Food In Penang

This was my favorite restaurant in Penang.

Penang is a great place for food.  Some say it is the food capital of Malaysia.  With Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya, Japanese, and Thai food to name a few common options.  And even though the cost of living is higher than other parts of Southeast Asia the food is still very affordable.  It is also a good location for vegetarians like me.

Eating Out vs Cooking At Home

I've heard the argument many times from locals and expats in Asia that eating out is cheaper than cooking at home.  I've never believed that.  If that were really true, then why would so many people keep a food business if they lose money on each sale.  They might be able to find some discounts on their ingredients if they buy in bulk, but they still need to factor in other business expenses, equipment cost, and labor costs.  And I'm just thinking about street vendors here, where they wouldn't have rents (I think) and multiple employees.  No, it doesn't add up.

On the other hand, if you live in Thailand for example, and live in one of the many studios that don't have a kitchen, then the amount you save on the rent may be more than the cost of eating out.  Possibly.  So the restaurant people may win that one, in some cases.  And to be honest, eating out is much more of an experience, especially when you're in another country.

Eating Out

So while I don't believe that eating out is cheaper than cooking at home it is certainly a lot cheaper to eat out in Penang than anywhere back in the States.  It's not even that much more than it costed me to cook at home in the States.  And you know how cheap that was.  But even though it is more expensive, and I do have a kitchen I could use, I usually eat most of my meals out.  I eat most of my meals outside in sit-down restaurants.  I can go to a Chinese vegetarian restaurant where I can choose what I want cafeteria-style and expect to pay between one and two US dollars (RM3 - RM6).  An Indian banana leaf meal will cost somewhere in the upper end of that range.  A bowl of noodles like curry mee costs RM3 or less.  A roti canai will cost around RM1 per plain roti.

There aren't too many street vendors that sell vegetarian food, though there are some vendors that have something suitable.  Although, street vendors are a good place to get a drink like a lime, coconut, soy milk, or sugar cane drink.  I wouldn't actually recommend doing that often though, because your drink will probably come in a plastic bag with a straw which is wasteful (but fun if you've never tried!).  Some vendors will have glasses that can be reused.  You'll also be getting a lot of sugar in these places.

For vegetarians who don't know, www.happycow.net is a great resource for finding vegetarian food options in cities all over the world.

Cooking At Home

Using typical ERE skills I think someone who wanted to mostly cook at home could get by on a very small budget.  In my case, the first thing I needed to do when I started to grocery shop here was to figure out the conversion for dollars per pound to ringgits per kilogram.  I don't see any point in spending more on groceries than I did back in the States, so I look to keep things under one dollar per pound or my simple conversion of RM6/kg.  But, that's the absolute top I won't go over (theoretically), if there is some super fancy tropical fruit I want to try or something.  My more desirable price range is RM3/kg ($.50 per pound), which I wanted to try to see how realistic it is.

The next question is whether to shop in the "wet markets" or go to big chain grocery stores.  Wet markets should be the cheapest place to buy produce, but it's not always the case.  In Penang you often see wet market vendors place cardboard signs next to their produce listing the price/weight or price/piece they would like to sell their produce.  I suppose bargaining is allowed (expected?) in these venues if you are willing and able.  The best strategy I have in this situation is to find something with an acceptable price, pick what you want, learn the final price and round down as an offer.  I don't like bargaining though.  This website is a good resource for finding where the wet markets are in Penang (as well as, almost anything you could possibly want to know about the island).

If you go to discount grocers, then you might be able to find good prices on produce that beat the wet market prices.  This is also where you would want to buy things like rice or oatmeal or noodles.  I think my favorite grocery store is Mydin in BJ Kompleks.  They have great prices and good quality produce.  Another discount option would be Tesco which is an international chain, but their produce isn't the best.

The one meal I definitely eat at home is breakfast.  I found oatmeal with fruit to be the best option, just like back in the States.  At least at this time of year, papaya is the cheapest fruit to buy.  You can buy it for RM3/kg or less even at regular grocery stores.  You can find oatmeal that costs about one dollar per pound at the discount grocery stores.  It's a nice breakfast and I know that at least one of my daily meals can be considered healthy.

Story Time: The Fisherman

This story is a classic.  It you haven't read it before, enjoy!

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village.

An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with all your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs...I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant."

"You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American. "And after that?"

"Afterwards? That's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stock and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?"

"After that -- and this is the best part -- you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!"

Nothing But Net

I think the internet needs to be considered a basic survival necessity.  Food, water, and internet.  I'll give up housing as long as I have a stable internet connection.

For the first several weeks in Penang I managed to connect to the internet through different public wifi spots.  I also paid to use a computer at an internet cafe several times.  But, these options didn't offer the anytime, anywhere aspect I like about the internet.  The wifi connections were spotty at best and I didn't feel like walking a half mile all the time internet cafe.  That left me with a lot more offline time than online.  I was also concerned about security.  I didn't want to visit my financial accounts through either of those methods.

At the internet cafe I used a portable version of Chrome along with Lastpass, so I wouldn't have to enter my email/whatever accounts' passwords.  And my browsing information would be stored on my flash drive instead of the public computers.  They seemed to have a lot of anti-virus software on their computers so maybe my information was safe, but it didn't solve the convenience issue.  And regardless whether it was safe or not I didn't feel it was safe enough to open my financial accounts or file my taxes from there.  Having to pay for the internet on a per use basis was also uncomfortable.  I prefer to pay a lump sum all at once and not have to worry about paying each time.  Even if it means I end up paying more.  The internet cafe I used charged RM2 per hour which was not a bad price, but not the cheapest in Penang.

So after a lot of debating and financial calculations and trying to factor in the value of feeling safe, I ended up purchasing a usb mobile internet dongle.  I can connect to 2g and 3g mobile internet with the device.  In Malaysia they use the term "broadband" to refer specifically to mobile internet like this.  One concern I had prior to purchase was whether or not the device would even work with my operating system, Ubuntu.  Luckily it works fine.  I bought the dongle from Maxis, which was recommended to me.  You can buy a pre-paid or post-paid version.  I got the pre-paid version.  In the package you get the usb dongle and a sim card that will allow you to connect to the internet for 4 days with a 2gb data limit.  Once either one of those expire you need to "top up."  The pre-paid package costs RM138.  It costs different amounts to get more days or data allowance depending on what you prefer.

I might have been able to get by with the internet connections I was managing before, but it didn't let me get on the blog when I wanted, for example.  I can only blog or email or whatever when I have the energy to do it.  Having constant access is important for that reason.

I also did a test run of my tax return and looked at my financial accounts without worrying.  If I go somewhere else I don't have to worry about finding a wifi connection either.  I just need a wireless signal.  This stable internet connection has also allowed me to start using Google Voice to make calls to people in the US for free.  The sound quality isn't great, but it's good enough.  So that's a positive improvement.

The thing I don't like about having a full-time internet connection is it gives me something to do besides go out and see Penang.