The Best of KL

Theda and I have just returned from a 5-day jaunt to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the place we called home before moving to Manila.  Although we only lived there for 3 years, going back to visit reminded us of what makes this fascinating city so uniquely attractive, and what makes us miss it still…

THE FOOD…

Kuala Lumpur (KL) is a blend of Malaysian, Indian, and Chinese cultures, and the endless variety of available cuisine reflects the intertwined influence of all three.  The rich, coconut-based curries, both vegetarian and meat-based… the fluffy naan bread… the spicy, flavourful dahls… I really couldn’t (and didn’t!) get enough.  Even the school lunch I ate was fantastic! But what’s pictured above is from the local corner vendor… you sit at tables lined with plastic tablecloths and order from the waiters milling around… and just keep ordering and eating until you’re full.  It’s such casual fun and you can get a million different dishes.  I had naan with 3 sauces: dahl, chicken curry, and spicy potatoes.  I begged the potatoes off the kids’ plate of naan and also ordered another bowl of dahl, but as it still wasn’t enough to fill me up, I went ahead ordered a roti chanai as well, just because I could.  Roti is an Indian flat bread that is sort of like a croissant in the sense that the dough is layered with oil to make it flaky… then it’s cooked to order so it’s hot off the griddle every time… Addictive??  Completely!! Theda & I wolfed it down before I could take a picture, but please believe me when I tell you I was in roti heaven with each flaky bite.

Now, many people might not put what’s pictured above into the category of “food that must be blogged”… but I maintain that “Moo Cow” truly is.  It’s artisan frozen yogurt, made in small batches by hand (you can watch them,) and topped with a variety of toppings.  It was our “thing” when we lived in KL, because the flagship store opened in the tiny mall up the street from us, and I knew the owner.  So now the little shops have expanded to the big, glitzy malls, but the frozen yogurt still tastes exactly the same.  That’s impressive.  When I emailed this pic to Tommy & Sara back home, they sighed with regret that we had “gone to KL and had Moo Cow without them.”  Now that’s endorsement if I ever heard it!

THE SCHOOL…

The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) was the first international school my kids ever attended, and it still holds a dear place in our hearts.  When we go back to visit, we’re welcomed warmly by teachers and staff… they make us feel like we never left.  Theda’s lovely grade 4 teacher still has an English project that she “published” (5 years ago!) displayed on his shelf.  My children learned more than I could ever imagine at this school… and not just academics… in the best way, know what I mean?! Even the admissions officer remembered us and took the time to print out the kids’ school pictures from so long ago.  ISKL is a school with a heart, and we feel like we left a part of ours here when we relocated.

THE SHOPPING…

All I can say is, Mark must be pretty happy that we now live in Manila, because if we continued to live in the land of excellent shopping like this, we would all be in trouble!  Not that Manila doesn’t have the stores, it’s just that the variety and stock is soooo much better in KL.  And we only hit one mall…

BUT WHAT REALLY BRINGS US BACK IS…

THE FRIENDS…

Yup, this is really the heart of the matter.  You can get good food, great schools, and excellent shopping in a lot of places.  But what keeps us tied to this city is the people we left.  In this expat life, we see people come and we see people go, and it’s hard.  We give our hearts again and again… which means they break, again and again.  It’s just the way of things.  No one stops investing just because you move too many times… to do that would be to lose the essence of yourself.  No, we just keep opening our hearts… and then we visit when we can, finding that we can pick back up right where we left off.

I can’t even describe how wonderful it is to be back with dear friends, to laugh from just a look, to not have to tell “the back story,” because I already did, 5 or 6 years ago… basically, to have history with someone where “3 years and out” is the norm, in the world we revolve in.

And so that keeps us going… and going back…

Some things do last forever…