Malaysia

Taking the train from Bangkok in 1987, Nitza and I travelled down to Penang. One of the best parts of the journey was the crab curry served in the buffet car – spicy, but delicious. The journey took us through a verdant landscape dotted with small villages surrounded by paddy fields.

Penang is still one of my favourite places, partly because of the great food to be found there – including Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Thai, and European. Penang is on one hand proud to be a thriving, bustling modern city and on the other one that treasures its past.