Everybody wants to rule the world…

There was so much excitement last week over the news that Penang assam laksa…

*recycled pic*

…has been ranked No. 7 in CNN’s list of the top most delicious food in the world and there was even a newspaper report that Singapore was not too happy that their chili crab was No. 35 and her chicken rice was ranked No. 45 only.

In the first place, who nominated the contenders and who voted? As far as I know, another channel on our local satellite TV released a list of some eating places in Sibu and asked people to go and vote. Looking at the places mentioned, I really wonder who took them there…or whether anybody in the know showed them around or not. I may be wrong but it appears to me that they just stopped at those places located within walking distance from their hotel.

Similarly, I went to a nyonya restaurant in Malacca that was featured in one of those local shows and there was a plaque hanging on the wall to prove it – you know that show with the bubbly Malay lady who would stuff her face with all the food…and as the series went on, she grew fatter and fatter? It was good, no doubt but it definitely was not the best in town. There was a much nicer one right across the road…and I would say the same thing about one restaurant that she visited in Sibu. There are definitely others that are just as nice or even nicer.

Well, Philip gave me this book…

…and I’m sure the author is no stranger to most people here as we often see him on the food and travel channels on TV. Now, if you turn to the “Where to eat” section in the book and zoom in on Malaysia, this is what you will see…

Sorry, all you people in Penang, Ipoh or elsewhere – only Kuching and Sungai Besi (KL) are in the list. LOL!!! And to be honest, I’m sure many Kuching people may not agree with his choice either but I guess it so happened that when he was in the city to shoot his show, they took him to this one.

So all that hoo-ha as to who’s what number on what list is simply a case of much ado about nothing really and certainly no big deal at all. I always believe that one man’s meat is another man’s poison and my favourite may not be something that you will like…so you are just as entitled to your own opinion as I am to mine. Such lists, therefore, may be useful for first-time visitors who are total strangers to a place but they should take them with a pinch of salt and not regard them as the be all and end all.