A taste of local life

Kuala Besut, Malaysia

Kuala Besut is a hub for travellers to access several island off the coast of Malaysiabut it was soon obvious that not many people stay in the town itself. We couldn’t find a menu with any translations so our meals we ordered through guess work which worked out surprisingly well and got us trying more of local dishes. However, on one occasion I was caught out. Leaving the room to fetch some water I bumped into the owner of our guesthouse, who happened to be holding several bags of ready-made food. She couldn’t speak any English but made it apparent that I should try it. I graciously accepted and after about 10 minutes of fumbling around with the bag like a tool, managed to get it open. Rather than wait the several hours it would’ve taken me to figure the rest out, she prepared the rest of the meal for me, passed me a spoon, and waited…

It looked like… mush, with white strips of… something.

I took a spoonful and swallowed.

My taste buds where overwhelmed with the fishiest, fishy, fish taste I have ever known – I cannot stand fish.

“Mmmmmmmmm!” I said, trying not to vomit.

She smiled at me with delight and indicated that I could finish the whole bag.
I told her she was being too kind, was she sure she didn’t want it back?

She insisted.

I could see only way out. I went to fetch Kerry.

Having been so overwhelmed by the taste of fish, I hadn’t noticed the other prominent flavour of the dish; coconut.

Kerry hates coconut.

“Mmmmmmmmm!”  She said, trying not to vomit.

Somehow, between us, we managed it. Passing – or shoving – the dish between us - “lovely,” “yum,” “so tasty,” – we cleared the bag.

The thought and generosity is what counts… but that was tough.

We didn’t get up to much in Kuala Besut. We did our usual walk around the area and found ourselves in a poorer part of town where goats, chickens, cows and an array of other farmyard animals wonder around freely between roads and small shops. The children here were fascinated by us, waving and screaming… running to watch us walk by. They went even crazier when we waved back too. We felt like celebrities.