Penang.... Or rather Penang food... :P

Because of my ties with Penang (majority of my relatives are there).... Most of the time I have been ask what to do in Penang or where to go, or even what/where to eat in Penang... So, since I received an sms from tehsi saying that she might be going to Penang in Dec and asking about the place... I thot, well, maybe I should just write about the place... But then again, I don't do touristy places while in Penang... So, I guess I can only suggest some places that it's famous for, but seriously... When I am in Penang, it's basically visitation and eating!!!!

I guess to start with, we should start at the point where you would get to Penang... It's either via bus or plane.... My preference is the plane - somehow, no matter how much they had "improved" on the bus transportation, I still cannot see myself taking a "fridge" for 8 hours, trying to make myself sleep, like me taking an 8 hour flight, where you get the road/bus noise - similar to plane noise, with the only difference where the bus needs to make some stops for people to relief themselves - which we would often do due to the coldness in the bus... I mean even the plane is not that cold... I thot I was sleeping in Artic condition... Ok... Maybe Artic would be much colder... And arriving in Penang not in a "good" condition, and then scramble from the bus terminal to my aunt's place... Nope. Taking the plane is a better choice - reach there within an hour with less hassle of carrying your stuff across the immigration at the Causeway/Tuas Link.

Anyway... Back to topic... At the Penang International Airport.... You will need to pay the consortium a fix price for your trip to town, unless someone is picking you up from the airport... The furthest was Batu Ferringhi which cost about $40 - $45 (Can't quite remember, since my trips are usually to Gurney for official trips or someone will pick me up at the airport). So just queue for the payment and ticket. Hop into the "limo" and you are driven to your destination... Just to add... You will find that majority, if not all, the taxis/cabs you find in Penang are fixed, not running on meter. Despite the recent campaign by the Govt, they are still running on fixed prices... So please check with them on the pricing and see if you could get them to price it a little lower than what they demand... In the last trip, 2 rides from Gurney to Paya Terbong range between $20 - $25. I had my aunt who bargain for it to drop to $20 in 1st trip and going solo on the other, I was not that persuasive enough to get it dropped to $20...

Ok... Places to go... Well, it depends... Most of the places, other than Penang Hill and Botanical Gardens, are with some religious connection as Penang has a lot of Chinese influence and thus most of the places to see are mainly temples... There's the snake temple, Reclining budhha temple, the famous Kek Lok Si temple where there's a huge statue of Godess of Mercy. There is also a famous mosque somewhere in Georgetown. The others that may be of interest would be Batu Ferringhi where the beaches are supposed to be... But if you have been to beaches in Surfers, or California... The beaches in Penang (and in fact in Singapore) are nothing compared to them., well, other than you are able to get a tan 365 days of the year... Batu Ferringhi, and some part of Tanjong Bungah, has stretches of hotels, where most of the tourists stays. For photos, maybe the old shophouses/warehouses along Penang Road and near Swatow Lane would be of interest... And if you believe the locals, there is this giant footprint, that was supposedly of Admiral Zheng Ho, somewhere in Batu Maung.

There are shopping malls in Penang, with the oldest, which happens to be the tallest building in Penang, Komtar complex. You used to be able to take at trip up to an observation deck in Komtar building (if I am not wrong, you have to pay for it...), but I have not been back in Komtar area, so I am not certain if this is still available. Next to it, there is a newer cousin, Prangin Mall. Then there is a newer Gurney Plaza, and Island shopping mall which is quite near to Gurney Plaza. On the other side of the island, there is a Bukit Jambul shopping mall... But I don't shop, so it does not really matters... I have seen enough shopping malls in SG. There are also pasar malam just outside those hotels in the Batu Ferringhi/Tanjong Bungah stretch which opens in the night... Nice drive-by if you have nothing to do....

Now food... ah, that's my topic... Now, let's see...

Firstly, Fruit rojak, which consist of slices of cucumber, turnip, pineapple, sour mangoes, jumbu ayer, perhaps some cuttlefish, and slices of crispy you tiao, mixed with the prawn paste, chilli, perhaps some lime juice and sugar. Yummy! The one that I usually eats is in Gurney drive food stalls, just outside of Gurney Plaza. it slip my mind the stall no. but I think it's 76 or 77. They are that popular that they are now selling their prawn paste in small tub for people to bring back...

Laksa, to be specific, Assam laksa. To me, when people say laksa, this comes into mind, not the lemak curry version which sells in Singapore. I have to confess this - I never did like this dish when I was young... I remember my aunt had to cook something else for me, or I would not have anything to eat, whenever her mood strikes her to cook this for meals... Now, I pester her to cook this, as I can't get enough of it... Anyway... The one that is an old favourite is of course the famous one in Ayer Itam market, near the Kek Lok Si temple. But recently, I found that the one in Penang Road, coffee shop just next to the famous cendol food stall, is just as good, if not better. However, since my relatives live far from Georgetown, I found the Farlim version is as good... So, any of those will do. Some other people swear by the stall in Lorong Selamat, as well as the Balik Pulau version... Whatever, it depends on what you like... But any of these area would be good enough... Just try not to eat those in Gurney drive - Seriously... I had only "ok" versions of it and some are even not "ok"...

Apom. This is a snack which mainly sold by Indians. The version they have is nice and crisply on the outer layer and then a nice thick layer in the middle. In the last trip, my coz has been chomping on this, like biscuits... Not that it matters on where to get it, but I think you rarely get this in SG nowadays, so it's a snack to try... The other would be the mein chang kueh, er, chinese pancakes(??). Flour layer and in the center youget peanuts and sugar - in Penang you can get sweet corn in the center as well. The version that I like is the very crispy one (no sweet corn), and the only place I know in Penang that you can get this is the food centre at Jalan Trengganu, near Free School. They are totally cripsy and it can keep for 1 day!!!! Pity that I don't get to eat this that often, unless someone volunteer to go there to buy it... Thinking about it makes my mouth drool.... :P~~~~

Another thing to try would be the chee cheong fun. Now the version you have in sg are mainly the HK version where it comes with something in the middle as part of the dim sum thingy, the shanghai version where there is something in the middle, but with a different sauce and finally the 'normal' wet market version. Well, for this comparison, I'm talking about the wet market version. I don't eat them in SG as I find it's not appealing to my taste and the sweet sauce somehow turns me off this dish... Now in Penang, their version is rather different, mainly because the sauce they use is different... The version they have do not have the sweet sauce, but a sauce somewhat similar to prawn paste, a bit thin. Now I might not eat it in bulk, but I don't think twice if it's place in front of me. I used to have this for breakfast as my aunt tends to buy them.

The other famous food would be the char kuay teow. The most famous one is in Lorong Selamat. I think that's the two sisters' stall, and it's crowded. I don't really like it, as their version is really oily, but everyone I know swears by it... It's different and lighter in colour and in sweetness as compared to SG version. They are supposed to be lighter in the oilness but not the one at Selamat. Of course, I would prefer penang version as it's not as sweet, but it's not high on my eating list... Heh...

Next would be the wanton mee. Most of the sg version contains tomato sauce; with some following the Hk version which is based on light sauce. Somehow the version in Penang is also different. Now, previously, I would have a favourite stall to get this (and somehow, my mum and relatives, knows him quite well, cannot remember the connection, most probably they lived in the same kampong when they were young), but he had sold his business and moved to KL to be with his children. So, the next one that was quite good is the one in Ayer Itam market. By the way, the reason for the difference, somehow the noodles that is used plays an important part in the overall taste of it... The versions we had in sg, mostly comes too soggy or soft, which is not that great. The version that stall has was different; the noodles was not too soggy nor soft, with a right "qu qu" crunch to it; add in the different slight sweet sauce, yummy!

Cendol. Ah.. This coconut based ice dessert which is another food which I don't touch in sg. Somehow the ingredients in penang seems better, especially the green, er (dang, i forgot the name of that green stuff, which is like noodles), "noodles". The most famous would be the stall off Penang road. I still cannot remember the street name where the stall is at, but, if you are there in Penang road, you can always ask for directions - Everyone knows that stall. The other would be ice kacang - most famous was the Swatow lane version. The stalls are still there and now, the ice kacang comes in different variety, that it's no longer the sweet pink colour ice mountain with only huge kidney beans... Now you have it with different colour jelly, as well as whole kernel of corn as well as scoops of durian placed on top ofthe pile of ice... Great to cool off during a hot day!

Of course there are other food stuff... A recommended food center is 2 coffee shops in New Lane (off Macalister Road, very near Sunway hotel). They got lots of food stall there, and one of the famous one, and yet most elusive one, is the deep fried pig intestine porridge. It's sold by this old man who does not operate the stall like clock work. If you are lucky, you would find the stall open in your trip there, if not, like the past 2 trips I made, he closed his shop even before the peak period starts. But the porridge, my mum and aunt swears by it...

Basically comes to food, you will find it literally everywhere in different nooks and corners, which does not goes very well with my waistline...

Enjoy your trip...

Oh.... As for stay... er... I guess Northam Suites would be a good choice - I know Shuttlebug stays there everytime I hear him heading there... I stayed in Evergreen for my official trips, and the prices are similar, and at times, he could get it cheaper than those in Evergreen. As for budget... Hmmm... That's a problem, as I usually have places to stay... So, it's kind of hard for me to recommend... Got to ask my coz... I really have no idea...