Malaysia

[DONKEY]

just got back. one of the most intense family visits ive ever had. so many stupid old family problems that never go away. but it wasnt all bad. i think im in love with one of my cousins. not in a gross way though. she's just a real great person.
ate the best food ive ever had while there. too much of it, almost. gained some weight from it.
Malaysia has changed a lot since the last time I went and it continues. a mass transit system is badly needed in KL. the roads just aren't going to cut it no matter how wide they make them. other than the traffic problem, KL is a great city and i would probably go to live there.
Penang has changed less. maybe that is its appeal. best food ever.
my first uncle was said to be a successful and greedy man. i never met him. his three sons are also successful and dont seem to care about the rest of the family, much like their father. there was some confrontations i witnessed about this but no blood was spilled.

[maogirl]

hey, was it hot? it's fucking boiling over here...

did you eat at restaurants or mamak stands (or do they call them kopitiam there)? any new food that you tried that was good?

i wanna eat that curried beef bone marrow with roti thing i had at a kopitiam near the prince hotel again...sniff...

[silkie]

Hey,
didn't know you are back (though I had my suspicions when I saw your kid picture). Shit, I am in Thailand, so it would'e been cool if we get together here like in NY (no, I won't bring you to another arty restaurant w/ snooty waitress this time).

But yeah, SE asia is bound to have traffic problems, mass transit or not. In Thailand, the overhead train system doesn't barely alleviated the conjestion, though there is now another way to get around, without hassling with the cabbies. Plus, they actually developed a pretty interesting street culture above ground.

[DONKEY]

it was hot in the afternoons. i didnt mind it so much. too much going on to let the weather bring me down. it was only bad when stuck in traffic in the sun.

yeah i mostly ate at the kopi tiam, so many of them. not much new food but i did try more malay dishes this time. people from penang say that the food there is better even if the same recipe is followed. the only restaurant i ate in was my cousin's place which specializes in curry mee. he follows the same recipe his father (my uncle) did in penang. his two brothers also run a curry mee stall in penang. i tried both and there was a slight difference. the broth of the penang curry mee was slightly lighter and spicier. the one in KL was heavier and less spicy.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/528900428_7b678db8b9_o.jpg
curry mee in KL

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1126/527289306_f783d16919_o.jpg
curry mee in penang

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/248/527289302_87456cfbc7_o.jpg
two cousins at curry mee stall in penang

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/217/527287980_d821d41d93_o.jpg
cousin's restaurant in KL

[DONKEY]

Hey,
didn't know you are back (though I had my suspicions when I saw your kid picture). Shit, I am in Thailand, so it would'e been cool if we get together here like in NY (no, I won't bring you to another arty restaurant w/ snooty waitress this time).

yes im back like herpes
had no idea you were in Thailand. hehe we were not so far apart. shorter distance than between NY and TX anyways. the closest i got to Thailand was in Kelantan.
im already back in the u.s. shit i will have to let you know next time. maybe i couldve gotten you a ride down to Penang.

besides the cost of the flight, i found it difficult to spend much money on this trip because so much was free because of family and stuff is so cheap anyways. i think i managed to spend about $100 USD during the two weeks. i brought a lot of spices back with me. some of the curry powder the hawkers use i think can only be found in malaysia. they gave me a few bags of it.
my fav cousin also gave me a bunch of dry packaged asam laksa mix because she knows i am so fond of it. i think that was the best thing i ate while there. it was a bowl i had at a hawker stall in Penang in the middle of the Island Glades neighborhood. i think on Lorong Delima Lapan, in case you ever visit there. sour and meaty soup with lots of spice and mint leaves on top.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/529015354_4876822917_o.jpg
sorry for the blur

[maogirl]

i like heavier broths, i gotta say.

damn, those are some delicious pictures...i gotta visit penang.

[ChÈ]

Great thread!

I love Penang, even though I've never lived there.

I have a lot of family history in Penang. Both sides of my family have a kongsi there and my g-g-grandfather was a key figure in the Hai San-Ghee Hin battles.

My surname is a Penang-Chinese surname.

Post more pictures, please! And also where you found all that great food!

[ellencho]

If I had unlimited money and was less of a wimp around humidity I'd pack a suitcase full of stretchy pants and just eat my way around M'sia. For at least a year, because I'd want to try every fruit when it was in season.

[cattygurl]

For at least a year, because I'd want to try every fruit when it was in season.

I could live off of fruit alone. That sounds like a good dream...

[DONKEY]

i didnt take long to adjust to the humidity. made some slight wardrobe changes (bought clothes in KL) with a lot more light cottons. plus the flats and houses i stayed in are all concrete and designed to be breezy. if thats still not enough, coconut water helps. so does ais kacang and cendol.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1096/529022580_017db45451.jpg
had some dental work done while in KL so it didnt feel good to eat such cold things.
most photos are with family members that i dont want to post.
here's one with my uncle's face hidden at his fruit stand:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1278/533988346_60771bb361_b.jpg

my auntie's kancil which i could barely fit in. actually drove it a few times:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1150/533988314_4ebcd016a5_o.jpg

[maogirl]

If I had unlimited money and was less of a wimp around humidity I'd pack a suitcase full of stretchy pants and just eat my way around M'sia. For at least a year, because I'd want to try every fruit when it was in season.

it's really nice in southeast asia from november to february. you won't get the best fruit, though, 'cause a lot of them go into season during the summer months.

[maogirl]

by the way, kacang isn't half as good as halo halo.

YEAH I SAID IT BITCHES!!! bring it!! grr!

[awong]

If I had unlimited money and was less of a wimp around humidity I'd pack a suitcase full of stretchy pants and just eat my way around M'sia. For at least a year, because I'd want to try every fruit when it was in season.

I think my mom would do the same, she loves the warmer climate for the food and florida, its just not warm enough :P

[DONKEY]

only had halo halo a couple of times. really good but it made me feel more thirsty.

[JadeDragon]

by the way, kacang isn't half as good as halo halo.

YEAH I SAID IT BITCHES!!! bring it!! grr!

HAH!!! You haven't tried ais kacang with the nata de coco and gula melaka yet!!!

*puts on boxing gloves and strips down to a bikini*

PUT 'EM UP! I'ma smack you so hard your tattoos will fly off!

Edited to add: Man, the thing I miss most about Malaysian food is their bak kut teh. We've got bak kut teh where I live too, but it's thin gruel compared to the rich pork-y stuff you can get in Malaysia. Especially Johore. Sigh...

Donkey, your aunt drives a Kancil? Those cars are so ancient! Everyone goes for the Protons now, but I suppose it's more due to government policies on foreign-made cars than anything else.

[ChÈ]

Penang ice kacang or Ipoh ice kacang? Ipoh's is better.

After walking around in all that fucking humidity, I would stagger up to one of the juice stands and order up a PINT of ICED coconut or sugarcane or starfruit/carambola juice and CHUG that mutherfucker!! Sweet Heaven!

KL bah kut teh is INSANE!! So fucking good. I'm told that the Kelang version is even better but I haven't verified this.

I also love the M'sian-Indian food like roti canai and all that good curry shit. And then there's all that Muslim stuff in Singapore like sop tulang and bistik daging.

[ChÈ]

Pink-fleshed pomeloes from Ipoh are my favourite fruit. The green ones are pretty good too.

[DONKEY]

durian.. just dont belch in the car after eating it.

[JadeDragon]

Penang ice kacang or Ipoh ice kacang? Ipoh's is better.

After walking around in all that fucking humidity, I would stagger up to one of the juice stands and order up a PINT of ICED coconut or sugarcane or starfruit/carambola juice and CHUG that mutherfucker!! Sweet Heaven!

KL bah kut teh is INSANE!! So fucking good. I'm told that the Kelang version is even better but I haven't verified this.

I also love the M'sian-Indian food like roti canai and all that good curry shit. And then there's all that Muslim stuff in Singapore like sop tulang and bistik daging.

Ipoh ais kacang fo' sho. The Penang stuff is for the tourists. =P

Roti prata in Singapore is pretty good too. In fact, when it comes to seafood dishes, like chilli crabs, I think Singapore's way better than Malaysia. But Malaysia has Singapore beat in local, ethnic-style dishes.

My dad loves pomelos, and when it's fruit season in our area, he takes the whole family on a car trip to the villages to buy durians, langsats (soft cream-coloured fruits with sweet-sour flesh inside), huge bunches of bananas and rambutans.

[ChÈ]

Pepper crab for me! But it's nice to have both at the same time! hahaha

One of the ultimate S'pore specialities is sop kambing (herby goat soup).

[ChÈ]

S'pore bak kut teh is pretty thin and boring too compared to the stuff from KL/Pudu.

Maybe because it's a Teochew-style whereas the KL one is Hokkien-style.

Penang Har Mee -- I like that too! And I love a good char kway teow!

[maogirl]

HAH!!! You haven't tried ais kacang with the nata de coco and gula melaka yet!!!

yes i have, and halo halo still kicks kacang ass like imma kick yours!

*glues on acrylic nails*

*ties hair in braid and whips around neck like jet li*

*puts on ichi the killer knife shoes*

FIGHT!


damn, i miss rambutans. you can get them here but they're so fucking expensive.

speaking of hokkien bakuteh, i don't get why my mom is such a good cook but her bakuteh is so bleh.

*paranoid*

[JadeDragon]

You wish you could kick my ass, 'cos your shoes are gonna bounce off my phat curves when I shake my jelly! =P

And I always thought that the secret to good bakuteh is stewing for a really long time, like 24 hours, and never washing the pot... The koptiam that used to serve the best bakuteh here was so dirty, it looked like no one ever took the bakuteh pot off the stove!

[maogirl]

chehh!

there's no way you can kick MY ass 'cause once i get it botoxed, i won't have any left!

you know, for some reason, this is making me think of a couple of trannies duking it out over a pair of shoes, haha.

the malaysian place i love here makes really fantastic bakuteh, and they say their secret is in using chicken broth along with the rest of the stuff. something like that.

[silkie]

chehh!

there's no way you can kick MY ass 'cause once i get it botoxed, i won't have any left!

you know, for some reason, this is making me think of a couple of trannies duking it out over a pair of shoes, haha.

the malaysian place i love here makes really fantastic bakuteh, and they say their secret is in using chicken broth along with the rest of the stuff. something like that.

OT, but isn't botox for the face and wrinkles?

[maogirl]

OT, but isn't botox for the face and wrinkles?

you can have botox injected in your ass and calves to make them smaller. not cheap, but i think it's worth it.

[JadeDragon]

Speaking of trannies and shoes:
The best video about shoes ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMF2Eb0Wa_I)

[DONKEY]

Donkey, your aunt drives a Kancil? Those cars are so ancient! Everyone goes for the Protons now, but I suppose it's more due to government policies on foreign-made cars than anything else.
funny, i saw them all over the place. even some of the police cars were Kancils. but yeah the Protons are more common.
i am not used to shifting with my left hand.

[maogirl]

yo dude, did you ever eat at a rotiboy? did you like it?

do they have rotiboys in brunie, jade?

[JadeDragon]

You mean the coffee-flavoured bun with coffee butter inside? Yup, we have a bakery in one of the tiny "malls" here (which is really a glorified collection of small shops under one roof =P) that sells those buns, except that they call it a "funboy" after the shop, FunBread. I don't know what the texture of the Malaysian version is like, because ours isn't as fluffy as I like on the inside, but those buns are delicious.

[maogirl]

fuck, i can't spell when i have my period...

is that what a rotiboy is? hm...i was under the impression that it's some kind of bakery or fast food chain in malaysia. my brother was talking about it and i was pretending i knew what it was because there is no fuckign way i will allow my little brother to know more than i do. :P

heh, isn't it funny when you're pretending you know something you have no clue about so you try not to dis it or hype it up too much just in case? i was like "uh yeah, it's oookay." and changed the subject real quick.

that rotiboy sounds real tasty though.

[JadeDragon]

Haha, oh, Rotiboy is also the name of the bakery chain that sells the coffee buns in Malaysia. People just call both the bread and the bakery "rotiboy" (or "funboy" in Brunei).

[maogirl]

ahh...

funboy is an awesome name, by the way. it brings to mind many possibilities. :P

[DONKEY]

i didnt get any rotiboy but i tried a lot of bakeries. my favorite was these pastries with chicken floss. kind of sweet, spicy, chicken flavor.. really good.

[theme]

I was in Malaysia when my mom and I fled Vietnam. My favorite childhood memories are from there. I remember back in they day they sold pop soda in a plastic bag with a straw wrapped by an elastic band. I had chicken pox there, killed my first toad, took my first dump in the woods, touched a vagina, mmmm....good times.

[taijian]

I remember Rotiboy was really popular when I was first introduced to it by a friend a few years back. There was a long line for it (not sure if it's as hot now). There's a franchise at the local Tesco where I live, and even Tesco's own bakery and other local bakeries do their own (generally inferior) version of it, under a different name of course.

The Rotiboy franchises are like mini-bakery outlets specialising in producing just this one product so you just go up to the counter and say how many you want, and sometimes you have to wait for the next batch since they sell so well (I hardly see any line at the local Rotiboy these days, though).

For any enthusiastic home baker who'd like to try their hand at it, they're really mexican buns. The owners of Rotiboy had a good eye for business, i must say.

[maogirl]

i didnt get any rotiboy but i tried a lot of bakeries. my favorite was these pastries with chicken floss. kind of sweet, spicy, chicken flavor.. really good.

oh man, that reminds me of those pork floss sandwiches we used to make as kids whenever we were hungry. dry as fuck, but damn tasty man!

we also used to mix butter and sugar use it as sandwich spread.


I remember Rotiboy was really popular when I was first introduced to it by a friend a few years. There was a long line for it (not sure if it's as hot now). There's a franchise at the local Tesco where I live, and even Tesco's own bakery and other local bakeries do their own (generally inferior) version of it, under a different name of course.

The Rotiboy franchises are like mini-bakery outlets specialising in producing just this one product so you just go up to the counter and say how many you want, and sometimes you have to wait for the next batch since they sell so well (I hardly see any line at the local Rotiboy these days, though).



it only sells rotiboys?? wow, that's bold.

hey, you know, what IS up with that in SEA generally? like how one food franchise will be huge for like a half year then suddenly no one ever goes there anymore.

isn't bubble tea still popular in the US? hardly anyone drinks it here now, but there was a time when it was so huge.

and there's some singaporean bakery that's really popular in manila -- long queues and all that -- but i bet that'll die down in a while, too.

too much selection? or are we just fickle people who are unable to commit and stay faithful?

cough

[DONKEY]

I was in Malaysia when my mom and I fled Vietnam. My favorite childhood memories are from there. I remember back in they day they sold pop soda in a plastic bag with a straw wrapped by an elastic band. I had chicken pox there, killed my first toad, took my first dump in the woods, touched a vagina, mmmm....good times.
haha the plastic bag drinks haven't gone anywhere.

[DONKEY]

hey, you know, what IS up with that in SEA generally? like how one food franchise will be huge for like a half year then suddenly no one ever goes there anymore.

isn't bubble tea still popular in the US? hardly anyone drinks it here now, but there was a time when it was so huge.

and there's some singaporean bakery that's really popular in manila -- long queues and all that -- but i bet that'll die down in a while, too.

too much selection? or are we just fickle people who are unable to commit and stay faithful?

cough
maybe people just like to try something when its new. it looks cool or something so give it a try. but then they always go back to their regular stuff. probably because their regular stuff was cheaper and better anyways.
this is OK for the trendy businesses as long as they know when to move along. i was involved in some real quick restaurant operations here where we just opened for a few months and made money then sold the place or just shut it down. actually thats how i first began working with my dad and i once spilled a whole pitcher of water on this table full of food where this group trendy diners were eating when i was 15. lol it was like $300 of food, they were so pissed

[ChÈ]

and there's some singaporean bakery that's really popular in manila -- long queues and all that -- but i bet that'll die down in a while, too.



Bengawan Solo?

They make very second-rate pandan cake, kuih lapis and all the other standards but don't do it particularly well. They get by because many Singaporeans have forgotten how good local food ought to taste.

[maogirl]

maybe people just like to try something when its new. it looks cool or something so give it a try. but then they always go back to their regular stuff. probably because their regular stuff was cheaper and better anyways.
this is OK for the trendy businesses as long as they know when to move along. i was involved in some real quick restaurant operations here where we just opened for a few months and made money then sold the place or just shut it down. actually thats how i first began working with my dad and i once spilled a whole pitcher of water on this table full of food where this group trendy diners were eating when i was 15. lol it was like $300 of food, they were so pissed

you know, i would normally agree with that, but it's such a vicious cycle in a way. like some dude will figure out a new way of making fish balls that creates a fad and then drive the oldschool fishball people out of business, then once the fad is over, there's no oldschool fishball left, you know?


Bengawan Solo?

They make very second-rate pandan cake, kuih lapis and all the other standards but don't do it particularly well. They get by because many Singaporeans have forgotten how good local food ought to taste.

no...it's only one word...i forget what it is, but they make more chinese-style pastries, like pineapple milk buns and char siu buns.

i guess it's basically hk-style pastries, the singaporean version, but retailored for filipino tastes :P

[taijian]

you know, i would normally agree with that, but it's such a vicious cycle in a way. like some dude will figure out a new way of making fish balls that creates a fad and then drive the oldschool fishball people out of business, then once the fad is over, there's no oldschool fishball left, you know?



I think the oldschool style is far more resilient than that. There's a reason they've lasted till now. Fads might be popular for a while but, I doubt they'd be strong enough to drive the oldschool people out of business, especially if they're more expensive. If they do persist long enough, then they will no longer be fads and will become the new oldschool. It all depends on the public's taste. The businesses will do its best to give what the majority of consumers want.

[ChÈ]

no...it's only one word...i forget what it is, but they make more chinese-style pastries, like pineapple milk buns and char siu buns.

i guess it's basically hk-style pastries, the singaporean version, but retailored for filipino tastes :P

BreadTalk?

I saw their shops but I never tried any.

[maogirl]

bingo!

i dunno, it don't look that great to me, but i'm a maxim's girl. they're the only place left that doesn't put mayo in the hotdog bun things.