A world full of smells

"Eau de Terengganu", if available for purchase, would whiff of open drains and raw fish. Not that the whole place smells like it ... some people throw a piece of lino or pile of newspaper over the open drain next to their al fresco restaurant to make the food seem more appealing.

And then there is the wet market. We have been there a few times on the weekends - I had an interesting drink there one week, hid from a gunman behind the stalls on another occasion.

But with Bea here, it was compusory to visit again.

Over-riding the delightful aroma of various spices, and the odour of fish at various stages of freshness, there was another ... durian!

If you stay in a hotel here, there is a warning outside the lift that durian is forbidden!



In fact, I think the local durian season has finished, and these specimens have been brought in from Thailand.

But at least the chap was opening them and packaging them in a little container for RM5 ($1.80) a shot.

So we grabbed one and found a spot in the shade to sit and eat.



When we first sat down, the place was quite crowded. But it cleared almost instantly! The durian was quite nice - although a local chap who lingered despite the smell pointed out that we were eating the not-so-nice Thai version of the fruit.

And talking of lingering ... first there is the sticky smell on your fingers, and then there is the repeating taste ... we are wondering how long the memory will linger!

Making a point

or at least pointing the finger.

It's just not done, unless you use your thumb like this ... or you can use your chin or lips. :)

Friday Morning Out and About

We returned to the wet markets - where the man with the gun was last week - and bought a bunch of fresh veges. Then Peter took the bags to the car so we could wander a bit more, and I wandered alone for a few minutes. I saw an interesting little stall / cafe-de-wheels.

Well who wouldn't be curious? I don't know any of the words, and although the things on the left look like pieces of fruit (Google Translator tells me it's 'mixed fruit') I couldn't see anyone consuming it. I noticed that people were queueing for the stuff on the right.

I saw a businesslike Chinese man and I asked if he spoke English. He was pleased to explain to me that on the right was some sort of coconut milk (with ice), the next one (with what looks like green worms) he simply explained as 'powder' and I still don't know. The third from the right is something else with coconut - that would be the long white strands ...

So then he bought me one.

It's a coconut-milky iced drink, with green worms (they tasted like jelly as they slid through the wide straw!) and brown stuff in the bottom which tasted like the (sweet) brown beans the Chinese like to use. It was actually quite pleasant!! :D

Oh yes, and 'air' means water - 'air batu' is ice, but Mr Google was unwilling to tell me what 'cendol' is. And 'pulut kacang' is glutinous beans - what a tempting treat! It's a learning curve.

Back to the Supermarket - Problems with the White Powders

I wanted some rice - there it is in sacks piled against the wall ... not the sort of quantities I'm used to, and there didn't seem to be any small packs (after all, why would anyone want that?).

I thought I would buy some flour ... this one is tapioca starch ...



... and this is glutinous rice flour ...

... but I just couldn't work out this one.

In then end I found a packet with a picture of a corn cob, figured I was probably buying cornflour.

Most other things are recognisable.

Like those are obviously chickens - and at least they are already dead and plucked (not like buying in Chinese market.) Yes, I am still vegetarian.

Home Sweet Home

We really like our apartment here in Kuala Terengganu. It is furnished, but we found we needed to add a few things like a new (bigger) fridge (to hold all my veges), and some desks for us to work at when we are not at work.

We purchased a water filter that delivers hot, tap-temp, and cold filtered water (no more need for a kettle) and the little men delivered and installed it at 10.30pm the other night.

We were also seriously lacking in bench space - the gas stove (with bottle hidden in the right-hand cubby space) has a drop-down lid which we had mostly been using as a work surface, but, obviously, there are times when that is no use.



So ... sitting comfortably now with this new bench that we bought, complete with a tiled top.