Breakfasts around the world while backpacking- by backpackies

As you travel and backpack around the globe, you will soon learn that breakfast is not having it at a ‘FAST FOOD’ joint!
Rather it is more about being more adventurous and heading out to find and eat what the locals have for breakfast.
Here is a list of what some people in their country eat. 🙂

Are you dreaming about the Mc Donalds breakfast in your sleep??

A full English Breakfast – it must have beans, sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, hash browns and toast. Of course, it should all be knocked back with a cup of tea, but black pudding is optional as far as I’m concerned.

Breakfast in Iran – it usually features some sort of naan bread with butter and jam. When a light breakfast just isn’t going to hit the spot Iranians eat halim. Halim is a mixture of wheat, cinnamon, butter and sugar cooked with shredded meat in huge pots. You can eat it hot or cold. You can also see the Iranian version of an omelet here too.

A Cuban wake up meal – usually consists of sweetened coffee with milk with a pinch of salt thrown in. The unique Cuban bread is toasted and buttered and cut into lengths to dunk in the coffee.

Polish Breakfast – known locally as Jajecznica, a traditional Polish breakfast consists of scrambled eggs covered with slices of custom- made kielbasa and joined by two potato pancakes.

 Quick Spanish breakfast – Pan a la Catalana, or Pan con Tomate, in Spain is simple but really delicious. Just rub some bread with fresh garlic and plenty of ripe tomato, then drizzle with olive oil and salt. Top with cheese, ham or sausage for an extra bit.

A yummy Moroccan breakfast – usually consists of different breads with some chutney, jam, cheese or butter. They have a really delicious crumpet-style bread which they make in huge slabs for you to tear a bit off, and a semolina pancake bread called Baghir – both are really tasty.

A healthy Hawaiian breakfast – I couldn’t imagine Hawaiians eating anything but fruit to be honest. Of course, there’s the bagel but I’m sure they’d burn the energy from that off in a few minutes on their surf board anyway.

Nope! Sweedish people do not eat Sweedish meatballs for breakfast!

Swedish breakfast – often involves a Swedish pancake, known as a Pannkakor. It’s a thin flat cake made from batter and fried on both sides – much like a crepe. It’s usually served with a sweet, fruity filling.

Icelandic breakfast cuisine – a hearty and hot breakfast to fight off the dark, icy mornings is what’s needed here. Hafragrautur, or oatmeal, is served with a sprinkle of brown sugar with a few raisins or nuts on top, perfect.

Breakfast in Portugal – a delicious and simple affair with stuffed croissants and plenty of coffee served in the sun.

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Chung Wah famous Chicken Rice Balls Melaka

Normally if you walk into a chicken rice stall, you wouldn’t expect to have your rice served up as balls the size of ping pong balls. But in Melaka, this is why people are willing to queue up in scorching sun just to have a plate of this “Chicken Rice Balls”.

On our recent trip to the historic city of Melaka, we took the 2 hour bus down from KL. Because we were here to do reviews on Melaka, so we needed to try what the locals branded as “famous”.

We started off with the Hainan Chicken Rice balls at Chung Wah Coffee Shop for lunch. We arrived about 4pm, which was way after lunch time, so the crowd wasn’t that crazy. Honestly I’m not a very patient person. I personally believe in going for the alternative even though the stall isn’t that famous. Take for example the Sate Celup in town. I couldn’t be bothered with waiting 2 hours just for people to take their own sweet time to dip and chat while we fellas are grumbling standing by the side of the road for them to finish. If you are coming from the Tan Kim Seng Bridge, the yellow signboard on your right is Chung Wah Coffee Shop. If you are walking from Dutch Square where the red buildings like Christ Church or Stadthuys are situated, keep look up on the right hand side of a white colour building. Chung Wah is exactly on the right corner after crossing over Melaka River by Tan Kim Seng Bridge. It is a simple and clean coffee shop. At the top of the coffee shop, you will see a traditional Chinese name plate hanging high above an arch, describing the name of this shop usually implies it could be a family business run over generations. Our order came in like 7 minutes to be exact. (I do time these kind of things). I ordered a glass of home cooked barli which was a thirst quencher after our tiring trip up from KL.

Chop Chung Wah Hainanese Chicken Rice Ball

The chicken meat was smooth, juicy and tender. My plate came with 5 chicken rice balls, which were about the size of a ping pong. Im not sure about the statement that other bloggers write about the rice “The rice was soft and sticky consistency that binds the rice grains together. It’s strong enough so that you can pick it up easily with chopsticks yet it melts away in your mouth. The taste of the rice balls is a gently fragrant one but it lingers in the mouth and you just keep popping in more of those rice balls! Needless to say this is why I keep coming back for it” To me, when my rice balls came. It was just a simple compacted ball of rice which I had to flatten with my spoon in order to put it into my mouth. Then I started asking myself.  Wouldn’t it be easier to just eat normal rice? Instead of ordering something round, and then flattening it again? But this is what I personally think. To the other thousands of people who has eaten and written about this place. They put two thumbs up for this place. I say, come here if there is no one in the queue.

our plate of chicken rice balls with our barli drink

My personal theory of “They decided one day to roll up the rice into balls out of boredom” doesn’t seem to be popular with the locals. p/s: I used to think , it was some genius lazy fellow who grew lazy of scooping up spoons of rice into his mouth. Since it was much easier to just gulp it with one go, if it was rounded!

So upon digging, I found out that in the olden days, the rice balls were invented because they stayed warm longer and were easier to transport, so farmers and labourers would pack them into wooden containers and take them out to the plantations to eat.

So for iconic sake, besides buying a t-shirt to proof you have been to Melaka, you might as well grab a stool, order a –kopi o and enjoy a plate of Chicken Ball Rice.

Address: Chop Chung Wah Coffee Shop Right corner after crossing Tan Kim Seng Bridge from Dutch Square Lorong Hang Jebat Melaka, Malaysia
Tips: Go as early as 11 am on weekend to avoid long queues

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Jonker Street, Melaka by Backpackies

Held like a weekly ritual, Jonker Walk is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The street heats up with electrifying atmosphere from as early as 5pm till late. Correct me if i am wrong, but i dare say, its as if the whole of Malacca is out here at Jonker Walk to shop.

If you are driving in Malacca, make sure you are not parked on Jonker because we did. And man, it was a nightmare because all the stalls were streaming in to start business and we couldnt get out. We had to wait till everything ended around 1 am before we could move the car. Luckily we were staying in Malacca for the night.
Here is a pictorial story book we did up to show you what to expect in Malacca. Jonker Street Market is a must see when you are visiting Malacca.

Entrance to jonker walk

Along the whole street, you can find some really nice Chinese temples, antique shops, and guesthouses hidden behind the overflowing stalls.
If you are tired of sitting at the side stall watching the crowd move by endlessly, you might want to check out the many activities held at the chinese temples. We were drawn to music coming out from this temple.
And another amazing thing is, if you are lucky you can actually get to watch the local lion dance troop practicing! The gong and the drum beats are so captivating that it will have you standing there for more. Lively and Hair raising is more the term to discribe watching a lion dance troop in action!

Very detailed crafting on the outside of a chinese temple

delicate wood carvings on the temple doors and walls

curious locals checking out what is all the music about

old ladies get together for line dancing session at the chinese association

Chinese orchestra playing

crowded street during the week end

tiny wooden clogs with cute cartoon characters

Plenty of women acessories sold here

We spotted Shin Chan showing his little wee wee in public here

One thing that i personally love about Jonker Walk is that, over here you can find all sorts of special” toys”. Battery operated helicopters, portable electric handheld fans, “baby milo” limited edition dolls, and some really nice money boxes are among the usual.

interesting sweets they sell here

This stall was selling chocolate fruit fondue. Some of them was sugar coated and some was with chocolate rice. Kids will go crazy if they see this.

delicious chendol melaka at restoran jonker 88

chendol so sweet and delicate, the ice will melt in your mouth ...the moment you put it in your mouth

Nyonya laksa melaka

Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia. The nyonya laksa here is served with a generous chunk of tuna meat with it. Tangy sourish and spicy taste to the whole bowl of noodles. Great and you need to give it a try while you are here!

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tang yuan in a slightly spicy ginger soup

Tang Yuan are “Glutinous balls cooked in sweet flavoured soup”

Chinese usually eat Tang Yuan together with their families, during the Lantern Festival. They believe that the round shape and smoothness of the balls symbolise family togetherness and that everything in the New Year goes well and smoothly without any problems.

tang yuan at jonker walk

freshly made Popiah rolls

bak chang- glutinous rice dumplings that come with assorted fillings

selling the famous freshly made heong pheah

fake food along side the real food

assorted watches sold

One thing that i told my self, that i would be getting my son( when i get one) is a BEN TEN watch. Man, do you know how cool these things are? Some of them can shoot out laser light and others plastic discs at your enemies! And how much do these watches cost? RM 10 only. I wished we had these, back in my time.

chinese caligraphy by a handicap artist

melaka souvenirs

Gold inggots that seemed to have chinese caligraphy, mostly wishing you good luck and wealth.

happy musician performing

Off course all along the road you can see how artsy Melakans are. We managed to snap this happy local performing.

 

trishaws at jonker street

There are plenty of those “twinkly boom box blasting” trishaws parked at the start of Jonker street, offering services to take you home.
Its actually quite an experience to ride on one at night. Although we personally would recommend taking it during the day to visit the attractions.

STOP!! and pay..

There are no such thing as free things in this world. You still need to pay to pee. Funny how this man really takes his job so seriously.

crowded but filled with so much to see

With all the crowds, you are bound to get sweaty in no time. Make sure you dress down. We still see the occasional “local” tourist in high heels and mini skirts. Just remember, its too crowded to be dressing to be seen. You know the saying ?” The nicer you dress, the more you pay for something”. The hawker might think you are a rich shopper from Hong Kong or Singapore. He might not be so relunctant to bargain with you. Thats why i always dress like a bum with no money.

cart selling antique money

No wonder this vendor didn’t really serve me because of my dressing. I still got my photograph though. This place was selling all sorts of antique money notes. It does add to the whole feeling of Malacca’s historical title.

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