this stop leads you? Well, right into the Petronas Twin Towers.

The Petronas Twin Towers is the tallest twin-building structures in the world (yes, even taller than the ill-fated World Trade Center if it was still standing), with over 88 floors of occupied office space. At the botton of the Petronas Twin Towers is the famed, glorious shopping mall called KLCC. This is like fifth-avenaue in New York packed into one. Think Tiffany's, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Faberge and the likes. The mall is also home to Petrosains, a science museum and Aquaria, KL's aquarium. Beyond the towers and the mall is a green oasis of trees and grass which provides a nice retreat from the afternoon heat. One can even bring your kids and wade in the public pool.

The pictures above shows you the Chinese New Year decor that is present at all the shopping malls in the Klang Valley and likely the whole nation. And being the year of the dragon, dragon decor is abundant!

So, of course, being geeks that we are, we decided to check out the Petrosains one weekend. And of course, being Chinese, Kent wanted to see if he could get us free entrance to the museum. He realised that by being a member of the Museum of Science in Boston; the Petrosains in Kuala Lumpur allowed complimentary admission. Woohoo for us! We were not allowed to take pictures in there and hence, no pics. But we do recommend a visit should you are ever in the area. While most things are catered to children, we did find things to do as adults.

Later, we went to have lunch at a new eatery called Pepper Wok. At this eatery, you choose the meat and the seasoning and you basically mix the food up in your own sizzling platter. I had curry chicken with cheese platter while Kent had some rice and beef dish.

Waiting to dig into our lunch

After lunch, we walked around the mall a little bit and then went to try a new Hong Kong dessert shop called Tong Pak Fu. We have been wanting to try this place for a while but never found the time (or parking spot!). Plus this place was always packed! We were glad we gave this place a try. The desserts were very good. I had a chilled mango soup with grass jelly, sago and pomelo while Kent had milk shaved ice with tapioca pearls, grass jelly and honeydew balls.

So there you have it, a nice day out in KL. Good company and good food. Drop by sometime, and we'll go galivanting as well.

Next post will be about CNY (chinese new year) in Malaysia. It's been getting very busy over here with all the festivities and preparations. Hopefully we will be able to post a blog before January ends. Till then, have a good week and see you soon.

Turning a year older...

This post should have been a week earlier but we've been very busy with work and some other stuff. But I'd like to leave you with pics on how we celebrated Kent's 30+ birthday. Please enjoy!

 We went to a chinese restaurant specializing in Shanghainese cuisine. We had mantou pow as well a "siu loong bao".

Off to the main courses (L to R):  Stir-fried chicken with dried chillies, lemon chicken (picture of the lemony sauce not shown), eggplant with a hint of salted fish and mince meat and beef with kai-lan.

 Picture of us about to devour our dinner

And of course, the best pic of the night. A picture truly tells a thousand words!

'Tis the season!

Hello everyone!

Cute cupcakes from a local bakery

I know it's a few days late but we've been mighty busy during this holiday season. Nevertheless, it's not too late to with everyone a wonderful holiday season.

We started off our holiday season by joining the local church's carolling group and went wassaling from home to home, singing christmas carols and well, eating! Later in the week, we attended Christmas Mass at the church and had a Christmas lunch with my grandmother and grand-aunt. Then, a day after Christmas aka Boxing Day, we went over to a friend's place for their Christmas party.

All in all, it was a simple celebration. Nothing over the top but definitely enjoyable.

Christmas decor in the various shopping malls in KL. * Pics from MSNBC*

Alright, after Christmas, it was onto New Year's. And nothing is more Malaysian than to celebrate New Year's with some durians.

Durians from a family friend

Being a pro at opening durians.



Aah....durians. And now we eat!



Per my mom, eating durians can make one too "heaty". To counteract the "heatiness" (for lack of a better word), one should drink salt water straight from the durian shell. I personally don't believe these shenanigans but nevertheless, both Kent and I drank from the durian shell to humor my mom. 

And finally, to bid adieu to 2011, I'll leave you with a pic of the KL skyline in the midst of the 2011-2012 New Year's celebration. Wished I could be cool and say that I was there but Kent and I welcomed the new year just like a boring, married couple would: in bed and fast asleep!

*pic courtesy of thesun.co.uk*

Happy 2012 everyone and have a good one!