Dinner at the Petroleum Club in Kuala Lumpur

Now here's an enjoyable and interesting experience.

Through a friendly business connection, we were invited to dinner with a new friend, his son and his son's girlfriend, at the Petroleum Club in Kuala Lumpur.

I called Colin on his cell phone. We had never met him before or even spoken to him. We immediately realized that he would be extremely hospitable and fun. He arranged to pick us up at our hotel. Colin arrived early. We were waiting in the lounge for him. We put our luggage in the back of his car as we would go directly to the train station after dinner to travel to Singapore. Colin has a driver who has been with the family for over thirty years; a very pleasant man.

The traffic was heavy, but we managed to get to the Petronas Towers in reasonable time. The Petronas Towers are currently the world's third tallest building after 101 in Taipei and the new building in Dubai. Colin kept up a constant commentary during the drive telling us about his family, his businesses and the city. It was most interesting.

As we alighted from the car, we were led into the lobby of the towers, Colin knew and greeted everybody. It was clear to us that he was very well liked by all. We took the elevator up to the 42nd floor of the towers, at the same level of the bridge made famous by the Sean Connery movie "Entrapment." Colin gave us a tour of the club. It was real old world charm with a Malaysian Chinese feeling. We could smell the delicious aroma's coming from the dining room where we would have dinner. The club has four restaurants. We met the general manager, who could not have been more friendly, like a member of the family. He even introduced us to his son. All the club staff members had worked at the club for a long time. They were all exceptionally helpful and gracious.

We sat in a lounge overlooking the city, having a drink while we discussed many diverse topics of mutual interest. Colin;s son, Barry and his girlfriend arrived to join us. We immediately got on well with them. One big happy family. It was clear that Barry and Colin had a strong bond and get on extremely well together. What I found interesting is that they have a very similar relationship that I had with my father, working closely together

After a lively discussion we went down to the buffet dining room for our feast/dinner. I decided to try all the Malaysian foods. I started with the salads. They were a bit spicy, but thoroughly enjoyable. I tried about six or seven different salads with various dressings. After the salads, I tried some meats, fish and vegetables. The freshly made roti was delicious with both vegetarian and fish stew options. The beef, venison and noodles were also delicious.

Now it was crunch time, I decided to try the durian. We had heard a lot about this famous, supposedly very tasty fruit with a nasty smell. It is banned from taxi cabs and hotel rooms. Once the smell gets into the car or room, it is almost impossible to get it out. The smell is pungent! The durian at the club was made with coconut milk and brown sugar in a soup. It was still possible to smell the durian, but less than normal. It was actually pretty tasty.

After trying a host of Malaysian desserts it was time to leave. What an enjoyable evening with our new friends in Kuala Lumpur. Hopefully we can reciprocate soon is Texas.