KP in KL

This little blog seems to be turning into a What Not to Do guide, along with a food diary. To keep with that theme, I've got some more tips I learned from experience, along with lots of talk about food.

After flagging down a taxi to take me to meet the same people for coffee that I left with the bill last time, (Yes they forgave me and we've met a few times since! Wheww!)I opened the door and asked how much he would charge me to take me to the Pavilion. He said it was metered, so I got in and immediately got a tip from the Taxi driver on what not to do.

After apologizing for correcting me and asking for permission to give me advice, he instructed me not to ask how much a taxi driver would charge. I did learn to do that from Paul who I thought was a pro at taxi bargaining, but I guess I was wrong. The driver said if I ask how much they charge, they will not use the meter and will overcharge me. Keep in mind, not all taxis are metered here. His advice was to just open the door and jump in, take the ride to my destination, and then ask how much he would charge. That made no sense to me at all seeing that once you've arrived you're obligated to pay for the ride you received even if it was overpriced, and at that point wouldn't it be to late to wait for another taxi that was offering a fair price? So I asked, well what happens when they want to charge 20 Ringit to the Pavilion like a driver did to me once? The driver's response was, "Oh well you just don't take that ride!" I was thinking, well how am I going to know not to take that ride if I didn't ask what he charges? I think there was a disconnect somewhere between the two of us, so I just acted like it was an epiphany and said "OOOhhhhh ok!" and left it at that. I'm still confused what he meant, but apparently I'm not supposed to ask how much they charge.

As for flood incident, the plumber has come by three times unannounced and each time he comes in he snaps a picture of the drain with his camera, and leaves. Not sure what that's all about. They said he might come by next week to fix the issue. Hopefully we don't have any heavy rain this weekend.

This week was like Christmas in July! Our airfreight finally arrived! I never thought I would be so excited to see our soap dispensers, towels, and silverware.

The moving guys were in and out in a total of ten minutes with all my things unpacked and boxes and paper out of sight. It was quite convenient, but not without a little accident. I watched them unpack as one of the guys sliced off the tip of his finger with a box cutter. He started bleeding quite a bit and I could see a large flap of skin hanging. Of course all my band aids were somewhere in the boxes they were opening, so all I could offer was a paper towel and he ran outside. The other movers acted like nothing happened, got their business done, and left. That was it, and I had the whole day to sort through my towels, put our sheets on the bed and eat with real utensils!



I have made friends with our neighbor Lynn, who stopped by the other day to introduce herself. She is from Malaysia, and her husband is Thai. They have 5 children from ages 18 months to 15 years. She said all the children were curious to meet us, but she came alone so not to overwhelm us. She offered any help that she can give as far as advice, places to go, things to know, and anything else to help us transition in KL. Turns out her husband used to play soccer for Thailand, so he's extremely into the world cup stuff going on right now. Lynn also said I should go karaoke with them sometime. That would be very interesting to say the least considering my vocal abilities. Lynn came by a second time yesterday to bring something she said was similar to a pancake. It was a Malaysian food that's like a banana and coconut pancake steamed in banana leaves.



It was pretty tasty, and she said next she'll make curry puffs for us. Of course with her empty plate sitting on my counter I had to return the plate and favor with something I cooked, which leads me to my next sad story.

My oven and I had yet to make up from the last spat as of yesterday. My second attempt at chocolate chip cookies was a let down yet again, as the oven once more was victorious. Of course I ate more than my share of cookie dough before the baking started, and these were going to be some excellent chocolate chip cookie bars, which I knew Lynn and her 5 children would love. I don't have too much to say about this attempt except that when you assume your oven has preheated because there's no indicator you end up with something like the picture below. And no, there's not extra cocoa powder added to make them extra dark.




So with cookies burned almost to a crisp and nothing for Lynn's family to munch on, I decided before I give up that the third time is bound to be a charm. For the most part, I was correct. My third baking experience was with Texas Cornbread, which seemed suitable for the family that just brought me some exotic food. I think Texas Cornbread might be exotic tasting to them???? So anyway, I made the walk to Hock Choon this morning, working up a sweat to get there of course, bought everything including what looked like the closest thing to cornmeal, but hard to tell because the writing on the box was in another language. I loaded up my bags, made the haul back working up even a bigger sweat through the construction zone, mud, grass, broken concrete, you name it. Good thing I had my all terrain shoes on. By the way, I never thought I would be thankful for nice sidewalks like we had in Katy. So, I made it back, started chopping and mixing, and I cried like a baby while cutting the onions even though I wore my sunglasses while chopping. (I heard that keeps the fumes from the onion from making you cry,.. well this time it did not work, I just looked like a weirdo wearing sunglasses in my kitchen while cooking.) So after my sweat and tears went into this cornbread, (thankfully it lacked any blood) I went to add the last ingredient which happened to be the cornmeal, and I realized it was actually corn FLOUR. I should have known that there would have to be an issue or it just wouldn't be a typical cooking situation for me!

Well, I baked it anyway optimistically thinking maybe I've come up with a new recipe, but so disappointed that if it did turn out, it would not be like my mother's which is basically like eating a savory cake where you can't stop eating until the last bite is gone. I think my oven must have felt sorry for me because it decided to cooperate. So, I've got the preheat thing down, and the plug stayed in the wall this time thank goodness. The cornbread actually turned out pretty good, but I'd say it was more like something you'd find at an Indian restaurant. A little more mushy, not really fluffy but with the same flavor as cornbread. I'm going to say it's the Malaysian version. I'm just thankful it's something edible!




While it sounds strange, it was actually good and good enough to return the plate to Lynn with some for her to taste. When I left Lynn's apartment after dropping off the food, her son said "Thank you Auntie"! Apparently that's the proper way to address a female who's older than you. So, I'm an Auntie here in KL!

While on the topic of food, which you can tell I enjoy so much, I got a dragon fruit at the grocery store today for you to see. One of the best parts about this fruit is it dies your lips and fingers bright pink for a while. After taking a picture I quickly devoured it.





In addition, we've been incorporating some Chinese cooking techniques into our diet. I had to buy a pot to cook in before our air freight got here to cook, and it came with a steamer basket. So, I've been steaming things like these bbq pork buns that Paul had for lunch. They aren't quite like a dumpling because the dough is much more fluffy and bread like than noodle like. Still they are equally as delicious, and probably equally as artery clogging.



Last night was the big Brazil game as you probably know. Here, unless you're fair skinned you root for Brazil, so we couldn't miss out on experiencing the game with two guys from Paul's office who are from Singapore. Afterwards we went to an Indian restaurant for the first time since we've been here. It was open to the outside on all four sides, so basically it was like the entire restaurant was on a patio. Paul's co-worker ordered four plates for us to try and most of it was really good. I had no idea that I liked Indian curry, but I think that will be a place we go to again if we can figure out what to call those items we ordered. Oh and once again, the entire table was vegetable free even though many Indians are vegetarians as we learned from Derek.




While we ate we learned a few things from Derek about Singapore. They compare the drive from KL to Singapore with the drive across the border from Mexico to Texas, even though they've never been to the states. They say when you get to Singapore the roads are all flat and clean with perfectly landscaped medians and street lights everywhere. A little different from what you get here in KL. Also, there are only a few months out of the year where it rains in Singapore. In KL it rains daily for the most part, year round. And what really got Paul's attention is that the Chicken Rice in Singapore is better! At that we might have to make a trip to Singapore.

When digging through a suitcase that was air freighted, I found my charger for my point and shoot camera! After charging it up, I came across some pictures from our Taipei trip! Now talk about Christmas in July,...
So, below are the pictures from our trip that are kind of fun, and again, click on any to enlarge.

This pretty much sums up the way I felt for the first two weeks abroad. Everyone was looking at me wondering what genetic disorder I had that my hair skin and eyes lacked pigment.

A home-made broom

The morning street market just opening. I got this photo after almost being run over by Paul behind me, who was almost run over by the moped behind him, that was almost run over by the delivery truck behind it that was winning the run-0ver-race due to its size.

Overall it's been a good week for me. I finally won over my oven, met our neighbor, ate some new foods, and got our airfrieght! For Paul, it hasn't been so exciting because he's been doing nothing but working for a deadline Monday. So for a little encouragement, I'm feeling a trip to Bali in the near future la! (Malaysians end lots of sentences with "la" for some reason. I'm not sure the correct usage, but it's kindof a slang word. I'm trying to incorporate it into my vocabulary along with Terima Kasih.) Also, I hope someone's going to enjoy a big juicy burger to celebrate the 4th. Hock Choon doesn't sell burger buns. I'm coming up with a plan B.

Happy 4th of July!