Yesterday we were walking to catch a bus to a meeting we had in another part of Penang. Along the way, we saw this sign advertising Club Atlantis and listing some of the features that were presumably available to members.
Curious to see what typical fitness facilities were like in Malaysia, we decided to pop in and see if we could have a quick look around, since we had lots of time before our bus was to arrive.
We thought it was a bit strange that there was a security guard at the bottom of the steps up to the entrance, but we asked him if we could go in. He then directed us to another person standing behind a sort of desk/podium at the top of the stairs.
Upon inquiring with this fellow, we were told it was a members only club. So then we asked what the process was to become a member. Seems a logical question, right? But remember, at this point we were still thinking we were asking about how one went about joining a fitness club.
As it turns out, the only requirement for membership was to bring cash and place a few bets, because this was not, in fact, a fitness club as the sign out front had led us to believe. Instead, it was a gambling operation disguised (rather thinly I would say, based on how forthcoming the doorman was with information) as a fitness facility.
In the end, we all had a bit of a chuckle, we thanked the doorman, then carried on our way as we had no interest in passing the afternoon gambling.
As we turned and looked back at the building, it occurred to us that it actually did look more like a casino than a fitness club. How silly of us to make such a mistake!
Later that afternoon, we happened to be in the area of the Chinese Swimming Club, according to Google Maps. We decided to pop in and check it out, this time with a bit of skepticism. Imagine our surprise and delight when Belinda greeted us warmly and offered us a tour of an actual swimming and fitness facility!
Another scenario where it's important to take things with a grain of salt (no pun intended) is with restaurants. For example, one never knows if the name of the restaurant accurately reflects the dishes on offer.
Take this morning's breakfast adventure. We'd noticed on a previous evening stroll that there was a restaurant around the corner from our hotel that proudly proclaimed itself vegetarian. In fact, it was called "8 Moralities Vegetarian Restaurant" which to me gave the impression that it was really vegetarian, in an almost self-righteous kind of way.
Nevertheless, we thought it would be a great place to try for breakfast, so this morning we headed over, looking forward to an exceedingly moral Malaysian vegetarian breakfast. Both Gerry and I decided to order the nasi lemak which is a very popular breakfast item in Malaysia that we've had a few times now.
It consists of a nice blob of sticky rice, a few roasted peanuts, a couple of slices of cucumber, a hard boiled egg, and some rich, flavourful and slightly spicy sauce. Depending on the restaurant, there might be extras available that you can add, a common one being a deep fried chicken thigh. Of course this option was not available at 8 Moralities Vegetarian Restaurant.
Each restaurant does tend to put its own special spin on the dish though. For example, we've had it with tiny little dried sea creatures alongside the peanuts, or a fried egg on top of the rice.
But good old 8 Moralities Vegetarian Restaurant went above and beyond. As you can see from the photo below, their nasi lemak was served with not only a small portion of green beans but also a beautiful little nori seaweed package with some delicious and creamy seasoned tofu inside, served atop the rice. A vegetarian's dream!
But wait, what's that? Between the rice and the hard boiled egg. Is it...??? Could it be??? Impossible! But yes, it is! Fried SPAM! Do they not realize that Spam is meat? But wait a minute...is it? Maybe not actually. Oh dear, such a moral dilemma.
If only they had called it 8 Moralities Restaurant and left out the vegetarian part, life would be so much simpler.
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