People think we are never fed

Parentian was fun. it was heaps of fun in fact. It was great to go scuba diving and snorkeling with the tropical fish and all that jazz, but there is something nice about being in a big dirty city full of decent, cheap, local food and taxi drivers who are convinced that you are incapable of walking anywhere.

Kota Bharu is the capital city of the state of Kuantan in Malaysia, and thats where we spent the last 3 nights, soaking up the smell of raw sewage, eating great curry and generally relaxing around the cheap little guesthouse we stayed in. It was great to have 24 power, and mosquito nets over the windows. In case you dont already know, Parentian Island electricity all comes from little generators, so power was in short supply over there, which made Kota Bharu feel a lot more '5 star' than it probably was.

The town itself is a busy collection of run-down browns and greys, with derelict buildings overrun by sparrows, and street-side hawkers selling everything from the freshest fruit you've ever tasted to massive bags of soya crackers flavoured with curry and anise. it is not as hectic as KL was, but there are certainly heaps of people and cars everywhere. heaps to see and do, especially since we were only there for 3 nights. Kota Bharu doesnt seem to be a big tourist spot, since there were virtually no tourists, and all the locals stopped to have a good look at us, some of them saying 'Hello!' or 'Where you from!?'. Was a strange feeling being the local attraction.

Some of the stuff worth seeing in Kota Bharu included the Old Market, which both Kate and I went to for breakfast all three mornings, trying all different curries and meats with rice and other dishes. one morning we had some oysters with vegies for breakfast, which was pretty nice. One thing we havent mentioned about malaysia yet is the format of the traditional restaurant. The food is all prepared in batches, and put out on a main table once ready. the customers can then get a plate of rice and help themselves to whatever they want from the various dishes on offer. food is constantly being cooked (at the busy places at least) so you never know what will be available, and the freshness of each dish can vary. once you have your plate as full as you need, you show it to the person running the place, and they come up with a price for the plate. so there isnt a standard fee for any given plate size or dish, they just charge you based on your particular meal. its always cheap for a full plate, usually about 3-5 Ringgit (1-2 $AU) , but it makes it hard to know how much you are spending on dinner until you get the bill. the format is called Nasi Campur, where Nasi means rice and campur must mean 'stuff that you put on top of' i guess. top food anyway.

Once we were done with the Old Market, we headed to the other side of town to check out Central Market, since we just love markets even when we dont need to buy anything. Central Market was great. SOOO MANY CHILLIES! wow i have never seen so many chillies in my life. all of varying intensity, size and price. there were whole stalls dedicated to the little ring burners. fascinating. Chilli aside, there was also the very interesting 'fresh' meat section, where you could hack a lump of animal off a larger lump of animal hanging from a hook, and purchase it from a guy smoking a cigarette who just seemed to pluck prices from the top of his head, without weighing the meat or anything. Kate had to run out of the section once we got as far as the Mountain of Dead Chickens, all waiting patiently to be taken to a good home and turned into a curry.

So after breakfast at the Old Market, and a big day hunting down fresh fruit at the Central Market, what could be more relaxing than a gradual grazing dinner at the local Night Market :)
Yes we are sad, but we love a local market. its always cheap, and never bad. the standout stuff for us at the Night Market was the murtabak, which is basically a meat, egg and onion mixture wrapped in a roti (indian bread) and cooked on a barbeque plate. ends up like an omlette in a pancake, and its beautiful stuff. also interesting was a stall that sold nothing except for marinated chicken wings slowly smoked over hot coals. we tried one and agreed that it was a bargain and darn tasty. the locals all seem to love chicken, especially the bits with the most skin, like wings and legs. good luck to them and their cholesterol levels i reckon.

so with our stomachs full and our tans beginning to fade, we have arrived in Kuala Terengganu, a small seaside city in the next state down the coast. we are here for another few days, and will post again when we leave.

//Brendan