You realise the power TripAdvisor has when you find yourself walking down the deserted back streets of old KL early on a Sunday morning in search of your tour guide – only to find a hidden away little office and a full tour party where everyone else also has discovered that tour in the very same way! Eat, Pray, Love is one of the many tours led by Be.Tourist – and yes it’s number 1 on TripAdvisor for tour activities with multiple 5 star reviews and for very good reason. The tour is based around food – and sooo much of it (hence the EAT in the tour name). The PRAY bit comes from visiting various temples reflecting the diverse cultures in Kuala Lumpur in particular Malay, Indian and Chinese. And LOVE is how we felt about going on such a great tour!
Roti tisu and teh terik
The first pit stop was breakfast, where we were introduced to Roti Chenai – an Indian influenced flat bread, traditionally served with dahl (a lentil curry) or alternatively another type of curry (we had dahl and chicken curry with ours). Next our wonderful guide, Max brought out what we thought was just milky tea or coffee. One sip and we knew it was a little different and sweeter than the norm, but quite delicious. A traditional Malay drink called Teh Terik, which was made up of black tea and condensed milk – I did say it was sweet! Roti tisu (roti tissue) is divine and a very cool idea for an after dinner dessert treat. It’s a really thinly rolled roti, which is super crispy and then is drizzled with condensed milk.
Banana Leaf Mess
Messy but tasty in its own special way
We were taken down a strange little alley way, the kind of place you wouldn’t tend to look twice at if you hadn’t been on tour with a local. It’s smelt a little odd, and as we were waiting for our meals – men in towels with toothbrushes in hand kept walking past us heading to the bathroom which must have been at the opposite end of the restaurant; I felt a million miles away from NZ. The banana leaves were bought out, then a mound of rice placed on each one. Then, one by one interesting and sometimes unidentifiable foods were scooped out onto the leaf for us to sample. Travelling is about trying new things right?!
Amazing street food
Heading into old KL
I would highly recommend doing this tour if you have time in Kuala Lumpur. It’s a great off-the-beaten-track tour, which is fun but also gives you a real insight in the diverse cultures in Malaysia and how those cultures fit together in what is a thriving cosmopolitan city of both old and new. I felt I got to see a little slice of the real Malaysia and it’s people.
Mangosteen – delicious mango flavoured white flesh fruit
Very, VERY sweet drink with ice and jelly
Petaling Street
Which Way? 