4 X Toast
The free breakfast is going well. 4 pieces of toast later and we're done.We did a spot of research on our next movement options before being collected by a friend at midday. He very kindly took us to a small restaurant the other side of town, where he ordered some delicious dishes with beef, lamb and chicken for us to try. They were so good! We chatted in the restaurant for a long time before making our next move.
As we drove through Alor Star we had our own personal tour guide explaining about the area and it's history. We needed dessert so headed into the huge Central mall. We found a churros stall where they sold Spanish coffee. We saw a sign telling us about the Korean product. We were slightly confused as we thought churros was a Spanish thing. The coffee was Spanish but why was the churros Korean? We laughed about French Baguette in KL also being Korean. In Malaysia the youngsters are crazy for Korean bands known as K Pop!
We toured the fancy shops and each bought a little something. Our friend went for fancy perfume and we opted for a cheap plastic mobile phone holder that was BOGOF. We are travelling with a short, multi connector cable and this device helps to hold the phones right next to the so ket.
On our way home we were told about a long straight road in the centre of town where at night the local motorbike riders race, until the police arrive and block off the road!
We rested for the afternoon and chatted to a Malaysian man who used to work for a cigar company in Singapore
He sold cigars from Havana, Cuba and had been to Cuba a number of times.
We headed across the road to see the friendly restaurant owner and meet some more of his friends. It was a great experience to meet so many local people from varying jobs and backgrounds. We talked for a long time to local politicians, marine biologists, architects ...
When the time was right we left with our friends to see if we could see any of the bike racers on the super straight road. There was no racing when we arrived but plenty of people picnicked next to the roadside and there were many bikes by their side. A race was sure to come at sometime during the night as the roadside group's compared each other's bikes. We decided not to wait but to head to the night market.
There was food, clothes and bundle stalls (the name that they give in Malaysia to 2nd hand shops) because everything arrives in a bundle. Our friends knew alot of people in this small town and there is a wonderful sense of community. We studied the fake trainers, had a traditional cigarette rolling demonstration and chatted to many stall holders. It was now 2am so we thought we had better go to sleep!
