Poor Josh was still sickie so had to bow out from a lot of what we did over the next few days. It was a shame and, at the same time, a little strange that I would be spending more time with his brothers and sisters than with him. It's a good job his family are lovely then! Josh lives at home with his two brothers and one of his sisters - I don't think I mentioned that Josh's family is massive! I believe he has two brothers and three sisters but don't quote me on that as I might have lost count part way through my stay! I only have one sibling so anything more than that is a large family to me.
I spent most of the day with Noel and Kenny. Noel was chatty and friendly whereas Kenny didn't say that much unless it was to say that something is boring. Kenny is the most difficult person to please but I think that's what most teenagers are like. Noel was very honest and open about a lot of aspects in his life which was foreign to me. There are certain things I don't mind talking about so I reciprocated.
It was another late night late morning so we spent the afternoon in one of KL's many shopping malls. This one was Egyptian themed and called Sunway Pyramid. As the name suggests, the building is pyramid shaped and "protected" by a large lion statue at the front. The decor indoors consists of an unlimited supply of gold leafing emblazoned with hieroglyphics. As a finishing touch, the mall also includes...
...an ice rink of course.
We had a quick wander around but food was needed fast. The decision to come to Sunway actually came from my craving for french fries. I haven't eaten many good versions of the french fry since being away but was optimistic that Malay fries would be close to the best. This mall had a restaurant that sold french fries and french fries alone with any topping you can think of. Be that chocolate (you weirdos), wasabi (brave...or stupid) to the basics - cheese, chilli etc. I had chips, cheese and BBQ mayo. Noel received his bolognese chips first and a while later I received mine. I'm not sure if the delay in serving each person's dish is an Asian thing or a strange coincidence. Thailand was the same. One person would get their dish, then 10-15 minutes later another person would get their dish. My theory is that usually families and groups of friends order dishes to share so timing is never an issue.
The Malay's love for food has been the strongest on my travels. I got a similar feeling when in Japan but I think that was more to do with the appreciation for the best food. This is only the beginning for Malays. It seems like all they think about is food - http://feedmelah.com/blog/malaysians-love-food/. Perhaps I have Malay blood as I feel exactly the same way about cake. The thought train listed in the link above is exactly what I go through but with cake. I love food too so felt right at home here. I was so happy.
My day just seemed to get better and better. We went to a shop that had tubs of samples for every type of sweet in the store. I was reluctant to go in as I knew I'd end up buying something. We went in...and I bought something. I took advantage of the free samples and nobody judged me for it. I left with sour apple sugar strips and gummy bears. I thought I'd received my sugar fix for the day when I sniffed something else out...
Ultimate Food Challenge: Mushroom popcorn anyone?
This looked pretty gross. The challenge was to eat a tub and a further bag of mushroom flavoured popcorn. I think I'd be sick after one bite. The popcorn was provided by a stall in the shopping centre that only sells popcorn with crazy flavours - curry flavour, wasabi (seriously what is it with you guys?), chocolate, caramel etc. The popcorn is full flavoured and seedless. It's a franchise so if anyone is looking for a new business venture, bring this across to the UK and you'd be minted. Maybe leave the wasabi behind though.
I decided to have a look at what other challenges were available. There was an ice cream guzzling contest which made me shiver. I have sensitive teeth so brain freeze would be the last thing on my mind. There was a Nandos chicken leg eating contest and then I saw one that made me stop in my tracks. Dessert gobbling contest...dessert...gobbling...contest. Sign me up!!! I signed up. I needed a contact number so used Noel's and was told that I would be called before the contest begins. I needed to arrive an hour before it starts. That's my next day planned then! I really hoped I would be chosen as that challenge sounded awesome. It was guaranteed that I would win so saw what the prize was. A year's free eating at the sponsor's restaurant/shop. Free cake for a year? I'm not here for a year so was thinking about how much cake I could eat before I'd leave (Singapore customs declarations: Any food, plants etc: Cake and lots of it. Let me in please). Maybe I could make some room in my backpack for more cake. The beast was, at this point, with-child. I decided to attach my day pack to my main pack to accommodate for some extra items I acquired. I'm packing for two now so the added cake would be a perfect use of the extra space!
Fi geek as well as an action seeker, comedy lover and so on and so forth. It's only horror that I refuse to watch. Why would I want to pay to see that?
*****
I decided to forfeit breakfast in preparation for today's inevitable feasting. I was optimistic that I would get chosen. If I turned up in good time, I'm sure I'd get through. They accept the first 20 people they can contact and I'm not sure how long the waiting list was but it just had to happen. Time moved on and I didn't get chosen. I was gutted. I decided to torture myself and see what the challenge was. Ok, challenge is an insult. All they had to do was gobble a teeny tiny pancake and a small pot of yogurt. That'd take me less than a minute. This is meant to be a food challenge! I had dizzying daydreams of the cake eating scene in Matilda (Bruce Bogtrotter - go Brucie!). I think I would have been more disappointed had I been chosen and ended up eating that drivel. I'm glad I stayed around as that made me feel a lot better. It was only when we walked back to the car that Noel discovered two missed calls on his phone from a number he didn't recognise. This was around the time that the mall would be calling people for the contest. Seen as Noel and his family know pretty much everyone in KL, I knew this was definitely Sunway. Damn. I told Noel he owed me a massive piece of cake Noel kindly offered to buy me some cake to make up for it.
Although I have been in KL for a couple of days, I haven't actually seen much of it. Noel drove us to the college to pick up Josh and drive into KL central. I was looking forward to seeing the Petronas Towers at night. Unfortunately we got a bit sidetracked...
Oh dear. I like how Josh is casually leaning out of the window having a smoke. The door on his side wouldn't open.
We were involved in a five car collision on the way to KL central. We were in the last car which isn't good news for any Malaysian. Here, the person in the last car pays for all the damage caused to the cars in front. It doesn't matter who caused the crash. I couldn't believe it. Noel stormed out of the car to investigate the damage and find out what happened. There was already oil on the road from a crash that happened hours previously. The heavy rain didn't help either. We happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had no idea what was going to happen and didn't want to seem pushy so I just waited around. I decided to go for a little nap as it seemed like we were going to be there for a while waiting for the breakdown service. I was told that Josh's sister would be coming to pick us up. Kenny and I went off with the rest of his family for something to eat. Josh and Noel went to the police station and joined us later for food. The ride home was interesting...
In front, Kenny on Josh's lap, I'm on the right, Noel is in the middle and to the left is Josh's two sisters.
I had no idea what would happen now we didn't have a car. Obviously I can use public transport but I had no idea where I was and relied on Noel and Josh to ferry me about!
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