I wanna try to do this: A series of travel tales and things to do in Malaysia. After all, it's Visit Malaysia 2007! I have not made extensive plans to travel around the country but I hope that even within my KL/PJ territory, I can weave in a story or two. Quite often enough, I do feel like a tourist in my own country.

Muar Restaurant @ Tengkat Tong Shin It was a pleasant Sunday evening. We picked Sheryl up from KL Sentral station after her short getaway to Penang island. Since we were already in KL, Elv brought us to Muar restaurant.

Situated just next to the famous 'side-walk' beef ball noodles cafe, Ngau Kee in Tengkat Tong Shin, this restaurant boasts home-cooked local Muar cuisine.  You can either dine out at the terrace or indoors.

Since the pre-Chinese New Year hot, warm spell didn't hit us yet, we had our meal outside and enjoyed the cool evening. (hot weather usually in February)

Left: We had the sambal sotong and prawns with petai (calamari and prawns w/ petai in spicy chili paste). It was good. Haven't had petai for a long time and as long as ALL of us were having it, I suppose it's a good thing! The sambal was very spicy, just the way Sheryl and I like it - a good start to build up an appetite. In the background, sweet potato leaf cooked in belacan. Pretty good too.

Right: You might think it's just an ordinary dish, but the fried sunny side-ups drizzled with thick black sauce and soya sauce is far from ordinary. I think the eggs were deep fried in very hot oil that's why the sides of the whites were frilly (like spoilt lace! lol). The yolk was still runny and not overcooked. Perfect.  

Left: I was told that you have not truly tasted Muar food if you don't have the otak-otak (fish cake). Unwrapped from it's banana leaf, the rectangular shaped otak-otak were cut into cubes and topped with sambal.

Right: To end our meal sweetly, we indulged in local dessert - cendol (shaved ice with palm sugar syrup, coconut milk topped with green pandan jelly and red beans).

Sheryl took plenty of pictures that night. You would too if you were here. Elv definitely enjoyed his cendol.

If you are familiar with the scene in Tengkat Tong Shin, adjacent to the restaurant are old collonial shoplots. In the background, a lonesome (and rather talented) someone was playing the harmonica. We could spot his silhoutte at the balcony but other than that, we could only recognize the songs he played. It wasn't the blues but popular theme songs of classic chinese dramas like Shanghai Beach (Shàng H?i t?n). And he went on and on the whole night... like a mysterious man in the dark with a broken heart. Or just a random guy who had dinner and had nothing to do after. Nevertheless, it felt nostalgic. KL Valley Reflexology and Traditional Massage @ Tengkat Tong Shin

We walked across the street to KL Valley professional foot reflexology. We agreed that we needed to give our feet some pampering. For RM 40 (US$11) an hour, it was money well spent. The place was clean and wasn't dodgy! First we soaked our feet in warm herbal water. After the neck and shoulder massage, we relaxed on the lazyboy chair and our individual foot massager did their magic. On top of that, we had a hot pillow placed on our tummy and neck. Very comforting especially after a heavy dinner, you just want to doze off! (which we all secretly did.)

Relaxed. Well-fed. Perfect three hours in KL.

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