Pearl of the Orient = Food Heaven - Day 1

(Sealed with a kiss was playing in the background, while I was typing this….)

The long awaited day had come; actually it was just a week of waiting; but it felt like a month. Anyway, the morning came; I woke up at 4.45am and got myself ready. I checked my luggage for the last time; made sure that everything I needed was in there, especially my camera, chargers and sufficient clothes.

I left the house and hopped into Dino’s car. The 5 of us started our journey up north, to the Pearl of the Orient. Well, to me, it is not the Pearl of The Orient, but a Food Fiesta Heaven.

I was ready to be the stand-by driver that morning. But, we chit chatted the whole journey and Dino was pumped up with a can of Red Bull. Hehehehe….it was awesome to see sunrise; breaking dawn. The pitch black sky was turning to amber color slowly and then we could see the clear blue sky….

Red Bull

Breaking dawn

Penang Bridge

As we were approaching Penang Bridge, it started to rain. This time, the rain didn’t pull down my enthusiasm as I know I was very excited to revisit this island after 2 years. And I know this trip would be a very different one as compared to previous times, which were either for work or with a different set of adventures.

We stopped by to visit the Penang branch office as I had never been there before over my years of service with the company. Took some photos with the branch manager and also the sales colleague. Yacked for awhile and we then made a move.

The rain stopped.

The first stop we made was to Penang’s Beverly Hills – Minden Heights. I called it Beverly Hills because of the serene area with beautiful bungalows with huge garden and semi-detach houses in the neighbourhood. How I wished I could have a house like this. The reason we went there first was to change for a bigger car. We quickly loaded the Kia Carnival with our luggage and left our car there.

Hhmmm….our stomach were growling and having a concert. The main objective of this trip was not really to sight see, but for the FOOD – local Penang Food!


The first few items that we tasted were the famous nasi lemak and beef noodles. Here you go, let me show you how yummy they were….
The beef meatballs were succulent and the marinating was great. What a tasty meal! Not forgetting to complement it with a glass of ice coffee…!

Prawn Nasi Lemak

Normal Nasi Lemak

You must try this stall's beef noodles

Beef kuay tiao th'ng

We were driven around town and it felt I was a true real tourist. Why? Because I was sitting in the front passenger seat, looking around and snapping my camera the whole time. Dave stopped us at Fort Cornwallis. We walked around and besides seeing the cannon which was facing the sea, Dino and I unleashed the ‘little girl’ in us and headed to the swing. Hahahahaha…..I was truly happy and smiling from ear to ear.

Posing by the roadside

The 3 of us

Little girls

Welcome!

Our next stop was to the Kuan Yin Temple. Sexytary and Dino paid up for a bunch of joss sticks at the entrance. I kept myself occupied by snapping shots of the temple, inside out. It is a very old temple, but yet, there were many pious people in there praying.

Old, big bell

Carved wooden pillar

Dave, being a Penangite, he tried to fulfill our requests. And so, automatically, he became our tour guide. I requested to visit the famous Khoo Kongsi as I always wanted to see it with my very own eyes.Yay! He drove us there in the huge, comfortable 7 seaters. Dino, Sexytary and myself walked in furst to Khoo Kongsi and Dave went looking for a car park. (Mamma Mia had some business to settle that morning).

Wow, I have seen Khoo Kongsi on printed materials all these while; till that day, I was standing before it; admiring its beauty. We paid the entrance fee of RM 5 and checked out the place. It is a historical place in Penang.

Khoo Kongsi is known as the Heritage Jewel of Penang. It comprises the majestic clanhouse, opera stage, the courtyard and 24 heritage units. The entire building is covered in intricate tile shard work, murals, detailed wood and stone carvings and resplendent gold leaf work.

The stage for Opera show

Wall paper

Mock up kitchen

Me, being me, I just couldn’t keep my camera aside. If you were with me, all you could hear, is the camera clicking sound. Almost every corner and maybe even the toilet, I would also take a photo of it…hahahha…. Towards, the exit, there was an olden days’ ‘mock up’ kitchen with dummies. It depicts how people used to dine, with the traditional cutleries and their culture.

I was impressed with Khoo Kongsi. Thanks to Dave, I got to finally leave my footsteps there. =)

The weather was burning hot and so, we went to Penang Road for the best of the bestest Cendol in town, recommended by the locals. Ooooo…..yummy yum yum…what a great way to cool ourselves down!

After satisfying our craves and quenching our thirst, we headed to check out the local Chinatown. The street was filled with goldsmith shops, shops selling cloths and some Chinese medicine and praying stuff. To me, it was not as compact as KL’s Petaling Street.

Ahh......nice!

Around 2pm, we met up with Mamma Mia. She was done for the day and we shot off to the foot of Kek Lok Si – more of to eat the famous Assam Laksa! Yummy. The bowl of laksa cost RM 2.70 per bowl now. I could still remember 2 years ago, it was only RM 2.50. But, there is a price to pay for everything, right? Heck it, most importantly is to enjoy life and satisfy our palette.

Sea coconut drink to cool down the fire from the laksa...

We ‘carried’ our full stomach up the hill. We climbed up the steep staircase to Kek Lok Si. It was my other wish and I got it granted again.

*Grin*

We first fed the poor tortoises in the greenish stained pond. They were practically fighting for the kangkung…. Later, I saw Mamma Mia and Dino were fooling by the pond with the kangkung…what a sight! Hahahaa…..

Kek Lok Si Temple is still looking great, well maintained. The pagoda is standing proudly up in the hill. As I was walking out, there was this little girl. She looked so happy and was smiling at us. She wasn’t shy at all and just had this joyful, sweet smile on her cute face. Being the Cheery Diva, I just couldn’t resist but to ask for her mum’s permission to have a photo with her. See, we were both happy!

By the time we were done with Kek Lok Si, the sun was starting to set. It was an indication for time to ‘check in’ into our 6 stars hotel. We went to Mamma Mia’s sister’s house. Aunty P and family gave us a warm welcome. They treated us very well, just like ka-ki-lang (own friends or relatives in hokkien).

Right, so Dino and I had to declare that Hokkien is a foreign language to us, so that Aunty P and family won’t speak Hokkien to us and we won’t reply with a super blank look.

We rested for awhile and bathed. Oh my goodness, I felt so good to have a cold bath after having a long, warm and sweaty day.

It was time for dinner! But, before that....

We stopped by Mamma Mia’s old house for a visit. Her late mum was a hairdresser, and so her shoplot kind of had some museum-qualified-hood dryers. Check them out! I had a chance to experience them and guess what, there are still working perfectly fine.

To set the timer

Mamma Mia and Dave, the couple, had planned where to bring us for dinner. Our mission that night was to taste the local yummy wantan mee, curry noodles, lobak, wu kok (fried yam with meat stuffing) and jin-dui (fried glutinous rice ball with red bean paste).

wantan mee with chee yau char

Curry noodles

Giant 'jin-dui'

'Wu-kok'

Wow, by the time we were done with dinner, our stomach was as if 5 months pregnant. No joke! We had been eating almost every hour since we reached Penang.

We said our goodbyes to our local friends and went home. We made ourselves pots of Chinese tea to down the oil and the food. By 11pm, I started to fish. My eye lids were as if a tonne heavy. It was time to hit the bed….

Lights off for all! I was contented and was smiling, making my way to lala land….

….The adventure…to be continued…