After two cups of morning tea, twice my usual allocation, we went down to Petaling Street where, rumour had it, Ali Muthu & Ahok was one of the rare restaurants open on Chinese New Year. It was open and was packed, but we found a table for nasi lemak. Merchant’s Lane next door appeared to be the only cafe within miles that was open so we had some of their mediocre iced coffee – a black jasmine coffee for me, and an iced latte for the GF. The space was pleasant, though; and it was a relief after the crowdedness of the restaurant, as we scored a small table in the side room which has only three tables (the main room was full of people including a screaming baby) and huge floor-to-ceiling paintings of chrysanthemums.
The best bit was a quick stroll through some of the area’s temples. This is the old Chinese dominated part of town, and we wandered through some of the oldest Buddhist and Taoist shrines in KL (granted that’s not very old). The best was Sin Sze Si Ya, the oldest and best tucked away; it had a god of prosperity at the entrance, incense wafting through atmospheric beams of light, and beautiful carvings.
