Finale Dinner

Finished 2 days of training with 60 people from the region, and we went for a Chinese place with a couple people from Hong Kong, who vetted it out the previous night. Food was great and service was impeccable, as predicted. I sound like a broken record by now, but this is food Mecca with a low price tag. 

Among great conversation, here are a couple pics of some of the things we had, too many to list:

Giant oyster:

Steamed red grouper

Pic of the place

Did I mention that lunch was equally as good?

Leaving, on a jet plane,

Don't know when I'll be back again....

But seriously, this was an awesome trip for so many reasons. One thing I didn't highlight was the multitude of great people I met this week. At least 4 times we were treated to fabulous meals by local people. They viewed it as an honor to have is in their region, and took us to the finest restaurants, ordered the right things, and treated. I have eaten more diverse food in a week than ever before. Not once did I see anything resembling what we eat in America, and I feel great. Maybe this is why life expectancy is higher in this side of the world. And I cannot say enough about the hospitality as a country - not once did I get a nasty look - nothing more than a few comments about how messed up America's political system is, which I agreed with. 

Many pictures to post, but here at KLIA about to board the world's newest and largest plane to London. Full flight too. 

Model above, real one below

Went to work today, and felt like I was in Florida.  First of all, our office is in the midst of 2 mega-malls, both 6+ stories of shops and dining, and one of which ironically is called The Gardens Mall.  And second, it feels like Florida - 5 minutes outside and you sweat profusely.

We were there for almost 12 hours if you count dinner and lunch in the mall.  But please don't make any pre-determined thoughts about "mall food" - here mall restaurants really do a good job of being unique, not chains, and absolutely awesome.  So far, 5 meals in a mall and 3 probably are in my top 20 lifetime.  Not to mention the price thing, which is broken-record-ish.  5 people with drinks at an authentic chinese place with about 12 courses and dessert = 150$ ?? That would have been 400+ in the US at PFu Changs, and this wasn't McChina.

Lunch was actually even more special - went to a Japanese place that cooks all of its food with tea - all unique and tasty.

 Pics to left are from lunch.  Didn't take any at dinner - too tired

Coffee in Room

Drinking my Nescafé in room since it is 5am. Not too bad for powder. Apparently this is what they think westerners want unless they specify local coffee. So if you ask, they have nice local stuff with condensed milk - remember that. 

Sushi Dinner

I think the points about food and cost here are well established, but this underscores it. We went to a fancy sushi place, and I knew it would be good because it was full of Japanese people when other restaurants nearby were mostly empty. It took about 3 minutes with the menu to realize that the prices were so low for the quality we got. I signed for 196RM, which is about 50$. Had we not gotten toro and 3 drinks, and since tipping is somewhat optional and not expected at 20%, I easily could have signed for closer to 140RM, which would have been 35$ for a ridiculous sushi dinner for 2 people. What we got (and only some of it is pictured) would easily have been 150$ in the US. And this was high end....

Guess:

Sorry vegetarians, I ate these poor baby octopus whole, and they were good.

Petronas and Lunch

Lunch for today - we each got Nasi Lamek, shared a starter and a veg. My drink had lychees in it. And yes, still stuffed nearly 5 hours later...

I took a bunch of pictures at Petronas, but here are a couple of good ones:

Taking a break from work to sit by the pool with a LIIT - I don't feel too bad because everyone in America is sleeping now :)

Morning Acitivity

Having a nice (hot & hazy) day so far - about to start working for my job, but we (co-worker) did some stuff this morning and had a great meal.  My day started at 4am when the melatonin wore off, but I was happy to get 5hrs of sound sleep.  Did some work and exercise before 7, then grabbed a coffee and we took a cab to Petronas Tower.  Tickets sell out quickly I read, so by 8 we were in line and it was a good thing. We went up at 9:30 and checked it out.  Too many pics to post, but I will add one below.

After that, we checked out the enormous park outside, then we went to a place inside Petronas Mall for early lunch.  This was something else, authentic and fresh food with a nice lychee drink.  Gorged ourselves on several entrees.  Entire bill for 2 with tip - 33$.  Yup, you can eat like a king here pretty easily.

Took an Uber back, for an adventure on the crazy roads.  Glad I am not driving.  Tons of old crappy chinese cars, 1000s of mopeds and motorcycles weaving around, and they drive on the left.  Feels like a video game sometimes.  Now back at the hotel with the laptop.

Will post a pic of lunch and Petronas from my phone..