Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia V

I like this picture of a family restaurant, just outside the Chinese temple, because something about the setting makes me imagine I am in India. Having never been to India, I only know it by photographs, but this is how I imagine it.

Family restaurants in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown were quite similar: an open-air kitchen lay in half the floor and odd seating in the other half. Tables were arranged as necessary by arriving customers and their parties. The whole affair was quite informal. (This was somewhat different for Malaysian and Indian restaurants.)

I also like the contrast between the old street sign, the peeling paint, the tangled wires, and the air-conditioning unit squeezed into the wall just above. On the far left, a man washes some dishes in a plastic bucket with soapy water below an exhaust vent bursting out of the building.

When eating on the street or these small family restaurants, plates and silverware were cleaner than I expected. Oddly, Malaysians -- of all backgrounds (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) -- ate with a fork and a spoon. Knives and chopsticks were a rarity.