Penang!

I've come to Penang for four days purely for the food. I'm already kicking myself that I didn't allow for much more time.

Penang is pretty much accepted as the culinary centre of Malaysia and many people say it's the best place for food in the whole of South East Asia. It's immediately clear that the people here are obsessed with food. Possibly more than any place I've ever been to.

Weirdly, Georgetown (the area where I'm staying) reminds me of New Orleans but without the alcohol and live music. It's a melting pot of cultures and food with local delicacies and gorgeous colonial buildings.

It's all about street food, whether it's literally on the street or a larger stall in a hectic food court area. One of the more famous places is Clear Line (pictured) where they specialise in Nasi Kandar, a dish from Penang which is essentially steamed rice with various curries. I'd been told to ask for sauce "banjir" to go with my deep-fried honey chicken, which literally means to 'flood' the plate with various sauces. The flavours were intense and unbelievably good.

It's open 24 hours a day and usually has a queue but they're so fast at getting you your food that they've turned it in to a race to (temporarily) clear the line. When they do manage it, one of the staff blows a whistle and declares that the line is clear. Then seconds later a load more customers arrive. It was all a bit crazy and disorientating after a day of travel but I loved it!