Today Eric and Christi were zombies. Four days of non-stop walking and little sleep had taken its toll on us. Omar and Marion were much fuller of energy. They went to the mall so Marion could get more clothes and toiletries. It was looking like Marion’s bag wasn’t going to arrive, after all, so she needed the basics. They were going to Sri Lanka later tonight, and she doubted she would be able to get what she needed in Sri Lanka.

While Omar and Marion were out shopping, Eric and Christi dragged themselves to the marina restaurant for lunch. They were having their Sunday buffet featuring popular local dishes. We are only going to mention the dishes that are new to us. They also had many foods, like salads and sushi, which we were already familiar with. Eric tried foods that sounded appealing to him, sticking mostly to the dishes he knew because he was really hungry. Christi tried every new food on the buffet line, except the chicken foot salad. She just couldn’t bring herself to knowingly put a chicken foot in her mouth.

The cold foods were easy to photograph, and the pictures are in the same order as the foods are listed.:
Pepper dew stuffed with goat cheese. It tastes like perpperchinis stuffed with goat cheese.
Papaya salad with pickle relish that tasted overwhelmingly like Japanese pickling marinade. Christi is not a fan of Japanese pickling sauce, so she didn’t like it much.
Fragrant soya duck with chili lime sauce was tender and delicious, not at all gamey like duck can be.
Marinated crunchy squid salad with Thai spices was not at all crunchy, but slightly rubbery. Christi is not sure how to describe the flavor, but it was quite good.

Also worth noting is potato salad with prunes and meatloaf that was topped with cornflakes. The cornflakes were soggy and it tasted like plain old potato salad. She couldn’t find any meatloaf or prunes in it

The hot foods were harder to photograph because most were in big chaffing dishes. We got a shot of the seafood roll, which had an overwhelmingly fishy taste, with maybe just the slightest hint of vegemite. It was yucky.

Most of the hot food dishes were new to us:
Satay has long been one of our favorites, but in case you are unfamiliar with it, they are skewers with tender pieces of lamb, beef, pork or chicken topped with a spicy peanut sauce.
Chili garam was a white fish in a light sauce that was quite good.
Ayam buah keluak is a chicken dish with a spicy, almost gravy-like sauce. It was quite flavorful and good.
Itek sio is a meat of some sort with a very light, citrus sauce and it also was very good.
Pork pantang has a sweeter sauce with cinnamon and other spices you find in dessert foods. It had bamboo shoots in it and was quite fatty. She liked the sauce, but isn’t a big bamboo shoot fan, and she doesn’t like fatty meat.
Nonya chop chye is a white and black vegetable in a clear, soupy sauce. It was very salty. seasonal vegetables were bok choy and mushrooms in soy sauce. They were OK.

In addition there was a spring roll station where they had fillings laid out. You chose the fillings, and they fried up the fillings and wrapped them up for you. They didn’t fry the rolls, so they were soft and tender instead of crispy, which is how we are used to seeing spring rolls served.

Then it was time for dessert:
Durian pengat is almost like what Americans call pudding, but a little mushier. The taste is quite odd, slightly bitter and slightly nutty, and only lightly sweet. It is made from durian fruit, which supposedly smells really bad, like noni, but tastes good. The smell of durian is so strong that it is outlawed in enclosed public spaces such as subway stations.

Coconut kaya pudding, which is an American style pudding with coconut flavor. It was light.
Mango pudding had more of a custard texture and was delicious.
Burbur cha cha was odd. It is coconut flavored, soupy, and lightly sweet with carrots and other vegetables that Christi did not recognize. She was undecided about whether or not she liked it.

There was also fruit on the dessert table. The two of interest are the rambutans and the dragon fruit.

The rambutan is about the size of an apricot, covered in a pinkish, coarse, hairy coat. The fruit inside is translucent and looks much like the longan that we got in Australia. It is a light, sweet, refreshing taste. The pink skin of the dragon fruit is edible, though the texture is almost waxy. The meat inside is similar to kiwifruit in texture, with a milder taste than kiwi. It is also refreshing.

Omar and Marion returned and did laundry and hung out by the pool until it was time to go to the airport. Lucky for them, the flight was earlier in the evening, so they could take the train instead of a cab, making the fare much more affordable. We said our goodbyes and wished them a safe trip.

We also found out a dangerous piece of information. After 2000 (8:00 pm), all the perishable desserts in the deli such as mousses and tarts — are half off. We, of course, managed to drag ourselves back to the deli that night for dessert.