The word for today is "chicken."

A lot of people have asked me about the food, so I figured I’d write about it a bit. Penang is actually well known in Asia for its food. People in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, apparently dread when Penang residents come to visit because they have such high standards for their food. I’ve even been told that people actually travel from other countries to Penang just for the food. I don’t know if I that’s true, but it sounds unlikely. Surely there are less humid places to eat!

There is a lot to say about the food over here, so today I’ll just focus on the meat selections.

Since Malaysia is a Muslim country, many Islamic laws affect daily life. Most restaurants (including Intel cafeterias) observe Halal. If you’re curious, you can read more about Halal food standards here. Suffice to say, it bears some similarities to Kosher (at least to the average Christian, they seem similar). The most obvious impact is that it is difficult to find pork in a restaurant or grocery store.

I’m not the world’s biggest pork fan, but when the bacon and hot dogs are made out of beef, it just isn’t the same. There are places to get non-halal food, but it can be a hassle. For example, if you go to a supermarket with a non-halal section and buy bacon, it has to be paid for and wrapped so that it doesn’t contaminate the rest of the store. I’m ok with that as a rule to follow, but it’s just as easy to not eat bacon.

Meanwhile, Malaysia is very accepting of other religions. Buddists and Hindus don’t eat beef and there are a fair number of both in Malaysia. Halal beef is pretty good when bought at the supermarket, but it isn’t served in some places (including the Intel cafeterias).

So what does that leave? Chicken and Fish. Fish (including shrimp) is served whole – heads, eyes, shell, antenna… it’s all on the plate. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen shrimp eyes, but they are huge and black. When a whole shrimp is staring at you from your plate, suddenly you aren’t that hungry any more.

So basically, I have chicken every day. Fortunately, there are MANY variations on chicken. In my freezer, there are 5 different chicken options – and that doesn’t include any spicy selections. It does go a bit far with the chicken snacks – how much chicken does one person need? I haven’t seen chicken ice cream or cereal yet, but I’m on the lookout. I did finally eat fish today by accident - turns out it tastes like chicken.

If you haven’t seen pictures of my apartment food selections yet, you can view them here.

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