Cuaca Pat KL Tak Berapa Elok La...

My immunity level deteriorated since our return from Cambodia, possibly because of the lack of rest and extreme weather conditions. It didn't make things any better when I had to travel the very next weekend upon returning to Singapore, to Kuala Lumpur, for work.

Its the haze, stupid...

I've always loved travelling to Kuala Lumpur (which is very often). You know, KL-ians are very friendly (and though sometimes over-zealously friendly to the extent that they call you "Makcik" (which is aunt in Malay) when in fact they are waaay older than you), the general environment is relaxed, food is in abundance and cheap and basically a fun place to be in, any time of the year. I love KL and in fact, i find it very fascinating to speak to Indians and Chinese in my mother-tongue language (which is Malay) and get an understanding and reply in return. Something i cannot get with the other races back home...

But this week in KL was the worse i've ever been. The pollution was horrible... Thick clouds of haze totally engulf the entire city of KL and almost instantly i fell into a physical frenzy - I couldn't sleep, I tossed and turned in my bed and after waking up to empty my bladder for the upteenth time, i became nutty as a fruitcake - i started crying out of sheer discomfort and the fact that i had to work the very next day drew me up the wall. It was plain madness and being a 2-year old cubbie didn't help either. I needed someone to care for me... but i was alone.

This is the haze in KL on Tuesday. Thick smog covered the otherwise clear blue skies. The smoke in this picture is not representational of what you can see with your eyes when you're there. Its worse than it looks! Terrible!

The strangest thing was even though i was sick to my bone, i was actually feeling constantly hungry. And it was a good thing that my associate, De Lange, needed company from me too. Being his first time in Kuala Lumpur and coming from the dangerous city of Johannesburg, he quickly embraced the freedom he could get in this metropolitan city.

And so we went out on 2 occasions - the first to BB Hailam Chicken Rice, which is just towards the end of Jalan Bukit Bintang - very popular and very moreish rice and steamed chicken. And on the 2nd night, together with our other associate, Jackson, to Tarbush Restaurant where we pigged out to middle-eastern food, and also where i had the largest serving of Lamb Briyani ever! (I heard they called it, "The Middle Eastern Portion"). Huge, HUGE chunks of lamb over savoury rice and boiled potatoes - It was the best item available in the menu!

Too bad, i didn't take as much pictures as i should have (yes, blame it on the weather again...) but partly because i wasn't in the mood and the only thing i ever wanted was to finish my meal as soon as i can and curl back into my bed in the hotel.

But in any case, i managed to get an image of what the briyani looked like:

There will be more to come. But first, i have to get better!