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Please don’t bother to call it Kuala Lumpur,

“muddy estuary” is too long-winded for life

in KL these days. This sweltering metropolis

of six million – a Los Angeles-style suburban

sprawl carved out of the jungle – has

reached critical mass and been swept up in

the Asian boom. That means an increasing

sophistication in art, fashion and food, along

with an incremental rise in noise and traffic.

It may take more time on the freeways, but

the remnants of rainforest and colonial grace

are still here, along with the usual overflow

of ethnic food. Just jump in a cab or, better

still, hire your own set of wheels to do full

justice to Malaysia’s “Big Durian”.

Kuala LumpurWhether jogging in the jungle, taking high tea in a colonial mansion or discovering the Chinese and South Indian influences on Malaysian cuisine, Kuala Lumpur is a city full of options.

WORDS JOHN KRICH PHOTOGRAPHY CHRISTOPHER WISE

7:00Few big cities in the world let you start the day like this. Fifteen minutes or less from the city centre, on the E12 Ampang highway, take the Jalan Kerja Ayer Lama exit and head straight on that road’s dead-end loop to the wilderness end of the peaceful neighbourhood of Taman TAR (the initials of Malaysia’s first president). The 3.8km circuit, perfect for jogging or walking, borders on the stately trees and intense green of an ancient rainforest – and is home to giant lizards and broods of branch-hopping macaque monkeys.

9:00A half-hour drive away, Petaling Jaya has a small forest reserve called Bukit Gasing – with trails in case the earlier jog is not enough. But a greater lure is the nearby Raju Restaurant (4 Jalan Chantek 5/13), one of KL’s most humble yet best-loved culinary wonders. Despite the recent loss of outdoor tables, Raju continues to draw devotees of the city’s finest South Indian breakfast. This is hands-down the best spot to sample Malaysia’s iconic roti canai – a hyper-flakey flatbread homage to pure wheat. Raju also specialises in outstandingly thin

SkyBar (opposite, 7pm); flamingos and pelicans at KL Bird Park (above, 10.30am)

dosai crepes, accompanied by gravies and coconut chutney, and washed down with teh tarik (“pulled tea” aerated by frequent pouring). The Tamil staff also bears trays of bite-sized spiced doughnuts, or fried chicken, squid and mackerel slathered in a perfectly balanced chilli paste – tempting some to the full meals,which are served on banana leaves.

10:30 Amid the vast tropical sanctuary that is the British-constructed Lake Gardens, KL Bird Park (920 Jalan Cenderawasih, ❯

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KL Bird Park (also below, 10.30am); Galeri Chandan (above right, 1pm); Publika Shopping Mall (right and far right, 1pm)

Carcosa Seri Negara (above left and top, 3pm); Peter Hoe Beyond (above centre and right, 5pm)

klbirdpark.com) feels like the set of a Disney movie. Outshining a zoo that’s shabbily outdated for a country so known for wildlife, the Bird Park is home to not just an amazing varietyof native hornbills, but enough ambling peacocks, nibbling parakeets, preening flamingos and unblinking owls to please even the most jaded of bird-watching explorers. Mornings are cooler, with less chance of rain. If the day is too damp for aviary encounters, KL’s hidden, jewel-like Islamic Arts Museum (Jalan Lembah Perdana,iamm.org.my) is just down the hill.

12:00 Malay cuisine has always taken a backseat to KL’s more readily sampled Chinese and South Indian varieties.

But Sambal Hijau (Green Hot Sauce, 2990 Jalan Sungai Penchala) makes Malay cooking both accessible and memorable. This open-air cafeteria is located alongside the quaint, ochre-colored mosque of Kampong Sungai Penchala, one of the last Malay-reserve villages, just off the Penchala Link in a green valley. The calls to prayer amplify the call to lunch – amply answered by heaping a plate with rice, stingray, curried crabs and shrimps, various stews and vegetables such as long beans with toasted coconut.

13:00 For the time-deprived, Publika Shopping Mall (1 Jalan Dutamas, Hartamas Heights) provides a one-stop source for both the latest in art and

retail. Ten minutes back towards town, this glassed-in arcade of black steel within the Solaris Dutamas hosts a subsidised “art row” where emerging artists showcase their often satirical canvases. Walk through an Italianate piazza to MAP’s White Box and Black Box – bigger spaces devoted to uncensored visual expression, as well as theatre, dance and fashion.

The mall also draws upscale crowds with its funky selection of local women’s designers and retro antique shops – enlivened by weekend markets. No international luxury brands are allowed, leaving room for the most whimsical and eccentric of Malaysian design in shops such as Locus, Lonely Dream and Corgi Fashion, and an upper floor of adventurous art galleries, such as Galeri Chandan (galerichandan.com).

15:00 Carcosa Seri Negara (Jalan Kebun Bunga, Tasik Perdana) is a hotel disguised as a national monument, the columned residence of KL’s first and subsequent British governors. What’s left behindis the ritual of high tea looking out on trimmed jungle. Seeming far from the city’s bustle, yet just a turn or two from KL Sentral station (and the airport train), the service is unhurried and the scones are as traditional as the atmosphere. There is also crumble, crème brûléeand an abundance of history.

17:00Hidden in Chinatown (there’s no signin the entrance lobby) is a KL shopping

gem. Peter Hoe Beyond (145 Jalan Tun HS Lee) crams the entire second floorof the Lee Rubber Building (the Japanese command HQ during WWII) with every traditional item turned modern: pillows, baskets, mirrors, bedspreads, lamps, robes, rugs, candleholders, picture frames, placemats and more, all from Asia and all of cheery good taste. Many are playful designs made to order in India, and all price tags come with pithy homilies such as: “The home is a vessel of your inner self”. This isn’t so much a store as a celebration.

19:00The tapered steel spires of KL’s iconic Twin Towers serve to locate lost tourists. At sunset, head to the best vantage point of all, SkyBar ❯

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KL NOIR

Edited by Amir Muhammad (Fixi Novo)A four-volume series of short

stories exploring the seamy side of a modern metropolis –

unpredictable, but engaging.

THE LONG DAY WANES: A MALAYAN TRILOGY

Anthony Burgess (Norton)The classic account of the last years

of British rule in Malaya, in all its anguish and absurdity, by the

author of A Clockwork Orange.

TAPAI: TRAVELS & GUILTY PLEASURES OF A FERMENTED

MALAYSIAN Hishamuddin Rais (ZI Publications)Collected food columns of an

irreverent dissident provide glimpses into the strange flavours of the Malaysian mind and table.

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The Solianos play jazz at the Colonial Cafe at the Majestic Hotel (9pm, above left and top); Petronas Towers (above, 7pm)

(skybar.com.my) on the 33rd floorof the Traders Hotel (KL City Centre), which looks directly across at the Petronas Towers with an unobstructed view of all their modernist splendour. Better yet, they can be seen through picture windows from comfortable floor cushions set around the hotel’s lap pool. For a local touch, grilled skewers of chicken and beef satay accompany tropical cocktails. Just don’t fall into the water if the view or drinks prove too dizzying – management may offer dry clothes, but not new smartphones.

21:00 The Majestic Hotel (5 Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin, www.majestickl.com) is an art deco masterpiece opposite KL’s Moorish-style former train station (1910), now restored to create KL’s most pleasurable heritage outpost. At the Colonial Cafe, dine from a menu that successfully matches the 1920s colonial

atmosphere with Hainanese chicken chops, mulligatawny and other Anglo-Oriental fare. Relax to the perfect accompaniment of nostalgic ballads performed by bluesy divas Isabella and Irene Soliano. During breaks, the sisters regale listeners with the history of their storied family – the numerous offspring of renowned Filipino bandleader Alfonso Soliano, nearly all of whom are world-class jazz musicians. A

B For airfares and holiday packages to Kuala Lumpur call Qantas Holidays on 1300 339 543 or visit qantas.com/holidaysaustralianway