KL’s sightseeing attractions include the world’s
tallest flagpole, the fifth tallest radio tower, the Petronas
Towers – once the world’s tallest buildings, now
surpassed. All are hyped as unrecognized wonders of the world.
Well, okay, the Petronas Towers are impressive, but they are,
after all, just two more pillars of glass and steel, and the
tallest flagpole is still a flagpole. The only time I recall
seeing the pole it didn’t even have an outsized flag
flapping at the top.
So, with a morning to spend in KL, what do you do? Head to
Chinatown — the earlier the better. Mornings, Jalan
Petaling is free of the cheap goods sellers that fill it in
the evenings. It’s not so claustrophobic, and in the
early hours the old folks are out to take their tea and porridge
at the food stalls and shops in the alleyways off both sides
of the street.
My favorite is Kedai Hon Kee, just left of the first main
intersection along Jl. Petaling (after entering the market
from the Jl. Cheng Lock side). It’s just a little porridge
shop – Singapore’s been wiping them out for decades
in hygiene campaigns, but what can be dangerous about piping
hot rice porridge with a choice of chicken, pork, or fish
bits? Add a raw egg, soy sauce, and chopped up fried breadsticks
for a satisfying breakfast. It’s got to be good judging
from the workman-and-old-codger clientele. The noodle stall
next door is good eating in the evenings, too.
There are plenty of other options among the alley stalls and
pushcarts – fresh fruits and juices, fried traditional
breads, pastries, noodles of all varieties, or just tea. Call
it browse-and-eat shopping, a pleasant way to spend a cool
early morning. Next you can explore Chinatown and the city
center as people arrive in buses, trains, and taxis for the
working day. Trucks will be parked in front of old-time wholesalers,
loading to distribute goods to neighborhood provision shops.
Newspaper distributors will be dropping off bundles of papers
for collection by news agents. And anytime after 8:30 you
can pop into the Junk Book Store at 78 Jl. Tun H.S. Lee.
Anyone who loves tumbledown secondhand book stores shouldn’t
miss this place. I don’t know which is more dangerous
— the ground floor with two floors groaning above, or
the third floor with the dusty books stacks testing the rotting
strength of the creaking beams. It’s the kind of book
shop where My Friend Flicka is in the poetry section, and
20-odd high school copies of The Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
bespeak a deal too good to pass up. Adelyn Koh, the proprietress,
seems to have bought up the libraries of every expatriate
and colonial officer that ever left Malaysia. The really good
stuff is kept in an office on the third floor for viewing
by connoisseurs and collectors; ordinary book lovers have
to make do browsing through the shelves, watched over by Adelyn’s
apologetic father. “Have you ever seen anything like
it?” his eyes ask whenever you run into him and feather
duster in the jumbled bowels of the old shop. No, I haven’t,
not in Asia, although I suspect you might find something like
it in Hong Kong.
From the Masjid Jamek rail station walk along Jl. Tun Perak
in the direction of the Oriental Bldg (Burger King is opposite).
Turn right at Jl. H.S. Tun Lee. The Junk Book Store is in
the first block on your left. Continue south along H.S. Tun
Lee to enter and explore Chinatown, the Central Market, and
the food and market stalls of Jl. Petaling.
