kimong.com

I had a good start of 2012 with a fulfilling holiday back in Malaysia visiting family and friends. I ate a lot of unhealthy food! My trip back to Kuala Lumpur confirmed that my life has evolved since I’ve been in Melbourne for two and a half years now. In other words, I have grown in many ways. I realised that I do not adapt so easily anymore when it comes to the change of timezone and hours. 3 hours difference of Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur affect my eating and sleeping habits quite drastically. Apart from that, the lifestyle in KL when it comes to food certainly is not that healthy compared to the food here in Melbourne.

A friend of mine had just recently stepped foot into Sydney and mentioned that food in Australia’s rather bland. Indeed, Australia’s food lack flavour like in Malaysia where oil’s reused over and over again, fried in woks that have not been cleaned forever, preservatives and so on. There is no real Aussie food besides “Hungry Jacks”, but I’d say typical Aussie food is takeaway $2.50 sushi, foccacias, wraps, salad and so on – considered bland food!

My main excuse is that I was on a holiday so I decided to indulge. I do feel pretty guilty with all the food I’ve had. See for yourself below.

Above: At some yum cha cafe I forgot.

Above: Kin Kin pan mee’s other branch or something?

Above: O&S laksa, not that great but decent or “will do”.

Above: Chicken rice. Total bill for 3 pax was around $20.00 (approx AUD$6.50)

Above: Steamboat.

Above: Fish with lots of sauce. What sauce is this anyway?

Above: Pork, I didn’t touch.

Above: Bak Kut The. That’s a whole lot of garlic. Yum…

Above: Chicken Hor Fun noodles. Yummy. I think this place is called Ipoh Chang Jiang coffee shop.

Above: Fish Head at Paramount.

Above: Chatterbox’s Bittergourd with Beef.

Above: Fried noodles at Chatterbox.

Above: Wat Tan Hor at Char Chan Teng.

Above: Steam Room, Sunway Giza. Total bill was around RM150.00 (AUD$50.00) for four pax.

Above: My favourite tofu.

Above: Chicken!

Above: Fried brinjal.

Above: My favourite chicken feet! I know you may find it gross, but it’s really yummy!

Above: Fried rice.

Above: Chicago Rib House at One Utama. Total bill was around RM180.00 (AUD$60.00)

Above: Murni’s double cheese naan.

WHAT YOU CAN EAT AT AUD$1.00

At AUD$1.00, you can have Economy Rice – a fish (not two) and two vegetable dishes on rice.

WHAT YOU CAN EAT AT AUD$0.60

You can have a full meal – a plate of noodles and a cup of hot coffee at RM1.80.

It is generally cheaper in Malaysia to eat out than to cook in, depending on what you cook as well. In Malaysia, people spend more time travelling between work and home or to places and working hours are late, so it is more convenient to eat out. Food is generally more greasy but is addictive.

When I reached Melbourne, I fell ill immediately and had to go on a full detox. I was inhaling too much smoke, not eating and sleeping well. I wanted to do everything given the short period of time I had in Malaysia. It felt as if I needed to recover from a holiday.

Malaysia’s a place I call “home”, to visit once a year. Some changes I noticed this time around:

- Many new pubs and bars have emerged
- New shopping centres like Dutamas and Sunway Giza are becoming popular
- Clubs in KL apparently now have the license to open till 5am (or was it 6am)?
- Brands like Zara and MNG have pretty bad clothes in KL, they look really cheap this time around.
- Local Malaysian designers have their designs represented in local boutiques in Bangsar and Kota Damansara and quality’s pretty awesome!

Detox time! How many times I have to justify my gluttony?