Fave Friday

Five things Malaysians seem to love consuming

1. Coconut
In the rice, in the cakes (which are mostly made of sticky rice), in the curries, split open to drink the milk....it's lucky I love coconut, because otherwise I'd be a bit stuffed.

2. Milo
This is a bit like Nesquick, but made with water instead of milk. They serve it hot in the canteen here for breakfast, but all the students put ice in it and make it a cold drink. It's also served everywhere else - in juice boxes, cans, in fast food restaurants, and in fact pretty much everywhere I've been.

3. Peanuts
So glad none of the students is allergic. They turn up everywhere. They were floating in the breakfast curry this morning. At the feast on Wednesday night, we were served a thick folded pancake-type thing, which was filled with rough ground peanuts, sweetcorn, and plenty of sugar. It was surprisingly pleasant. And the peanut butter in the mornings is smooth (boo) but the freshest I've ever tried.

4. Instant coffee
BLERGH. And it's mostly Nescafe, I think. Luckily there is a proper-coffee machine in the teacher lounge here. Yesterday in KL I was served a cold coffee that had already been sweetened, it was a surprise. Not one I'd like to repeat.

5. CAKE!
I've never been to a country where they like cake so much, I don't think. And I mean proper cake - obviously Americans are good at doughnuts and the French push a wide variety of pastries; but Malaysians seem to really rate actual cake. I appreciate this. I appreciate Malaysia because of this.

Can't believe the week is over. We're off for a bit of beach action tomorrow so might not get the chance to update now until Monday. Try not to miss me too much!