kuala lumpur III: yut kee

I swear I'll be done with talking about Malaysia after this post (for now), but I can't be done without talking about Yut Kee. I went twice -- by myself on my first day in Malaysia, and with Megan on one of my last days -- and it was well worth the repeat visit. Kaya and toast, roti, noodles . . . delicious. Jack and Mervyn (the father and son who run the place) are wonderful, too. I might have been a little overly familiar with Mervyn on the return visit ("I was here last week!!") but he took it well in stride, and kindly introduced us to his dad, who showed us the vat out back where they cook the kaya (alas, the kaya-cooking was done for the day). If I lived anywhere near Malaysia, my boyfriend would have some serious competition -- Jack's a charmer!

kuala lumpur II: imbi market

My last morning in Malaysia (which, as Mandie points out, was nearly six months ago (!)), Megan and I made our way out to Imbi Market, just barely beating a torrential downpour. (You can see the water coming down in the picture of the two men eating!) We didn't get there until about 11:30 a.m., which is actually way later than would be ideal -- a lot of the food stalls had sold out of their specialties by then, and everything closes down at 12:30 p.m. or so -- but I was so glad we went nonetheless. I love the way food looks against those bright red tables.

kuala lumpur I: petronas

Continuing in the theme of pictures I wanted to share from my and Megan's trip to Malaysia in February: Petronas Towers, in KL.

george town IV: clan jetties

I realized upon looking through my photos recently that I actually never finished blogging about Malaysia in February, which is a darned shame, because Megan and I saw some excellent places in our last few days there. First up: the clan jetties in George Town, Penang, which are long stretches of houses on piers that are only inhabited by the descendants of Chinese immigrants who belong to particular clans. They're still very much people's homes, and of them the Chew Jetty is the most inviting (actively requesting donations from visitors) whereas walking on some of the others feels a little like trespassing.

george town III: porky bits

  
On Robyn Eckhardt's recommendation, we had dinner at Tek Sen on our first full night in George Town. Such outstanding food: stingray curry, potato leaves stir-fried with belacan and prawns, ginger duck, and double-cooked pork with bird's eye chilis -- the last of which I referred to as porky bits, and kind of crooned to with delight. Mmm, porky bits.

george town II: street food tour

I've already mentioned the street food tour that Megan and I did with Robyn Eckhardt, but now, let me show you.

  
There was iced coffee + toast with kaya (amazing egg and coconut spread) + nasi lemak. There was roti canai. There was a coconut tart (my second, since Dave had already taken me for one during our photography walk -- but oh, those coconut tarts!). There was a brief visit to a soy sauce factory. There were pickles of various shapes and sizes. There was sweet-salty black rice with coconut milk. There was crispy pork. There was fresh nutmeg juice. There were sesame balls. And after all this there was a hotel-room break that lasted the better part of three hours, full to the point of total lethargy. Robyn had told us we needn't feel compelled to finish everything that was put in front of us, which I had a hard time with. When the food is that so delicious, I hate to leave anything on the table. But we did; it would have been difficult to survive the morning otherwise.

The only disappointing thing was Megan's and my schedule: Robyn sent us on our way with a bunch of recommendations for other wonderful things to eat, and we had to make our peace with the knowledge that, with less than 24 hours left in George Town, we would never be able to eat them all. I suppose, just like how I still haven't ever made it to the Louvre, this means I'll have to go back and fix this. This will be a terrible hardship, but I imagine I'll be able to overcome.

george town I: photography walk

After a frigid ferry ride from Langkawi and an arrival in Penang in the middle of a torrential downpour, I got up bright and early on our first morning in George Town to meet up with Dave Hagerman for a photography walk.

When Megan and I booked our tickets to Malaysia, Eating Asia (the blog run by Dave and his wife, writer Robyn Eckhardt) was the first place I went to look for tips on what to eat. I've been reading their blog for years and it was one of the biggest reasons that Penang was high on my to-visit list. I mean, have you looked at their blog? It inspires incredible wanderlust.

Robyn and Dave also freelance for a number of decently well known publications, like the New York Times. (In a marvelously well timed coincidence, the Times published their 36 Hours in Penang feature five days before we arrived in Penang, so we got to try out a bunch of these places before the NYT crowd hit.)

At any rate, in looking at Eating Asia for Penang tips, I discovered that Robyn offers street food tours and Dave offers photography walks, and immediately ran to book all of the above. I'll write more about the food tour shortly, but know that Robyn and Dave were both wonderful and so, so friendly, and if you make it over to Penang, I'd recommend both the food tour and the photography walk in a heartbeat. And check out Dave's photography -- it was so great to get to spend a few hours learning from this guy, because I think his style is incredible.

langkawi eats

1-2. Ginger tea and chicken satay at the restaurant next door to our guest house, Pantai Tengah.

3. Fried eggs with cheese and "chicken ham" (+ delicious iced coffee) at the Breakfast Bar, Pantai Cenang. (What exactly "chicken ham" is, the world may never know.)

4. Mango creamsicle at the Oriental Village, by the Langkawi Cable Car.

5. Food cart, Pantai Cenang.

6. Farmer's Choice breakfast with beef bacon, Red Tomato, Pantai Cenang.