In some countries they don't get too excited about food. In Nepal, for instance, I noticed that a lot of them were happy with their rice and dal twice a day. Filling the stomach was all there was to it.
I was brought up to think of French cuisine as the ultimate in foodie nation sophistication. Then I found that the Chinese were a bit like that about their food too, and later I discovered Thai food, Mexican food, Indian food, Vietnamese, Japanese...... So it wasn't that simple.
But wait till you've met a few Malaysians! Every single one of them
is a fanatical foodie. And they've got it all there. Largely because of
the ethnic mix: Malay, Chinese, Indian, and no doubt a few other other influences.
Some
say that the best thing to do with your time in Malaysia is to eat. I
think that's not the whole story, but the food's definitely good, and
definitely varied. We visited Chinatown, and Little India (or one of
them - there seemed to be two, and I was in a different one from the one
I thought I was in). We also dined in shopping mall food courts and an
unprepossessing canteen-like place across from our hotel, to say nothing
of the hotel's own fine dining room.
And it was all delicious!
