Wednesday 20 November 2013

Malaysia's Marvellous Meals

In Malaysia, where hibiscus is the national flower, flipflops are the national footwear, traffic is crazy with lots of jams, not raspberry or even mango,and sadly the people generally not as smiley and friendly as in Thailand, with the cultural mix of Indian, Chinese and Malaysians the food was "the best". 

My friends Teck Wah and Shu Huae




 
ensured that  I tried every type of meal,fruit/veg most of which I enjoyed especially if it contained coconut or chilli or both. Normally I enjoy spicy food but by the end of this trip I was able to eat crushed dried chillies! Even chickens' feet were quite tasty in Malaysia and I was surprised that I was able to eat cockles. I discovered that there are different types of durian and Jack fruit and many segments inside the spiky skins. My preference was for Jack fruit.  Public buildings usually ban durian due to it's strong smell                                                                    It was great to catch up with my friends and meet their family and church family. It was also fun helping to entertain, Ashleigh, their 2 year old granddaughter. 

 My personal guides helped me to explore KL by sky train and by car at weekends when it was quiet enough to drive around.  There was lots to see and do and of course eat: the museum where I learned about Malaysia down through the ages; the twin towers which sparkled far into the sky at night but were outshone by the fountains and park in daytime; an exhibition showing KL in miniature by night and day; aerial views of the city from the KL tower as the rain swept over the city; the old station with it's Victorian style white buildings; Chinatown adorned with lanterns, many stalls and Chinese food ("crockpot" chicken was delicious, Chinese burgers?!); the night markets selling a mixture of food and clothes;  the bird park where I saw my first hornbill (they are huge!) and was able to film small, colourful birds close up; 


a sample rainforest set up with most types of tree and vegetation preparing me for the real thing in Borneo; the local park with a childrens' play area, jogging tracksforest walks, a pond housing terrapins and fish and monkeys looking for tit bits; a swimming pool in a condominium complex with the standard 36 floors of flats/condos; a huge shopping complex with the biggest Ikea in the world outside Sweden.


From KL we visited small fishing villages built on wooden platforms selling their catches, homemade fishballs (didn't like the texture), tasty prawn crackers and deliciously fresh seafood meals;


a town with a leaning clock tower (a London clock) illuminated colourfully at night, a hawker's market, Gluttons' Square, where stalls sell different food around a main eating area and I tried a refreshing iced dessert made with kidney beans, coconut milk, sugar cane and colouring; a holiday resort popular with  Malaysians for its nearby  a historical town from Portuguese times reflected in the style of the buildings and with a bustling "walking" street.  When out of the city much of the land was used for growing fruit and veg, sugar cane and huge plantations of palm trees (coconut and oil.) Also saw many birds, mainly egrets and swiftlets often flying around special concrete buildings for them to build their nests as birds nests are a lucrative business for birds's nest soup and no, I didn't try it! Traffic drives on the left and the roads wide and in good condition possibly due to collecting many toll  fees.                                                                                                                       
Instead of Japan, my friends suggested East Malaysia (Borneo) which was a cheaper and "different" option.  It was cheaper and faster to fly given the time frame but although the planes were bigger than I'd expected for the short flights they flew low enough to appreciated the remaining dense virgin rainforest. Most of the towns I visited were on the coast or rivers and longboats were the main form of transport. Some children travelled for 11 hours on these to get to school boarding there until the weekend. My friends also used these boats to travel to the interior with all their gear and food for childrens' camps which sounds like no mean feat. How we take our  transport systems for granted despite delays and pot holed roads!

In Sarawak, Kuching is attractively situated on a river with fishing boats and river "buses" services to the more traditional villages opposite (wooden houses on stilts made from bamboo and rattan), leafy promenade, parks and an assortment of old and new buildings. It is a cat lovers' paradise being named "cat city" with a cat museum and many cat statues, souvenirs and some of the "real thing".                                                     From here there are various trips like seeing the largest flower in the rainforest and visiting an orangutan reserve but, in the time available, I opted to visit a cultural village. Here you could walk round and through different styles of tribal houses 

 set out attractively in a park where people in tribal costumes demonstrated cookery, music and craft work finishing with a colourful cultural show featuring music, dance and drama.  This was followed by a torrential downpour where it seemed like buckets of water were being tipped out from the sky. 
                           
Miri, had a few pretty parks but mainly acted as a link to Mulu, a UNESCO world heritage site. However, Mrs Lee, manager of the hostel, made up for the town's lack of character by her friendliness and helpfulness even treating a Korean student traveller and myself to a lunch near the market which specialised in cooking rainforest roots and plants, taking us to the "fresh" market where these plants were on sale and dropping us off at the local Olympic sized swimming pool.  Enjoyed a foot massage and a full body massage (5 pounds) and all the more so when it was so cheap. Also the town  did sell reasonably priced batteries and memory cards for my camera and serve the best satay from a well established family run restaurant. Enjoyed chatting to some Malysians over dinner and also some fellow travellers tho' still no Scots in sight! 


Mulu was one of the highlights of trip with the rainforest experience on canopy/ board walks spotting  lizards, 1 snake, a huge stick insect, a lantern bug, pygmy squirrels and exploring 5 limestone caves with many amazing illuminated formations inside, the one leaf plant outside and millions of bats of different species which on a "good" evening fly out in funnels hunting for food along with swiftlets. We were fortunate to see this spectacle lasting for about an hour at dusk and to see some hornbills flying over too. Walking back alone in the then darkened forest was quite scary being unable to identify the various "songs" but then came across a film crew from KL who were trying to promote this area to the Malaysians and so got back in one piece. We were then rewarded with an amazing sunset followed by a sparkling night sky set against a velvet backdrop. Another highlight was to glide along the peaceful river on longboats through leafy vegetation with only the occasional "hiccup" when grounded on stones. As well as cruising to some of the caves by boat we visited a small native village where ladies, some with huge holes in their ears, were selling their crafts. It would have been good to have spent more time in the village but maybe the "locals" found it less obtrusive this way.
Accommodation was mainly homestays and with mine being near the river it was easier to wash there than to have a bucket shower although care had to be taken not to be swept away by the strong current. Meals were served in the longhouse (rice porridge and fresh fish and vegetable dishes) letting us see how the wider family functions there.  


For connecting toManilla I'd to fly further east to Kota Kinabalu (referred to as KK) in Sabah, with it's famous Mount Kinabalu and surrounding islands with white sands and good snorkling.  I ventured over to one of these islands on a bumpy speedboat but have no photos of this having decided to leave my camera in the hostel.  My mask was uncomfortable, the snorkle mouthpiece too large (can you believe that?!) causing me difficulty in breathing and water intake but by using just the mask it was possible to make short dives. I found that when swimming through large shoals of fish it was freaking me out although I did appreciate the small colourful fish and live coral.There were also interesting shells to add to my collection which by now will have reached Scotland. I was glad to return to the mainland on a smoother crossing but later while at dinner in an "eatery" overlooking the sea I was amazed to see  boats still operating in very blustery conditions tho' life jackets were provided.



My friends suggested that I use KL as a base for a future trip as it's a central hub for flights and cheaper than Singapore so I may be back...

Meanwhile, with my clothes all much tighter, it was off to Manilla for my last stop in Asia.


Ps Sorry for the delay in getting this posted and for the blue underlined section which I can't seem to alter. Hope to get the next post out before leaving Oz.