Steven's Corner, KL, Malaysia

From 2006 to 2010 we lived in KL, Malaysia. Our townhouse in Jalan Nyaman, Taman Gembira (Happy Garden), had easy access to many kinds of eateries. Most were within walking distance. Just a few roads away was a whole street of restorens. 

By night, Kuala Lumpur comes alive with roadside dining. Dinner is not, however, the only goal of nighttime outings. After dinner comes supper and Stout and Big Screen Football.

Steven's Corner, OUG, was, my husband told me, the place to hang out, after hours. It became a favourite haunt, a place we took many friends visiting from back home in India. If you ask me about my days in KL, I'll surely bore you with memories of this area.

Carlsberg in ice buckets

Beer equals a full bladder and, unlike back home in India, in Malaysia, you can, mostly, easily access a fairly clean toilet. The latrines inside this eatery had football fan graffiti.  Something or the other about Liverpool.

A little further up, here is another place we visited. Malaysian eateries are much frequented by these 

The Strange Tail of the Malaysian Cat

cats with bizarre tails. I wonder what is the tale behind these tails? 

Soto Ayam is a kind of chicken soup and who has not heard of Satay, Malaysia's signature dish? Ayam is chicken and Kambing is lamb.

In the same area, we once heard some exquisite whistling. The man, in the photo below, whistles as he cooks up 

Am I this Whistler's Mother?

a hearty and sustaining meal at his "Western Food" outlet.

The Multilingual Man from Bangladesh

This smiling waiter from Bangladesh could speak fluent Chinese, Malay, Tamil, Hindi and English. Dynamic of body and tongue, it is such as he who bring sparkle to places like Steven's Corner. 

Proud to be Indian!

Though life was good in Malaysia, I was always homesick and would leap at the chance to meet other "real" Indians from back home. This youngster from Tamil Nadu let me try out at his wok.

The Boys from Back Home

In fact, I met many such as he and was so proud of their spirit and hard work and level of intelligence. Alas, there are some in these ranks who have advanced academic degrees under their belt. 

Nostalgia apart, Steven's corner was our place to sip a few late night beers, often served by sweet Indonesian girls (I think). Sometimes a wandering minstrel would serenade us for some small tip. Most probably from the Philipines. 

From the mundane roti canai to deep-fried quail (burung puyuh goreng-burung is bird and goreng is fried), Steven's Corner is the best place to discover a particular essence of Malaysia.