So. I know that it’s been a while.. Sorry! I have no internet at home, so I’m sitting in a Starbucks. In Malaysia. It would be ironic, if it weren’t so sad. Anyhow. I don’t really feel like typing much right now, so this’ll be a picture post, for the most part. Enjoy!


This is just up the street from my apartment, on a street (Jalan) called Bukit Bintang. Bukit Bintang seems to be a hub of tourist and shopping activity.



Milo chocolate bars! In 7-11! There are far more western brands here than I expected. Since having arrived here, I've definitely rekindled my love for Milo. They sell a drink called Milo ice, where they'll make hot hot Milo and pour it over a glass of ice, so that when you get it, the bottom's hot, the top's cold, and it cools and thins out while you eat. So good...



Food's pretty inexpensive here. These two meals together cost around RM 15, which is equivalent to about $5 US. The closer one is called sizzling plate mee with chicken and mushroom (mee refers to the noodles), and the one in the background is basically the same meal, but with rice. Mine, the closer one, is still bubbling, because the iron plate is still hot.


My new love: Roti Canai. (pronounced chanai) Plain, flavorful roti dough fried quickly so it's a bit fluffy and a bit chewy, and served with a side of dahl curry, fish curry, or chicken curry. Each roti costs 80 sen (0.27 US), and the curry is free. (including refills) And yep, that's a milo ice in the background.



LRT / monorail track, pseudo sunset, people, and a taxi.



Somehow, I've never seen this chocolate bar in Jamaica... did I just miss it?



And finally, since I've been waking up at 5:30 am this week, I leave you with a sunrise. Enjoy!

Pastry Thingies

I was talking to Domz on IM earlier today, trying to describe these pastry thingies whose name I still don't know. Because I'm a sucker for trying new food, KL has been a bit of a playground for me. Since I've arrived, I've tried fun new things like stingray, shark belly, apple juice that tasted like green apple candy, and chicken foot soup, all of which were delicious, and I highly recommend. One of my new favorite things, however, definitely has to be these pastry thingies. They're essentially made of two moist little pancakes (each the width of a credit card, and a perfect circle), made into a sandwich around a dollop of filling. Thus far I've tied the strawberry and.. uh.... ok, so I forgot the other one's name, but it was good. The two in the picture are chocolate and peanut, each of which I'm sure will be great. They're RM 1.60 each, which equates to about $ .50 US.

Here's the picture, before I forget:


I'm also going to include a photo of the coconut water "stand" at a buffet that we had dinner at the other night. The dinner itself is fairly pricey at RM 101 per person (about $33 US)
, but well worth it, considering the amount of food up for grabs, and the fact that it's all-you-can-eat. Which, it turns out, is a lot, in my case. The buffet itself featured primarily Japanese fare, despite the restaurant's owner/founder being from Taiwan. Tons of sushi and seafood, peppered with Italian and possibly local dishes. When I find out the name of the place, I'll edit this post; I'm sure that they have a website.

Here's the coconut stand:

(The jug in the middle is lime juice)

I suspect that this blog will involve a lot of posts about food. I really hope that I don't come away from Malaysia grossly overweight.. Even the food in the staff canteen is really good.

Getting caught up

Ok. So, I've been meaning to start a blog, considering the fact that I'm currently stationed and working in Kuala Lumpur, which is literally on the opposite side of the world from all that I find familiar. Most of my public updates thus far have been to my twitter account (stefanholmes), so rather than re-posting what was said there, I'm simply going to pick up where I left off.

A bit of background: KL (Kuala Lumpur) is the capital city of Malaysia, which is itself a fairly multicultural country. The main ethnic groups are Malay, Chinese, and Indian, and the primary religion is Islam. KL is a very modern city, and from what I can tell, is fairly safe. I've heard stories of rampant pick-pocketing and snatch theft (two guys on a scooter / motorbike, the guy on the back grabs your bag and drags you until you let go or the strap breaks), but have yet to experience any of this stuff myself. But then, I've only been here for five days.

And now the fun stuff:

The following are a few photos that I took on my phone. Unfortunately, most of the photos that I upload will be from my phone; I don't want to attract too much attention by carrying my camera around, despite the several missed opportunities for great photos so far.

This is the view from the LRT just as it arrives at the Pasar Seni station, which is how I got to Jalan Petaling today.

Welcome to Jalan Petaling. Actually, this is an exit; I just liked the sign.

Petaling is where you go if you want incredibly well done knockoffs for cheap prices. I'm seriously considering bolstering my collection of polo shirts there.. Time will tell.