Penang Again - Day 2 – The Quest for Food Begins

We left the hotel for a late lunch because I was feeling lazy and lounged around in bed for the better part of the afternoon. Because we were planning to meet up with my aunt for an early dinner, we headed to Segafredo’s on Burma Road which was about 2 minutes from the hotel for a quick lunch and some WiFi time.

I had a delectable Baked Rice with Fish which was on promotion for RM12.50 and Nic had a superb Antipasto Platter which consisted of smoked salmon, several thick cuts of ham, some salad, bread, crepe tuna rolls, cherry tomatoes and green olives.

A pretty good deal for RM25…and very nicely presented too!

After that, we met up with my aunt and she proceeded to guide us to Armenian Road/Lebuh Armenian, where we were to have dinner in a German restaurant that her friend owned.

After some wrong turns, we finally arrived in this quiet little back road with some quaint shops that have recently (I think) been granted the Heritage status.

There were even some quaint little cars to enhance the quaintness to the area. :P

Since we arrived a little too early and the shop wasn’t open yet, I decided to play tourist (for once!) and take photos of several of the surrounding shops.

There were several interestingly looking lots in the area too.
 

There were also some unique decorations along that street.




Heck, it even had a temple.

Or at least I think it’s a temple…

Anyway, by the time I’d finished my mini-exploration, it was time for dinner.

We were eating at the Edelweiss Cafe. Like in the Sound of Music.

*Sings ‘The hilllls are aliiiiveeee….with the Sound of Muuuuusicccc…*


Anyway, it had lots of delicious things on the menu.

Even airplanes.

Just kidding!

The food and drink were pretty good…most of it anyway.

Nic and my aunt had Mango Lassi, RM12. They thought it was yummy. I thought it was…ick.

I had a ‘Jumble Jug’, RM12, which had strawberry ice cream in it. Mmmm…

My ultimate favourite of the night was the salad, RM22.

It contained pomelo and mango and was totally worth it. Deeelish! 

As for our mains, Nic had the smoked pork belly, RM34.90.

 Fat, fat, fat but reeeeally good. The stringy stuff in the middle were the mashed potatoes. We all thought it was some sort of mee or pasta at first. 

My aunt had the B52, RM36.50.

Which was, a HUGE sausage with a salad and an omelette sized hash brown (which they called a Rosti). VERY good with mustard!

I had the pork ribs, RM34. Sadly, they were extremely tough and dry. 

The barbecue sauce was also mixed with Worcestershire Sauce, which tasted a little weird to me. The fries and salad dressing were excellent though. 

We informed the Lady Boss of this, and she was very apologetic, even offering to make something else for me. However, I declined as by this time I had already struggled through 2 of the 4 ribs, and was starting to feel rather full. 

So instead, she provided us with a complimentary dessert. 

Chocolate brownie and the Edelweiss signature Movenpick ice cream. Which we had already started devouring by the time I remembered to pull out my camera to take this photo.

After the food was gone, I started exploring. The place was decorated with lots of antiques which ranged from interesting…


 

To unique…




To funny.



  Then it was time to move on to someplace else.


Unable to decide which new place to try next, I decided to revisit Coffee Island grab some new photos.



Which, of course, I had no problems in getting.

Anyway, we had more drinks, and even tried the garlic bread.

My mango smoothie. Very refreshing.

Nic’s flower tea. (I seriously don’t know how anyone can drink this stuff. Tastes like crap!)

  Garlic bread anyone? It had actual partially cooked chopped garlic generously spread on it. Those who like their garlic raw or love spicy food would like this. I didn’t fancy it so much. 

After chit chatting for another hour or so, it was time to return to our love-nest and get some rest for the evening.

While I was trying yet again to get a hint of the free WiFi available in the business district of Penang, I saw this.


LOL. I find that I’m liking Penang more and more.

Penang – Part 2 – That Night

So after we had entered via the Penang Bridge, it was time to find our way to the hotel. Since we both hadn’t been to Penang in awhile, it was time to pull out our secret weapon…the Google Maps/GPS functionality in my phone. 

After locating our hotel, we slowly made our way to our destination. For those who are familiar with my usual style of driving, the only reason why I used the word ‘slowly’ is because by the time we crossed the bridge, it was already 5.30pm and it was jammed like hell. 

Anyways, we made it to the hotel without getting lost at all. Amazing how useful these GPS thingies turn out to be when you’re in a bind. However, I feel that without the crucial presence of a navigator, the GPS functions on a mobile phone can still be difficult to use because the screen is so damn smaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll!

After crashing at the hotel for a couple of hours (sorry no pics…totally forgot…again.), we met up with my aunt (who works in Penang) for dinner. She brought us to this typical roadside coffee shop just down the road from our hotel. The only stall I saw in the coffee shop was called All Right Western Food. It’s supposed to be quite a famous place for cheap and good western food. Maybe they got so popular they took over the whole place or somethin’.

Looking at the menu, I thought, ‘WOW. Cheap! But how good?’ So, after waiting for ages, we got tired of trying to catch the attention of one of the harried looking workers running around and Nic went up to the stall to place our orders. 

Our decisions were…

 All 3 types of soup. Oxtail, Spicy Mutton and Mushroom. My favourite of the night was the Spicy Mutton. (Top right)

 My Huge Grilled Lamb Loin…which wasn’t ‘lamb-y’ enough for me, but would suit those who like their lamb absolutely devoid of the natural lamb 'fragrance'. :P 

 Nic’s Turkey Ham Steak…which was just a slab of turkey ham with a pineapple ring on top. I still don’t see the attraction. 

 My aunt’s Chicken…something. I can’t remember. Boys and Girls, this is what happens when you procrastinate. Your brain gets eaten by a pack of rabid chihuahuas and you forget stuff.

 The drinks were cheap too…and delicious!

After dinner, we wanted to drive around and see the town a little, so with my aunt directing, we drove around in aimless circles around the business district. Once we were bored enough with that, we decided to go for a drink and ended up in Coffee Island along Gurney Drive. 

It was awesome. I would definitely go back the next time I'm in Penang. You could smell the sea breeze while sitting in a simulated beach environment with soft dance music playing in the background…perfect for conversation (to me, anyway). 

The decor was gorgeous too…

 …with lots of pretty neon and bright colored lights. 

Yes I am very ‘Ah Beng’ that way. XD

 The drinks were good too! I had something that tasted like Coffee Bean’s…whatchamacallit…Orange Sunrise? 

Once we were all talked out (actually it was after Nic almost fell asleep and I noticed my aunt’s eyes were redder than Satan’s butt), we decided to send my aunt home and head back to try out the bathtub get a good night’s sleep.

And so ends Part 2 of the (hopefully only) 3 part analogy of my trip up north.

Here’s a final pic for ya’ll to enjoy.

I think Nic just got a whiff of the ‘fresh’ sea breeze.