Malaysia's New Delhi

If you ever take a stroll down Brickfields at about 8pm, it will definitely remind you of New Delhi. The smell of roti canai, chapati, tosai and not to mention fragrances from the incense sticks and flowers snucks up your noses.

I've been there not more than five times in my whole lifetime and I wonder why. I went there during the weekend for a visit to the homeopathy section (they do wonders!) and of course for some Indian cuisine and shopping. I never realized that shopping there is a whole lot cheaper than in the shopping malls. I now use Indian herbal shampoos, I buy Indian curry chick peas and am now starting to buy Indian clothes too. Of course shopping in East India Company does not really count. What I meant was the real Punjabi Suits and Sarees. They are a whole lot cheaper than shopping for clothes at the shopping mall plus they do come in sets which means no more figuring out what matches in your cupboard especially in the morning rush.

My visit last weekend was a tad too late as most of the retail shops were closing by the time I had my Indian cuisines. I continued shopping in Masjid Jamek, the ever famous street with lots of Indian goldsmiths and shops. The ambience wasn't as similar to Brickfields as there is a mixture of Malay shops and Indian-Muslim shops plus a different crowd altogether. Even the fragrance was missing. Well, at least I got my annual dinner dress there. The looks shall remain a secret until the day but it's funny that being Chinese, I don't own a cheongsam while I own every other traditional ethnic clothes in this country.