The grandest clan house in South East Asia, the Khoo Kongsi in Penang actually consists of a clan-house called Leong San Tong, a grand Chinese temple, an opera stage and an administrative office complete with its own meeting rooms and shop houses. The history behind such clan houses, which are located all over Peninsula Malaysia, is rather interesting. These clan houses actually sprouted in the 19th century, when many male laborers from South China arrived in the Malay Archipelago in search of jobs. Feeling homesick and wanting to maintain a sort of link with fellow clansmen in Malaysia, they stayed in these large dwellings we now refer to as clan houses. It is built to resemble villages in China, and also became a place for ancestral and deity worship even for clansmen who have moved out of the Khoo Kongsi.

The Khoo Kongsi was built around 1900, after a mysterious fire razed it to the ground in 1902; it took another four years to complete. During World War II, the Japanese destroyed the Khoo Kongsi completely, bringing heartache to its clansmen. A massive restoration project immediately after the war and in 1999 has turned the Khoo Kongsi into a striking mansion, right in the middle of Penang.

A staple food for two-thirds of the world?s populations, rice is regarded as sacred in many third world countries. In Malaysia, harvest festivals are held to give thanks for bountiful harvest. So, it is not surprising that there are many styles of fried rice in Malaysia. While usually prepared from leftover rice from dinner the [...]

In Malaysia, there are several versions of this humble dish. In a Malay restaurant, special herbs are used to marinate the Nasi Ayam. The chicken is barbequed over the fire before being served with soup. In a typical Chinese stall, there are two types of chicken available: steamed or roasted. A popular dish that is [...]

A relative of the more common avocado, the engkala (Litsea garciea) is one of the few savory tropical fruits. The tree only grows in Sarawak and along the South-west coast of Sabah along riverbanks and scattered near villages. In Sabah, it is sometimes known as pong labon. The foliage resembles that of an avocado. However [...]

Also known among the locals as Melaka, this historical city in Malaysia is actually named after a tree. Geographically, Malacca is protected from the monsoon winds by Peninsula Malaysia and Sumatra. Soon after Parameswara, a Javanese prince became its first official ruler; Malacca transformed from a fishing village to an important port visited by Chinese, [...]

Back in the good old 70′s and 80′s, when having a refrigerator at home was a luxury, those who had refrigerators at home came up with a brilliant idea – sell ice. But since sucking on plain water wasn’t the most exciting thing to do, someone thought of putting syrup and sugar into the ice [...]