Southeast Asia (2/13) – Pig Out 1/3

Southeast Asia 2018

Peninsula City Hopping
Pig Out 1/3
Pig Out 2/3
Pig Out 3/3
Hong Kong Déjà Vu
Unfinished Business in Singapore
Exploring Kuala Lumpur
Week-Long Birthday in Thailand
Wats in Bangkok
Bangkok Food Scenes
Ayutthaya Road Trip on a Full Stomach
Vacation Within Vacation on Koh Samui
Farewell Thailand

At the onset of this trip, I made a goal of eating five meals every day. Logistics didn’t always allowed that many formal meals, but we did our best at eating and drinking around the clock. To explain the belly that I have now gained, here’s the documentation to detail our efforts.

Day 0

Pre-departure healthy snack

Cathay Pacific dinner appetizers

Cathay Pacific dinner steak

In-flight burger

Between-naps ice cream

Day 1 – Plane-Hong Kong-Singapore

Pre-arrival breakfast starters

Cantonese congee and rice noodle wrap

Green tea from the HKG McCafe at 6am

Brunch at Lan Fong Yuen, the birthplace of Hong Kong style milk tea

Pre-lunch snack at Cathay Pacific lounge (the Wing) HKG

Lunch time mojito

Lunch: noodles made to order at the Cathay lounge

Pre-departure smoothie on our HKG-to-SIN flight

Fruits

Late lunch on the flight. These were some exceptionally yummy lamb chops

Did I need a second tub of ice cream on the first day of the trip?

Teh tarik (“pulled tea”) at Singapore Zam Zam

Mutton biriyani & miscellaneous curry sauces

Chicken murtabak, the main attraction at this 110-year-old restaurant

Day 2 – Singapore-Kuala Lumpur

Gula melaka (Malaysian coconut palm sugar) tea, from a stall at the Tanjong Pagar station. A bit overly sweet for me

Southeast Asian interpretations of pastry by Swee Heng – charcoal tom yum seafood bread, and Singapore chili crab bread

One reason we love Singapore: naturally having both Chinese and Indian food on the same table
Hainanese chicken rice and idly from Maxwell Hawker Centre

Camelicious camel milk, original and chocolate flavors
Yuck

Waaaay overpriced cocktail before lunch time: Singapore Sling at Long Bar (Raffles Hotel), where this drink was created

Unagi don at Bugis+

Grilled squid to go with the unagi don

Our first plate of nasi lemak (coconut milk / pandan leaf rice) in Kampung Baru, a traditional Malay village within Kuala Lumpur
The vendor spoke no English so we had no idea what we ate aside from the rice and five eggs
This sort of thing doesn’t photograph well at all, but was delicious

Fish paste in banana leaf

Satay made to order

Second plate of nasi lemak in Kampung Baru

Day 3 – Kuala Lumpur

Grand Hyatt KL breakfast buffet – plate #1

Plate #2… more or less the same thing

“Silly Ole Bear”, a fruity green tea from Steaped

“Main Street”, a green tea mango coconut smoothie from Steaped

Chili pan mee from Kin Kin at Lot 10 Hutong
That chili was amazing

Turnip cake from Lot 10 Hutong

Japanese sesame matcha parfait from Nana’s Green Tea in the Pavilion Mall

Laksa (curry soup noodles) from Grandmama’s in the Pavilion Mall

Char kway teow (stir-fried flat rice noodles) at the Jalan Alor night market

Hokkien mee at Jalan Alor

Cutesy pineapples and sugarcane juice with lemon to wash all the grease down and end the night

Day 4 – Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok

Chinese fried dough, breakfast sandwich, and a frozen Coke from McDonald’s below the Petronas Towers

Yet another plate of nasi lemak, and a cup of teh tarik, from Nyonya Colors

Herbal soup and a bite of fried noodles at the Priority Pass lounge in klia2 (Kuala Lumpur International Terminal #2)

Ramen at Ippudo Bangkok
Great ramen but… “the least memorable meal in Bangkok”

“Osaka Fried Potatoes” at Ippudo

Courses 1-6 of the Gaggan Experience
This was the most expensive and fascinating meal either of us had ever had
Two Michelin Stars; “Best Restaurant in Asia” three years in a row; the World’s #7 Best Restaurant; blah blah blah
It was explosion after explosion of flavors