Best Unexpected Food List

These are the foods you don’t expect to find in SE Asia, but you found them, and they were delicious.

     1.     Best Waffle: Dots Café in Kuching, Malaysia

                The heavy Chinese influence in Kuching has made the food here excellent. Waffle shops are a craze, and this tasty peach special from Dots Cafe is right on par. 

2.     Best Guacamole: Yar Pyi Vegetarian Restaurant in   Bagan, Myanmar

I            I expected to find exceptional vegetarian food in Myanmar, but not guacamole! This   was fantastic, with a uniquely tart flavor and special seasoning. 

3.     Best muesli: German Bread & More in Hua Hin, Thailand

             This muesli can be found at the B&B run by a lovely German couple in Hua Hin. Usually muesli is served dry with mil or yogurt, but here it was a delicious creamy porridge with bananas and other fresh fruit. 

4.     Best airplane food: fish curry at Bangkok Air Yangon to Bangkok

            I know it doesn't look like much, but this was the best airplane food I've ever had. The curry was restaurant quality, the glass noodles were tangy and spicy. The coconut cake was moist and sweet. It really doesn't get better than this. 

5.     Best instant coffee: Luwak coffee in Bali, Indonesia

            This Kopi Luwak came from a package and was served to me at the morning market in Ubud. I love this coffee, complete with cream and sugar. Luwak coffee is $50/cup in the U.S. but in the Ubud market it's mere pennies. 

6.     Best instant tea: Sunday 3 in 1 in Myanmar

            While Bali wins the award for the best instant coffee, Myanmar does it right with instant tea. Here's a little secret: my favorite restaurant in Bagan serves amazing Myanmar sweet tea, and when I asked for their recipe, then told me they use Sunday's instant tea. Well, I found some at the market and sure enough, it was the very same. I have not seen it sold anywhere outside Myanmar, but if you have the chance, take a few packets home. 

7.     Best coffee: Marble Arch coffee, Chiang Mai, Thailand

             While Chiang Mai boasts many special coffee places, the Marble Arch Coffee at Marble Arch Cafe is surely my favorite. No need for creamy or sugar, this rich, sweet, smooth drink is perfect as it is. 

8.     Best Ice Cream: Celano Caramel Vanilla, Vietnam

                I did not know ice cream could be so good until I had a Celano bar. Vanilla ice cream covered in a chocolate-caramely sauce with almonds is just too good to pass, even though it is more expensive than a Bahn Mi! 

Cemetery in Kuching

Before my trip to Borneo, I googled cemeteries in Kuching. Some very impressive images of colorful Chinese armchair graves came up, and I decided that I had to see them in real life. However, none of the websites with these impressive photographs could tell me the name or location of the cemetery. I resorted to searching Google Maps, which directed me to several cemeteries a good hour’s drive outside the city. Not really what I wanted.

I had all but given up on finding cemeteries in Kuching, when an act of serendipity lead me to this site. I had taken a taxi from the river to a café on Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, and when I looked out the window I saw the tips of tombstones in a gravesite at the intersection of Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce and Jala Nanas. This cemetery looked more western with grey tombstones, but I figured it was at least worth a look. I decided to walk there on my way back from the café, about 1.5 km. But when I couldn’t find a crosswalk I turned the corner and went up a different road. Along that road I found a much larger and more beautiful cemetery with….armchair graves! I was so excited. I didn’t have to venture out of Kuching to find a beautiful cemetery.

For those who are interested, the cemetery can be found on Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg, just opposite the Hospital Umum Sarawak.

Kuching Instagram Diary

The Why Question: Reflections from Kuching

I’ve been getting the “why” question a lot from fellow travelers. When I tell them that I am on the road for six months, the first word is another w-word: wow. Then it is always followed by “why” in one form or another:

“What made you decide to do this?”

“What’s the purpose of your trip?”

“Why so long?” “Why Asia?” “Why now?”

Of all the conversations I was prepared to have, this wasn’t one of them. Although they start off seeming merely curious, I don’t feel like justifying my decisions to anyone. I'm here because I want to be here. I have dreamed of traveling around the world my whole life, and I  finally have the time, money, and energy to do it. I'm in between jobs at a turning point in my career, and I’ve been saving money for this trip since I was nineteen. I'm in Asia because I think this is the most fascinating region of the world. It’s at the top of my bucket list. There are places I want to see, things I want to do, and food I want to eat here. Being overseas, gleaning experience and knowledge from other people and my surroundings is a fundamental part of my identity. I am my experiences. I am interesting because I do interesting things.

This is who I am.

If judgment was absent from their initial question, it begins to show after I give my response. Somehow, everything I’ve said isn’t enough. They want to hear a specific purpose. An action-plan with measurable goals and a purpose. “I'm a mountain climber and my goal is to climb every mountain in this region” or “I own a restaurant and came here to sample local cuisine in order to revamp our menu.” They want me to explain myself with a label. “I'm a photographer…” “I'm a volunteer…”

When I can’t answer so simply they seem genuinely concerned. They look like they don’t know how to handle me. I worry them. Like I'm freefalling through space and my inability to condense my identity into one acceptable title spells my doom.

I expected this attitude from folks back home, the 9 to 5 working crew. I expected this  attitude from people who have never left the U.S., and from people who never use their vacation days. I did not expect this attitude from other travelers, whom I would meet on dusty roads in Bali and in dense jungles in Borneo. I did not expect this from people who are more well-traveled than I, older than I, wiser than I.

But here I am. The question comes up in every dreaded conversation, and the attitude, however masked by kindness it may be, is visible. I shrug it off. I laugh. I end the conversation. I keep going. I don’t need their approval to do what I'm doing, but it weighs on my mind. I was hoping that by traveling I would escape the social pressures to conform. I was hoping I would meet other non-conformists. But at barely a month into my trip, that has yet to happen. 

-Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Kuching, Malaysia

Photo Diary: Best of Kuching

Differences in Malaysian Apartments and Hotels

In my stay at several apartments and hotels all over Malaysia, I have noticed some interesting differences when compared with American and Japanese apartments:

1. Every room has a Kiblat sign, which points to the direction of Mecca. Muslims pray five times a day and they must face Mecca when doing so. The signs are very discretely placed, so they are almost not noticeable. Often times they are on the ceiling, and once I found one in a drawer. 

2.  Each room has a water heater for the shower, which must be turned on 5 minutes before taking a shower. I was not used to this so I kept forgetting to turn the water heater on before taking a shower…and I had many cold showers. I'm not sure why the water heater can’t just be left on all day, like in apartments in other countries, but apparently that’s not how it works here.

3. The AC has an on-off switch too. In Japan, the AC was only controlled by a remote but in Malaysia, the on-off switch is built into the wall. Also, notice how the abbreviation for "air-conditioner" is "Air Cond," as opposed to "Air Con" in Japan and "AC" in America.  

4. As in America, the toilet and shower  are in one room However, there is no wall or curtain that divides them, so when you take a shower, the walls, floor, and toilet get horribly wet.