Connecting to a location through my stomach

I met another traveller, K, while I was in San Francisco. On our way to a taco place she loves, she asked what I usually do when I travel.

I thought for a short while and said: “Eat.”

I cannot imagine not trying local food in a new location. I usually detail my travel food diary in the Glutton-series and #FoodFri where I feature a yummy, or not, dish I’ve had.

Best dish I ever had

My most memorable dish has to be the noodles in my 大盘鸡(dapanji) in Luoyang, China.

I thought 大盘鸡, or roughly translated as “big plate of chicken”, was a literal big plate of steamed white chicken. Turns out, it’s chicken in soy sauce with potatoes.

The stall I went to only had portions for two people and more. I was alone but ordered the two-person set anyway.

I like chicken very much as I gobbled down the salty meat and the starchy potatoes. Just when I thought I could not eat another bite, one of the employees brought me a large plate of udon-like noodles.

I asked for half of the portion she gave me but regretted it once I bit into the noodles. It was too tasty!

It was a strange type of noodles. It was thick and white like udon but was more firm like ramen and more chewy.

Mixed with the salty soy sauce, the plain noodles transformed from boring Cinderella into the main character of the dish.

After I finished my small portion, I could not eat another bite which was a real pity.

Until this day, I dream of it… My beautiful chewy, white Chinese udon.

This blog post was inspired by BootsnAll’s Indie Travel Challenge weekly travel blog project.
This week’s topic: Food.

More yummy goodies

#FoodFri: where I feature something interesting that I have eaten.
YQ, The Gultton series: Food feature for different trips, includes KL, Indonesia, Ipoh, and San Francisco (for now).

The Silken Serenade to Kuala Lumpur

Trains are the new planes.
–@t_phuck

(Caution: Content is not optimized for blog posts.)

I had the chance to take the overnight Malaysia train on Feb. 10 from Johor to Kuala Lumpur to meet my friend who was visiting from Ho Chi Minh.

As it was my first Malaysian night train, I was excited even when buying the tickets. The train that I will be taking was called Senandung Sutera. Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office translated it as Silken Serenade which I took to mean the train would emit a low hum while on the tracks.

I’m not a train romantic but since it was my first overnight train in Malaysia, my imagination run wild.

In your dreams

I imagined that I would leave for my train with a small hand carry and a gorgeous vintage travel dress (much like Nellie Bly’s round-the-world outfit).

On the train, I would sleep like a baby as the train gently rocks me. In the morning, I would wake up fresh from the night’s sleep. I would then alight the train with light steps and in my hand, I carry the small lady-like hand luggage.

In my gorgeous vintage travel dress, I would step out on the platform while the wind blows and tousles my hair. Something like what these ladies are doing.

Of course, things never quite work out the way I want it to. For one, I have two luggages–a backpack and a gaudy Lesportsac sling bag. Then, I have unflattering glasses and messy hair. My only consolation is that I do have a nice sundress. Good enough, I suppose.

Continue reading “The Silken Serenade to Kuala Lumpur” →

8 reasons you should visit Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

BootsnAll has a post on why you should visit Southeast Asia. I want to bring you deeper into SEA.

Welcome to Kota Kinabalu.

I was born and raised in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah. I’ve always been fiercely proud of being a Sabahan. In fact, I think myself as a Sabahan first, a Malaysian second.

Where is Sabah and where is KK (pronounced keh-keh in our local accent)? It is in the northern part of Borneo–the third largest island in the world. The second largest state in Malaysia.

Continue reading “8 reasons you should visit Kota Kinabalu, Sabah” →

YQ’s travel resolution for 2012

Directions to a Malay wedding

I wonder how many people actually keep to their new year resolutions.

I see them as sort of a pointer for the year but sometimes we don’t really need to follow them exactly to get somewhere.

Here are my travel resolutions for 2012

Make flight bookings to Thailand and the Phillipines
-I haven’t visited these two neighboring countries yet so I’d better make use of thebudget airlines around
Look less through the camera panel, instead straight at the scenery in front.
When travelling, talk to a local and find out what they think is the best thing to do in town.
-They might give generic touristy answers but I want to know what they like doing.
Wih even CNNGo.com claiming Singapore as boring, I’ll find not boring activities to do, travel local and explore Singapore like it’s my first trip.
-Also blog about the local trip as travel tips
Start saving and planning for my 2013 round-the-world trip

This blog post was inspired by BootsnAll’s Indie Travel Challenge weekly travel blog project.
This week’s topic: Resolutions.