Penang Again – Day 1 – The Scenic Route

Well, here we are, back in Penang again. This time, since I brought my laptop with me, and knowing my totally crappy memory, I decided to try and blog about our trip while we were still on our trip so I wouldn’t forget anything.

So anyway, we were supposed to leave at 10am, which we then postponed to 12pm, which we again postponed…you get the idea. By the time we finally left the house, it was nearing 6pm.

Because the last time we drove to Penang we went via the toll nearby Bandar Utama Centrepoint, we decided to try taking the Hartamas exit this time to see if we could shave a few dollars off the amount of money we’d have to pay for the toll.

Well, we definitely succeeded in doing that…with several unexpected ‘difficulties’ in the process. Firstly, we took the exit to Kuantan. I mean, hey, Kuantan’s up North too, right? So we continued following the road signs to Kuantan until we found ourselves on the Karak Highway on the way up to Genting. Then we panicked.

So we had to pull out my phone’s trusty GPS a heckuvalot earlier than we expected to. The instructions it provided…weren’t exactly what we had expected.

The Googlemaps program I use actually instructed us to drive almost all the way up to Genting Hotel itself. Fortunately, it then told us to turn off towards Gohtong Jaya. So while we were still stressed out (at least I was) that we were lost and had to navigate a narrow, single lane road in the middle of nowhere, we were also presented with a beautiful view of like a million trees and quaint little kampungs.

It almost felt like we were lost in time. If I hadn’t been so worried we wouldn’t reach Penang before midnight, I probably would’ve enjoyed it alot more.

As you can see, Nic’s hand wasn’t exactly the steadiest because the road was so bumpy. In addition, I was also driving as fast as I could because I wanted to hit the highway before full dark hit. 

After navigating what I call, ‘the back lanes’ with the help of Googlemaps for approximately 2 hours, we finally rejoined civilization at what we think was the Tanjung Malim highway exit.

We made it out alive!

After being hunched over the steering wheel for so long without even realizing it, we decided to stop for a stretch at the Tapah Rest Stop…where we promptly headed straight for the Baskin Robbins outlet.

Where we finally managed to take advantage of their BR Pink Day promotion by flashing them Nic’s pink phone!

Every Wednesday is Pink day, where everyone who shows them something pink will get a double junior scoop of ice cream for the price of a single regular scoop of ice cream. Which basically works out to a discount of RM2.

*Sings Baaaaskin Robbins, Baskin Robbins, Baskin Robbins, Baskin Roooobins!* to the tune of Hallelujah!

My Rum Raisin and Orange Sherbet. 

Nic’s Very Berry Strawberry and…some chocolate flavoured thing. 

They had a very nice setup too. 

And then, it was back on the road again.

This tunnel always provides photos with the prettiest effects. 

And so did the rain that followed later. I also managed to enjoy the effects of the ‘rain repellent’ which I’d just purchased and applied the day before. It really works! 

After several hours of driving, we finally arrived!


And discovered that we’d actually managed to achieve our initial goal and save about RM8-10 on our toll…but had used up about an extra quarter tank of petrol.


Oh well, at least we managed to get 1 usable photo of the Penang Bridge.

Wow. *rolls eyes* 

And we also remembered to take photos of our room too.

Thank god it wasn’t Room 1408 like the movie. :P 

The room wasn’t too bad, but it was slightly smaller than the previous one that we stayed in. 

After chilling for awhile because I was dead tired from all the stress of getting lost and the long distance driving, we went out to get something to eat.

And promptly proceeded to Gurney Drive because we weren’t sure where else was open at that late hour. 

It wasn’t the best asam laksa in the world, and had hardly any fish in it, but as hungry as we were, it tasted delicious at the time.  

We also had Lin Chee Kang, which was totally not what I expected as well. It’s different from what we have in KL, but was actually very nice. It had several types and colours of jelly, the large type of red beans, barley and sweet potatoes. Yum!

My favourite was the green colour beady thingies. It was kinda like the black colour ‘pearls’ we get in bubble tea. 

After that, we were still hungry (the asam laksa didn’t do very much to satisfy us), and since most of the stalls were already closed due to the late hour, we bought some fried fishballs and crispy chicken skin to tide us over from a stall called McTucky’s. *snicker*

Mmmm…I can feel my arteries clogging just from looking at all the oil. 

Then, it was back to our temporary pad to crash for the night.

Penang – Part 3 – The Finale

The next day I woke up super late and basically lazed around in bed all day. Nic the early bird woke up, got hungry, and decided to walk to the nearest coffee shop to see what local delicacies could be found there. She did find some interesting things and tapao’ed them back for our enjoyment, like some weird tasting banana pancake, a plate of lousy fried koay teow, some terrible ‘thong sui’ (sweet desserts?), ‘lobak kou’ (carrot cake) and wantan mee.

I was too blur to take photos too (mornings aren’t the best time for me…as most of my friends can attest to), so all I did was eat, veg out in front of the TV and snooze all day.

Yes, I am a lazy bugger.

Later that evening, we met up with one of our friends (and her girlfriend) who recently moved to Penang. The girlfriend opted to bring us out for dinner at a coffee shop which was just down the road from our hotel. I gotta admit, I was kinda disappointed at that. I thought we would at least go a little further away. However, our friend proceeded to order a multitude of different items for us to try and pay for our food, which was very sweet of her.

We had ‘oh chien’ (which was basically scrambled eggs with tiny oysters inside), chicken chop, Penang style hokkien mee @ har mee, pasembur (Penang style ‘rojak’) and  yet another plate of fried ‘koay teow’. Surprisingly, my favourite dish was the ‘oh chien’, despite the fact that I’ve never been a big fan of seafood. The sauce for the chicken chop wasn’t too bad too, since it was tomato based and I love tomato based sauces. The pasembur was alright, I guess, but the fried koay teow was a another disappointment.

In fact, despite being infamous for fried koay teow, every single time we tried the fried koay teow, it proved to be an utter disappointment. I can find much better fried koay teow in KL.

After dinner, they brought us to Gurney Drive. We sat on the low wall along that famous walkway for about a half hour or so. Nic and her friend were chit chatting, I was reading an ebook on my phone while snacking on a fruit rojak (different from pasembur) that we’d bought earlier, and the other girl was just sitting there. Not sure what she was doing though, maybe people watching.

I didn’t take any photos the entire night, cuz I wasn’t very comfortable (I’m usually pretty quiet around strangers. Takes me several meetings at least to warm up and be my usual sarcastic self with them).

It was getting late, so they sent us back to the hotel where we crashed after watching some TV.

The next morning, Nic again went a-walking and got us breakfast. This round of food was more interesting and  involved 'chu keok chou' (pig trotter in vinegar) that was delicious when eaten plain, 'kueh chap' (I dunno wtf that is), and one of my all-time favourites, 'ju hu char' (chopped carrot, mushrooms, turnip and several other veggies in a delicious sauce).

After a quick nap, we checked ourselves out of the hotel. Then came the most frustrating part of the whole trip. My mom had asked me to buy some ‘Heong Peah’ and ‘Tao Sar Peah’ (local sweet pastries) from a place called Him Heang or something. We then proceeded to waste 2 fucking hours of our life looking for the fucking place. We finally gave up and asked my aunt to buy it instead from another shop.

Then it was time to find our way to Nic’s friend’s house to drop off her stuff there because she was staying the weekend, whereas I had to get back to work. :`( While waiting for her friend to get off work, we passed by the famous Snake Temple, where they actually have live snakes. I swear that place looked much more interesting when I first visited it as a kid. It just looks so…small and run down now.

We were starving by then, so we decided to grab a bite to eat at one of the coffee shops directly facing the temple. And whaddya know…the only stall open at that hour was…the fried koay teow stall. Sigh. Instead of setting myself up for yet another disappointment, I decided to order the fried instant noodle instead. I mean, how can anyone fuck up simple instant noodles, right? Wrong. I shall not say more.

Anyway, after dropping off her stuff at her friend’s house and crashing there for awhile, it was time to get on the road again. This time, it was to pick up my aunt from work because she was joining us for dinner and accompanying me on the journey back to KL. We found our way to her office after getting lost only once (an achievement!) and decided to have dinner at a barbecue restaurant called Ribs because I was craving for Western food (I always am).

Unfortunately, they had moved and in our attempt to find the restaurant, we went to a street (can’t remember the name) that was right behind the New World Park shopping centre.

So we hunted high, and we hunted low, but no Ribs. We did, however, notice some very interesting looking restaurants along that street. 

 Lots of food.

Finally, we decided to check out New World Park. We thought that maybe the restaurant was inside there. However, still no luck and the restaurant was nowhere to be found. It was an interesting looking place though. 

Lots of pretty lighting.

Bright neon. XD

A shop with lots of cool arts and crafts on display.

And even this…though I dunno wat the heck this actually is. I guess Penang people really like to sit together-gether. 

Finally we were too hungry, and decided to go to this place called Mizi’s Bistro.

Where I managed to find my favourite food…lamb. :D

The atmosphere actually wasn’t too bad. This is the outside smoking area. We didn’t actually venture inside as we went directly to tables at the back of the restaurant (which connected to the mall).

All of us had the set meal, which was 1 drink, 1 soup, 1 main course and unlimited ice cream for dessert. I lurrrrve ice cream! XD

This was the grilled fish my aunt had...

My darling lambiekins…big portion for the price we paid. 

And Nic’s Seafood Thermidor, cuz they didn't have the Lobster version.

After dinner, we dropped Nic off at Queensbay Mall to meet up with her friend. I went into the mall to visit the Maybank ATM. Because of that, I can now proudly declare that I am no longer a Queensbay Virgin! :P
Then began the long, dark drive home. I warned my aunt not to fall asleep cuz I had no intention of being the only person awake on that particular highway at that particular time of night! Fortunately, my aunt and I were chattering all the way home, which was a lifesaver because I was quite tired by then. By the time I got home after dropping off my aunt, it was well past 2am and my eyes were totally bloodshot.

Because it was such a short trip, it was nowhere near as relaxing as I thought it would be, and I went to work the next day more exhausted than I had been before I left. In addition, I didn’t get to see enough of the town and try enough of the food, which only left me craving for more. So I'm gonna visit the Pearl of the Orient again, for a much longer duration this time.

I leave in the morning, for a 10 day trip. Let’s hope I don’t gain too much weight.

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.

 

Penang Part 1 - The Drive Up

Okay. So I figure, I should finally stop being a lazy-ass procrastinator and get down to business and blog about this already. It's been almost a month since we went.

Warning:-There's gonna be alotta photos, since Nic was very bored in the car, and giving her my cameraphone was one way to keep her distracted so she didn't fidget out of her skin during the drive north.

We started our trip later than we had planned, because I was being stubborn and refused to go to sleep early the night before. Sleep usually wouldn't be an issue for most people, but because Nic doesn't drive, it was up to me not to fall asleep to stay awake for the whole journey. By the time we left, it was close to lunch time. Because we were both hungry, we stopped for a yummy Burger King lunch at the Jambatan Restaurant in the Sungai Buloh rest stop.

Part of our lunch that day (the rest had already gone 'down the hatch'). 

RM40 for Burger King... T.T

After a quick lunch, we were back on the road again. I opted not to drive too fast, going between 100km/h to 120km/h, mainly because I wanted to enjoy the scenery (especially around the Cameron Highlands turnoff), and also because I wasn't 100% sure my bucket of rusty bolts (RE: my car) wouldn't start falling apart piece by piece if I went any faster.

 Ahhh...the open road. 

Look at those fluffy clouds! And the beautiful blue sky...

 There was alot of truly awe inspiring things to see along the way.

 And some weird ones too. Imagine if you could see this tree late at night? Creepy, no?

Halfway through the journey, we then saw one of the most offensive things we had ever seen. 

Right smack in the middle of all that gorgeous scenery, you see this ugly, monstrous environment killer chugging out tons of black smoke.

It was the YTL Cement Factory. You BASTARDS! You killed Kenny our environment!

Anyways, after the excited babble of self-righteous indignation (from both of us) had died down, Nic started getting bored. So I told her to take more pictures. And more pictures she took.

There were pictures of clouds..

...and more clouds.

There were dark clouds...

...and blue-effect clouds...

...and even clouds that looked like pigs. (As per Nic, it's the one on the right. I just thought it looked like yet another cloud).

I must've had like 30 pictures of just clouds! The closer we got to Penang, the darker and heavier the clouds grew. Then the rain began.

It poured bucketloads!

Nic also had alot of difficulty at times taking photos. Here's why.

Yes. She kept switching my camera to video-mode instead, then got frustrated when it wouldn't take photos.

Anyway, here ends Part 1, because after that, we'd reached Butterworth and Nic stopped taking photos as she needed to begin her role as Navigator/GPS Operator. So sadly, no photos of the pretty scenery surrounding Penang Bridge. Maybe next time.

Stay tuned for Part 2!