The Wonder Of Wander

Sunday I intended to check out one of the few Roman Catholic churches in the KL area. I took a wrong turn and ended up with a touch of the less cosmopolitan side of the city.

This early Sunday morning was probably like any typical day for the folks of the Pudu district. Many were leisurely having their breakfast at the numerous sidewalk cafes, probably talking about the week gone past, or the week to be, as the streets seemed to still be waking up this clear but humid morning.

A couple turns this way and that and I ended up near one of the light-rail lines nearby in a residential area. Some kids were playing football in an apartment parking lot as I took a little side trail that really didn't lead to much of interest to the typical tourist, but it did give me a hint of why the Klang river doesn't look so pretty at times, as a stream of what looked to be untreated and fairly foul-smelling water cascaded in the viaduct beside the roadbed. Also, motorbike drivers pretty much don't follow whatever traffic laws may be in place. Several motorbikes roared down what is ostensibly a pedestrian path, and woe be the walker who doesn't have their head on a swivel traversing anywhere in KL proper.


I still wanted to try to locate this church, so I tried to retrace my steps, which by chance took me to one of the largest wet markets in the city. At the beginning, I found what seemed to be the home aquarium vendor section. Varieties of fish you probably wouldn't find in your typical Petco back home fluttered around big buckets of water, as well as any piece of equipment you can imagine for those who want a touch of the aquatic for their living quarters. But the offerings weren't restricted to fishes - frogs and other legged animals that might find the water to their liking were also available at seemingly bargain-basement prices.

Then came the heart of the wet market. What to seemed to be mostly people of Chinese descent marketed their wares, from live animals to those which seemed freshly killed and prepared for home cooking. Fish of all varieties were also on display, as well as a cornucopia of vegetables and fruits.

The stalls lay close together, leading to narrow pathways and a somewhat claustrophobic feeling as you tried to wend your way through, avoiding both other patrons and vendors toting their wares from one place to another.

A little backtrack and a turn up the road led to a little area of shops that specialized in IT and computer products, a la the more famous Low Yat and Imbi Plazas in Bukit Bintang. There were quite a few stores specializing in lighting fixtures and fans as well, which reminded me a bit of the souks of Damascus, where shops specializing in certain goods or products would be generally clumped together in one spot. I also had my first encounter with a little foodie thing I had read about - the Ramly Burger, which is a essentially a Malaysian street food hamburger, but alas the stand was closed for the day.

It was about this time when I realized that I had done just a little bit too much physical activity for the two-days-plus, as the dull pain that made itself known prior to my appendicitis attack re-emerged, a seeming little reminder that I really wasn't too far removed from the surgery room. I eased my way back toward my temporary home for the moment. I traversed near a park with a grand view of the KL Golden Triangle skyline, including the iconic KL and Petronas Towers and sidled into Berjaya Times Square to a local branch of Krispy Kreme.

As I sat there practically alone relaxing under the shade with a donut and an ice cold coffee, I just realized how lucky I was. I had still managed to make it to KL, and although I was a little tired from the weekend's festivities, plus the still not-quite-completed adjustment to local time, I really couldn't have imagined a better way at that time to come back to the cushy, more tourism-board friendly version of KL.