this little pig went to market

It is nice to have friends who love to eat and are willing to wake up early and bring you around to sample some of life's simple pleasures right in the middle of KL. All these while, I thought breakfast in and around KLCC was all about cafeteria, Starbucks and McDonalds.

Just a while ago, I got to eat Roti Telur and Nes-Lo (Nescafe & Milo) in a mamak Nasi Kandar place just across the road from Nikko Hotel. It was yummers because I have not had Roti Telur for breakfast since... erm, forever? The restaurant has a very pleasant ambience. Eating breakfast al fresco with cool morning breeze and gentle morning sunlight just help you digest better. They even have a mini Koi pond in the middle (of no where) which is rather odd but I think it was for feng shui. Remember, it is always about the feng shui. This place is usually packed to the brim during lunch hours.

Anyways, today we headed for the market! Market in KL? Really? It seems there is. It is on Jalan Imbi and I felt that it looked very much like the Pokok Assam market in Taiping which I blogged about earlier. It has a wet area where they really sell meat and veges and lots of attractive fruits with confident taglines like "Sweet as Sugar" and frogs. Yes, frogs! The frogs were the first to greet me at the entrance to the market. I felt so sad for them because they were still jumping around, showing off their powerful legs which are the reason why people eat them. They were usually cut up with a pair of scissors. *gasp*

Anyways, Yvonne went to market because there is also a dry area for people to sit down and eat. Man, I was spoilt with choices!

-The makan area-

I immediately knew what I wanted to eat when I walked past this shop:

-Chee Cheong Fun!!!-

Eventhough the main reason I was brought here was because of this one famous "kopitiam".

-The Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea Kopitiam-

I wondered which one of those many uncles was Ah Weng. Their specialties were the Hainan Tea (of course), toasted square bun with butter and kaya and their half-boiled eggs which were special because they only use Kampung Chicken Eggs. They even have "reserved" and "VIP" table tents!! For a kopitiam!? This shop is Ho-Chak approved, mind you. Ho Chak is a program on 8TV, fyi, and it means 'delicious' in Hokkien dialect (I think). One of my fave show as they bring your around KL and other parts of Malaysia in search of good food and show you how they are prepared and sometimes even throw in the secret recipes. The best part is, they feature both restaurants and also little stalls and even those little blink-and-you'll-miss stalls in the Pasar Malam so you have a wide variety of places to choose from. Once they are done, they will stick this Ho Chak sticker on the shop's signboard. Gone are the days of watching these makan programs on Singapore TV or even any Asian food channels and don't get to try the food.

-Coffee and toast, just like at home-

Anyways, I ordered the ordinary coffee because I haven't had coffee since Taiping but only to be told that the famous Hainan Tea was actually coffee! So I tried my friend's Hainan Tea which looked exactly like coffee but tasted like strong milk tea. I was confused.

Anyways, the toasted bun was nice too but of course, Kluang Station's toasted round buns are the best. Kluang rules!! By the way, couldn't focus on half boiled eggs because I went a bit too far with the Chee Cheong Fun.

-Supposedly Chee Cheong Fun-

I took too much of those fried Yong Tau Foo that I couldn't locate the noodle part. Huge plate for breakfast standards. Luckily I didn't listen to the Aunty when she tried to make me take more Chee Cheong Fun. The thing about this dish is, when you are selecting your accompanying Yong Tau Foo, they always seem so few until the aunty chops them up. And then you go "Oh-OH".


Anyways, there were Wan Ton Noodles, Pan Mee, Char Koay Teow and so much more. I think I'll have to come here very often to sample everything.

-lighter options (not today, dude, especially when you park next to the Chee Cheong Fun)-

And look what I found on the way out!

-Apung!!!-

Remember my previous entry about the Apung in the Pokok Assam market which I loved so much? They are here! Woohoo! They sell it at twice the price (RM0.40) and smaller in size than those in Taiping but whatever lah. At least I get to eat them on a regular basis now. :D


And then there were rats everywhere. No, not the real rats. The market is not that dirty and it was too early for a mouse to come out anyways. It is the year of the Rat! As I was reminded by the numerous stalls selling Chinese New Year cookies and what nots. This is the time for Mickey and Minnie to shine! There were too many aunties blocking me from taking a photo of the golden (no less) Mickey and Minnie coin boxes. The rest were pretty cute too. A dash of cute to divert our attention from those usually nasty ones, I suppose.

-The cute rats-