Penang is well known for being a foodies paradise, and it is one of those destinations where people go just to eat. If you don’t know your Hokkien Mee from your Wan Tan Mee (that would be me), there is a great brochure that lists the most popular dishes of the Island. It gives a description of each meal and a map of where to find them around the George Town area. Pick up the brochure from your guesthouse or the tourism office.
Penang Food Guide
I have been to Penang twice before so this time I was only passing through on the way to Langkawi. This short stay meant that I only had three possible eating opportunities (without being gluttonous). I had a morning ferry to catch so I didn’t think I was going to get a good breakfast either.
I found out on the way to the ferry terminal that there are 24 hour Indian restaurants here. To be able to get a curry 24 hours a day must surely be the pinnacle of civilisation.
Indian Restaurant – Open 24 Hours
My favourite breakfast dish is Roti Canai. When I am travelling to Malaysia I usually start drooling about a day before I arrive, knowing that I am going to get a good roti canai. A plain roti is about RM0.90 (25 cents USD) and there are different varieties with egg, cheese and meat fillings.
Sometimes restaurants will have a pile of premade roti, but the best ones are made to order, so your roti arrives steaming hot and melt in the mouth good.
Roti Canai With Curry Dips – Breakfast of Champions
Adelaide is not only famous for being the only place where iced coffee outsells Coca-Cola, it is also known for the pie floater.
A pie floater is a meat pie in a plate of pea soup or mushy peas. It’s very English in its origin and apparently used to be popular across Australia, but has now found its spiritual home in Adelaide.
Adelaide's 'Pie Floater'
A native Adelaidean told me about the iconic status of this dish so I had to try it for myself. It was already 11 at night, but Adelaide is blessed with a few 24 hour bakeries that serve this dish.
My pie was submerged rather than floating, and the flourish of tomato sauce adds to the comical presentation of this meal. Despite the visual it’s actually not bad. If you like meat pies and peas you will like the pie floater.
24 hour bakery
Tuk Tuk is a tourist service town with a rural flavour. A short stroll away and you will be walking past rice paddies and water buffalo, and chickens can be seen everywhere.
Chicken crossing
The Lake Toba region is home to the Batak people, who make up one of the largest Christian populations in Indonesia. This means that pork is available on the menu here.
Pig and chickens
Cost Of Living: Tuk Tuk, Sumatra – Indonesia
Indonesia is one of the best value countries for travel in Asia. To give you an idea of the cost of living I have kept track of a days expenditure for where I am staying in Tuk Tuk, Sumatra.
The following expenses are food, accommodation and other sundries. Travel expenses are not included here as i will not need to travel for a month.
Daily Expenses
The Indonesian Rupiah is highly denominated but it is easy enough to keep track of as 10,000 INR = $1 USD.
Accommodation 60,000 INR ($6.00 USD)
Internet (2 hours) 30,000 INR ($3.00 USD)
Bottled Water 5,000 INR (50 cents USD)
Breakfast
Banana Pancake 9,000 INR (90 cents USD)
Coffee with milk 5,000 INR (50 cents USD)
Sumatran Coffee
Banana pancake
Lunch
Nasi Goreng 12,000 INR (1.20 USD)
Banana Shake 10,000 INR (1.00 USD)
Nasi Goreng
Banana smoothie
Dinner
Veg Rendang 15,000 INR (1.50 USD)
Rice 4,000 INR (40 cents USD)
Sprite 6,000 (60 cents USD)
Vegetable Rendang
So tallied altogether my expenses are:
Accommodation 60,000 ($6.00 USD)
Internet 30,000 ($3.00 USD)
Water 5,000 (50 cents USD)
Breakfast 14,000 INR ($1.40 USD)
Lunch 22,000 ($2.20 USD)
Dinner 25,000 ($2.50 USD)
Total: 156,000 ($15.60 USD)
This total is kept down as I have no daily travel expenses here. I also only eat meat a couple of times a week so a vegetarian diet tends to be less expensive.
My $6 accommodation consists of a cottage room with a king size bed, a bathroom with hot water and a view of the lake. Rooms without hot water and a view can be found for $3.
If you are a meat eater and like to snack more during the day you will still come in under $20 USD a day. If you really wanted to you could get the expenditure down to $10 a day, making it one of the best value countries in Asia.
There are mango trees everywhere in Tuk Tuk. It is not uncommon to see mangoes on the road that have fallen from over hanging trees.
Mango tree
I had never stopped to consider where a mango grows. If you had of asked me I might have said that they grow on a tree about the size of an orange tree. In fact mango trees grow up to 35–40 metres in height. In Tuk Tuk I have seen mango trees this high, with mangos in the top branches unable to be reached by even the biggest ladder.
mangoes on tree
In the southern states of Australia a mango can sell for up to $3 each, though the variety grown in Australia is twice the size of a Sumatran mango. Here in Sumatra you can buy them for about $1 a kilo.
Wheelbarrow full of mangoes
I am mad for Indian food so I always like coming to Malaysia. Malaysians of Indian descent make up about 7% of the population of Malaysia. This means there are decent Indian restaurants all over KL.
I always make my way to the Brickfields area, which is not far from KL Sentral train station. The area is famous for banana leaf meals, which is cheap and filling.
Banana Leaf Meal
I have often found myself staying at a hotel with breakfast included, only to find that the breakfast doesn’t start until long after I have departed. Breakfast that is served at 7 or 8am is no good if you are getting the 6am train.
Breakfast Served From
I was happy to find that my hotel in Bandung have breakfast start at 5am.
