Been a while since I last wrote up a post on a computer (can try to put some links in again)! Also, I’ve spent the last few days uploading some photos.
So yesterday was Thomas’ day off so we couldn’t have our usual breakfast routine. In fact, we scurried around a fair bit – doing some packing, looking up last minute travel details so were a little stressed. Found time for breakfast with Lucie of course and chatted to a Kiwi as well. Poor Bertin is a little under the weather so didn’t join us… The guesthouse seems to be doing really well (#2 on tripadvisor in just 6 months!) and is actually very busy, so has a great atmosphere about it.
We spent the morning at the cinema actually, after dropping off some last minute laundry (needs cleaning but they also do a decent job of folding clothes…) and indulging in some ‘uhuhu’. Despite our bad experience with City Under Siege, which was well and truly awful (I really think this reviewer is trying to restrain themselves), we decided to try our another Cantonese film – Legend of the the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. The film was awesome. Its basically a superhero movie set in post WW1 China, when China faces invasion by Japan and struggles to unite its various provinces. Chen Zhen is a war hero (with exceptionally bad-ass martial arts skills), who returns to China to oppose Japan and, in particular, one evil General. Like any superhero/action movie, it was camp in places but really delivered in setting the context of the resistance and how ‘The Masked Warrior’ fitted into that. There were some interesting political musings, which gave the film some good depth, though at times I was afraid I would get lost in the plot, having to read subtitles and distinguish unfamiliar yet similar looking names and faces… I think the bad guy and hero were really believable but the female lead, Shi Qi, who was also in City Under Siege, was a bit rubbish… Great action scenes, with a crowd pleasing nunchuck fight scene. Really found myself emotionally involved (there had been a surprising number of deaths in the film). Anyway, the point is, we loved it.
We planned to eat at Jalan Alor but most of the stands weren’t set up yet so we went to the breakfast noodle bar for our regular. Back home we chatted with Lucie and Bertin. Iez was around as well so we caught up with him, which was nice. After some more packing (by Claire), we headed back to Jalan Alor to get some stingray – we loved it in Singapore and Thomas told us we could get it here. There is a sad sense of finality about everything we do so we were eager to eat as much of our favourite foods as possible. The stingray, which is surprisingly meaty is cooked in a bananna leaf with some curry paste – delicious. We then went to Claire’s foodstall of choice – Theobramas for some waffles and ice cream. It may be available in the UK but not for these prices!
Back to the Sahabat for more cups of tea with Lucie and Bertin, before Iez drove us to a restaurant to meet Thomas and Yam. I think Thomas was trying to call Iez during the drive but he couldn’t pick up. When we got to the restaurant, it became obvious why Thomas was calling so frantically – the place was shut! After a quick discussion they decided on another Chinese restaurant not too far away. Was nice to drive in Iez’s car, we have been driven by Yam, Lupo, Thomas and Iez now – the complete set! The restaurant was in the middle of nowhere and there was no English on the menu. We have tried to eat as much honest Malaysian food as possible but, at the end of the day, we are still tourists and there is no substitute for having a local guide.
Thomas ordered a feast – a garlicly vegetable dish, chicken and cashews (Claire devoured the yam casing!), beef with ginger and spring onion and chicken with mushrooms. The highlight though has to be the prawn curry, a specialty of the restaurant. Iez described it as a cross between a curry and a tom yam. Whatever it was, it was like nothing we have ever tasted before – so good! Claire and I ate and ate, even after Lucie, Bertin, Thomas and Iez had stopped… Yam couldn’t join us unfortunately but we hope to see him before we go. We talked and laughed just as we always did – we found out that, according to traditional reflexology beliefs, the reflexologist absorbs trapped gas and will then burp on their behalf – that is why Claire’s massage lady in KK was so gassy, it was all of Claire’s trapped gas… Such a great evening, we stayed till it was closing and headed back to the Sahabat.
