My SE Asia Walkabout 2005

[FoodZealot]

Hello, all. I'll be visiting several countries throughout November and December. This is a vacation with a purpose, as I am excited to finally change careers into kitchens and restaurants. As you can guess, this trip is all about food: to taste the best (not necessarily expensive) and most traditional cuisine as I can find, to absorb as much food culture as possible.

While my trip will only permit a sampling of each place, I am looking to make the most of it. BTW, I have language tapes and phrasebooks for Thai and Vietnamese, but I doubt I'll be capable of real conversations.

Any comments or suggestions for my tentative itinerary/agenda would be appreciated! Especially from a cook's perspective, like intermediate to advanced cooking lessons, specific restaurants or hawkers, seasonal foods to look out for, local specialties, etc. In terms of budget, I'm much more inclined to stay with street food and family owned restaurants rather than chains or hotels.

Singapore - 3 days - Chilli crab, Sri Lankan jumbo crab

Malaysia

Penang - 3 days

KL - 2 days

Vietnam - 12 days total - including HCMC, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Halong Bay

Laos - 3 days - including Muong Ngoi, Luang Prabang

Cambodia - 3 days - including Angkor Wat, Siem Riep, Penom Penh

Thailand - 12-14 days total - including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi

Please PM me if you are interested in meeting at any point during my trip. As the days get more concrete, I'll make specific arrangements as early as possible. Thank you very much for your guidance,

~Tad

[Pan]

I have every expectation that you'll have a wonderful time!

If you haven't already, you need to check out some of the threads pinned at the top of this forum, such as:

Eateries in Malaysia

Restaurants and food stalls in Bangkok

Hanoi, Ho Chi Min and other parts of Vietnam

Eating in Cambodia

There's no pinned thread on Laos, but do a search. If there's no suitable thread on Laos, start one!

One quick comment: I think that you may want to stop in Ipoh, on the way from KL to Penang if not for longer. Have a look at this post with pictures from Ipoh.

[Tepee]

While you're doing your food-sampling, would you be open to attend some classes? If you are, do check out this site, go to her schedule pages. Nov/Dec schedules are not up yet. She's quite an authority on Msian cuisine and her classes are limited to 8 participants only.

One thing to note. As Krista G. said here, the real thing most probably cannot be replicated when you get home, because some fresh ingredients are not available to you.

Do keep this thread updated as and when your schedule is more firm. We'd love to show some Msian hospitality.

[Makan King]

Congratulations on embarking on a new career! A culinary tour through SEA is an exciting and wonderful way to launch the next chapter in your working life.

I happen to think that some of the best eating in Singapore are in the hawker centres. These have probably been discussed elsewhere on this site, but let me know if you would like some recommendations.

Apart from hawker food, I would highly recommend trying Peranakan food, which I still maintain is the original fusion cusine. It originates from the 15th century when Chinese sailors arrived on the Malay peninsula and married the local girls. The result are rich, complex, hearty and robust dishes that blend Chinese ingredients (especially pork) and Malay spices and seasonings.

The traditional Peranakan cooking techniques are meticulous and demanding, hence the best Peranakan cooking is often found at home. However, there are some decent Peranakan restaurants in Singapore to try - including Blue Ginger and Chili Padi.

I believe there is a cooking school in Holland Village that offers Peranankan cooking lessons. It is run by the granddaughter of the late doyen of Peranakan home cooking (mother of current Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew).

All the best for your trip! I can only imagine that planning and researching it is part of the excitement and anticipation. I look forward to your reports!

[FoodZealot]

Thanks for the tips and links. I'll research those and come back to condense them here.

Definitely, I would be interested in cooking classes. Especially ones where everything is made from scratch.

~Tad

[trillium]

Do you want favorite eating spots in southern Thailand? Is Krabi the only southern spot you'll go? That would be shame, since there is terrific food elsewhere (and more culture...we adored NST). In Krabi, for restaurants, Ruen Mai is a must stop, the menu is bilingual, but the people who will take your order don't speak any English. Oh, and the sign is not in English either, but it's not that hard to find. For night markets, the one that isn't on the river is a lot better (less farang oriented stuff). I suggest the Lonely Planet food guides for any countries that you can get. They do a great job telling you overall themes and then regional specialties.

regards,

trillium

[FoodZealot]

trillium,

unfortunately or fortunately, that part of the trip probably the least planned at this point. In general, I'd prefer to travel overland, so time permitting, I could go to any point in between. Any particular spots you would say are not to be missed? Would you recommend Phuket and Phi Phi, etc?

I have LP for Vietnam, and will look for the others. Thanks!

~Tad

[Pan]

You might find it interesting to go to Kota Bharu, Kelantan before travelling to Thailand. Kota Bharu has some unique foods that are delicious -- or unique to me, anyway; it wouldn't surprise me if the Patani Malays also make excellent Ayam Percik (wood-roasted chicken with a spicy peanut sauce with lots of great herbs and greens in it) and so forth. But I also realize you're trying to cover a lot of ground in a limited amount of time.

[trillium]

trillium,

unfortunately or fortunately, that part of the trip probably the least planned at this point.  In general, I'd prefer to travel overland, so time permitting, I could go to any point in between.  Any particular spots you would say are not to be missed?  Would you recommend Phuket and Phi Phi, etc?

I have LP for Vietnam, and will look for the others.  Thanks!

~Tad

←

I have no first hand experience with Phuket or Phi Phi, I tend to avoid heavily touristed areas like that when I travel, and Phi Phi was out of the question anyway, since we went 1 month after the tsunami.

I'm not talking about that side, I'm talking about the gulf side, places like Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkla, and inland, like Trang (roti city!). Less tourism, more real culture, great food. If you want beautiful beaches, Koh Lipe in the Andaman sea was beautiful, and the fish was fresh and tasty every night, but it wasn't my favorite place from a gustary or culture stand point, and it takes a few boat trips to get there.

If I had to pick one not to be missed spot in the south, I'd tend to go with Nakhon. I loved the people there, it's a busy Thai city, but friendly, and my fondest food memories are there. Great night market food, a really, really great seafood restaurant right across from Nakhon Garden Inn, good Hokkien coffee shops, my favorite version of khao yam and kanom jeem, nice Sunday market, cool shadow puppets, great National Museum. Just all around my favorite. You can get there from Krabi by public bus (the old orange non-ac ones) or minivans for sure. I would say to avoid Hat Yai under all circumstances, at least the two main bus terminals. The only unpleasant interaction we had in Thailand was with the hucksters there. I found Krabi people a little grumpy and impatient compared to when we went farther south, but chalked it up to it being a big tourism place, economic hard times, and the hit they took in Phi Phi. There were memorial services going on while we were there. I don't know how it would be in other circumstances.

regards,

trillium

[FoodZealot]

[...]I believe there is a cooking school in Holland Village that offers Peranankan cooking lessons.  It is run by the granddaughter of the late doyen of Peranakan home cooking (mother of current Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew).

All the best for your trip!  I can only imagine that planning and researching it is part of the excitement and anticipation.  I look forward to your reports!

←

Thank you, MK. I believe you are referring to this school below which I will contact.

Shermay's Cooking School,

Chip Bee Gardens,

Blk 43 Jalan Merah Saga #03-64

Singapore 278115

tel :+65 6479 8442

fax :+65 6479 8414

trillium, thanks for your comments as well. Being there at that time must have been very difficult and emotional.

~Tad

[ecr]

Re: Thailand, would you consider getting a bit off the beaten track in the north? There is good food to be had in Chiang Mai, but we found food exploration to be most rewarding to the east: Phrae, Nan, etc. The market is Nan is spectacular. Doesn't matter if you speak Thai or not, it's easy to get around, cheap, and Thais are so helpful and friendly, esp if you show an interest in local food!

We are planning another more intensive food trip to the NE early Nov -- if you're interested check back for details. Will most likely post on my blog.

eatingasia.typepad.com

For Vietnam, have a look at noodlepie.typepad.com. His site will get you well versed in Vietnamese treats to look for on the streets of Saigon and beyond!

[FoodZealot]

Thanks, ecr. Yes, I'm defintely willing to explore, it's just that this will be my first trip, so all my information so far is secondhand and very general. I'll get up to speed with eatingasia.typepad.com and noodlepie.typepad.com, which are both excellent resources. Then I hope to ask some more meaningful questions. I've skimmed them before, but I need to re-reading them and fill in my list.

~Tad

[Makan King]

[...]I believe there is a cooking school in Holland Village that offers Peranankan cooking lessons.  It is run by the granddaughter of the late doyen of Peranakan home cooking (mother of current Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew).

All the best for your trip!  I can only imagine that planning and researching it is part of the excitement and anticipation.  I look forward to your reports!

←

Thank you, MK. I believe you are referring to this school below which I will contact.

Shermay's Cooking School,

Chip Bee Gardens,

Blk 43 Jalan Merah Saga #03-64

Singapore 278115

tel :+65 6479 8442

fax :+65 6479 8414

←

Yup, that's the one. Please let me know if I can provide any information or suggestions about eating in Singapore.

[FoodZealot]

Thank you, MK. I'll read through the Singapore threads first, then ask questions.

edit: darn plurals and meanings

Edited September 23, 2005 by FoodZealot (log)

[FoodZealot]

Heads up, Elsewhere-in-Asia/Pacific-er's - I'm headed your way!

The Kuala Lumpur International Gourmet Festival will be going on during the period that I'll be in KL. Here's the website: http://www.klgourmetfest.com. Is anyone familiar with it? Did anyone partake last year? Are any of the participating restaurants particularly notable? Thanks.

~Tad

[Shiewie]

Hi Tad

I've been to some of the restaurants before - think I may have mentioned them in the Eateries in Malaysia thread.

Some of us are planning to go to the gourmet festival this year (haven't decided which restuarants though - still browsing the various menus). PM me if you'd like to join us while you're in town.