As you may have noticed I have been very very M.I.A. for the last several months. My life pretty much got turned upside down, in a good way. M and I did the crazy, some would say irresponsible, thing of quitting our jobs, giving up our apartment, and travelling the world. Taking the plunge was the hardest decision of our lives so far, but everything about it just seemed right. After figuring out every possible travel route, buying plane tickets, and searching for hotels, the excitement of our adventure to come was ever growing. Part of our trip was to visit family and the other part was to explore beautiful places and eat delicious food!
The foodie journey really began at our Japan 18 hour layover. Arriving at night we were hungry and very tired, but both desperate to have a warm hearty bowl of ramen. With our eyes barely open and stomachs rumbling loudly we sat inside the small restaurant eager for a taste of authentic Japanese food. When the steamy (quite big!) bowl arrived, it was perfection. Salty, creamy, noodles with a bit of chew, and broth that seemed never ending.
As true Vancouverites we love sushi. So could we go all the way to Japan and not have sushi even if it was 8am? Don’t be absurd, of course not. We then proceeded to go sushi-less for the next four months. Sigh.
Our first two months were spent exploring Eastern Australia and the North Island of New Zealand. The food in these two countries is definitely more expensive than we were used to (5$ for one avocado!!), but it all was fresh and vibrant.
We did have enough aussie meat pies for the next year and even had a kangaroo burger, because one must. Luckily we stayed at places that had kitchens so were able to save some money and cook for our families letting us stay with them! Not to mention that the beaches and views were some of the most spectacular I have and probably will ever see.
The real new food journey began on our SE Asia portion of our trip. First stop was Bali, Indonesia home of the Mie and Nasi Goreng, which literally translates to noodle and rice fried.
Over the following 3 and a half weeks we ate our fair share of both of these dishes with a lot of chicken satay thrown in. We even took a cooking class that allowed us to learn how to make traditional Balinese dishes with a local family.
Due to their cooking style-all fried and with lots of oil, plus the very (!) hot days, the availability of inexpensive fresh pressed juices was life saving. A tall glass of watermelon juice was hydrating and delicious.
A few of our favourite meals were barbecues on the beach. Warungs (small local restaurants) would offer barbecued meats and fish per weight, alongside an AYCE salad bar-yum. Although we loved eating the local Indonesian food, after weeks we were growing a bit tired of the repetitive flavours and ready for something new.
Insert flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The mecca for high rises and shopping- a vast contrast to the Bali lifestyle. Walking on real sidewalks and eating in air conditioned restaurants seemed like quite the treat! After doing some online research for cheap eats in our area, we headed to the Lot 10 Hutong food court located in a mall basement for some authentic food.
Riding down the escalator into the maze of food stalls was slightly overwhelming. At each bend a different stand was offering something unique, so which one do we pick? Luckily most had large photos of their offerings across their boards making it easy to decide with our eyes and point to what we wanted.The food was delicious, super flavourful and only a few dollars per plate, meaning we came here quite a few times within our short stay in KL.
Our whirlwind tour continued in Phuket, Thailand- a last minute addition to our trip.
The first night we arrived, the only and obvious choice for dinner was ordering our favourite Thai dishes, green curry and pad thai. Upon my first bite of pad thai (my all time favourite food), I had to stop and really pinch myself. After all of these years I was finally having Pad Thai in Thailand! The feeling for this foodie was beyond surreal. That didn’t stop me, of course, from devouring forkfuls within seconds. Sadly I came down with a travel bug and could not eat quite as much Thai food as I would have liked. Double sigh.
The week in Phuket was gone in an instant and we were headed back to Malaysia, healthy and ready for more. This time we flewto Langkawi, a series of 99 islands off the west coast. This spot quickly became my favourite destination. It was quieter, cleaner, and more beautiful than most our spots in Bali. It helped that we went on an incredible Jetski tour (when in langkawi!) around many of the islands.
Cutting in and out of these tall green covered limestone rocks sticking out of the turquoise waters was mesmerising. We even got to stop and relax on the beach at a few of the uninhabited islands, talk about absolute paradise!
Building up quite the appetite, our tour guide took us to a local fried chicken stand. A little apprehensive about eating fried chicken from a roadside wok, we dug into the 1$ tumeric marinated (maybe still feathers attached) chicken. At first bite, gone were all of our worries. This was hands down the best fried chicken we had ever eaten. No contest.
On our final day on the island we had another one of our favourite meals of the entire trip, roti and lamb curry. A delightful evening spent in the rice paddies with a restaurant all to ourselves-yay low travel season!
Georgetown, Penang was next on our travel itinerary. Food highlights include eating Indian food in Little India, laksa, char koay teow, and a traditional Nyonya (Chinese/Malay) meal. Although we have been enjoying our time in Malaysia and seeing all the sights, at this point we were both feeling the pulls of wanting to be home. Staying excited and inspired daily while travelling abroad for 16 weeks is a challenge I initially didn’t realise I would have to face.
Last stop-Singapore!
With hearts ready to be home, we did our best to explore this amazing place. Any foodie out there who hasn’t yet been to Singapore must book a ticket now. The amount of food centres and restaurants on every block is astounding. Yes it can be expensive if you are to eat out at proper restaurants ($12 for a beer!). However, with a little research and courage, eating at food centres or hawkers is definitely the way to eat good and cheap food around here. Our hotel was blocks away from Chinatown, which ended up being an unexpected bonus as the streets were filled with food vendors and market stalls.
The atmosphere was buzzing and the food was delectable. The trick we learned with posed with “which food stall do I pick?”, was the one with the longest line of course! With that tactic in mind we had the best chicken satay, pork dumplings, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and chee cheong fun. For extras we also had quite a few lime juices and prata, kinda a mix between roti and naan, aka delicious carbs.
And with our travel and food journey ending we had to do one last thing- eat at a Michelin Star restaurant. The best part of this restaurant, the main dish is only 4$! So with a plate of Soya chicken and noodles, I had finally crossed a huge item off my foodie bucket list.
125 days, 7 countries, 19 cities, and 14 flights later we finally are back in Vancouver. I am excited to be back in the kitchen preparing my own food and eating fresh vegetables! But I can already feel myself craving the delicious eats from around the world.
Loved your post! Amazing photos! So jelly of all your food adventures and trying a Michelin Star restaurant!
Aw thanks for reading, Cherry!
Great summary of an awesome trip – loved the photos!