I swear I like living in Melbourne but July was a busy travel month so I ended up out of the country a lot more than in it.
I went back for my 20th high school reunion and my brother joined me there then followed me back to Melbourne so I could show him around.
Every time I’m in Malaysia, it’s a never ending series of feasts and family. Phew and this trip was no different. So many favorites hit (especially anything I missed when I was back in April).
Chee cheong fan HK style is my fav 
Pan mee with century eggs 
Cheese naan is a first but yummy 
Nasi lemak bungkus 
Lovely chicken rice 
Mochi in peanut dust 
Cold desserts work great in this heat 
ABC – air batu campur (mixed shaved ice) 
Beans, jelly and nut goodness is hidden below 
Bubur cha cha – taro/yam dessert 
I used to call these rat tails or worms. So good. 
This is my fav preparation of them
KL now has quite a few trendy hipster cafes too, and tried those out. Fun seeing some fusion food mixed in with traditional stuff (jackfruit salad, cincalok fried chicken, etc.).
Steph & I enjoying hipster fusion 
CFC – decent but not shrimpy enough 
Coffee spot where I waited out a quick tropical storm 
Loved the jackfruit salad and the salted egg rice
Sean and I also got to relive some serious childhood memories going back to the Royal Lake Club. It’s where we used to go every weekend for my dad to play squash (read: yell super loudly in a confined space) and us kids swam and read the entire Asterix & Obelix catalogue. It was trippy being there and seeing the pool and the restaurant we would excitedly run to each Saturday. It’s funky going into a dusty crevice of my head that I hadn’t thought of returning to. Nothing bad but funny how memory works.
Sean’s mind being blown being back at the pool we spent a lot of time at 
Something as simple as a roti kosong (empty) with dipping curries was delightful 
Literally every weekend for 6.5 years 
We were duly excited to be back at the Buttery
It was Sean’s first time back in 7 years so we had to hit up some old favorites. We used to go to Esquire Kitchen as a special treat to eat their mantou buns dipped in a fatty pork dish. The restaurant itself had become more casual dining but the dish was just the same.
The mantou buns were super soft and perfect for dipping in the pork sauce 
Yup, pretty fatty
We got to hang out with my cousin David’s new son, Jayden. Love me some Asian babies.
Sean & David haven’t seen each other since they were 10! 
Giant savory steamed egg dish 
Fish curry, claypot tofu and pork short ribs 
Jayden’s a bundle of cuteness 
All tables should always have large containers of raw chili and garlic 
So nice seeing (and eating) with family
The Taiwanese boba trend was hitting Malaysia hard and there were so many all over! Most had a rather sugary brown sugar flavor, and this one even had fresh wok made boba simmering constantly for your cup. It was some of the best boba I’d ever had but it was far too sweet.
That’s a lot of boba 
So sweet & full cream milk only
Mall food courts have some stellar food options and the Starling mall has one of my favorite. It’s got lei cha, a savory Hakka dish that is just divine. Healthy and super healthy. I need to look for it in Melbourne (and the States!).
Seriously love this dish. Savory tea! 
Soup loh see fan 
Never had dry bak kuh teh before 
Aunt & Uncle selfie 
Chinese donuts & curry puffs 
I’m used to only eating these with congee, but you can dip them into coffee too!
They were having a Thai food festival too and it was so nicely done. A crazy array of Thai snacks (I wish bags of chips didn’t take up so much luggage space, otherwise I’d have brought them all back with me).
Tubed condensed milk! 
Nicely done festival 
I wanted to try every one of these chips
My reunion was tons of fun! I’ll admit I didn’t remember everyone but it was still lovely to catch up and hear how everyone has been and rehash old school memories. International school was such a great, diverse experience to have. Everyone is different and came from far-flung countries and it got you used to how friends can be transient but you can still stay close. People flew in for this reunion from Japan, The Hague, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore (one guy from SG flew in for 3 hours–just for this dinner!).
Nice photobomb, stranger 
Wanie & I were inseparable in high school 
Fun hanging out now that we’re old enough to go to bars 
20 years later!
We had to make the most of our short trip, so Sean and I tried out the high speed train to Penang (4.5 hrs one way). Neither of us had been back there since we were little kids. It’s street food is known to be world class and they weren’t wrong. My aunt gave us all the leads (even drew us a map so we wouldn’t miss any hawker stalls) so we did pretty amazingly in our 24 hour sojourn.
20 min ferry to the island 
You share the ferry with cars 
The city is bigger than I remember 
We went to Pulau Tikus (Mouse Island) market for dinner then again for breakfast 
Phew, a feast was had 
White mee starts out white then gets more red as the chili sauce is added 
Freshly charred chicken satay 
A master at work 
Rojak is fresh fruit & veg covered in savory sauce 
Kalamansi plum juice–so refreshing 
Apam balik – peanut pancake 
Best kaya toast ever 
I miss mangosteens. Lovely fresh soft fruit goodness
The best kuey teow soup I can remember! So much flavor in each dish. We had to compare two duck kuey teow soup hawkers next to each other just to compare and they did each have their differences! Mostly in the broth but one had noodles slightly less al dente. I’d happily alternate hawker stalls each time I went to the market.
Love the short bean sprouts 
This man makes magic 
Looks the same but it does have different flavor
A trip to anywhere isn’t complete without us trying out whatever local specialities McDs has to offer and this one had nasi lemak McD (with fried chicken and a nice spicy sambal), cempedak (jackfruit) McFlurry and a corn pie. Love how McDs actually try to localize rather well. Love trying them out.
Nasi Lemak McD was pretty great. The spicy fried chicken was so juicy! 
Corn pie-yes. McFlurry was way too artificially sweet. 
I wish I had time to try this one…
We got to meet another cousin we hadn’t met before, of course over far too much food. Alex was a ball of feistiness and it’s lovely to keep expanding the family circle with each trip.
Tau fu fa–who doesn’t want tofu for dessert? 
Malaysia has stepped up its coffee game 
I want to meet a new cousin every time I go back to Malaysia
It was especially wonderful to travel with my brother back to where we spent so many formative years. Next, our food adventures continue to Melbourne (but taking a short break from Malaysian food–don’t worry it won’t last too long).
*Makan makan means eating. Lots of eating.
What Em's Eating Now 