Travel Diary: Malaysian Adventures

HAPPY NEW YEAR! And happy one year anniversary to my blog! I'm surprised I've been able to keep this up but I'm thankful for those of you who read my blog and encourage me to keep posting :) I hope you've enjoyed the adventure so far! This post is proof of my amateur blogging abilities because silly me...I completely forgot to publish this post! I wrote it while I was still in Hong Kong half a year ago haha so I'm not actually in HK...though I wish I was!! I miss it like Fatty on a diet misses her cake. That's A LOT...

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Back in HK and it feels so good.

Not that Malaysia was a terrible place. It was a mostly fun 5 days, but Day 1 ruined my first impression...when you have to sleep in a noticeably dirty bed with ants (which I would understand if I was living in the jungle, but this was in a "resort" hotel!) and get food poisoning, that would do it. I was SO excited to eat a lot of amazing Malay food from the get-go...it was a Fatty TRAGEDY. I could barely keep down plain congee (watered down rice...the asian version of oatmeal) and toast. Thankfully, the bug passed by day 3 and I was able to make a Fatty comeback by doubling my meals...I had to make up for the lost time!!

Many 10 course meals were served which reminded me a lot of the typical 10 course meals I posted about in my Hong Kong recaps so I won't show any of those meals. There was SO much food (Yes, a Fatty dream, but not a lazy blogger's dream) so this won't be totally complete but I'll do my best...

**WARNING: Do NOT attempt to view these pictures on an empty stomach and/or if you do not have napkins/towels prepared to wipe away the drool dribbling down your chins.**

DAY 1: Sepang Goldcoast Resort

We spent the first day entirely at our hotel which has a water resort. I wanted to get into the water, but with every new country and different religions comes different rules of living. All the women were covered in full body suits and I was not prepared. So, not to stand out, I just lounged and read the whole day...I didn't mind since I still got some sun and it was super relaxing!

When we got to the hotel, we were served afternoon tea. The tea was delicious and so were the bits of food we were served. Dinner came later and I'm only posting two pictures because I am bitter at the memories of this dinner since it got me sick and made me a miserable Fatty for two days :(

(clockwise): AFTERNOON TEA: Milk tea; curry puff, spring rolls, fried yam, and sweet sticky rice with coconut; DINNER: shaved ice dessert with sweet corn and green bean jelly; and rice noodles with veggies and a variety of fish balls

DAY 2: Melaka

We went to a zoo! I really wish I felt better because I felt sick the whole time and couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have wanted. There was a butterfly garden that we got to walk through, a beautiful leopard, many exotic birds, alligators, etc. But the not so fun part was the scorpion exhibit where they were NOT in a cage...why?! Needless to say, I had nightmares after. 

Then we were bused to a shop that sold Malaysian packaged food and stacked them in towers that looked like they'd fall over any second. My mom bought a bunch of spices and curries (YUM.) which alleviated the self-pity since she could recreate all the food I had been missing out that day. There were also vendors everywhere and one shirt made me laugh (see below)...It's PERFECT for me right?! The McD's "M" logo and the phrase! Ahh. I wanted it...but I was just imagining how many comments strangers would make since they wouldn't understand the "Fatty" inside joke. Probably not a good idea. 

Our next stop was to a massive outdoor food court which consisted of hundreds of tables surrounded by a million food vendor carts. Ok, not a million, but it was cray cray. Oh, and guess what I got to eat?? Plain congee. yay. But I took pictures of what everyone else ate so we can drool together.

left: potstickers; right: fried shrimp

Clockwise: steamed dumplings, my sad plain congee, the more appetizing congee, stir fried noodles

Clockwise: Sour lime drink with dried plums (a specialty drink), Curry chicken skewers, Fried fish

DAY 3: Heading to Kuala Lumpur

The destruction of the bug ended in the nick of time! We headed to a fruit market...aka. heaven to my taste buds in any tropical country. I love exotic fruits more than I can gush to you...once you taste them, you'll understand.

 Clockwise: Yellow rambutan, Red Dragonfruit (The flesh is red, not white! A specialty of select countries), Mangosteen (my FAVORITE), Durian (NOT my favorite...but it's an acquired taste...and smell.)

 Left: the flesh of Durian; Right: the inside of a sort of giant pineapple...I'm not sure what it is exactly since we didn't eat this but I thought it looked cool...anyone know?

 Showing the insides of the Mangosteen & Yellow Rambutan

Showing the insides of the Red Dragonfruit...Isn't it gorgeous? Too bad it stains REALLY easily. Do not serve to kids who like to make messes ;-)

We stopped at a food court and found these GIANT shrimp!! Look at the size of that thing!!

DAY 4: Kuala Lumpur

We did some sight seeing but had half the day free, but we were lazy and I wanted to do some shopping, so we spent the afternoon in the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. There's a shopping mall in one of the towers with plenty of shopping and food. They had stores ranging from designer to stores that sold things you'd see on the streets of Asia or New York City. I love when malls have options for those who love to splurge and those who love to buy something cute for cheap (aka. Yours Truly).

We found this bakery, Rotiboy, selling these buns which seemed to be popular so I had to try them! They were yums...crunchy exterior with a soft and sweet buttermilk filling inside. Fatty goodness.

My first dinner: Penang fried rice. I'm sad we didn't visit Penang, the food capitol of Malaysia, so I had to settle for the food court restaurant. Thank goodness it was delicious. And yes, I ate the entire plate and finished dinner #2.

Dinner #2 @ Kiki Taiwanese Restaurant. 

Clockwise: Milk tea with pudding & the sour lime drink, Steamed fish, Udon noodles (how cute is that face?), Beef noodles...plus amazing side dishes of pickled cucumber, eggplant & fried potstickers.

DAY 5: Kuala Lumpur

Our last day was probably the best food day of the trip...my mouth not only waters as I reminisce on this day...I drool. 

 Golden Pillow Bread: A giant loaf of sweet bread stuffed with curry chicken! (It was bigger than my head) As a lover of bread and curry...this was taste bud heaven and then some. The bread was one of the best breads I've had and the coolness factor of the experience made this unique dish even better.

 We cooled off with delicious mango and peach fruit gelato and got FREE Lychee & Grape popsicles on the street!! Why doesn't this happen in America?!

 Our last meal was THE BEST. We found a restaurant called "Wong Ah Wah" in an area of Kuala Lumpur that was famous for its long street full of food vendors and restaurants.

Grilled chicken wings, Fresh coconut, Shrimp

Chicken, Beef and Mutton skewers; Devilfish; Lobster

Where shall I travel for my next food adventures?? :) I can't wait!