Tag Archives: beyond toxicity

malaysia chronicles: nasi lemak

Posted by rob on

visiting malaysia would not be complete if one will never taste their traditional food, nasi lemak.  when i was in penang, docgelo, together with his wife tina and my godson gabby had our own food trip (see beyond toxicity’s hunger pangs inducer post, food porn: penang).  it included docgelo eating nasi lemak and me finding out that it is served with chicken that i avoid to eat (i have poultry meat allergy). 

when i went to kuala lumpur after my stay in penang, me and my malaysian friend went to suria klcc mall and he invited me for lunch at nasi lemak adik located at the food court.

i thought nasi lemak was only served with chicken but i was wrong.  one can have it also with red meat or seafood.  i ordered nasi lemak sotong (squid).

my plate of nasi lemak sotong was an all thumbs up!  my friend said he eats nasi lemak anytime of the day.

i also had this malaysian dessert they call ABC (acronym for air, batu, campur or simply, mixed ice).  i enjoyed eating this local dessert.

we went to another mall in kuala lumpur, midvalley megamall.  it was about dinner time when we passed by this restaurant serving authentic malaysian cuisine, madam kwan’s. 

i ordered fried king prawns cooked with a special sauce of chili and garlic. 

i also had some stir-fried kangkong with sambal belacan (chili sauce with toasted shrimp paste).

to finish my satisfying dinner at madam kwan’s i had cendol, another local dessert. 

cendol consists of shaved ice, coconut milk, red beans, sugar, and a worm-like jelly made from rice flour with green food coloring (usually derived from the pandan leaf).

malaysia chronicles: three temples

Posted by rob on

malaysia has its share of beautiful temples and penang is one of the places to go to see these structures.  docgelo, tina, gabby and i started our day early to visit the temples.  we headed off to air itam by taxi, where the largest buddhist temple in southeast asia, the kek lok si is located.

 the “temple of supreme bliss” was started during the late 1800’s and visitors have to ascend a flight of stairs to reach the top.  there were souvenir stores along the pathway leading to the temple but most of them were still closed when we got there.  the temple itself was also still closed  (we were quite early being there) so we were just able to take pictures of the outside.

 

the temple has a main seven-storied pagoda known as the pagoda of 10,000 buddhas which we were not able to view. docgelo told me he will go back to the place next time so he can take pictures of the interior.

 

we boarded the efficient rapid penang bus to reach another temple built during the early 1800’s, the dhammikarama burmese temple that houses a tall marble-made golden buddha.

 

the design of the interior around the buddha is so intricate and very detailed. i took a shot of the ceiling which is beautifully designed.

 

behind the statue are images of buddha with different hand gestures called as mudras (read docgelo’s interesting post, mudras: inspiring gestures).

 

just opposite dhammikarama is wat chaiyamangalaram, a thai temple with a reclining buddha which is said to be third of the largest in the world.

 

docgelo took a picture of me with his wife and son. it was a memorable time for me visiting penang with him and his family.

 

thanks doc for the tour! a day in penang is not enough but i enjoyed it a lot. if everything goes well back here at work i might visit you again sometime next year.. show me more of penang then! 🙂

malaysia chronicles: penang

Posted by rob on

after spending two rainy days at kota kinabalu, my next stop for my trip was penang, northern part of malaysia.  the main reason that i wanted to visit penang is to meet my friend docgelo (of beyond toxicity), who’s based there together with his wife and my godson, gabby.  i have known angelo since our pre-med years when we were both taking up biology to become future doctors (he became one and i did not for lack of determination – lol!).

i took a two and a half hour air asia flight from kota kinabalu, found myself at penang airport and met up with docgelo and his family.  we went straight to georgetown by taxi to check-in at tune hotels, downtown penang.  tune hotels is an excellent budget accommodation operating around malaysia.

tune hotels offers low-priced rooms with comfortable spring mattress beds and bathrooms equipped with high pressure, heated “power showers”.

being a limited service hotel, optional add-ons include a 12 or 24 hour airconditioning but still there is a ceiling fan in the room.  i paid an additonal amount for the wi-fi with a good connection.

after checking in at tunes, docgelo invited me for dinner with his wife, tina and gabby at santorini (see docgelo’s post, food porn: penang) and had some coffee at starbucks, new world park which is only beside the hotel.  we returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep to start the next day to visit the temples at penang.

read docgelo’s related blog post, reunion in penang.