Eating Dessert First...

How to experience Nyonya Malaysian food? First have the wonderful and energetic Carrie, the music teacher at Tenby, take you to the best place for ABC, asam laksa, roti and more! I met Carrie in the teacher’s lunchroom and she would not have Emily or me go on without experiencing some delicious Nyonya Malaysian food. Nyonya is a mixture between Malay and Chinese culture. Carrie drove us from Tenby to Nyonya Colors, a popular and brightly decorated restaurant right near our hotel in Damansara. We started our feast with ABC – Ais batu kacang. This is shaved ice covered with syrup and lots of other crazy things – sea coconut, grass jelly and more…

Flavour (notice the British influence here) explosion! Emily had the asam laksa – a sour fish based soup. She loved it but it caused some heartburn later on! I had the roti. Then we feasted on these delicate packages of banana, sweet potato, sticky rice and other treats yet when we asked Carrie what they were she said, “I have no idea!” But all were delicious and beautiful. Then we ended our meal with our own ABC again. But that was not the end of our flavour feast. We went on to another restaurant for coffee. But in USA we have coffee. Okay maybe we have

hazelnut or french vanilla but here in Malaysia they have an array of coffee and tea beverages to make your head spin. We tried the white coffee, an Ipoh creation with coffee beans roasted in butter or palm oil and kopi cham – a Hoikken word for a mix of coffee and tea. Both were a lovely blend of flavours as we sat in the breezy indoor mall and talked about life in Malaysia and the United States.