I generally cooked my meals using fresh Malaysian vegetables, meat, and fruit.
There was a market I frequented almost daily.
It was called Chow Kit Market, and it’s the largest market in Kuala Lumpur.
It was within walking distance from the condominium I was renting, so I enjoyed taking a stroll there every morning and looking at the scenery along the way.
It was a picturesque view, with the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers in sight.
The road was lined with restaurants and kopi coffee shops crowded with locals, and most of the women wore Islamic hijabs, giving it a very exotic feel.
I was very surprised when I first visited Chow Kit Market.
The smells of Southeast Asia—spices, fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish.
It was a smell I’d never smelled in Japan.
In the meat section, there was a cow’s head on display, and I made eye contact with it.
I was surprisingly okay with it, but I think many Japanese people dislike it.
As expected of an Islamic country, I never saw any pork.
I continued to film the sights, including not only cow heads but also butchered bodies and whole birds, something you’d never see in Japan.
The market was huge and maze-like.
I particularly love dragon fruit and mangoes, and I often buy them here because they’re incredibly expensive in Japan.
Motorcycles also pass through the extremely narrow streets within the market, a common sight in Asia.
At first, I traveled to see the beautiful tourist spots and restaurants, but as I got used to the area, I started to visit markets and eateries where only locals live.
Thanks to this, I never got spotted by tourists and never experienced any pickpocketing or other dangerous situations.
After buying lots of food, I looked forward to visiting the food stalls near my house.
Malaysia is truly a multicultural country.
Street stalls, where people of many races come and go and try cuisine from all over the world, were a valuable experience I couldn’t have in Japan.
In other countries I’ve visited, food stalls are open freely, allowing foreigners like me to enjoy cheap and delicious food.
However, in Japan, the rules are very strict, so it’s not easy to open a food stall.
Every time I travel abroad, I feel that Japan is truly bound by rules.
In my opinion, Japan needs an environment where people can have a little more peace of mind, like overseas.
