We had our first experience of a Mak Yong performance this weekend. This is a Malay art form, involving music, dance, and drama. It apparently came from southern Thailand to the northern state of Kelantan about 200 years ago, but has been banned in that state since 1998 (because it is allegedly not compatible with Islam).

Mak Yong melds ritual and entertainment. It is sometimes used for the purposes of healing, and always involves opening and closing rites.

Our performance was given by Kijang Emas at the Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman (part of the MaTIC complex), and told the story of Anak Raja Tangkai Hati, who sets off with his entourage in pursuit of knowledge and experience, but unwisely pledges to marry two women. It starts in slow and stately fashion, but rapidly livens up with the appearance of the comical servants and the ogre princess.

We couldn't help being reminded of British pantomime. You have a good-defeats-evil story, an important component of comedy inspired by topical stories, and plenty of cross-dressing (with young women playing the prince and his companions, and men playing female roles, including that of the ogre).





MaTIC also has a little art gallery that we didn't know about, and while we were waiting to go in to the auditorium, we took a look at Hasan Abu Bakar's "Colours in Reflections" exhibition. Which I rather liked.





Also a first this weekend was a visit to the Kwong Tong Cemetery. (And there needs to be a second visit, because a screaming great road cuts the place in half, and if you're on foot, you need to get to the other bit from an entirely different direction. Never mind, I'm up for another trip.)

It's actually a very pleasant place to walk. Once you're away from that big road, it's quiet and peaceful. You share the space mostly with birds and butterflies. There are great views of KL. And the graves are fascinating, ranging from the humblest stones to the most palatial edifices.













And when you arrive back at Maharajalela, there are a couple of other things you can profitably do:

One is check out the new incarnation of Tommy le Baker. In its original Sentul location, Tommy's was a regular weekend breakfast spot for us. It has now moved to Jalan Rotan, where they have a nice little courtyard spot. But it's much more expensive... And -- quelle horreur! -- they don't do their wonderful baguettes any more... The toasted sourdough sandwiches are very acceptable (I have had a soft spot for sourdough ever since our California days, when it was the only decent bread we could get). But those baguettes... They were stupendous, the best in KL...





The second thing you can do round here is revisit the little art gallery in the Zhongshan Building. The current exhibition is called "The Artists' Workstations". It's a tad abstruse, but I liked the highlighting of the mysterious connection between "the materials that orbit around an artist" and "the trajectory of his or her evolving practice". It makes us think about how our own unique individual environment emerges in our own work -- and how it might emerge differently.



The third place to exploit in this area is Bunn Choon, and for once we weren't too early to buy some egg tarts. These are magnificent examples of their kind, with delicately flaky pastry and really eggy custard.



What else?

Well, the Japanese Film Festival lived on this week in the shape of money-off vouchers for takoyaki at Gindaco. We tried the original (topped with "dancing" bonito flakes) and the negidako (which come with white radish and a dipping sauce). Nice. Big tick.



The key ingredient of takoyaki, of course, is octopus, and for this week's other big octopus story, see here. If the seal's experience off Kaikoura was anything like mine, he'd probably have been so sea-sick he wouldn't have known what he was doing.

Takoyaki consumed, we headed off to watch Johnny English Strikes Again. So far the critics have panned this, but after a heavy day at work, I found it entertaining enough.

And new bits of street art partly compensate for the pedestrian-hostile building-site-overload that is KL at the moment. Here are examples from Chow Kit, Jalan Rotan, and Masjid Jamek: