Malay City Bubbles With Best of Asian Cultures

Many Asian cities are an amalgam of cultures because of their histories as colonies or territories of one or more greater powers, plus the ethnic flux of natives from neighboring countries seeking a better life.

Kuala Lumpur, KL to locals, is a teeming caldron that bubbles with the best of them: turbaned Indians, Muslim mosques, Chinese temples, Buddhist pagodas, a Moorish railway station straight out of North Africa, Tudor buildings lifted from the English countryside. Indeed, these dizzying demographics cause the city to celebrate New Year’s four times.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s principal city under British rule until 1957 and capital since shortly thereafter, has its share of latter-day high-rise and other 20th-Century realities, including ultra-modern hotels and shops and a Parisian Le Printemps department store. Yet the ageless street markets and hawkers’ stalls are a throwback to the town’s lusty past as a 19th-Century shantytown.

Malaysians are handsome and very gentle people, given to traditional recreation such as kite flying and spinning tops. Some set great store by fortune tellers, including “face reading.” It has to be as accurate as tea leaves and reading palms.

Here to there: Malaysian Airlines flies you without plane change, JAL, Korean Air, Singapore and Philippine airlines with one. Pick up a $12 chit at the taxi kiosk for the trip into town.

How long/how much? Two days at least for KL, but don’t miss a day trip to outlying villages in the mountains and highlands around the city. Lodging and dining costs are most reasonable, hawkers’ fare a downright giveaway (see food mention below).

A few fast facts: Exchange rates usually hover around 2.5 Malaysian dollars (Ringgit) to one of ours, making them worth 40 cents. Weather is tropical and that means moist heat all year long. It could rain a bit anytime, the worst September-December. Only negative we can think of are shifty cab drivers, so check meters or determine fare beforehand.

Getting settled in: Equatorial (Sultan Ismail; $40-$50 double) is a marble oasis at bargain prices. Rooms spacious and well-furnished, lobby with flowering trees and huge Chinese urns, pool, an irresistible little pastry shop off lobby. Four restaurants, one said to be among the town’s best Chinese.

Merlin (Sultan Ismail; $38), a bit more commercial than above, has been a solid citizen in KL for years. Marble floors, cozy bar, three restaurants and garden swimming pool. Rooms are just fine.

Apollo (106 Jalan Bukit Bintang; $30-$38) falls into our budget category. Small, with only 42 rooms on busy and colorful street, but accommodations are bright and comfortable, many complete with TV and fridge, all air-conditioned.

Regional food and drink: Food, glorious food! And it’s all here in KL. Typical Malay, Chinese and Indian in abundance, Nonya, Eurasian and continental dishes here and there. Be sure to try the ever-present satay, marinated beef or chicken grilled on skewers with marvelous peanut sauce for dunking.

Even the fanciest hotels catering to foreign visitors offer two types of Malay-Chinese breakfasts: Nasi lemak, a mound of rice cooked in coconut milk encircled with pieces of stewed beef, half a boiled egg, cucumber, typical greens with peanut and hot sauce to sprinkle on top. Or Chee cheong fun, a bowl of steamed rice noodles in broth with prawns and roast pork. Either one of these eye-openers will get you through lunch and maybe dinner.

Sanbel udang of fried prawns in chili is delicious, while Bak kut teh, spare ribs in hearty sauce with rice, is the sworn-by hangover cure hereabouts. Exotic fruits rate special mention in Malaysia: mangosteens, langsat and durians all delicious, the same for more pedestrian mangoes, pineapple, papaya and melons.

Moderate-cost dining: Don’t hesitate to try a meal at a hawker’s stall on the streets or roadside. We had a marvelous breakfast at one with Hannah Abisheganaden, a charming woman and one of the authors of “Traditional Malaysian Cuisine,” one of the most beautiful and intriguing cookbooks in our library.

These stalls are open from dawn until well after midnight, one of the best groups being right beside the Hilton Hotel, called the Hilton Drive-In by locals, much to the dismay of hotel management. Another is on Petaling Street in Chinatown, still another on Glutton Square. Better ask directions for this one.

Yasmin (Ampang Park, second floor in shopping complex) serves a buffet of traditional Malay specialties, including a folkloric show in the evening, for $12. Food and show were both very good, audience a mix of visitors and town folks.

Golden Phoenix (Hotel Equatorial) does a fine job on Cantonese, the hors d’oeuvres and shark fin soup particularly good. Malaysian food in a hotel setting is nothing less than superior at the Regent, some of the best of northern India’s Mogul dishes at Omar Khayyam (9 Medan Tamin).

Going first-class: The Regent (Sultan Ismail; $64-$84) is almost too beautiful to believe. Lobby of rich carved wood, huge planters of green copper, shining inlaid floors and service really remarkable. The bedrooms go beyond luxury in size and decor, Malaysian art and artifacts placed here and there. Pool, a couple of convivial bars, three restaurants and coffee shop.

On your own: Behind the mural facade of the National Museum lies a treasure of the country’s arts, crafts and culture, enough to bring us back for a second look. The Lake Gardens running through the city are made for strolling, pewter and batik factories call for a visit.

Just north of the city are the famous Batu Caves where at the top of 245 steps a Hindu shrine is set deep into the limestone cliffs. But just roaming around on foot, shopping and bargaining, is enough to amuse you for days. The Sunday Market, which opens and has its biggest crowds on Saturday night, is the place to shop for handicrafts, fabrics, you name it.

Petaling Street is another popular street market selling just about anything, including $10 rip-offs of famous-name watches. Lots of fortune tellers here to read your face.

For more information: Call the Malaysian Tourist Center at (415) 788-3344, or write (600 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94105) for a brochure on Kuala Lumpur, another on all of Malaysia.