Muar, Malaysia Day 9

Up at 8:30, we packed our stuff up whilst watching the Discovery Channel and set off for breakfast at the Arab 24 hour place across the street. It was absolutely packed with people, but we decided today to sit in the separate area, which was air conditioned. We were the only diners in there. We later found out why. I ate a rice bundle that they had set out at all tables, then my apple juice came out. I ordered a roti telur planta, thinking it was the roti with fried banana (there were no translations on the non-western options, and thinking planta was similar to "plantain", which is a type of banana, one can see what we were thinking). It turned out telur planta is egg, so it was roti with egg. The waiter, of course, coughed directly on the meal as he delivered it. I ate it anyway, since you get used to that sort of thing here. Considering the food preparation areas are hardly sterile, and lord knows what the health and safety standards are here. I ate as slowly as possible, but was still finished before Christian got his chicken burger and fries, since they apparently kept forgetting. He finished that and his cappuccino frozen drink, and the waiter delivered the bill. It came out to RM18 (£2.61), and we noticed the food was all slightly more expensive. We thought it was tax, but the gentleman at the register helpfully explained it was a surcharge for sitting in the air conditioning. That makes sense. That privilidge added £0.14 ($0.30) to our bill.
We crossed the street and entered the Megamall. Failing a sync up at Starbucks, we exchanged GBP100 for RM680, and used 2 RM5 Jusco vouchers I had for 4 large bottles of 100 Plus. It is a water drink filled with electrolytes, incredibly refreshing and what everyone drinks here; somewhat like gatorade but without those vile colorings.
At 11 we still hadn’t heard from anyone, so we went down to check out and met Ric's parents in the lobby, Henry & Lucia soon arrived as well. We went in 3 cars straight to KL International airport, where we met Raymond, who had just flown in from London, & several relatives of Ric's from Hong Kong. Once they picked up their rental car, we all left in a 4 car convoy on a 3 hour journey to Muar, Christine's home town. We were in the rental truck with Henry & Lucia, and it didn’t seem very long till we left the highway and saw a part of Malaysia that tourists rarely see.
Locals in wooden lean-to's heaped with durian fruit sold their wares on the roadside. One kilo for 3 ringgit was prominently displayed several times. Durian is a tree fruit with a sharp, spiney outershell which is often banned from hotels due to the strong aroma it emits. Houses ranged from little wooden shacks to cute, dainty bungalows vibrantly painted in pastels. Many had a large red and gold box outside the front door that we briefly mistook for a mailbox, till we figured out it is a type of alter box used to pay hommage to the spirit that watches over the home.
We crossed the bridge over the Muar River and drove through the small town to our hotel. It is a new build and the tallest building in the town.
All of us staying there checked in and met back in the lobby on the 6th floor to set out for our new destination. It was 4:30 when we drove about 10 minutes away to a cute 3 bedroom rental bungalow, set as part of a quad of bungalows. Christine had picked up bags of take-out rice & noodles and we chowed down as she left for her parents house to plan the evening festivities. There were about 15 people in the holiday home, all of us basically the grooms side.
We hung out for awhile till we were beckoned to the brides parents house by phone. We all jumped into the various cars and headed over there, about a 10 minute drive. It ended up being a massive house party. Her one story home is on a cul-de-sac, and apparently most of the people living there are family. They had huge canopies set up over the front garden and road, decorated with yards of pink material. About a dozen tables were set out with people already enjoying their dinner. We walked in and were immediately greeted by the brides charming and handsome father, Mr. Chua. He owns a farm that consists of over 350,000 chickens, and he provides all chickens to KFC for the Asian region. He welcomed us to their home with open arms and sat us down at two tables in the front. There was a huge buffet table spread by the front door covered with dishes brimming with rice, noodles, various curried chickens and fish. For dessert, there was jellied mango, oranges, watermelon, and some multicolored gelatinous cakes. The food was absolutely wonderful. We later went into the house, which was quite spacious. We added our shoes to the growing mound at the front door, and entered a large living room. The master bedroom was off of there. Through the next doorway, there is a large kitchen, dining area to the left, and three other bedrooms to our right. There was also a long room addition at the back of the house, consisting of a little pond with fish and the cutest little turtle.
We went inside, and Ric gave Christian a type of black jello. He explained that it is made from the shells of tortoises, and it is best eaten smothered in honey. He advised it served as a very refreshing snack in the oppressive heat. Personally, I thought a 100 Plus worked just as efficiently and no tortoises needed to be harmed, but Christian dutifully tried it, as did I. Honestly, we have no idea what it tastes like, since the honey flavor pretty much overpowered it.
Next the durian fruit came. Known as "the king of fruit" it is a large round fruit with a very prickly outerskin, known for its very pungent aroma. In fact, most hotels ban the stuff. Ric's uncle broke a few open and the smell is quite unmistakable. Inside is a yellow, fleshy type of substance. Mr. Chua handed me a piece and I took a bite into it. I suppose the look on my face was very amusing, since the Chinese people around me started to laugh, as it is very much an acquired taste. It really has no similarity to any fruit I know of. The flavor is almost savory, with a meaty texture. In fact, it is usually around a large pit that is more like bone. After trying it, I gave some to Christian, so now we've tried it. I don’t want to try it again.