Sparkling water doesn't exist around the area I live at, unless it's imported (like Perrier or something). At least, as far as I'm concerned.
Like how the Red Bull energy drink is made with plain normal water here (actually the one Malaysia has is imported from Thailand, but whatever), and is made with sparkling water in Europe. I never tried the Europe version yet, so I can't compare the taste as of yet, but I can imagine them being more err.... refreshing?
Back on topic, I'm getting hooked on a local Sabahan delicacy called
tuhau. It's basically the stem part of a plant (either the passiflora coccinea or etlingera elatior, I'm not sure) cut up and mixed with vinegar and red chilli. Sort of like a pickle of sorts, great with rice :3 Thing is, the smell can be rather off-putting to those uninitiated (something akin to rotting garbage to me when I first smelled it), but if you can walk through that smell, it tastes nice! Would probably make anyone from the Western Hemisphere run up the Mount Kinabalu though.
Though my mum's version is a hybrid version of that. She first pickles the stems in vinegar to get rid of the smell, then stir-fries it with some Chinese chives, tiny dried anchovies, white chilli, lime juice and smoothly grounded red chilli. This is actually the makings of another local dish called
lossun, but I always prefers her version more.
I also like a whole lot more of other Sabahan cuisine that might sound weird to you guys, but I'll keep that for later.