The Quaintest European Village In The Jungles Of Southeast Asia
COLMAR TROPICALE - The intensity of the monsoon rain is having a bad effect on the geraniums in the window boxes, making the flowers droop. A shutter slams shut on one of the half-timbered, tile-roofed houses on the cobblestoned street with its two burbling fountains.
In the "boulangerie" (bakery) you can have croissants, pains au chocolat and café au lait. Alsatian "choucroute" (sauerkraut) and "flammekueche" (a type of pizza with cheese, cream and onions) are on the menu at the La Cigogne (stork) restaurant.
Two young Asian women dressed in traditional Alsatian garb giggle as they greet visitors with a “Bienvenue” in French, followed by "Selamat datang" (welcome) the greeting of their native language – Malay.
"Incroyable!" says a French tourist about this cloned Alsatian village in the middle of the Malaysian jungle – in the Berjaya Hills, 50 kilometers from the capital Kuala Lumpur. And it’s by no means a cheap imitation – on the contrary, it’s an exorbitantly expensive copy, its roof tiles and building stones all imported from France.
During the monsoon season, there are short but heavy daily downpours and the Europeans are sweating from the 27°C temperature and 80% humidity. Malaysians on the other hand find the 800-meter altitude refreshingly cool compared to the searing heat of the city. Orchids grow like weeds around here, but vineyards like the ones around Colmar in France would never take here.
Just how did this bizarre bit of Euro-fakery come to be, 10,100 kilometers from the original Colmar in Alsace, France? Legend has it that on a trip to Europe, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his wife were so taken by romantic Colmar was that they persuaded a billionaire friend, Vincent Tan, ninth richest man in Malaysia at the time, to build a version of it in Malaysia. Led by French architect Jean Cassou, the result is a theme park with 235 hotel rooms. Every Saturday there is a market with a carousel and Chinese acrobats. Every night they have karaoke. And loudspeakers are constantly droning Asian pop.
Authenticity has its limits in other ways as well – for example, the "Tour de l'Horloge" (clock tower) is based on the one in the little Alsatian town of Riquewihr and so has nothing to do at all with Colmar. And what is that quaint German cuckoo clock doing here? Meanwhile the "charcuterie" that was supposed to sell typical Alsatian pork-based cold cuts was swiftly replaced by "Le Poulet rôti" selling roast chicken that was more in line with what Malaysians – who are Muslim – would go for.
https://www.worldcrunch.com/food-tra...-fake/c6s10720
