Late, Late, Late

Kuala Lumpur - I slept soundly on the plane coming over to Kuala Lumpur.   Last week was a long week for me - organizing the Tokyo conference.  The flight is short just shy of 45 minutes and was only woken up by the announcement of the pilot that we are landing soon.

I had to walk 15 minutes to the shuttle bus bound for the arrival terminal because the Aerotrain is temporarily closed for upgrading.  

From the KLIA website I gather that the KLIA Aerotrain is temporarily unavailable from 1 November 2010 to 15 March 2011 for upgrading works. To ensure smooth transfer of passengers between the Satellite Building and the Contact Pier, continuous shuttle busses are scheduled around the clock.

When I reached the arrival terminal, it was crowded and the queue was snaking an endless bend.    There was this man with middle eastern features standing behind me trying to sneak in front of me.  I am really puzzzle as I was just in front of him.  He tried many times but finally gave up when just stood right in front of him and cut him off.   Murmur some foreign words and quietly took his place behind me.   I have never encountered Middle Eastern people but it seems to meet the profile hearing from my family members and friends.

As the immigation lady open new lanes, I rushed over to 2 new lanes and managed to clear immigration in a breeze.  Got my bags onto the limo taxi at 10:45am and off to Hilton PJ Hotel.  It was a quick ride and reached at about 11:30am - I was upgraded this time to a suite.  The bathroom is as big as my room + bathroom in Tokyo.

Lesley was waiting for me in front and off we rush to our appointment - we were late due to unforeseeen circumstances.

For lunch at Pan cafe, near my customer office @ Bukit Jalil - I had Nasi Lemak.  In Kuala Lumpur, it is called a National dish,  also a national heritage of Malaysia. 

Nasi Lemak is a Malay word and steep in Malay culture.  The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in coconut cream and then the mixture steamed.  We add pandan leaves whilst it is steaming to give it a fragrant aroma.  Some restaurants add ginger and lemon grass to give an additional fragrance.

 Traditionally, this comes as a platter of food wrapped in banana leaf, with cucumber slices, small dried ikan bilis, roasted peanuts, hard boiled egg, and hot spicy sauce (sambal) at its core. But now adays, the food platter is serve on a plate.  

Nasi Lemak is widely eaten in Malaysia as breakfast, noon or evening, making it possible for the dish to be eaten all day.

In Singapore, we also eat it for Breakfast, lunch or dinner but it is definitely not our national dish but it's an economical dish and eaten sparringly as it has lots of 'cholesterol' enhancing properties.