Travel Malaysia for Chinese New Year!

In Malaysia, I was lucky enough to be invited by a friend's family to spend some time in their home, where my curiosity and love of food were sated well beyond the basic tenets of hospitality.

Besides showing me the sites of Penang and Kuala Lumpur, they welcomed me to their table, their market shopping trips, their daily dim sum ritual; they stopped the car when I expressed awe at the beauty of a roadside fruit stand, and cheerfully told me about each of the fruits I as looking at; they took me for a brunch buffet in a major hotel (which I could never have afforded to do on my own) so that I could sample dozens of dishes, almost having to force-feed me the grand finale - I could not possibly turn down a bowl of Laksa!

They urged me to stay on in Malaysia so that I could join them for Chinese New Year, so of course I delayed my flight by six weeks -- I hopped a ferry over to Sumatra, travelled by bus and ferry down to Singapore (with many leisurely stops along the way), and then back up by ferry, then bus, then train, through Malaysia to Penang in time for Chinese New Year! Eid, the festival marking the end of Ramadan fell on the same night -- what better city in the world to experience those two cultural feasts on the same day?

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Read The Round-the-World Adventures of a Culinary Xenophile to find out how I just happened to be traveling in Malaysia for Chinese New Year.