Penang, Pearl Of The Orient - Part 2

Continued from Part 1...

http://gforce-guru.blogspot.sg/2014/09/penang-pearl-of-orient-part-1.html

The food trail continued. We had authentic old styled "Yong Tau Fu". In the centre of the soup pot was the pig's bladder soup. The Chinese eats everything! Anything that walks but only with their back to the sky are edible I was told. 

You just won't find them like this any more. Suddenly I am inspired by Yong Tau Fu again. I am going to have this many times when I get back.

Carlsberg is the de facto beer in Malaysia including Penang because it is brewed in Malaysia. They think that in Singapore we recycle our waste water from factories and toilets and then use them to brew our beer. Drinking beer in the car was an experience in itself. How I wish I have a driver to ferry me back home.

We proceeded to Straits Quay. 

Although called it a quay, it is really a Marina.

It even has a lighthouse.

Ah, lifestyle of the rich and famous with their boats moored here.

It was a beautiful sun soaked day. 

This was the largest boat on display with even cabins right below.

Day-dreaming about having my own boat is over. We got down to the real, simple and immediate. We were thirsty!

We got back to the hotel for some rest before we stuff ourselves silly again in the evening and this view greeted me.

Indeed, the Pearl of the Orient.

They say a picture paints a thousand words. 

Dinner came swiftly. I did not see the menu.

I only knew this was quite a special pie.

Never had anything like this before.

The noodles resembled our mee goreng, restaurant styled.

The special chicken chop was unique. Back home in Singapore we do have this version but if you know where to find them they are our Hainanese pork chop. Only thing is chicken is lighter and this one is quite refreshing.

This must be a favourite because it is like rendang except that this is nonya and is called Kapitan Chicken. I love it!

Yeng Keng, that is the restaurant's name.

A pretty courtyard outside.

The grand finale.

Our special dessert.

Doused with fire. Burned.

There was a wonderful mix of ice-cream, cake and fruit cocktail in it. Lovely.

Like all good chef and restaurants, the chef came around to greet us. He must be in his 70s and yes - Hainanese. Besides, nonyas, Penang has many Hainanese and they formed a sizeable community here. 

A dinner summary to remember and my appreciation and gratitude to the gracious host!

The morning after, we have to go to another location for good local street food. I noticed that Penang is a really friendly place. Vehicles parked just opposite the police station on yellow lines are not disturbed! Come on, people have to eat right? But do watch carefully even as you eat. I have seen several cars being towed away and the tow truck painted "Trafik" circled around like a vulture.

Hokkien Mee in Penang is a very important and popular dish.

Less so wanton noodle so I wanted to try it. I like the noodle, it is different but the serving was overly generous. However, the gravy is like our local hor fun. Very unique. Next time small will do.

Chee Cheong Fun is good. Do you know how difficult it is in Singapore to get really good, authentic chwee kueh and chee cheong fun such that it is no longer fun.

Penangites love their "heh kor", a dark prawn paste which they use generously for many types of  dishes - rojak, cuttle-fish kang kong, Penang laksa and yes even for the chee cheong fun. You can only find this taste here.

Oh dear, it's only morning and you are still to live your day.

Walking back to the car, I found this old medical stall with wooden drawers to store their herbs and all. There are only a handful left back home. It could be a nice place to retire to but prices here like everywhere are also going up.

We are on a long journey now. On the way to Butterworth, it rained cats and dogs. We could not see a thing. In the old days, the English use this phrase to describe heavy rain because when there was heavy rain at the farm, cats and dogs on the roof will fall, hence raining cats and dogs.

This is the second and newer bridge after the Penang Bridge. It is really long but we could not see a thing.

When we got over, I saw this clearing. Less people use this as it is longer and probably less convenient and there are also less shops and things here. Just like Singapore/Johor Causeway having two link at Woodlands and Tuas.

Guess what we did when we got there? Yes, eat!! Starting with this claypot tofu. 

Another one of those food that we never had back home - claypot crab rice. 

Sambal Petai. I love spicy food so this is "shiok!" We also had a large plate of vegetables. Vegetables in Penang and I believe generally in Malaysia are much cheaper. In Singapore they can charge you for a few dollars and you just get a little.

Summaary of gluttony. 

All these wonderful food for six adults for about SGD70.00. We headed for a shopping centre at Bukit Mertajam, Jalan Rozhan - the newly opened Aeon Mall! 

I saw a commando, no, no security guard. Have to buy something when you travel right? Just for fun.

It was still raining when we were on our way back. We received information on social media that there was an earthquake in Indonesia at 101. on the Richter scale and a tsunami shall hit Penang by 3.30pm. (Later, it was found out that it could be a false alarm). 

We have already gotten back to Gurney and shopping at the newer Paragon. Some married people actually attend workshop. The men work, the women shop = workshop. Men will pick  up what they want and then they need their beer. We selected a spot closest to the sea. A waiter came over and said: "Sir, there was a report that there could be a tsunami, so it is not safe to sit here. Please go over there. I looked over and it was 3 tables away". So I told him that if a tsunami really comes, we would be having our last beer! But I let him be as he was just "following management order" and doing his job. I would actually like to see his "management'' though, just to take a look.

I reminded myself once again: on Henry Miller who said: "One's destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things."

To be continued...