Why breakfast is the most important meal...

There's something special about getting breakfast while traveling in Asia, especially in Malaysia or Singapore. I'm not normally a breakfast guy, nor do I normally get breakfast in the hotels (I prefer street food, as explained by this postfrom EatingAsia) , but sometimes, just sometimes, while travelling in Asia, you can find some fantastic breakfast buffets in the hotel, especially "local" ones

(although you have to be careful about not eating too much, because a combination of a overloaded stomach and hot tropical weather makes for an uncomfortable day... not to mention making you so full that you miss out on other snacking opportunities throughout the day)

While in KT, S and I stayed at the Felda Residence Hotel, which is one of the newer hotels in Kuala Terengganu, and its architecture seems to be inspired by the "Sail" Burj Dubai hotel in Dubai (but not nearly as grand). Interestingly, the Felda group is actually a Malaysian conglomerate that's better known for its palm oil plantations, but I guess they're strangely trying to diversify by going into the hotel business?)

It's one of the few times we didn't book anything in advance, and we just showed up to see what we could negotiate, as anything is negotiable in Malaysia. They had a promotion going on, RM200 per night, and it came with a free buffet breakfast!

Free breakfasts can be hit or miss, but this one... absolutely amazing. Given KT's predominant Malay population, there was a lot more Malay-influenced dishes there, such as roti jala (the lacy crepe seen in the picture), beef rendang, a chicken and fish curry, nasi lemak (my all time favorite breakfast food - coconut rice with some curry, fried peanuts and anchovies and an egg), char kway teow (another favorite), and a new dish I hadn't seen before, nasi kerabu (a blue-colored rice with small condiments, lower right corner in photo). I had to absolutely try everything on the menu!

Not only was this buffet amazing, but the next day.. they changed it all up! New dishes every day!! Including an amazing mackerel curry. Must be interesting to be the chef there, I think he/she just makes whatever he/she feels like, or whatever is fresh, which is a good philosophy for food.

There was a "western section" at this buffet, but it was pretty sad.. an omelette station, some "sausages" (really just chicken hot dogs, since Malays can't eat pork), and toast. I think everybody else was equally excited about all the curries.

Might seem strange to Americans to eat curry and rice for breakfast, but I think it should be eaten anytime! =)

S and I were really happy about the buffet, and as she put it "it was the best breakfast of the entire trip".