And waiting in KL some more...
by prudence on 21-Feb-2013
We're still trying to make lemonade out of visa lemons, or whatever that thing is. Here are some more (free or low-cost) highlights:
-- seeing, for the first time, the illuminated night-time fountains at KLCC -- an exquisite ballet of light and water;
-- hearing Bach and Du Mage played by Nicolae Moldoveanu on the wonderfully mellow, expressive, and resonant organ at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas;
-- seeing KL laid out in front of us at the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery;
-- feasting our eyes on beautiful fabric at the National Textile Museum, and having tea and bikkies in the cafe afterwards;
-- strolling the galleries of the Viva Home mall, enjoying the sometimes wacky offerings, wondering how much is that doggy in the window, and -- best of all -- thinking: we're really not in the market for any of this stuff at the moment;
-- finally cracking (duhhh...) that what they're singing in those ubiquitous CNY songs is not "bumsi bumsi", as it always sounded to us, but "gong xi gong xi" (as in "gong xi fa cai" -- literally, "wishing you an enlargement of wealth", or in other words, "happy new year");
-- being guided round the warm, charming, lovingly restored Rumah Penghulu Abu Seman by two lovely young volunteers, while the strangled light of the gathering rainstorm turned the grass outside lurid green;
-- hanging out on the tea terrace of the Royale Chulan while said rainstorm got everything (lengthily) off its chest;
-- trying out acar (a delicious sweet/sour/spicy kind of vegetable pickle) and yam cake (another interesting blend of the sweet and savoury -- an essentially savoury cake, served with a predominantly sweet sauce);
-- indulging my inner porridge-fiend (whether made of rice, mung beans, or wheat, porridge is the best comfort food in the entire world -- when you're waiting for a visa, you need lots of it).
-- seeing, for the first time, the illuminated night-time fountains at KLCC -- an exquisite ballet of light and water;
-- hearing Bach and Du Mage played by Nicolae Moldoveanu on the wonderfully mellow, expressive, and resonant organ at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas;
-- seeing KL laid out in front of us at the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery;
-- feasting our eyes on beautiful fabric at the National Textile Museum, and having tea and bikkies in the cafe afterwards;
-- strolling the galleries of the Viva Home mall, enjoying the sometimes wacky offerings, wondering how much is that doggy in the window, and -- best of all -- thinking: we're really not in the market for any of this stuff at the moment;
-- finally cracking (duhhh...) that what they're singing in those ubiquitous CNY songs is not "bumsi bumsi", as it always sounded to us, but "gong xi gong xi" (as in "gong xi fa cai" -- literally, "wishing you an enlargement of wealth", or in other words, "happy new year");
-- being guided round the warm, charming, lovingly restored Rumah Penghulu Abu Seman by two lovely young volunteers, while the strangled light of the gathering rainstorm turned the grass outside lurid green;
-- hanging out on the tea terrace of the Royale Chulan while said rainstorm got everything (lengthily) off its chest;
-- trying out acar (a delicious sweet/sour/spicy kind of vegetable pickle) and yam cake (another interesting blend of the sweet and savoury -- an essentially savoury cake, served with a predominantly sweet sauce);
-- indulging my inner porridge-fiend (whether made of rice, mung beans, or wheat, porridge is the best comfort food in the entire world -- when you're waiting for a visa, you need lots of it).