Malaysia: Jaya

CK and I arrived in Penang with no idea where we were going to stay.  Based on the recommendations of others and online forums, we went door to door until we finally settled on the Star Lodge.  

I like to think that part of the reason why we decided to stay at the Star Lodge was Mr. Fang.  Okay, so that's not his real name, but hear me out.  Mr. Fang was the sweetest little old Chinese man who manned the front desk of the Star Lodge.  I dubbed him Mr. Fang because of his single snaggletooth.  Out of utmost respect, of course.  

I eventually asked him for his name (CK forced me to).  It's Robert.  How disappointing.  He'll forever be Mr. Fang to me.  

Anyway, after unloading our luggage in our room, we wandered out to find lunch.  We didn't actually get really far before we came across Jaya:

The array of food displayed quickly drew us in:

And the tables full of locals:

We were so hot and thirsty that the first thing we did was flip to the beverage section of the menu.  CK ordered a mango juice while I opted for pineapple:

Somehow CK managed to order the one juice on the entire menu that wasn't made from fresh fruit.  Sucka.

One drink simply wasn't enough.  There's no shame in double fisting when one fist is occupied by teh tarik or pulled tea:

Teh tarik is milk tea but on crack.  It's so damn good.

We'd gone so long without food that we went kind of crazy with the ordering.  CK wanted to try their samosas and she didn't want to share, so we ordered two:

Interesting filling:

Rather tomato-y.  Interesting.

We also got a mutton murtabak:

Lamb is so yummy:

We were pretty full by this point, but we still  wanted to try the roti canai chicken roll:

Very delicious and super cheap (both the murtabak and the roti roll were less than $2 each):

As we were paying our bill at the counter, we noticed a freezer with ice cream bars and popsicles.

Helloooo lychee bar:

The perfect refreshing end to the perfect start of our stay in Penang, food capital of Malaysia:

What's so awesome about Malaysian cuisine is the blend of Chinese, Malay, and Indian flavors.  CK and I spent our entire time in Malaysia trying to figure it out.  Sometimes it's easy to identify the distinct influences, but other times the fusion is so seamless that we're left scratching our heads.

Penang was probably my favorite part of the entire trip.  You'll see why as I continue to struggle to catch up on my posts.  Patience, friends.