Food isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind when one speaks of Bali. What this island paradise south of Indonesia conjures up are images of white sandy beaches filled with skimpily-clad bodies and moss-laden temples perched on cliffs. Bali has become such a popular year-round destination for tourists that modern air-conditioned restaurants and popular fastfood places can be found just about anywhere. But dig deeper through the local eateries they call warung and you just might be surprised to find something unique to eat in Bali.

BALI’S INFAMOUS BABI GULING

Yes, they do serve local dishes on the many fancy restaurants in Bali, but for a more local taste—which is a lot easier on the wallet, by the way—the way to go is to eat where the locals does. Be brave. Go down and dirty, and legitly eat your way through Bali.

A TYPICAL HAWKER SELLING LUNCH ON A MOTORBIKE

From my observations, Balinese dishes are cut into three categories—rice meals, noodles, and soups. That’s not discounting snacks and desserts, of course. The difference between the food here to the rest in Indonesia is that they do serve pork, Bali being Hindu instead of Muslim. The taste usually gravitates to a mix of salty and mild spiciness with nary a note of sweetness. It’s a tad similar to the food in Malaysia, albeit with the flavor and spiciness toned down in half. Eating in Bali is generally cheap, with a serving at a warung costing at an average of IDR10,000.00 to IDR20,000.00 (USD0.75 to USD1.50)

Mention Bali and the first things that come to mind are its white sand beaches and the hundreds of ornate temples that dot its landscape. But there’s more to Bali than these, and no, it’s not babi guling—although that porky delight is indeed another aspect of the island worth considering. It’s the traditional Balinese villages that still celebrate the way life was on the island before hordes of tourists started invading this paradise.

COLORFUL TRADITIONAL WOODEN MASKS BEING SOLD ON THE VILLAGES

During the course of my visits to Bali, I’ve visited only two of these so-called Bali traditional villages. There are more, like the Trunyan Village which has the custom of leaving their deceased above ground, a cloth and bamboo canopy its only cover, to the more famous jewelry-making village of Celuk and the culturally rich and more touristy Batubulan Village in Gianyar.

How many beaches are there in Bali? That was the thought that was running through my mind as we savored our last sunset on the island, pastels painting the lower part of the horizon as surfers glide through the curling waves. We’ve just spent almost two weeks on the island, exploring the temples of Bali and waterfalls of Bali, and of course, its beaches. We’ve seen quite a lot, swimming on a few and wishing we actually know how to surf.

Bali, the Land of the Gods. Separated from mainland Indonesia, this island paradise has a belief unique from the rest of the country, practicing Hinduism instead of Islam. With it comes temples, lots of them, sacred grounds carved on mountainsides, built over lakes, and standing over cliffs, all dedicated to their faith’s gods. And they literally have millions of gods, thirty three million to be exact.

HINDU IMAGERIES ON BALINESE TEMPLES

Imagine how hard it was for us, unfamiliar with Hinduism, to choose which temples to visit—each Balinese village having no less than three temples on their soil. We consulted guidebooks and read about Sad Kahyangan, the six cardinal temples of Bali, the holiest and most revered pura or temples in the whole of the island. But not all of these are easily accessible, being located on the heart and perimeters of Bali, and this island is huge.

I was under the impression that Penang holds the seat when it comes to Malaysian cuisine, but I was told otherwise by my friend from Melaka. She may be biased about it, since she comes from Melaka, but this was what she told us; people from Melaka goes to Penang for food trips, while people from Penang goes to Melaka for their own food trip.

During our short two-day Melaka adventure, we got to taste firsthand if this UNESCO city can indeed holds its own against its northern counterpart.

We have exactly two nights in Kuala Lumpur for our whole two-month ASEAN Summer Loop trip and we wanted to make the most out of it. For us, that means having mee goreng, our all-time favorite noodle dish from Malaysia, every other hour.

How addicted are we with mee goreng? After checking in at the Traders Hotel KL and freshening up a bit, we headed out by midnight to hunt for one.

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MADAM KWAN’S MODERN INTERIORS AT KUALA LUMPUR’S PAVILION SHOPPING CENTER

The next day, we rose early, eager to head over to Jalan Alor food street, excited to have a plate of our favorite noodles from one of the stalls that serves the meanest mee goreng in the whole of KL. But our plans suddenly took a turn as my travel mate got a message that her aunt was also in the city. Jalan Alor got ditched and we met up with her at the Pavilion Shopping Center instead.

After a bit of looking around, she asked us what we wanted for lunch. Well, we all know the answer to that burning question.

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Whoa. My jaw smashed to the (softly carpeted) floor when we opened the drapes in our room. The gleaming Petronas Towers were literally shining across the midnight cityscape of Kuala Lumpur. We knew we’d have this view when we booked a couple of nights at the Traders Hotel KL, but I didn’t know it would be this breathtaking when we actually get to see it in real life. I was totally blown away.

We were exhausted.

Coming from three breakfast meals—first in our hotel, The Imperial Heritage Melaka, the second at the Chung Hwa’s Chicken Rice Ball, and the last at Hassan’s Mee Goreng—you’d think we’d have more energy for walking around Melaka’s narrow streets and ogling at all the well-preserved colonial houses in the area than an Energizer Bunny with a camera.

But no.

The heat in Melaka is quite unbearable during the summer, draining us of our morning meals faster than we can type Dutch Square on our Google Maps-enabled phones.

JALAN LAKSAMANA, OUR INTRODUCTION TO MELAKA’S SIGNATURE COLOR

Coming straight from the massive KLIA II airport by bus, the first thing that indicated we were finally at the UNESCO World Heritage City of Melaka was not a sign, but the light maroon-colored colonial buildings lining both sides of Jalan Laksamana. It leads directly towards Melaka’s Dutch Square, dubbed by some as the Red Square, not because it resembles anything from Moscow, but literally due to the buildings’ paint job.