My first stint ever in South East Asia was in Hongkong. Together with three friends we visited a Chinese speaking compatriot and discovered in  one full week the secrets of Hong Kong’s cooking pots. Chinese food instantly became one of my greatest culinary loves. Another culinary love is Kuala Lumpur where we flew next after Hong Kong. While Hong Kong in 1993 was a mix of Chinese and British, KL was a mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian.  Entirely new territories for my palate. I even more fell into love with Malay food when I visited the island of Penang in 2009, browsed from one hawker food stall to the other and finally discovered Laksa: thick rice noodles, prawns in a coconut- tamarind soup. Amazingly delicious and to be repeated when in Malaysia every hawker night.