a little trip to melbourne

We spent a lot of time with my uncle/aunt/cousin's cat in Melbourne!

Wow, it feels like October is over before it's begun! It's true, time does fly when you're having fun! Simon and I spent ten days in Melbourne this month, and it's been great just lazing around, and catching up with friends and family while we were there.

We had quite an indulgent time, food-wise. Dinner on the first night were these delicious home-cooked lobster noodles.

Chinese-style lobster noodles.

A big batch of bak kut teh (pork ribs in herbal broth) was also cooked at some point, and I turned the leftovers into a vegetable-studded bak kut teh noodle soup.

Bak kut teh with vegetables and thick rice noodles.

We spent most of our time out in the suburbs with my parents and relatives, but we did also manage to catch up with a few friends while we were there.

I caught up with my ex-colleagues, and we had a nice lunch at Nara Thai. My chilli-basil pork with rice was gratifyingly spicy, and I enjoyed chatting with everyone at the table and getting all the latest news!

Stir-fried chilli and basil pork with rice on the side at Nara Thai Restaurant in South Melbourne.

Delightful conversation flowed over a delicious Indian dinner with our friends at Mukka in Fitzroy. I was particularly charmed by the bhel puri, a salad-like snack consisting of puffed rice, Indian snack mix and crunchy chickpea vermicelli, pomegranate, tomato, onion, lime, tamarind and mint.

The intriguing and delectable bhel puri at Mukka Indian Restaurant in Fitzroy.

And we were treated to a pleasingly light and fresh Japanese lunch at Ichi Ichi Ku Izakaya the next day. The sushi here was beautifully made, and the company of our friends was stellar. We only wished there could have been more time to hang out!

Fancy sushi rolls at Ichi Ichi Ku Izakaya in South Yarra.

Since we thought we might be looking at moving back to Melbourne sometime in the future and settling down, we spent one whole day checking out property inspections in the inner-city area. In between it all, we popped by Ba'get for quick and wholesome, cheap and cheerful Vietnamese food - just the thing to fuel us for the day.

Coffee and grilled pork vermicelli bowl at Ba'get Vietnamese Eatery in the Melbourne CBD.

And of course, amidst all the hobnobbing around, we do still always take the time to chill out with the cat, and we made sure he ate well, too.

He loves the mackerel!

Also, while I don't have pictures, my parents made zongzi (large triangular dumplings made with glutinous rice, meat and beans, wrapped in bamboo leaves), and that was awesome. My dad is very good at wrapping these things! He also bought durian for me, yum yum.

In conclusion, it's been fantastic to be back in Melbourne again after more than two years away - and we hope to return soon enough!

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chiang mai: dara vietnamese restaurant, a joyful eating experience

Dara Vietnamese Restaurant, also referred to as Dara Vietnam Food.

So, what might possibly be our most favourite restaurant in Chiang Mai isn't actually a Thai restaurant. It's Dara Vietnam Food, a charming Vietnamese restaurant just outside the Chiang Mai old city square. Dara was a recommendation from my parents, who visited Chiang Mai before we did. Their driver took them there, and they loved it! In turn, they raved to me about the food, and I just knew I had to go there. Delicious things, plus the opportunity to retrace a few of my parents' footsteps in a foreign country? Awesome!

Dara looks fairly unassuming from the outside - if you weren't looking for it, you might go right past if you weren't paying attention, but walk in and you'll be delighted - at least, we were: a lovely wooden interior, warm tones, it just all felt very comfortable.

I settled in with a stimulating iced ginger tea, while Simon had a Vietnamese coffee.

Iced ginger tea at Dara Vietnamese Restaurant (15 baht). Simon's Vietnamese coffee, not shown, was 25 baht.

We partook in a Vietnamese do-it-yourself dish with little square rice paper wrappers, fresh herbs, homemade meatballs, assorted diced vegetables, and a peanut dipping sauce. We softened the rice paper squares in the bowl of water provided, then placed a bit of everything onto each square before wrapping it up into a tiny parcel and popping it into our mouths. It was fun!

Do-it-yourself Vietnamese rice paper rolls (goi cuon) - or in this case, more like Vietnamese rice paper parcels (100 baht).

We also had some rustic-style banh hoi - rice vermicelli bundles with grilled pork ribs and spring onion oil dipping sauce.

Bun hoy (more typically spelled banh hoi) at Dara Vietnam Food (40 baht).

We enjoyed our first meal at Dara so much that we returned for round two. Due to the abundance of food stalls, cafes, and restaurants in Chiang Mai, we rarely visited any eatery more than once - this is testament to how much we liked it here.

Also, also, did I mention that there is an adorable cat at Dara?

The first time, when we dined indoors, Dara cat hung out with us indoors. The second time, we decided to enjoy the fresh air in the courtyard area at the back, so of course, Dara cat hung out with us outdoors. HAPPINESS. We love Dara cat. Dara cat loves us. Life is beautiful.

The kitty at Dara Vietnamese Restaurant is super sweet! <3

But I assure you that we didn't return just for the cat. It's definitely for the food and drinks, too!

Unfortunately, the second time around I didn't jot down any notes, and given this was so long ago, now we play the guessing game. Is this an iced ginger tea, or an iced bael tea? Or something else entirely? Whatever it is, doesn't it look wonderfully refreshing?

Another iced drink - possibly iced ginger tea again, but could also be iced bael tea or something else.

At least with this dish, I know what it is for sure, it's so easy to identify: a Vietnamese pancake! One of Simon's favourite dishes. As with our first meal, glorious fresh herbs make an appearance again, so verdant and abundant.

Banh xeo (crispy Vietnamese pancake) at Dara Vietnam Food.

And here's what the perfectly-cooked pancake filling looks like. Absolutely luscious.

The scrumptious filling inside the Vietnamese pancake.

We had rice paper rolls again, but this time, instead of the DIY version, we went for the chef-prepared version!

Vietnamese rice paper rolls / summer rolls / salad rolls at Dara Vietnamese Restaurant.

Finally, this dish. I'll be honest and say I really cannot remember what this is. Clearly it's some kind of deep-fried snack. Vegetable fritters? Fish cakes? Shrimp cakes? I don't know. But I'm sure it was excellent, because I certainly don't remember not relishing any dish we had at Dara. Everything here was splendid.

What do you think this is? Vegetable fritters, fish cakes, or shrimp cakes?

Needless to say, if we ever return to Chiang Mai (and I sincerely hope we do!), Dara will be on our itinerary again, for sure. Both our visits here were just so satisfying. Thanks, mum and dad, for the recommendation!

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penang eats: some of my favourites!

Chinese fried breads for breakfast! Yeah!

For me, a trip back to Malaysia would not feel complete without a visit to Penang. My parents are originally from mainland Penang, and most of our relatives still reside there. I used to spend many childhood holidays in Penang, playing with my cousins, and I have many happy memories associated with this part of Malaysia. And, let's face it. The food. You've got to go to Penang for the food, if nothing else.

So after driving up the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, it only makes sense that our road trip then takes a turn to the west coast. We spent about a week in Penang, and we pretty much just ate... and ate... and ate. I don't remember how many times I had asam laksa in Penang. I could eat that stuff everyday, and I think I did for that week. Good times. Amazing times.

Here's a sample of what we had the evening we arrived in Penang.

Char koay teow, smoky wok-fried flat rice noodles with bean sprouts, egg and shrimp.

Char koay teow - wok-fried flat rice noodles.

Wantan mee, thin egg noodles with petite dumplings and barbecued pork slices. You can get the "soup" version, which comes in a bowl with a generous amount of light broth. This is the "dry" version, which isn't really that dry, as you can see - you get a small amount of rich dark soy sauce broth, and it is excellent.

Wantan mee, the "dry" version.

Char hor fun, thick flat rice noodles in an egg gravy.

Char hor fun, also known as wat dan hor.

In the mornings, we like to have steamed Teochew-style vegetable dumplings for breakfast. These dumplings have a homely rotund appearance and thin, tender, translucent skins. Don't expect them to be vegetarian, though - while it is mostly vegetable, they typically also contain dried shrimp in the filling. The green ones, which we call "gu chai kueh", are the ones with chopped garlic chives...

Gu chai kueh - steamed garlic chive dumplings.

While the yellow ones, which we call "mangkuang kueh", are filled with the goodness of shredded jicama, a turnip-like root vegetable.

Mang kuang kueh - steamed jicama dumplings.

Other than fried koay teow, you can also get koay teow t'ng, in which the flat rice noodles are boiled and served in a light and savoury broth, with accompaniments such as fish balls and pork.

Koay teow t'ng - flat rice noodles in a clear broth.

As I've mentioned, I ate asam laksa as often as I could. I believe there were days when I had it for lunch AND dinner. This dish features lovely round rice noodles in a broth of tamarind and shredded Indian mackerel (we call this fish "kembung") with bits of onion, chilli, lettuce, cucumber and mint. The intriguing kick of pink torch ginger flower (bunga kantan) tops it all off with panache. According to my parents, the torch ginger flower is a bit scarce these days, and not all vendors include much of it, if any. Here, we received a very nice sprinkling. It probably helps that my parents are on friendly terms with the stall owner!

Penang assam laksa.

You can get sea coconut beverage most places in Malaysia if you know where to look (hint: night markets), and to be honest this particular one I had in Penang probably wasn't the best example of it, but it was still nice and thirst-quenching. And sea coconut is always awesome - it has a gentle flavour and a chewy, crunchy texture that I find very appealing.

Sea coconut drink.

Last but not least, dessert. Throw some green jelly noodles and red beans into a cold coconut soup sweetened with palm sugar, and you have this lovely concoction called "cendol".

Cendol dessert.

And... yeah, in case you were wondering, writing this post is making me miss Malaysian food in a big way. I might have to go back again next year!

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road trip lunch stop: sun kong restaurant, lenggong (homemade fish balls, fiddlehead ferns and more!)

Sun Kong Restaurant at Lenggong town in Malaysia.

Ummmmm, picking up where I left off last year in this long-overdue continuation of my Asia travel series. As some of you may know, I quit my job in Melbourne last year, moved all my belongings to Perth, travelled around Asia for several months, and eventually settled back in Perth.

There are so many things to share, and last year's travel posts were only the tip of the iceberg. We were in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Taiwan, and I'm not even done posting about Malaysia yet! So here we continue on with our Malaysia road trip.

After leaving Kelantan, we drove to Penang, but on the way, we stopped at Sun Kong Restaurant (S-2, Kampung Baru Ayer Kala, 33420 Lenggong, Perak) for lunch.

Sun Kong is known for their homemade fish balls, so we had that as an appetizer. These handmade wolf-herring fish balls are distinctly different to the usual filler-added and MSG-laden stuff you get in sealed packets at the shops. Their gentle savoury flavour and rustic texture had me going back for seconds.

Homemade wolf-herring fishballs.

After devouring all the fish balls, we turned our attention to our rice and main dishes. First up, this vibrantly green fiddlehead fern stir-fry dish. These fiddlehead greens (also known as paku in Malaysia) are treated with a touch of garlic and other seasonings, and they straddled the perfect textural balance of firm and tender.

Stir-fried fiddlehead ferns.

Then we enjoyed slices of pig stomach and assorted vegetables in a tangy pineapple sauce. Definitely not the typical sweet-and-sour dish you see in Westernized restaurants!

Sweet and sour pig stomach with vegetables in pineapple sauce.

We have been eating a lot of fish during our time in Malaysia, and we weren't about to stop. Local wild river-caught fish is a favourite when we can get it, and when it's artfully steamed in the classic manner, the freshness really shines.

Steamed catfish (pak sou gong) with soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, coriander, spring onions.

With full bellies, we hopped back into the car and resumed driving. Later that evening, we arrive in Penang, which is basically a food haven in so many ways. But that's a subject for the next post. Stay tuned!

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kelantan market: pasar besar siti khadijah

The bird's eye view of Kelantan market from the upper floor.

The big market at Kelantan - Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah - is quite an experience, a whirlwind of smells and colours. If I recall correctly, there were three levels: fresh produce on the ground floor, dried or processed foods on the first floor, and textiles on the top floor. I won't say much more... here is the pictorial tour!

This looks similar to snake fruit, but not quite - does anyone know what it is?

Assorted dessert jellies. The green one is used in "cendol", I'm not so familiar with the red one.

An array of pickles.

Malay ladies buying and selling "kuih" - cakes that are usually eaten for breakfast.

The market stall where we got our "nasi kerabu".

Really really delicious "nasi kerabu" at the market. The blue rice is coloured with natural flower dye.

Many different types of crackers, that you can buy home to fry up for a crispy treat.

Dried fish - so many sizes and varieties!

 
The end. I have to confess that I was mostly drawn to taking photos of the food and not much else. Hope that this post is, regardless, an interesting and satisfying glimpse of Pasar Besar Siti Khadidjah!
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kelantan: food, fish, and traditions.

Malay cakes - the ones pictured are "kuih lompang".

When we arrived at Kelantan, my parents immediately whisked us to one of their favourite restaurants. Upon arrival, we see a table full of Malay cakes. We had the "kuih lompang", a wobbly sweet steamed cake made with rice flour and topped with grated coconut. It was scrumptious.

For our main meals, we all got nasi kerabu, a traditional Malay rice dish with herbs, vegetables, and crispy coconut-flaked fish.

Nasi Kerabu, a Malay rice dish. Kelantan is famous for their Nasi Kerabu.

Kelantan state borders Thailand, and for dinner that night we had Thai food. We noticed the restaurant had fried hornet larvae (if I recall correctly - otherwise it might be bees or wasps) and decided to take the plunge. It wasn't as creepy as I imagined. They were crispy and hollow, and took on the taste of the garlic with which they were fried. I found them to be at least tolerable, and Simon actually liked them so much he kept going back for seconds!

Fried hornet larvae.

The next day, we drove around to get ourselves a few glimpses of Malay traditions in Kelantan.

We visited a shop/factory where we observed people weaving songket - a brocade textile.

Songket weaving in Kelantan.

We also saw some guys flying kites. But not just any kite - the traditional Malaysian kite, "wau bulan".

Traditional kite flying in Kelantan. This type of kite is called "wau bulan".

Dad took us to a wharf where fishermen store their catches. There are some cats around the place, I imagine they must lead a pretty good life. Fresh fish everyday!

Cat eating a fresh fish. That feline is living the life!

And of course dad had to buy some fish.

Fresh fish.

We took it to a restaurant that night, and had it cooked by the chef. It was truly excellent. As my dad said, "Sometimes you get seriously great fish, but not a great chef. Sometimes you get a seriously great chef, but not a great fish. Here, both the quality of the fish and the craftmanship is inpeccable." It was a lovely meal with which to end the Kelantan experience.

(By the way, due to the demographics of Kelantan, even though this was a Chinese restaurant, the songs played were Malay, which was quite a quirky juxtaposition, hehe.)

Fish cooked Chinese-style at a Chinese restaurant in Kelantan.

But wait - there's more about Kelantan to come! In my next post, I'll take you on a tour of the fantastic market there.

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