Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is known locally, is the capitol of Malaysia and worthy a stop when visiting SE Asia. It boasts both the old and new, the familiar and unfamiliar. I won’t bore you here with all of the things you can do and see in the area, but will bore you with one of my favorites.

My first visit to KL was a mere three weeks after 9/11. Malaysia is an Islamic country. So getting off the plane and seeing folk in Muslim dress was a bit unnerving. At first. But the people of Malaysia are wonderful and friendly, no where that I went did I ever receive poor treatment because I was white and obviously American. If anything, the opposite was true.

Typical of me, I picked a hotel close to the major night market area. Hey, what can I say? I love night markets in Asia, for both their unbelievable bargains and for the local color. KL’s main night market is in the China Town area, with its signature lantern-lined streets and pre-war shop houses, now oddly complemented by palm trees and modern roofing aimed at sheltering shoppers from Kuala Lumpur’s heavy rains. Nevertheless, the area retains its old world charm when it transforms, come rain or shine, into a bustling night market: Petaling Street, where a vibrant mix of Chinese, Nepalese and Burmese traders all vie for attention selling jewelry, herbal medicines, dried food, designer T-shirts, handbags and wallets. Knock-offs and fakes abound. Striking a bargain is not always easy. The trick is to throw in a few local terms like “Murah sikit?” (A little cheaper?) or “Mahal sangat!” (Too expensive!) and pretend to leave in a huff. Sure enough, a voice will call out behind you. “Okay lah, Okay lah! Ow-mach-you-wan?”

 The difference between this street market and those in Bangkok, is that the prices are even better here. And the come on starts with, “Sir”, instead of, “Hey, Mistah!”. What’s the same is their pointing out the obvious, “Sir, watches for you, Sir!” from the guy standing next to a table full of . . . you guessed it . . . watches! And the T shirt vendors all tagged on, “Big Sizes” for me, which made me first think I really needed to go on a diet until I realized, gazing over everyone else’s heads, that the reference was to my height and not width.

 At what amounted to under $2, I picked up a few pirated DVDs, the obligatory T shirt (BTW, Big Size, was still a bit small for me) and spent most of the time wandering. Ready for a break and some food, I back tracked to Jalan Sultan where I’d previously spied a whole line of sidewalk restaurants. Being the picky type of person I am, I found an empty table in the middle of the line of stalls and grabbed it. Turned out it didn’t really matter because the waiter went and grabbed food from any and all of the restaurants.

The menu was about 20 pages long. In Malaysian. But there were some pictures, so after getting a beer, I pointed out a picture of some chicken satay. “Small, Medium, Large?” was the waiter’s reply. Mmmmmmm, this could be fun! So I ordered a small and quickly pointed to a picture of a beef dish. Small again. And Small shrimp, small noodles, small fish, small whatever that is . . . the waiter caught on. “You like hot?’ A nod, he scribbled. “You like sweet?” more scribbling, “vegetables? . . . you get the picture. And I soon had a table filled with delectable treats. And I do mean filled. And the food kept coming.

So there I sat, relaxing outdoors at a table a mere few feet away from the passing crowds, pigging out while I people watched. And the people watched back. Guess a single diner with enough food to feed a family of three on his table was an amusing sight . . . the kids sure got a laugh out of it! The entire meal came to 55 ringetts, which is about $18. And I was stuffed. A memorable meal, not only for the food, but the fun of making a spectacle out of myself. Ask me about KL, and I’ll immediately think first of that streetside dining evening.