Nostalgic Penang - Day 2

(This post was published 3 1/2 years late)

Thursday, 27 March 2008

We were up before 8:00 a.m. on the second day. The breakfast at Continental Hotel was a very simple Malaysian fare. Chong said that he would pick us up at 9:00 a.m.

With the free time at hand, we went exploring along Penang Road. Just behind Chowrasta Market at a street stall, I found very large curry puff on sale. It was however not very good.

Chong did not arrive until about 9:30 a.m. He was caught in a traffic jam at Penang Bridge. He would bring us on a round-the-island tour in his Innova.

The first stop was at the Penang Museum & Art Gallery. After paying the entrance fee, we entered. There were no other visitors, except for the three of us. Taking photographs inside the museum was prohibited.

The next stop was the flea market, located beside Stadium Bandaraya. There were a few vendors selling antique products.

During the course of our conversation, I mentioned to Chong that a former course mate, TSH owned a restaurant called Fortuna Restaurant. She dropped out before completing her degree. I asked him whether he knew where it was and that the address was somewhere along Anson Road. He could not recall knowing this restaurant but nevertheless, he drove towards Anson Road. Eventually, we ended up at Zim Sum for a Dim Sum lunch. What great luck as Dim Sum is one of my favorite Chinese food. We could not finish the food as we ordered too much for the three of us.

Soon, we ended up at Him Heang Sdn. Bhd, where Chong bought us some Tau Sa Peah. This was one of the two most popular places among visitors to Penang to shop for this pastry to be brought home as present.

Our next stops were Wat Chaiyanangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple and the Burmese Buddhist Temple right across the road from the Thai temple.

After that, we started our round-island tour. We stopped at the beaches, including the one where the tsunami hit and the famous Batu Feringgi Beach.

From the beaches, we arrived at Penang Butterfly Farm. I remembered when it first opened more than a decade back, there were more species of butterflies fluttering around and a lot more visitors. There appeared to be very much fewer butterflies and visitors around now.

From Penang Butterfly Farm, we went to Tropical Fruit Farm at Balik Pulau, where Chong treated us to an iced fruit cocktail.

We carried on our tour and ended up at the new Paya Terubong township.

At about 5:20 p.m., we reached Air Itam area. Chong drove us up to Kek Lok Si temple ground where we stayed for a while only, and from there, we went to Penang Hill, known in Malay as Bukit Bendera. By this time, it was almost 6:00 p.m.  There were not many people around. The view of the surrounding area from the top of the hill was fantastic.

After about 1 1/2 hours, we were back at the ground station again. My belly was still full from the Dim Sum lunch, but anyway, we went for our dinner. I have Curry Mee for dinner, and I had already forgotten how Curry Mee looked like and what the paste in the spoon was. I thought the paste was belacan so I added only a little of it to my Curry Mee. No wonder, my favorite Curry Mee did not taste as good as I remembered it when I had them so frequently while studying at USM. Ling has his bowl of Hockien Mee, also known as Prawn Noodle or Har Mee. Chong has Fish Head Noodle.

At about 10:20 p.m., I asked Chong to drive us to Gelugor for supper. Gelugor was the location of Shariff Nasi kandar stall, where Quick and I had our dinner almost every evening during our study at USM. It was late already, and there were not much dishes to choose from. My favorite egg omelette was not available. The prices have also increased three folds. Then it was about RM2.20 for a serving of omelette, a piece of ayam kapitan and liver. Now, it was almost RM6.00.

From Gelugor, we went in search of the residence of my former landlord at Cangkat Minden (Minden Height). It took us sometime to locate his house as I could not recall the exact location of the house. Cangkat Minden lies between Gelugor town and USM. It was already 11:15 p.m. then. My former landlord has retired and his children have both grown up and are working already. Both husband and wife have not changed much physically after all these years. Their home is no longer rented out.

Finally, it was time to go back to our hotel. The time was already past mid-night. Chong has to drive back to Sg. Petani. Tomorrow, he would not be coming to bring us around.

Nostalgic Penang - Day 1

(This post was published 3 1/2 years late)

It has been 13 long years since we went our separate ways after graduating from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang. The reunion was planned in December 2007 and in March 2008, we finally met up in Georgetown, Penang. Chong and Eng came over from Sg. Petani, Kedah and Quick and his family came all the way from Kota Baru, Kelantan. I flew in from Sibu, Sarawak with a friend.

Though our primary purpose was to meet again after these long years, I have other objectives - visit our alma mater and our old haunts, see how Penang has changed, revisit the tourist spots, walk the streets of Georgetown (which I never did before) and makan my favourite Penang food (which I greatly missed).

Wednesday, 26 March 2008

Airasia Flight AK5921 was scheduled to leave Sibu at 11:55 a.m. However, it was delayed. Subsequently, Flight AK 5951 from Kuching to Penang which was scheduled to leave at 15:10 p.m. was also delayed.

We touched down at Bayan Lepas Airport at about 7 p.m. in a drizzle. Chong was there waiting for us. He still looked the same after 13 years. It was great meeting him.

Soon, we were on our way for our dinner at Queensbay Mall, which Chong said had just opened and was the largest mall in Penang. We ate at a foodcourt but the food was not that great.

After dinner, we went searching for our budget accommodation. I have planned to stay at Hutton Lodge, which had a favorable review. However, the price for two persons did not fit into our budget. Furthermore, Ling wanted an en-suite room. After exploring for a while, we managed to secure a room at Continental Hotel, and it was only available for two nights. Nevertheless we decided to take it since it was already late at night. It was located at the far end of Penang Road.

After checking in, we were on our way to Gurney Drive for supper. It was 10:30 p.m. already. There, both Ling and I ordered Yong Tau Foo, costing RM17 for two bowls. I have never had Yong Tau Foo before. Chong ordered Asam Laksa, also known as Penang Laksa. Later, he ordered Or Chien for the three of us.

After supper, we walked around for a while before deciding to return to our hotel at past mid-night. Chong had to drive back to Sg. Petani, and we did not want to hold him any longer.

Cari Makan in Kuala Lumpur

This was my first business trip after returning to PNG in early April. I had two full days on Thursday and Friday to cari makan in KL, as my boss flew off for another business trip on Thursday while I awaited my trip back to PNG on Saturday.

With the time available, I went exploring other parts of KL, something which I have never done alone before. In the past, I had only a night and a morning before going to the airport to catch the flight to Sibu or Singapore/ PNG in the afternoon. Usually, that meant going window shopping around Bukit Bintang area. This time, I had more time to explore places further away, including taking the Kelana Jaya Lines and KTM Komuter train to Petaling Street/ Central Market and Mid-Valley respectively on my own.

First, during the few days with my boss, one of the restaurants that we went was Loon Sing Restaurant. We were on our way by car from Johore to KL with a business partner when we stopped by at this restaurant which was famous for the Fuzhou dish, Buddha Jump Over the Wall dish.

Anyway, during the few days with my boss and the business partners, we had breakfast at the apartment where we were staying and dined at restaurants. During those meals, I hardly took photographs. I did not want my boss asking me questions which I would find too awkward to answer. However, when I was on my own, I dined at hawkers stalls. What a contrast!

That Thursday, after doing my shopping for a portable hard disk and other accessories at Low Yat Plaza, I took an early lunch at Venny Restaurant which lies behind Capitol Restaurant/ beside Low Yat Plaza.

That afternoon, I went to Petaling Street on Kelana Jaya Line train, departing from KL Sentral. At a kopitiam there, I saw big steamed meat buns being sold and had one. After doing my shopping for a pair of shoes and other items, I came to the food court somewhere at Petaling Street where I had a plate of mixed fried Kuey Teow and noodle. It was quite appetising.

On Friday morning, I had nasi lemak at a street stall. I then went to look for more breakfast and got myself a plate of fried noodle with clams somewhere near Jalan Imbi.

From there, I wander around the area but found myself lost. I kept walking and found myself at Jalan Raja Chulan, and soon the Masjid Jamek stations. Being unfamiliar with the train system, it took me a while before I got to the right station to get my ride to KL Sentral. From KL Sentral, I took KTM Komuter train to Mid-Valley. After having done my shopping there, I returned to KL Sentral and on the way to the KL Sentral monorail station, I stopped by Restoran Nasi Kandar Zafeeras for lunch.

That evening, I decided to have an early dinner, before Jalan Alor got too crowded. I had Dim Sum there.

On Saturday morning, I decided to look for breakfast somewhere near since I had to leave KL for KLIA before 12 noon for my onward flight to Singapore that afternoon en route to Port Moresby that night. It was good curry noodle.

Chinese Drivers

Much has been written about the dare-devil Chinese drivers. They were infamous for breaking traffic rules, especially in overtaking other vehicles in dangerous situations. They were known to instill fear among western visitors because of their driving habit. Is this true?

During my last journey from Yangshuo to Guilin, I witnessed several unthinkable acts of ruthless driving, not only by our bus driver but others as well. I saw our bus being overtaken several times in dangerous situations. The local passengers did not even utter a hoot. The following is just one example of their ruthless driving.

The green bus in front overtook other vehicles and swung into our bus lane.

 

It continued approaching us head-on on our bus lane.

As it neared our bus, it served into its own lane confidently, without fear of knocking into vehicles coming from behind it.

It successfully veered into its own lane without colliding with our bus.

Longji (Xinzhai) Dining

The madam of the house was the jack of all trades. She took care of the hostel business alone while her husband worked elsewhere. In the morning, she left the hostel to solicit for business at Heping. Food at the hostel came from her garden and the hills behind. She was also the one to clean and cook them for the guests. Amazing woman!

Sanjiang Dining

At Sanjiang, I walked the four streets of the intersection where Bai Huo Hotel was situated. Eateries were clustered on one of these streets, and they all looked run-down and dirty. There were other eateries elsewhere too, especially on the east bank side of the river, but these were the nearest to Bai Huo Hotel.

Chengyang Dining

Chengyang consists of a cluster of Dong villages. Dong Village Hotel where I stayed offered both Guilin cuisine and the local Dong cuisine.

Although its menu offered a small selection of food, most dishes were not available. This could be due to the lack of visitors. When I was there, the only other visitors who came were a French couple who arrived at night. Hence, it was understandable that the hotel did not keep a large stock of food. Therefore, guests were obliged to accept the limited choices that were offered.