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| Bao bun |
Finding vegetarian versions of these dim sum classics is difficult, and it is usually the sweet varieties that are veggie-friendly. However, even these are often traditionally made with pork fat, but with a large halal market in Malaysia, vegetable fat tends to be used in its place. Our host had picked us up two kinds of bao this morning - one containing sweetened red bean paste and another with a Malaysian coconut jam known as kaya.
For lunch, I reprised a recipe common to Vietnam and Cambodia, but which I haven't seen in evidence in Malaysia: lok lak. Cubes of tofu and aubergine are fried and coated in a chilli, peppery sauce, and served with red onions, rice and a fried egg.
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| Tofu lok lak |
A hearty lunch was needed for an evening guided jungle walk through the Geopark at the west end of the island. While the Geopark in the north east comprises mangroves, this side is more straightforward jungle.
Starting from the Berjaya hotel, which offers guests the chance to stay in the jungle or on the water's edge, we walked through the hotel grounds to the jungle edge.
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| Berjaya hotel |
Ironically, most of the wildlife can be found nestled among the human accommodation, rather than in the dense forest.
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| Bats hanging around |
Dog-faced fruit bats were glimpsed nesting under some overhanging palm tree leaves. This is because there are few caves on Langkawi and those that do exist are presumably noisy with the sound of invading tourists shining lights into the creatures' sleeping faces.
Our walk began in the light and the bats weren't the only creatures still asleep. Flying lemurs are also nocturnal and were to be found, motionless, with their claws hooked into the tree, apparently asleep but with their eyes open. This is because they have no eyelids in order to appear alert to predators. At around 7:15PM, they wake up, lick their dry eyeballs to moisten them into motion, and then poo prolifically in order to lighten the load for heroic 70m leaps from tree to tree. They glide using extra skin between legs and arms, and between arms and neck.
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| The business end of a flying lemur |
We left the still sleeping lemurs, and proceeded into the jungle. Our guides were expert on the flora and fauna, showing us the rastafarian palm tree - so called because its fruit resembles a head full of dreadlocks, and whose berries are poisonous to humans but not to the other jungle creatures - and the ladies palm tree - so named because only ladies know how to navigate thorny stems and use the leaves used to wrap bundles of sticky rice, thereby providing men an excuse not to learn how.
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| Rasta tree |
Other dangerous plants we encountered include rattan. It grows tall in order to break through the canopy and absorb some of the precious sunshine. Rattan leaves are dried and used in furniture, as I suspect anyone who has been to Ikea will be familiar with, but its thorny stalks were apparently used for punishment in schools and prisons until recently - albeit, I'm told, with thorns removed.
Some trees had the misfortune to be entirely hollowed out by termites, whose nests we trod gingerly around. Apparently, they can deliver a nasty bite to the ankles. With the jungle providing them such a feast, I wondered why the termites bothered to venture into houses to munch the rafters and floorboards, and how the Berjaya hotel remained standing. Weekly fumigation is apparently the answer.
While the cicadas took up their shrill song, one of our small party could hear ringing of a different sort in her ears. Complaining of light headedness, an older lady, who had taken the beginning of the walk at a stately pace, lay down on the jungle floor. Ants and termites were the least of our guides' worries, as we were out of range of any form of communication. Having brought the lady round, the group resolved to turn back and see her to safety.
The hotel porters took the lady to be checked out and the rest of the group resumed the evening walk back through the hotel grounds. By now dusk was upon us, signalling the awakening of nocturnal creatures. Sure enough, bats circled overhead, while out at sea boats turned on their green lights to attract squid.
As we were walking, we heard the tell-tale pitter-patter, not of falling rain but of excrement hitting the foliage beneath a tree. This signalled to us that a flying lemur was jettisoning its load in preparation for flight. Soon the creatures arced silently through the air above our heads, while others clawed their way up tree trunks and eerily rotated their heads 180° to spot their target.
Our host met us after the walk and took us to Fat Mum for what I can honestly say is the best Chinese food I have every eaten.
While normally specialising in seafood, the Chinese chef - the eponymous 'fat mum' - loves the challenge of cooking. Given advanced warning of our arrival, she had prepared a vegetarian feast comprising entirely off-menu dishes.
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| Yam cake nest at Fat Mum |
A healthful soup of sweet longan and jujube had been simmered for 4.5 hours and promised us a good night's sleep. A yam cake of steamed yam fried and filled with baby corn, soy meat and red chillies was deliciously savoury and a mixture of textures. Tofu and nori fish pieces in a sauce sweet from honey and sharp from rice wine vinegar with finely sliced cucumber was easily the best mock fish to grace my taste buds.
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| Tofu skin vegetable parcel |
On hearing that we enjoy spicy food, which is apparently unusual for foreigners, fat mum produced a sambal of chilli with vegetarian shrimp, which was delightfully chewy and hot. Afterwards, an annual guest from Austria, called Hans, who seems to have entered into a work-for-lodgings agreement with the restaurant, offered us a brandy. We enjoyed a snifter with fat mum and some Austrian chocolate pralines. Talking to someone who clearly has a passion and flair for cooking was inspiring.
The next time I saw a brandy glass, it was up the street at Lepak bar, balanced precariously in a tower of glassware, while flaming sambuca ran down its sides.
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| Behold! The Flaming Lamborghini |
This one-of-a-kind cocktail was offered by the bar proprietor, Frankie, and was one-and-a-half beers in the preparation. The ostentatiously named 'Flaming Lamborghini' was constructed from two brandy glasses atop a wide margarita glass with a shot glass on top. The clear sambuca was carefully flowed down the outside and lit. I braved singed eyebrows and gingerly supped the liquor - a mixture of Kahlua and Blue Curaçao - with a straw from the bottom, while the bartender extinguished the flames with a pour of Bailey's Irish cream. It was quite an end to the evening.
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