Text 33960, 73 rader
Skriven 2015-12-04 07:18:20 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: KL boredom 617
======================
I saw Ravee at the station, and we chatted for the 26-minute ride 
into town. Bade goodbye and walked the few hundred feet to the 
Hilton  Kuala Lumpur, my home for the next few nights and as it 
turns out mostly my 24-hour shelter. I got a junior suite on 30 
with what would have been a great view over the park were it 
not for the amazing smog from the Indonesian forest fires, a 
potentially world-shaking phenomenon that hadn't been getting 
much play in the US and Europe.

As it was, my wandering about town was quite circumscribed, and I
became quite familiar with the executive lounge and its food
offerings. The most interesting of which (and/or the ones I got
most of my nourishment from) -

prawn cocktail in a shot glass with a green cured olive and some
frisee; some unknown fish with seaweed and imitation caviar;
butter chicken wings with curry leaves; cumin lamb meatballs;
mini shepherd's pies that must have had crack in them.

Oden always looked appropriately murky, but when I was there the
good stuff had always been picked out already.

Sushi every day, including shrimp, mackerel, and octopus, which
I enjoyed. Rolls of various sorts that I didn't pay attention to.

Many sweets, the only of which I was interested in, and which
went rapidly when it was out, was durian and sticky rice; in
such cases, I consoled myself with a respectable chocolate cake
or various changes on sweet rice cake that were built of many
colored layers but tasted pretty much the same. There were assorted 
other Western-style things that I didn't see the point of trying.

All kinds of fresh fruit, of which I ate mostly the tropical
varieties (jackfruit, passionfruit, dragonfruit, and so on) and
eschewed the western ones, which mostly looked unripe anyway.

A respectable young Shiraz, reminiscent of Black Opal when it
first came out. I stuck with this throughout. I'm sure several
bottles were killed during my stay.

Breakfast in the lounge was pretty standard, an abbreviated version
of what was downstairs.

Breakfasts in the restaurant were of dizzying variety and generally 
good quality, though the saltiness of the food made it difficult to
eat a whole lot. I prefer the breakfast in the Meridien next door,
which I had last trip here.

There were stations dedicated to: Malay-style, Indian-style, 
Chinese-style (mostly congee), Japanese-style, and European-style
breakfast things; cereals hot and cold; dim sum; noodle dishes;
fresh fruit; dried fruit and nuts and yogurt and muesli; hamoid
(pork-free); omelets and pancakes; juices. I think that's it.
Things I had: rendangs; roti pratas; chicken curry; laksa;
smoked salmon; various iterations of shrimp and chicken dim
sum (no pork, remember, this is a Muslim country, and though
the stuff is not forbidden, a commercial establishment such as
the Hilton would do well not to alienate a sizable portion of
the potential clientele); lots and lots of fruit and orange,
guava, and some other juices. Nothing really stood out except
the juices, which varied during different visits.

I thought of checking out the restaurant in the hotel or going
to some of the local places Ravee had recommended, but the free
stuff and the general unpleasantness of being out and about
prevented me from doing so.

One notable new addition to the landscape is Nu Sentral, a
Singapore-style shopping mall attached to the train station.
I spent an afternoon wandering through it in horrified
fascination.
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