Do you know that feeling when something prevents you from sleeping? And you’re tired as a dog, but still can’t shut down completely. When we woke up early in the morning, not quite rested, we looked at each other and asked, ‘Did you have any dreams?’
No. No dreams. All night long, right under our Malaysian skyscraper, street racing was going on. While we were sleeping (okay, trying to sleep) on our 30th floor, listening to the ‘vroom, vroom,’ down below, scenes from the movie ‘Fast and Furious’ were flashing by. We needed to wake up completely to go down and see what was happening. But… it wasn’t meant to be.
Turns out, Malaysians love street racing. And at night, the city often hosts massive auto-moto shows, which the local police turn a blind eye to. They say it looks pretty dangerous. But that doesn’t bother anyone.
So, another day in Malaysia begins for us. And it starts… with a family tradition of sampling samosas in different (read: shady) places. It’s strange how it turned out. We’re surprised ourselves. But at some point, for some reason, we decided to buy samosas wherever we see them. And compare which ones are tastier. It’s time to start a separate social media account for all our samosas :) Let them compete!
So, in Malaysia, samosas are tastier than in Thailand or Sri Lanka. Later, we decided to try another package right in the center of the Indian quarter. We thought it would be spicy. In Sri Lanka, for example, it was impossible to eat a samosa without shedding a tear. But no! In Malaysia, it’s truly magnificent. With Indian spices and fresh vegetables — everything as it should be. The dough is incredibly delicious. And in the same Indian quarter, we got the most delicious masala tea we’ve ever had in our lives. We liked it so much that an hour later, we went back for more. And would’ve gone for the third time… if it hadn’t started raining.
Yes, we would seriously get hooked on that masala if we stayed in Malaysia for a long time.
And we also brought a box of Indian sweets with us. We decided to take them with us to Phuket because we don’t really like Thai sweets. Just like we didn’t like Sri Lankan ones. But Indian sweets, we could enjoy them with hot tea every day.
They are coconut candies with the aroma of powdered milk and various spices that gently melt in your mouth. We urgently need more!
In general, we liked Malaysian cuisine more than Thai. But that’s between us. Thai cuisine is famous worldwide. But in reality, apart from tom yum, pad thai, and fried rice, there’s not much to eat here (if you don’t cook it yourself). Maybe we’re just too spoiled, but… It seems to us that Thais use the same spices, which quickly become boring. Everything tastes the same: a little sour, a little sweet, a little spicy. It’s all the same: lime, ginger, chili. In Kuala Lumpur, the cuisine seemed richer in impressions to us.
Just walking along the narrow streets, you can feel the aromas of Eastern, Chinese, and Indian cuisine. And you want to try everything! We got Malaysian fried rice nasi goreng, and with it, spicy stewed beef with vegetables. It all smelled deliciously of smoke and Eastern spices. The portions are huge, just like in Thailand — enough for 2 times.
By the way, in Thailand, you can hardly find beef, or it’s quite expensive. Instead, pork is widely used everywhere (in Malaysia, they don’t eat it for religious reasons). We’ve never eaten so much pork anywhere as in Phuket. We’re not fans of this type of meat at all, but the Thais know how to grow excellent pork. It’s incredibly tender, odorless, and never tough. However, when the kids saw how sad piglets were transported in overcrowded trucks… They almost cried. But they just love stewed pork with potatoes.
Life, why are you so cruel?
People say there’s a separate city of street food in Malaysia, where there’s just an incredible concentration of stalls with dishes from different cuisines of the world. Honestly, we’re not particularly fond of cooking. And it’s more interesting for us to try how others do it. So next time, we definitely want to go there to get a new gastronomic experience and delicious impressions…
But will there be a next time?
Now, this is an interesting story.
Or rather, contradictory.
On the one hand, we were charged with the energy of a big city. The city is colorful, inspiring, never boring. It has everything and for everyone. And you feel like a part of something huge and alive. We’ve been to Thailand 7 times, so it’s getting harder to discover something new and be amazed. Yes, for the sake of new experiences and cool memories, we would like to stay in Kuala Lumpur longer. Strolling along these contrasting streets, trying unusual food, having evening picnics in the park with a view of the Petronas Towers…
But the kids said they’re more used to and fond of Phuket. That big distances tire them out, and crowded places drain their energy. That they’ve made friends here, and they can freely run to each other’s houses. Thais are more relaxed and easygoing. They allow children to make noise, run between complexes, freely use the pools. In Kuala Lumpur, there’s a strict dress code and strict rules. For example, we weren’t allowed to use the gym in our own complex because we ‘didn’t have the appropriate footwear.’ And for the same reasons, we couldn’t play billiards — we didn’t bring closed-toe shoes. Religion does leave a big mark on the culture, and the disapproving looks from some passersby didn’t sit well with us at all. But that’s probably the only ‘but.’
We discussed this question among ourselves for a long time. And we concluded that if we happen to pass by Malaysia again — we’ll stay there for at least a month. After all, we’re exploring the world!
And what comes next… who knows?
