Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur - a local boy's Perspective

Back in 1980 when Federal Highway and Old Klang Road were the only main road & highway to travel from Klang to KL, and Sri Jaya and Lian Heng(or Lian Seng..cant remember) were the only public bus available, I remember going to KL was an adventure by itself. Pertama Complex and Sungei Wang was the only prominent malls around.My best buddy at the time Loke Gim Hoe, was my tour guide every time we go downtown as I had just moved to KL from Ipoh. We would go to a back alley in Petaling Street or CICONGKAI ( Cantonese translated as shark fin street , the name of that back alley was called CONG WA HONG, which means Chinese Alley literally.We would have our favourite and as far as my memories serves me, the best curry laksa in the world.
Envision this; back alley, beggars, stinky drain, rats the size of cat and greasy bowls and chopsticks, sitting under 40 degree C temperature and suffocating humidity...not exactly your McDonald's type hygiene scenario. Also envision this, Steamy bowl of santan thicken curry laksa (meehoon+mee for me please), tofu puff, blood jelly, pork skin, seeham, (couldnt afford chicken then) and garnish with an oily scoop of sambal....its was heaven on earth ! Time and time again we went back to the back alley hawker store to savour this masterpiece.
I was in the Petaling Street neighbourhood couple of days ago, so I decided to take a stroll down Petaling Street.Things still looked and felt the same like 20 odd years ago except for the fashion and the RM2 million roof/shelter/canopy whatever. Contradictions is what this place is about; it looks chaotic and yet you feel the unspoken order in every corner. You see the bleached blonde chinese kid selling fake watches and the Bangla guy selling fake Gucci bags. One get the feel that they are all being organized by some higher power who control all the transactions in this area.Fruit stalls, fakes, Clothing, cheap hotels, dvd, and bargain hunting tourists completes this hustling bustling scene. Despite the chaos and craziness, I felt safe and calm walking thru Petaling Street, and I dont recall seeing any Policeman and yet the sense of law & order exists. I still kept my wallet and cell in my front pocket, but the feel was good.
OK, I lied ! I did not just happen to be in the neighbourhood...I was there looking for that bowl of Curry Laksa ! Didnt have a clue where CONG WA HONG was as I wondered, and ended up not finding what I was looking for. I did however, stumble upon a decent bowl of beef noodle. A stall ran by a 40 something lady with her 5 Burmese workers. Nothing fancy but just your hearthy, clear soup beef noodles with tendon, tripe and thin sliced beef. hit the spot lah....and the search goes on (continue at post titled " Cong Wa Hong'curry laksa found)