COOKING WITH KENNY

Anyone who regularly reads these blogs will not be surprised to hear that, like most of our bus trips, the journey from Krabi to Kuala Lumpur did not go quite as planned. First we were shuttled to Hat Yai near the Thai border in a mini-van. Then we had an unexpected three hour wait for our coach to take us over the border. The delay resulted in a heated exchange between myself and a guy from the bus company who bore more than a passing resemblance to Mr Miyagi of Karate Kid; "Wax on, wax off" fame. We finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 2.30 am - 15 hours later and 4 hours earlier than we'd planned. Early arrivals are not usually something to complain about but in this instance it meant that we had to pony up for an unexpected night's accommodation. Our first impressions of Kuala Lumpur were not good. Farcically humid, even at 3am and streets that were filthy and overrun with cockroaches. Fortunately by the time we woke up and ventured out of the hotel the next morning someone had cleaned up and things looked a whole lot better. We are staying in an area between China town and Little India which has a really great atmosphere and the people here are very friendly. We are also close to the colonial district which has a lovely, if unusual, mix of Islamic architecture, mock Tudor buildings and skyscrapers. Kuala Lumpur is a very modern city with lots of western trappings. Not least of these are the various fast food restaurants including several branches of the 'Kenny Rogers Roaster - a new one on me but the Malaysians seem to have embraced Mr Rogers' unique blend of country music and roasted food. The highlight of Kuala Lumpur has to be the Petronas Towers. It might not be the tallest building in the world anymore but it's still very impressive and surprisingly beautiful for a skyscraper. The views from the 41st floor sky-bridge were also amazing.

Next stop Singapore…