Bukit Bintang

So far today has been pretty productive. After a decent night's sleep, I had many errands to run in preparation for the rest of the week. The day started off with an intense search for breakfast- Lucky for me, my roommate and colleague has brought with her a guide book specific to Kuala Lumpur and the areas in which we we be living and working. After finally agreeing on a place that her book labeled a "top choice," we hailed a cab and headed that way. The driver dropped us off in the correct area, but after roaming up and down the block a few times in search of 35 Jalan Dang Wangi, it became very apparent that we were not going to find what we were looking for. The numbers did not seem to make any sense at all so we decided to roam until we found something that caught our attention.

Luckily, our roaming led us to a lovely little spot called "Cafe Magpie" and they appeared to be serving breakfast! One of the options, and the one we ended up ordering, was served with two eggs, chicken sausage, sauteed mushrooms and your choice of coffee or tea for the bargain price of 13.90 Malaysian Ringgit (which translates to about $4.60 USD!!) Not too shabby. There was only one, small misunderstanding during the meal- when we asked for bottled water, we were brought two cans of coke and the woman was so sweet, neither my roommate nor myself had the heart to tell her that we didn't want them. I should mention that when she brought our check to us at the end of the meal, we learned that two cokes cost the same price as one entire meal. Needless to say, we looked up the Malay word for water, which ironically, is "air".

After breakfast we headed to an area known as Bukit Bintang (pictures above); it is Kuala Lumpur's prominent shopping district, and let me tell you, that is an understatement.  Driving into the area reminds me of looking into a kaleidoscope.. it just seems to get busier and busier with each twist and turn the cab makes. If you want to shop, Bukit Bintang is where you want to be. There are a plethora of malls and individual stores lining the streets. From Gucci and Louis Vuitton to an entire 5 story mall dedicated solely to selling electronics; truly, area is a one-stop shop. One of the malls housed an entire supermarket on ground floor and we were able to buy everything we needed to stock our kitchen with snacks and breakfast items for the week ahead.

The bellhops are especially nice to us and brought all of our groceries upstairs from the cab. I think this has something to do with our initial tip. Before we were able to exchange currencies, we gave them each $4 USD the first day for helping with our bags. $4 in American money is a little over 12 Ringgit and I'm guessing that's a pretty hefty tip....so that may or may not have something to do with their generosity- they're just reciprocating.   :)

Lots left to do, so I must get busy!

 

         This was the counter of a cake kiosk in one of the malls, and I though the diet statement was cute.
                                                   (The cakes looked amazing)