Malaysia Trip : Fooding and General Time Spent | #FeatureFriday2018

Surprise, surprise! This post is primarily about food and our general time spent in Malaysia. 

I tried my best to keep it short and sweet, but this WAS four days worth of stuff after all...

Quick disclaimer, Chinese families don't refer to family members by name, but by their status. For example, Ash doesn't call me "Ariel". She calls me "Jie" (big sister). This may seem a bit awkward for those of you who have never heard me explain this before, but it helps in the grand scheme of things of remembering who is who and where they are in the family hierarchy (important to Chinese families). Here in Malaysia, you'll see me referencing a number of grand-aunts (Dad's aunts), namely numbers 1, 5, and 7. Ash and I actually CALL them "Big (we say this instead of "1st") Grand-Aunt", "5th Grand-Aunt" and "7th Grand-Aunt (or just Grand-Aunt because she's the youngest of them all)". 

So now you're all caught up :P

Weirded out by my family tree and how we address each other yet?

The Singapore posts coming up are gonna be WAY more intense lol XD

Let's get to it! :D

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Fooding Life and Logic

One reason why you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, say it with me one more time, "ALWAYS", do research about where you're going as you travel is because it gives you an edge over other tourists in the area who are simply winging it, saves you time and money, and sometimes, even helps you beat out the locals who know where the good food is!

Pictured on the right is the crowd that had to wait OUTSIDE of the Roti Bakar store off Campbell Street for a seat to fill up. When we first got there, we realized that you kind of just had to go for it and ask strangers if you could join them at their table because there was no way an entire table would be empty for more than a few seconds. Move too slow and you won't get a seat at all! Luckily for me, Dad and Mum handled that bit. If I were to go on my own, I probably wouldn't even get to have my meal (too chicken to talk to random people).

But seriously, guys. Checking out reviews, directions, and most importantly, payment methods for a place is CRUCIAL to having the best foodie experiences around because it reduces the stress for when you actually head out and maximizes the enjoyment of the outing! :) This is an important lesson regardless of whether you're going to another city in your state, country, or overseas, especially if you're someone like me who actually HAS mild social anxieties about being in a new place where you know no one.

Mum couldn't wait for the food we ordered to come, so when a member of the eatery's staff came by with bundles of nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk with sambal chili) in a basket, 

Mum paid for that on the spot and happily nommed it down while waiting for our real food. 

Here's Dad looking extremely pleased with himself for finding the place, knowing what to get, and just happy with life. :) 

On the table in front of him, you'll see Penang's iced coffee (kopi beng) and iced black coffee (kopi-o kosong beng) and the eatery's famous kaya toast.

soft-boiled eggs with soy sauce and white pepper

anyone feeling British yet? (British colonies like Singapore adopted this from them)

When traveling with me, food is a #1 priority. I don't want to think about my "diet" when I'm out somewhere to experience what I like to think of as another life. If it looks good, I'm gonna eat it! lol XD A hefty portion of my travel expenses is reserved for food. I'd rather spend time walking the streets and doing free activities than to have no money to eat the best food a place has to offer.

Consider yourselves forewarned! ;)

Mum and I had about an hour or so to ourselves at one point, so we went to check out this bakery.

We got 1 egg tart to share (we know what it tastes like already, so we were just quality checking at this point lol).

A medicinal gelatin called "gui ling gao" which supposedly has crushed turtle shell powder in it for medicinal properties (put some honey or sugar syrup on that jelly and it is DELICIOUS and very cooling for the system (to counter acne, ulcers, etc.) and probably one of my favorite medicinal Chinese snacks), and a dau fu fa (think soybean pudding or something).

Snacking at its best <3

Something that I always stress to people to take into account when traveling is to eat what the place is known for and what they have to offer that is just so much better than elsewhere. However, in light of that, always take your own personal preferences into account. I LOVE seafood, and I LOVE Japanese food, so when in Malaysia, a seafood savvy nation with close access to the sea (and thereby fresh fish), and an exchange rate that is to MY benefit, I'm gonna eat all the Japanese sashimi I can.

Ash has been trained (by Japan House) into a default setting of holding all of her cups this way, so here we are, doing it with the cup it was intended for, a cup of Japanese green tea.

Ash may be tired, but she loves this green tea soba, as do we all :)

My sashimi, avocado, and cucumber salad. I was feeling veggie deprived and needed something fresh ;)

I also had this lovely ramen! 

An order of grilled saba (mackerel) and white rice.

A platter of grilled FRESH squid with teriyaki marinade.

SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSHI!!! <3 <3 <3 

One expenditure that I always bear in mind and...try not to go overboard with is cafes, coffee, and sweets. I do make room and plan for it, but I also have to make sure that my budget for actual meals isn't replaced by my love of cafes and sweets! Eep!

For those of us for whom things like that are a weakness, there's no need to try to say that you CAN'T go, but maybe cut down the number of cafes you visit in your trip to your top 2-3 (depending on the length of your trip) and save your money for bigger meals. :)

Luckily for me, this cafe (Roots Dessert Bar) next to our hotel also caught Dad's eye, so he willingly took me out to try a couple of things (and paid for it. heehee :P ). Looks like it was worth it to get Dad into Instagram? lol XD 

They had this CUTE display of Instagram posts (by them and by fans, I think?)

Dad checking out the menu. He also had a fun time trying to get the leaf to cooperate for his Instagram. lol XD

1. Chocolate & Matcha 

(chocolate brownie, matcha frozen mousse, black sesame tulle, chocolate sauce, and matcha meringue)

2. Roots Special 

(1 espresso, 1 cup of lemonade with honey, meant to be mixed together before drinking)

I personally didn't care for it after I had a sip, but Dad was intrigued by the flavor.

We also ordered their Bailey's Creme Brulee (baked bailey's custard, flambe with rum) and it was PROPERLY on fire!! :) I also got the Pink Guava Lemon house soda (not bad!). 

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Loh Family Meals and Miscellaneous Eats

As Southeast Asians (but especially Singaporeans), food is KING in our culture. :)
And I am GLAD FOR IT. Thank you, Jesus! 

7th Grand-Aunt went out for a Vietnamese lunch with us! 

We got a couple glasses of calamansi lime juice (think Limeade, but WAAAAAY better).

We obviously got Pho (beef noodles), and we also got some Veggie / Spring Wraps / Rolls (whatever they're called), and I think some fried chicken / fish dumplings / sticks? 

I have no idea. lol It was good.

We never obtained a group picture, but the people who went out for this next dinner with us were: Dad's cousin's family (the cousin himself, wife and son), his mum (5th Grand-Aunt), and 1st Grand-Aunt.

Sorry for the lack of detail. I genuinely didn't know half of what I was eating. lol XD

The second picture is tofu, followed by shrimp, duck (or chicken?) fish, and then a soybean dessert.

Subsequent photos here are miscellaneous eats that I wanted to share with you all. 
The location isn't of much consequence, so here's the spread lol XD

Mum and Dad prepping breakfast at the hotel. We bought a "loaf" (really, it's more like a slab lol) of Kueh Lapis, a layered cake. The little biscuits with colorful hardened icing on them that you see in the third picture is a snack from my childhood. Ash and I could NOT pass these up when we saw them and begged my parents to buy a bag. :P

Mum and Dad enjoying a lamb and pork (two different kinds) satay platter with spicy peanut sauce.

This was in McDonald's. I know what you're thinking. "WHAT?! Why'd you go to McDonald's?!"

This ice-cream, the "cendol" flavor, is like...basically, glorified caramel in the mellow sugary taste. 

The green cone was a pandan (think green, Southeast Asian version of vanilla, and you're about right) flavor. 

And for less than $1 USD, this was one of the best desserts I had that trip. So minor, but so cool.

Almost done with the post, guys.
If you're reading this, you're a real trooper lol XD

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Sites We Saw

I'll be frank, the majority of the cool stuff we saw (in my opinion) will be in the next #FeatureFriday2018 post, including the Upside-Down museum and the local wall art. However, these things that I'm about to show you were still pretty cool in their own right, and I would feel like I was leaving out some significant points of the trip if I don't share them here. :)

We stayed at the Penang Museum Hotel.

1. Ash in the lobby. 2. Pool (we didn't use it, but it looks cool, no?). 3. Vintage 1960s hallway!

4. Phonograph in the lobby. 5. Cascading vintage stairway. 6. Vintage light-switches.

View from an over the road bridge :)

1. Penang landmark, a communications building of sorts. 2 - 3. Street view.

1. Mum walking around. 2. Random grapes growing alongside the road?! What?! 

3. Ash found a life-size cutout of a celebrity she knows of lol XD

We went to the local Chinese temple where my grandparents (and many other Loh family members past) had their ashes placed. In Asia, burying those that have passed on is gradually lessening (and in Singapore, 100% gone for lack of land space). We went to go see where my grandmother (who passed in Dec 2017) was placed. 

older graves that still have tombstones and such in the ground

Grandma (left) and Grandpa (right)

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Thank you SO MUCH for reading!

Now make like this cat on a car and go take a nap or something lol XD

The Malaysia trip continues next Friday! :)

And I'll see you guys next Monday with a new #MusicMonday2018 post. 

xoxo,

~ Ariel

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