24. A little more of Langkawi ... 2009

And of course for those who love their desserts, no trip to Langkawi can ever be considered complete without a stopover at Bon Ton resort ... small place, rustic n o so charming? Just be wary for those who do not like dogs because there are a few roaming in the restaurants as there was (not sure now) an animal shelter/ vet in front of the hotel

And if you are departing via the ferry or speed boat or hydrofoil ... then when you visit the old crappy rundown so-called Mall in the town of Kuah, walk to one of the little eateries facing outside. They have these delicious iced lemon teas! Good for a hot day

23. Langkawi ... a mix pot ... 2009

Let's start off with something from one of the 5-star hotels that a group of us stayed for a night and woke up in the morning to a beautiful breakfast marred only by an awesome fly on the baked goodies! We do not mention name of hotels because ... hey these things happen!

For those non-halal types, you will be surprised that Langkawi has its own share of yummy pork-a-licious goodies ... the following photo is an awesome pig knuckle down to the bone cooked Chinese style in one of the shops near Kuah town

It is certainly yummy and there were some of us who wished we could gnaw on the ends!

22. Phnom Penh Cambodia ... Feb 2009

This is not your typical Cambodian tourist food or traditional food. It is in a nice restaurant that has been around for ages run by the press/ journalistic association or so the name says so and they have another high end outlet in Siem Reap ... what made it great is the warm lighting, old world feel and tons of awesome war torn and peace time black n white photos ... naturally everything there is over-priced!

Food was average, service was average ... ambiance is awesome!

21. JW Marriott Jakarta ... a disappoinment? April 2009

We arrived late ... and hungry ... and decided to have something simple, basic, well known at every street corner of the country ... nasi goreng or fried rice ... have a look at the photo below ... taste average n presentation? Definitely not even a good 4-star eh?

20. Hanoi Highlights ... Jul 2007

Okay we are going to skip the usual Vietnamese Pho and Banh and moved on to other dishes we had in Hanoi that is less widely available beyond Hanoi ... and that we stumbled upon it by accident

Our first breakfast was at a streetside vendor ... and we had no idea what they were selling except that the soup was delicious and steaming hot .. and there were loads of veg and herbs stuffed into the bowl!

Lunch a few days later was equally unusual where the restaurant's main dish is this ... pan with fish cooked in a sort of stir fry but the sauce was just awesome ... everything else was an accompaniment to this magnificent dish ... anyone who knows the name, please send me a message ... thanks!

19. Langkawi is our next stop ... Feb 2007 ...

Actually we flicked through about six months worth of photos but nothing much on food ... even though we stopped by Dubai amongst others ... until Langkawi ... and for our first offering ... Kuah Jetty Starbucks hahahahaha

Okay here is the most awesome romantic dinner there ... u go to one of the many sea fronts ... and some will have a mixed seafood platter for two with candlelights ... hehehe

No way can we finish this because it is accompanied on a separate platter full of salads and potatoes!

18. Back to Sey ... Jun 2007

Yes we admit that the photos seem to be jumping everywhere but the truth is waaaay back then we did a fair bit of jumping everywhere ourselves. Anyway, this one is a mix between home cooking and one of the local eateries. The local eatery shall remain nameless except for the table signage. So if you recognized it, means it still exists today hahaha (sorry for poor quality of photos)

That's chicken steak and chips with pizza ... and now here's something I was planning to whip up in my little kitchen at home on Baie Lazare (hope I get the spelling right)

Okay do ignore the vodka please ... we do tend to drink a wee bit more back in those days ... and here is the finished product

Banana leaf is actually harvested from our own garden hehehehehe ...

17. Tuna overload ... Jan 2007 ...

Well if you think all those Indian type powders are a bit too much for your stomach but you still like food with a little zing, look no further than the awesome isles of Maldives. Here we present some of the foods that the locals have been eating for years and oh-so-yummy and cheap

 

A little Western influenced desserts? Yup but the one we are recommending is the pic below

Tuna cakes - inside is boiled tuna with desiccated coconut, cut chilies, onions, lime juice yummieee!

16. Africa ho! Feb 2007 ...

From foods that are served straight for eating, we jump a wee bit westward to the small island nation of Mauritius as we present to you something different ...

All sorts of jars filled to the brim with home made recipes of pickles, pastes and sambals!

And if you thought those bottled stuff was still too prepared, how about going to the basics? The powders themselves? Heh!

15. And on a less developed desert front ... Qatar ... Dec 2007 ...

This is an eye opener of a  trip ... I had a short transit of which I changed into 12 hours ... then I just walked out of the airport and kept walking along the roads aiming for Doha ... yup walked without a map!

And hungry ... I turned off from the main roads into side roads finding nourishment in the form of many of these little diner run by Indian migrants with Indian fare ... quite tasty

Remember the days of these types of phones? Hehehe!

14. And now for a spot of Luxury ... Bahrain ... 2007

As promised from last posting, it was meant to be from a sumptuous buffet in this gigantic tent (so-called although from within you couldn't tell it's a tent) ... but as a mate knows the head chef ... he asked us to sit and his team presented three rounds of awesome food ... in the pic above is merely the spread for round 2!!!

Zooming in for clarity ... Bahrain Ritz = Awesome-ness!

13. Simple foods in a luxury surrounding ... Bahrain ... 2007 ...

From all those (predominantly) meanderings in Asia, let's move west ever onwards ... and you will see, slowly that the pictures of our featured foods start to reach proper plating standards ala today's crazed world obsession with taking photos of food ... back then ... well ... we love our food but we didn't think to take proper photos know what I mean?

Anyway ... here is one of 8 dishes featured in my humble apartment in Bahrain ... steamed veg and sambal chutney ... hehehe

And then there's the welcoming platter from a hotel ... partially eaten before realizing I needed a photo ... see what I mean? Hahaha! Check out the colours though ... isn't it awesme? Plate of sweets, plate of savouries and a bowl of uncut fruits

And then ... if you order room service like I did ... a Caesar salad ... they serve this to you in your separate private dining room in your "little" villa ... just awesome service and design of villa ... not so sure about taste of food though ... not saying it's bad ... just that everything else is so over the top that ...

All these for an order of Coca Cola (guilty yes) and a Caesar Salad

12. Childhood Memories ... 2006 ...

While I am not big fan of those local style buffets, but if there is one thing they are good at, it is having a wide spread of local desserts ie kuih and here are some of my favorites! Basically you can find them at street markets or those 3-star type of hotels. Forget the so-called fancy shops or malls as they are usually not so "authentic" anymore

11. An Asian breakfast ... Sep 2006

So ... So ... Sorry first ... because this is another non-halal food posting ...

Anyway, this is what is deemed to be a traditional sort of breakfast here in wonderful Penang island, Malaysia ... a pot of herbal soup with tender, succulent pork, rice, crullers (cha koay) ... yummy!

Enjoy ... and definitely go for at least an hour's walk after this kind of breakfast!