April 19th

We spent 2 days docked in Port Klang which is a 2 hour ride from Kuala Lumpur because the traffic is bad. Port Klang is only 40 miles from the city but at least 90 minutes to get to or from and more likely 2 hours. We were hoping with it being a Saturday when we arrived that the traffic would be a little less and maybe it was but it was still bad. There is not much to do in Port Klang and no place to walk from the port so unless you have a ship’s tour or something on your own planned -nothing. We have been to Kuala Lumpur twice, both times on cruise ships and we have done most of the touristy stuff that you do here so this time we booked a food tour from Tours by Locals and made sure the guide knew to pick us up and drop us off in Port Klang.

We were docked at 8am and no clearance was needed since we all did clearance in Malacca yesterday. Our guide had said pick-up at 10am so we caught up with some friends at home and let them know we were coming home early and also finalized the plane tickets back to Cape Town on May 19th. Our guide, Abdul, texted at 9:15 that he was at the port so we got off and connected with Abdul.

Abdul was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur but did his college education at Cambridge. For a Malaysian he is a very large man, both tall and big. He actually told us that his wife had just completed bariatric surgery 2 months ago and has lost 22 kilograms and he was going to have the same surgery Monday. He shared a lot of information about his personal life but also about Malaysia. As expected the ride took 2 hours into the city and even Abdul was surprised at the heavy traffic. He explained that he usually did not drive for the food tours, he usually had a driver but everyone was busy.

This was Abdul.

We made a ton of food stops and we hardly remember them all so Abdul was kind enough to send us a list of everything we had. Not that we know what it all was or how to pronounce all the names. We did all of our stops in 1 area after we parked the car. Some were in restaurants and some food stalls and some stops were in shops that were very small with only a couple of tables and you never would have picked it as a place to eat. He did assure us that everything was vetted and nothing would make us sick. He also asked how spicy we like things and how adventurous we were. Lastly he explained that we did not have to eat everything put in front of us because it would be a lot and no one would be offended if we left food uneaten. We even had a couple of extra stops when we showed interest in what something was at a food stall in the market.

Our first stop was an Indian restaurant.

Restaurant name was Sri Ganesan. The items we had were Roti Telor, Paper Dhosa, Samosa, Curry Puff, Pasi Payir Urundai (mung bean ball), I had a limeade made with calamansis (small limes) and Kathy had a Chai tea.

The fried dough was served on a banana leaf and you put 3 different sauces on the leaf to dip the “bread’ in. One sauce was mango based, another tomato based and the 3rd lentil based. They were all good but my favorite was the lentil sauce. Also I did not get a picture of it but we got another pancake like bread that had fried egg and milk along with the rice flour. All was excellent and you ate with your hands, ripping off the dough and dipping it into the sauce. While I wanted to eat it all we knew we had many stops left so we did not finish it. The plate with 3 items were “sweets” but not our idea of deserts.

We asked through back alleys and markets to go from one stop to another. Since most of our clothes and bags are made in Malaysia they have a huge knock-off market that we walked through. No shopping just looking.

The market was very busy but most of the booths were selling the same things. Handbags, all designer and sneakers, all name brand. We are unsure if they are seconds, knock-offs or the real thing. Also lots of watches.

The second restaurant was very modest and clean.

Kathy following Abdul to find a table. The restaurant was Warong Kuus and we had a typical Malaysian Meal called Nasi Lemak lemon grass fried chicken. The chicken was separate so that Kathy could have some of the meal.

I forgot to get a picture of the plate but it was rice with cucumbers, peanuts, dried anchovy pieces, sambar sauce for spice, 1/2 hard boiled egg and the nicely spiced chicken. The above picture is from the menu. One thing we have noticed is that you do not see white meat chicken in these countries. I know the dark meat is more favorable and since a lot of the chicken is stewed they also prefer dark meat. You can find chicken wings but no chicken breasts.

The next stop was to a Michelin restaurant. There are actually 2 of them, right across from each other and while they are not Michelin starred they are Michelin recommended or Bib Gourmand which means a just as-esteemed rating that recognizes friendly establishment and good food at moderate prices. The one we did not go to served chicken and rice but since we were sharing the dish Abdul took us to the one that served fresh clams and noodles. He said the broth was some of the best in the world

We loved the fresh glass noddles that came with the clams. This was Kathy’s favorite and it had tons of fresh clams in it. The restaurant was packed and as soon as you are done eating they want you up and out. We also got tea which came with cool plastic covers. We made a dent but came down where near to finishing it.

Next stop was to a food stand that has been in business for 50 years and makes somethingwhich is fresh their version of wrapped Malay spring rolls. There is just one women who runs the stand and she took it over from her father and according to Abdul no-one in her family wants the business so it will end with her. Abdul ordered us one roll which we watched her make and split for us. It was excellent. The stand was Autie Ying and the roll is a popiah.

Auntie Ying making our fresh roll.

This was outside the Michelin restaurant and is a very small convenience store that has also been in business for years and years. What you see is all they sell.

After the Malay roll the next stop was one that was not planned but I got fascinated with what the gentleman was cooking. It was more fried dough that they put some type of jelly on and then sprinkled peanuts on it, folded it in half and cut it up and sold it warm. According to Abdul it is another family business that will go under when the husband and wife (not pictured) give up the business.

Abdul told us that the gentleman cooking the dough used to be quite a ladies man back in the day. The gentleman stared laughing and saying he was 008, not 007 and please speak quietly so his wife did not over hear.

The wife is the one sitting down and the young girl is a worker, not family. You can see all the dough and chopped peanuts. As soon as one is cooked he immediately stars another. The treat is called Apam Balik and we had a few bites while it was warm and tried to save the rest for later but ended up throwing it away since not as good once it chills.

The 6th stop was at another very small establishment and it was cooked rice noodles with a spicy mung bean sauce and some sliced jalapeños on the side. Most of these smaller stops had no kitchens just propane tanks where they cooked 1 thing and it was made to order.

It had a little spice to it and I left the jalapeños to Kathy but she said they were not spicy. The dish is called Cheers Cheong Fun. They eat this for breakfast but also lunch & dinner.

To say we were quite full by now would be an understatement and we did not finish anything we were served.

The next stop was a fruit stand and he asked us about several fruits and when he came across a few we did not know he purchased 2 of them in small bags. I did not get pictures of them and we both had a couple of bites but nothing we really enjoyed. The Malaysian names were Kedondong and Ciku.

The next stop was my favorite. Another family passed down very small stand and food stall with 3 tables in it. The food is cooked at home and then brought to the shop in giant pots that are heated over open flames.

Both had fish in them and one was curry based with fish balls and the other was a red sauce with cooked tuna. The red broth was my absolute favorite and if I could have taken some back to the ship I would have. It was that good. Kathy preferred the curry one. Unfortunately since we were so full we only ate a small amount.

My favorite, Asam Laksa on the left and the Curry Laksa on the right. Not sure what spices were in it but you could tell it had been cooked and simmered a long time to blend all the flavors. It was not fishy at all.

Our final stop was to a dessert food stall and Abdul purchased 2 Malaysian “Portuguese” tarts and 2 custard tarts. He had them packaged so we could take them back to the boat which was good since no way we could have eaten them. We did have them later and they were not very good and nothing like a true Portuguese tart.

On our way back to the car we stopped at a Chinese temple and looked inside and also hit up and ATM since we have 2 more ports in Malaysia.

This is the world’s 2nd tallest building, the 1st being in Dubai and we are told that the top 10 floors will be a Hyatt hotel. There is an observation deck at the top but not sure if open yet or not.

It took a solid 2 hours in all the traffic to get back to the port. Along the way we asked questions about taxes and unemployment and healthcare and education all of which Abdul was happy to answer. Malaysia made most of its early money mining tin which is not worthless but back in the day the Brits came in and built up the country to get the minerals. Kuala Lumpur was occupied by the Japanese during WW II.They gained their independence from Britain in 1963.

We made it back to the boat around 3pm and since there is nothing near the port we went back on board. We are overnight in Kuala Lumpur.

We finally had a decent sunset from our balcony.