My family and I used to live in Kuala Lumpur in the past. So, yes, I was born and raised there until the year of 2012. Then, we moved to Sabah, around November, due to my father's retirement. I was really glad that I still have time to finish school where I was still a Form 2 student at that time. But, it was really sad at the same time since I have to leave all of my friends and my favorite teachers.
Not only that, there were also other things that I have to leave such as my cats and all of the favorite places that I used to go and visit.
Also, for the past few days, I have also taken some time to look at all the places that I used to go using the Google Maps' 3D Street View. I actually found this trick when I was scrolling through my TikTok app. And after that, I quickly turned on my laptop just to try it. Once I saw all of them for the first time, after so long of leaving KL, I actually cried in my room, in the middle of the night because I can't describe how much I miss the city. I knew it was embarrassing, but, lucky I was alone at that time LOL.
So, these are the things that make me miss Kuala Lumpur (so much):
The People
I really miss the environment where I can make friends with all the people of different races and ethnicities. I used to have many Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sarawakian, and Dusunese friends at school and in the residential area where my family and I used to live. Not only that, I also used to be friends with immigrants too. I love the fact that I can learn different languages from all of them.
Since moving, I have very rarely, had friends of different races other than friends who are Sabahans (Dusunese, the Bajaus, and some of them are mixed). But, lucky that our world has becoming more modern and we are able to connect with people even when we are far away from them.
To this day, I still do keep in touch with my friends that still live in Peninsular Malaysia.
The Foods
This is what makes me miss KL, mostly, since everytime when it comes to foods there, all I could think of is "diversity". There are Chinese, Indian, Malay, and other ethnics foods and I believe that under each of them can be broke down into several sub-races and all of them has their own recipes, handed down by their ancestors from generation to generation.
When I was still in KL ever since I was a kid, I have gone to many places to eat. And, since I'm a non-Muslim, of course I can eat anywhere. There are so many iconic places such as:
- Rojak Bellamy
Which is famous because of their iconic "Pasembur".
- Siu Siu Restaurant
The most favorite menu that I used to eat here is the steamed fish coated with a thick Tom Yam gravy and garnished with some vegetables such as long beans. Other than that is the steamed bean curd which is garnished with minced pork and some spring onions on top, and it is also poured with gravy which is cooked using soy sauce, sesame oil, and oyster saucy. There are also other non-halal menus that I love but I think I won't mention them here since I forgot the full name for each of them.
- The Nasi Lemak Stall Which Is in The Same Area as Siu Siu Restaurant's
I'm not really sure the name of this stall since I already forgot its name. I mean, I have been in Sabah for a long long time now and it's the only reason why I'm not quite familiar with the buildings, roads, and the streets names. Even if I spend all day looking at Google Maps in 3D Street View, still, I have a hard time to recognize everything since there are new buildings and new environments surrounding the specific places that I want to see.
This place, I think, is (or was, since I'm not sure whether the stall is still operating to this day or not) remarkable for its Nasi Lemak that they serve to customers everyday. When I was still in kindergarten and primary school, my dad will always (not like everyday though. Only when he had the mood to have lunch outside, or feel lazy to cook at home) bring me here after school. This was also the place where he and his co-workers used to had lunch together besides Rojak Bellamy.
- Every Kedai Mamak in Salak Selatan and Bandar Sri Permaisuri
Of course it's hard for me to forget these areas. Compared to the first residential area in where I used to live with my family, these areas have lots of shop lots. There are two kedai mamak that I really like to go. The first one is Restoran Nana Cafe which is located in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, and the other one is Restoran Fathima which is located in Salak Selatan. Both of them, for me, are so iconic for their Roti Canai and Economy Rice.
- Every Chinese Restaurants in Salak Selatan and Bandar Sri Permaisuri Too
Not forget to mention that throughout my stay in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, there were also many Chinese restaurants that I used to go with my family. In Bandar Sri Permaisuri, there are like, two Chinese restaurants that I really love to go which of them are:
I really love it here since the only menu that I always love to order is the Chicken Chop Rice and the Nasi Goreng USA. And of course, the soy milk is to die for and must be ordered along with the foods I used to always order.
As much as I remember, the only food that I always ordered here was the Noodle Soup from this one stall which is inside the restaurant. I'm not even sure what's the name of the food since they wrote all of them in Chinese, or was it? I'm not even sure to be honest because at that time, I was still a kid and I had a hard time to read everything that passes my eyes and I'm easily get distracted very quickly, everytime I'm in public. Even to this day too.
Then, these are the Chinese restaurants in Salak Selatan that I used to go when I was still living in Bandar Sri Permaisuri:
- Kedai Makanan Salak Selatan
The only foods that I have in mind everytime when I think of this restaurant is the Hokkien Mee and Steamed Pork Buns.
- This One Small Restaurant that Doesn't Have a Name to This Day
To be honest, I don't even know the name of the restaurant ever since the first time I ate here. This place was small and I don't really like dining in here especially when it's around afternoon as it can be hot around that time. However, what's important to me was the foods, which is the Economy Rice.
To sum all of it, these Chinese restaurants are very iconic for serving Economy Rice to customers.
Some of the places that I've already mentioned may have moved to somewhere. Some of them have already upgraded their restaurants. And, some of them may no longer operating. But, these restaurants have carved some respective memories in my mind to this day. It is very hard to stop remembering everything and keep missing all of them at the same time. I just wish that someday I will go to these places again.
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