Pudu is one of my favourite wastes of time. Some people find it dodgy and a little too working class but I love it. Where else can you find cheap food, cheap and good massages, cheap Ahpro bibs and bobs for your car, cheap dodgy gold watches, cheap camera accessories etc etc, all within walking distance of each other. There’s also a fabulously stinky, wet and crowded market that has been around for yonks, the Pudu Market, which has everything you need from freshly butchered carcasses to slippery, glistening fish.
Walking around this area, though fun, can be pretty hard work in the heat. Well, for me anyway. Here are three great ways to cool down, via two iconic stalls in the Pudu area, that one should not miss. Presenting my favourite ways to cool down, in Pudu!
1. The Soya Bean Man
Located on Jalan Pasar, the soya bean man is quick to notice your distress in the noon day heat. Would you like to cool off with a sip of my milky drink?
For just RM1.20, feel the heat dissipate as you throw back the sweet, soya milk. Feel the energy return to your lethargic body.
Soya bean milk for sale by the drums, to the neighbouring areas
The pandan leaf cutter
Adding pandan to the soya bean gives the drink a terrific aroma. Normally these leaves are knotted and thrown into the soya bean to brew and the essence permeates the drink.
How you spot an aristocrat drinking soya milk amongst the commoners!
2. The Chendol Man
Venturing deeper into the slip roads and back alley ways of Pudu, alongside the beads and tailor shops, you will find the Chendol man. Plastic tables and chairs in all sorts of assorted colors line the back roads and you will see people sitting down and eating snacks such as rojak that go so well with the Chendol.
A happy worker, makes a good chendol
mountainous snowy ice
White, fluffy ice that looks like snow, is shaved off from the ice machine, and packed into the container until it resembles a mountain of ice. The Chendol man then ladles in a generous scoop of coconut milk with green strands of pandan-flavoured mung bean. He drizzles some Gula Melaka (coconut palm sugar syrup) right at the peak of the ice mountain and it’s good to go.
You can take it away, or eat it on the spot
Eat your Chendol.. it’s good for you!
A grumpy boss is a rich boss!
The fabulous Chendol for just RM1.50. The green chendol strands are soft and springy with an intoxicating pandan aroma. If you add red bean, glutinous rice etc, the price can go up, but it is still pretty affordable. The green chendol strands go perfectly with the sweet and salty coconut milk – adding salt to the coconut is a must. It gives the dessert some dimension, and extra kick. This place does it just right!
3. The Coconut Man
Under the same roof is the coconut man. For those who dislike all things too cloyingly sweet, God gave the coconut. The coconut has all the natural sugars and salts that make it the perfect drink if you have been sweating in the heat. It replenishes salts and minerals like no other drink can, whilst its sweet, white flesh gives you energy to carry on with whatever you’re doing. I love this drink even more than the Chendol. OK, maybe sometimes!
Using the cleaver to break into the coconut
Cumi digs in..
Hardly 5 star cutlery but it is enough to do the trick
Ciki loves a goooood coconut, she does!!
Add: Jalan Pasar, Pudu, 57100 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I can imagine putting no.1 and no. 2 together for a more contemporary, fusion-but-local drink – soya cendol! 😀
LOL.. crazy! i wouldn’t do that unless a toilet was nearby! 😛
I am looking for the Rain Man!
try the rain dance? 🙂
chendol satu! 😀
BOLEH!
We have been blessed with 2 sunny days lately, I may just venture down into Pudu for lunch later and scour the alleys for these 3 gentleman to help wash down the food 😉
oo yeah baybeh! hehe
ooo, this post certainly shows the cheerful side of pudu! a less-known side for those of us who aren’t very familiar with this area 😀
no worries.. i’ll take you sean! hehe
We love Pudu too, too many great eateries here!
same here – agree on the great food bit as well;)
OMG, the last picture is so obscene. It’s like you’ve gotten thick white stuff all over your face. LOL!
that’s coz you’ve got a perverted little mind munkey! hahaha 😛
Nice shots, completely capturing the essence of the streets. Love this post!
thanks James;)
Hello there! It’s my first time here (found your link through Ted’s stumbleupon’ and i’m impressed! That last photo made me really laugh out loud hehe 😀
Hi Micamyx ! Thanks for the lovely comment and thanks for stopping by 🙂
cendol with gula melaka lebih lebih pls… ^___^
ooo.. sweet tooth eh woman?! 😉
I love posts that concentrate on the people and characters of a destination, they really are the heart and soul. It’s great to feel just a little part of the culture which they provide. Cool pics too thanks for sharing Ciki.
Thanks Iain.. glad you like it. will take you one day if you come to visit!