Driving holiday in Malaysia - food tips

 

Traveling has become so easy. It must be. Right? Otherwise the Malaysian no-frills airline wouldn't say 'Now everyone can fly'! Right. Last year I flew all of 3 times. And none yet this year.

Anyway, I was at a travel agency one fine day. They had a very stylish display of reading material so I decided to check it out.

They were some very nice magazines but it was a little foldable brochure on driving holiday trips that caught my eye.

It was the chocolates (sic) and junk food on the list of essentials to bring on a driving trip that made me go whaaaat.

Why would I pack chocolate on a driving trip??

No.1  This is a tropical country. It can get really hot in the car. No.2 Chocolate melts. Unless they're M&Ms.  No.3 Bananas are healthier. And this is a tropical country? That makes them cheaper too.  Rastalis (my favourite banana variety) taste way better if one has to gorge on one thing. 

And that other essential. Junk food? Pardon me while I barf. I've never fancied any of that dried, sweetened, preserved stuff. 

Which reminds me of a family I saw on a picnic sometime ago. They were stuffing down bags of different varieties of chips; potato chips, different flavours. Wow. All three generations; grandmother, parents and children. All shoving down crisps and crackers. Grandma was passing out the bags too. My grandmother never fed me junk food. And I think junk food had existed back then!

My mother packed super delicious (and wholesome) food like sandwiches on picnics. And rice! Mmmmm. We'd have grilled fish too. Mmmm. Now that's food. :) We usually had 2 types of sandwiches. Egg sandwiches and sardine sandwiches. Mmmmmm. Now that's food. :)

Please don't pack chocolate or junk food on a driving trip. Pack bananas instead. And cookies. Okay, I do have one food vice. But only when I travel! Not just any cookies mind you though. Hazelnut cookies. 

The tea experience - superstitions? abound. language hurdles? of course!

Chinese tea. Steaming hot. The perfect drink to accompany lunch.  In Asia anyway. Among the Chinese anyway. The older Chinese anyway. Or maybe it's just me. And a handful of health-nuts and traditionalists. :) For the record, I'm part Chinese. :)

But that doesn't make me an expert at tea drinking. Not even remotely. But I do know how it makes me feel. Refreshed, cleansed and rejuvenated.

I looked up some (web) experts on tea - who knows where they get their source from - and found a quote that I kinda like. According to them (a few had the quote on their sites - not that this lends validity to the quote - they probably copied off each other - same thing I'm doing now. Haha), according to an ancient Chinese proverb, get this :


Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one

Wow, right? Who would've guessed. Guess this might one day be the basis of a new diet fad. What am I saying? It probably is already.

Anyway, the three cups of tea in the picture were actually part of a lunch for two. According to someone I know, whose sources have yet to be verified, the third cup is for any unseen guest sitting at the table. Not to say I am superstitious but I'll buy that if it's all the same to you, thank you very much!  Besides if it does no harm to anything or anyone, then I'm all for it! :)

Among the many many types of Chinese tea, my personal favourite is the emperor tea, which I was introduced to just last Chinese New Year. 

A few weeks passed by before I had another opportunity to dine at a Chinese restaurant. And there, armed with a new tea repertoire, I announced (with a somewhat arrogant(ish) air), that I wanted emperor tea. The lady did not understand me. So thinking that language was a barrier, I said it in Chinese. I said Wong Cha. She still didn't have a clue. I repeated it a few times. 

Remember how practise makes perfect? I thought maybe it was my pronunciation. 

WONG Cha. Wong CHA. Woung Charr. Pfft. I even tried raising my voice. What the heck, right? Still no success. So I gave up and ordered the house hot Chinese tea. 

Much later, I lamented to friends about the scarcity of Wong Cha. Instead of sympathizing, they burst out laughing. One said, well of course my dear, you should have said Cha Wong. Well, duh. Blame me for my poor Chinese but I wonder if it's such a stretch to figure out Cha Wong from Wong Cha! 

I did manage to order Cha Wong at another establishment, but I only wanted one cup. The lady said not possiberr. Ah well.