The Lazat (delicious in Malay) cooking school was about thirty minutes or so outside the center of KL, in a suburb of the Taman Tun District. Chris, my driver, picked me up promptly at 7:40 AM before heading to pick up my classmates at a much more posh hotel than the one I was staying. It was kind of funny but the cost of the class was 280 Ringit (about $90) and a night at my hotel was about a third of that. On the drive to the school we passed a skyscraper that appeared to be the Asian headquarters of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In KL (and in Beijing) the watchful eye of Colonel Sanders was everywhere.

There were four of us in the market tour and cooking class, Michael and Alicia, honeymooners from Queensland, Australia and Connie from Sydney. The three of them were quite fun. Michael worked in mining. Connie's youngest of three boys had just left home, affording her time to travel more with her husband on business.

Our guide for the day was Sue. Now that I was middle aged, I am guessing she was older than I was. Jokingly, she was quick to tell me she was single. We had a cup of delicious ginger tea before heading for the market tour. At the market we learned the basic ingredients of Malay cooking and about coconut and coconut milk, Malay curries and different spices. It was a fusion of Indian and southeast Asian cuisines. We spent a spell watching vendors making coconut milk. Normally, I don't like the shavings found in the states but the fresh coconut and coconut milk in Malaysia was mild, sweet and delicious.

The setup at Lazat was pretty formal compete with mirrors on the ceiling to watch the preparation and different stations for different cooking sessions. I much preferred the hutong setting in china; however, Ana, the owner of Lazat said she was moving to a more authentic Malay setting later in the year. We made three dishes: Otak Otak (fish and egg steamed in banana leaves), Kari Ayam, chicken curry with crepes and for desert, onde onde (flavored rice flour gnocchi stuffed with palm sugar and covered with fresh coconut). All three dishes deserved an attempt at repeating in the States.

After the class I toured KL's Chinatown. Vendors sold even worse knockoffs than in China. The outdoor setting was cooler in looks but hotter in temperature than the Pearl Market in Beijing. Tired of the knock offs I sought the real thing and headed to KLCC (city center). It was five stories of shopping paradise right under the Petronius towers. I checked it off my list, bought an ice cream cone and then headed back to the hotel.

Back in my room I thought about taking a shower, but the water for the building had been shutoff; now there was the difference between the one and four star hotel. At this point I kind of had enough of the chaos KL so I decided to leave the next day to get to know the countryside of Malaysia. Maybe I would fall in love with her.