Food coma

How funny, I was totally getting ready to compose a post about food and I saw Jen's comment asking for info about it. Jen, you totally read my mind! I'm currently in Penang, my last stop in Malaysia and a place totally known for its food and well, I am totally trying my best to taste it all. Right now I am killing time between dinners 1 and 2 (but, hey, I skipped lunch). Before I go off on food though, let me catch up to Penang briefly and then I'll go off.

My last day in the Cameron Highlands I did the half day tour where in 3 hours they take you to a strawberry farm (yum), tea plantation, honey farm, butterfly garden, rose garden, buddhist temple and market. It is a whirlwind but really interesting! Then I headed up to the island of Langkawi where I spent 5 days doing not a whole lot. But that was kind of the point. Langkawi is actually a group of 99 islands about 100 km off the coast of Malaysia and near the Thai border. The biggest island is just known as Langkawi as well and that is where I stayed. It has loads of great beaches and is great for relaxing. The island is also duty free so beer, cigarettes, and chocolate are cheap. Big contrast to the rest of Malaysia where these things are taxed heavily (did I mention Muslim?). Other than hanging out on the beach, eating, and drinking with the people I met on Langkawi, I did an island hopping excursion. First we went to a limestone created freshwater lagoon surrounded by ocean for a swim. Then we headed to a mangrove island with loads of eagles and finally we went to a beach island with clear water for swimming (it is a bit murky on Langkawi and jellyfish are rampant). Yesterday I came down to Penang and tomorrow I'll fly from here to Phuket in Thailand (thanks to that stupid new visa thing).

OK, on to food. I keep hearing that people lose weight when they travel. Those people either aren't traveling in Asia or don't share my love of Asian cuisine... In New Zealand the food was very Western so I tended to cook in the hostels (great kitchens in Kiwi hostels). But from Indonesia on, I've been loving the food! In Indonesia the staples are fried noodles or rice with meat (or veggies), curries, BBQ fish, satay, and gado gado whcih is steamed veggies in peanut sauce and sometimes includes some or all of the following- fried egg (huge in Indo), rice, tofu, and/or tempe. There are other dishes and each region has its own specialties, but those are the basics. Malaysian food tends to0 be similar to Indonesian food with some additional types of noodles. Once again, varies by region and I am simplifying. Also in Malaysia there are large Chinese and Indian populations so those cuisines are widely available in the bigger cities. This is what I have been living on! I love the Ma Po Tofu (only found it in KL) and in the Cameron Highlands we had this awesome steamboat where you get 2 kinds of broth and loads of raw meat and veggies and cook it in the broth. It is all you can eat and there were 6 of us so we had quite the feast. Here in Penang I had some great dim sum and a terrific wan ton noodle soup. For Indian I quite like roti canai for breakfast. It is a flatbread kind of like a pancake served with curry sauce for about 50 cents. There is loads of briyani and tandoori and many buffets where you get a plate of rice and pick from the random food on display. Tonight I tried the banana leaf where you get rice and about 5 different kinds of veggies with a bit of dhal soup served on...wait for it... a banana leaf. As much as I am looking forward to Thai food, I am totally going to miss all of this!

OK, I guess that is all. More from Thailand! Keep the comments coming please! I love them.

Pic is sunset on Langkawi and the rest of my Malaysia pics are up:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Malaysia#