Mimi and the boys examining produce at a fruit stall.
Today (Monday) was our first full day in Malaysia. We took it pretty easy all morning — I worked, Ben did laundry and the boys relaxed — and then we went out for a late lunch and explored the half-empty mall we're staying on top of. But we've just returned from a wonderful night out, so I want to record it while it's fresh in my mind!
Before leaving Singapore yesterday, we had met up with some friends of Addy's and had a nice morning with them. They then put us in touch with Mimi, one of their friends who lives in Johor Bahru (JB), the city we're currently staying in. Mimi is married to an Aussie and they live part time in Australia.
So, after going through customs and riding the train across to Malaysia (no photos allowed during that whole process), we got in touch with Mimi and she was keen to meet up with us. Tonight she picked us up and took us on a driving and dining adventure! Here's what we got up to...
The restaurant where we had dinner — one of Mimi's favourites.An amazing feast! Clockwise from front: crispy duck, prawn salad (my fave!), pork ribs, noodles.A couple more dishes arrived after I took these photos: sweet and sour pork (F's fave), salted egg veggies and rice.Mimi dividing up a mooncake for us to share.The boys weren't keen on the mooncake, but B and I liked it! The filling was made from yam. Mimi got us a second type to try tomorrow.The mooncakes came in this fancy box with a matching bag. I gather they're not available year-round but are associated with the upcoming Mooncake Festival, aka Mid-Autumn Festival.After dinner, we drove to the Teman Sri Tebrau neighbourhood and tried various fruits at a couple of fruit stalls.This is rambutan.Rambutan was my favourite — the taste and texture was a lot like lychee. We also tried mangosteen (B's fave) and langsat. I don't think the boys liked anything except the mango!We bought some mangosteen (pictured) and rambutan to take back to our apartment.Then we tried durian! This is the smelly fruit that is often banned on public transport etc. We had seen lots of durian shops on street corners while riding the bus in Singapore yesterday, and I had been wanting to try some.Durian is known as the king of fruits.Here's what it looks like inside. These orange portions have a seed inside them, and the flesh is mushy with a custard-y texture. I didn't mind it... I voluntarily had multiple pieces!But I was definitely alone in this opinion! I'm not sure if J even had a nibble.Note the gloves they gave us for eating with! (We were also given these for eating the pork ribs at dinner.)This is what B thought of durian!I didn't think the durian smelt very strong. Mimi said she thinks they don't smell as bad as they used to, so maybe the smell is being bred out of them?We also had fresh coconut milk at the durian stall.What a fabulous night! We are so grateful to Mimi. Nothing beats being shown around by a local!Afterwards, we wound our way back to the car through a few sheds filled with hawker stalls and locals dining, and then Mimi drove us back to our apartment.
