Pearl Of The Orient

For the first time, I get to travel with my sister-in-law, my brother and her parents from Hong Kong. I think my brother was jumping for joy for this trip after spending most of his time abroad. Actually, they were here back in August last year to attend my eldest brother wedding. Well, Penang of course is the favourite choice of destination for Hong Kong people and also the obvious choice which my parents would like to showcase to them. There are more Chinese food to savour and the most important is it's a World Heritage site.

After driving for roughly 5 hours, we reached there in time to have our lunch at my famous Teo Chew porridge stall. This stall is located at Gaik Ten coffee shop along Magazine road, just opposite Trader’s Hotel. I got to know this stall through The Star newspaper's Thumbnail section where they showed an uncle eating porridge while squatting cum shitting sitting on a bench.

This time, I was staying at this so-called long long time ago when the name of the hotel is considered famous. After checking in and tried out the bed, I can actually bounce back if I were to jump to my bed. Nevertheless, my parents will killed me I were to book Tune Hotel for them. But come to think about it, Tune Hotel is even better. At least their bed is not trampoline feel.

Since my sister-in-law's parents are devout Buddhist, bringing them to the Kek Lok Si temple to witness our very own Giant Kuan Yin statue is a good idea. Hong Kong have their famous Wong Tai Sin temple and Giant Buddha. Luckily in Penang, this Kek Lok Si temple is not bad either.

We went up to the new pavilion where the Giant Kuan Yin statue is still under construction. I would say 90% completion. Once on top, you could enjoy the picturesque view of whole Penang from there. Not so long ago, I was given a clip from Youtube regarding a documentary talking about Penang from TVB show. That documentary was never shown in Wah Lai Toi though it is part of the channel's show. In that documentary they drew a similar comparison of Penang with Hong Kong judging from economy, lifestyle and history.

Come to think about it, it indeed true. Let's draw a list of similar item you can get in Penang and in Hong Kong

Hong Kong vs Penang

Giant Buddha = Giant Kuan Yin


The Peak = Penang Hill

The Peak Tram = The Penang Hill Tram

Both also have Sun Yat Sen museum and both also have been visited by the person himself.

Though Hong Kong people are not famous of spicy food. But no one can resist the spiciness of a good sardine-rich bowl of assam laksa from this famous stall in Penang. My brother's in-laws finished till the last drop of the gravy.

I visited so many Sleeping Buddha. From the the famous Buddhist religion country of Bangkok to the Islamic state of Kelantan. I was surprised when I noted that there is another one at Penang in Wat Chayamangkalaram.

I kind of like this shot down here. This picture depicts as if the Buddha had received enlightenment. Now this is what I called a picture speaks a thousand Buddhas.

We visited another temple nearby. The Burmese Temple (Dhammikarama). Looking at the temple, one would wonder. Why I need to go to Thailand to visit their temple when I can find aplenty in Malaysia!

That put my sister-in-law into great thought. Hmmm, maybe you are right.

Now, the next destination we planned to visit was Cheong Fat Tze mansion. It became very famous that no photos are allowed inside. And also so "action", that it only open after 11am. As we reached there quite early, we don't bother to wait another 30 minutes for it to open.  Though I must admit the view and the painting job they had there is marvellous. Nippon paint maybe? To me, it is just another someones house which we would rather pay the amount of the entrance fee to a hotel. And yet we can sleep, bathe inside, 2 bottles of free water and trampoline to exercise.

So we decided to head back to our hotel which we paid for something where we could do which the latter can't. After checking out, we head to this famous and headline grabbing char keoy teow stall at Lorong Selamat. So famous that people wrote on newspaper and blog condemning the price and attitude of the owner of this stall.

I once told my wife, that if you don't like someones food or attitude then just don't eat. No need to go to newspaper over such a small matter. After all, it's just a plate of char keoy teow. My wife replied me that human are sometimes very funny. They loved to being scolded. This is what we called "fan chien". The char keoy teow was good but maybe a bit overrated. But one thing I must respect her. How can her hat can bend forward yet didn't cover her face?

In Penang, the naming of the street is very funny. Magazine Road does not mean you get a lot of stall selling magazines. Lorong Susu does not mean there is a lot of people drinking milk and I can't even find one milk related item there. Actually, when it comes to milk, one can try Hokkien speaking Indian guy selling milk at Air Hitam. If he were to open his stall at this Lorong Susu, I'm sure this signboard won't be bitten off like this.

One can really see the transformation the state had experienced once it achieved the status of World Heritage site. Those ancient building which we had aplenty in KL has been injected life back into life. Just look at this old era building which I'm quite sure the building in front of HSBC HQ in KL are of same architectural design. But one is post Jeremy Lin while the other is pre-Jeremy Lin.

You know what? I've been to Penang a couple of time. But never a time, I stood still to observe their building and architectural brilliance for one until they was drafted in the World Heritage site. I guess that's human. When you are just the normal stuff and no other people take notice of you, nobody will even pay attention on you. Just when you were recognised from people outside your own circle and all of the sudden, if you farted people will think it smell like Enchanteur.

And why on earth there is a grayscale Pakistan house doing nearby to this vibrant and colourful city?

If You Smell What The Rock Is Cooking?

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Food is the essence of life. There are these questions. Eat to live? Or live to eat? I agree with both. Nestle recently announced their huge profit was due to the trend that more and more people are eating outside. Youngsters are so busy with their work nowadays. Cooking at home is troublesome. Eating outside is faster, cleaner and cheaper too. Pizza Hut guarantees you a hot and fresh-from-oven pizza in 15 minutes. Within one hour, you get breadstick, mushroom soup, pizza and a drink. It cost you just RM9 inclusive of tax. The best thing is you don’t have to buy, prepare, wash, cook, and do the dishes.

It is an upsetting trend and not surprisingly, more and more women don’t know how to cook. Out of 10, 7 or 8 might claim they don’t know how to fry an egg. I used to believe that woman or housewife should know how to cook or at least know how to prepare for one dinner. I changed that perception though. Actually, all man and woman should know how to cook. It’s a norm that anyone who wants to survive in this world should pick up cooking.

Cooking is one of the skills you need to acquire in order to appreciate more on the food served out there. You will understand all the hassle of preparation before the food reached the dining table. Food for thought, anyone? I normally listen to food critics by chef and not celebrities which I doubt they had entered a true kitchen before. Those claimed-to-be food critics will only report to you with limited vocabulary of “delicious”, “tasty”, “wonderful”, “yummy”, “different from the one I used to eat” and “waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”.

Real food critics especially those who had laid their hand on the wok will give you different outlook.

“The meat is fresh. Probably never been frozen in freezer.”

“Too much cooking oil. He/she should have expected some fatty oil to ooze out from the meat instead.”

“The cutting of the garlic does not suit the sequence of cooking. The finely chopped garlic burnt before the vegetable is even cooked.”

I always helped my mom when I was a teen. My mom doesn’t have the luxury of a daughter to help her. A substitute is better than none. After helping my mom in the kitchen, I have to say that cooking is not an easy task. It needs dedication. From buying, you need to hunt, see, feel, touch, smell, and bargain. In preparation, you need to wash, clean, pluck, cut remove excessive fat and marinate. In cooking, you need to stir, resist the oil splash, heat and smoke. After the dinner, you need to clean up and wash the dishes too.

The pride of man in Penang

Those days, man’s contribution came at the final stage. Now, it has to come at all stages. It’s an alarming fact that one can’t deny. My recent trip to Penang is more to an eat-a-thon. There are a few facts which support my claim.

I was at Gurney Drive, their so-called famous eateries hang out spot. Tried their pasembur, an Indian rojak. The owner? An Indian guy.

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I went to Air Hitam to try their famous milk which opens only at night. The owner was shown in the Astro’s Ah Xian show. The owner can speak fluent Hokkien and other Chinese dialects too. Guess what? He’s an Indian guy too.

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The next morning, the same location just opposite the milkman stall is the famous assam laksa. Han Ching’s favourite. She would sacrifice everything just to have a bowl of this sour assam laksa. For me, the taste is not bad. Different from the one I used to eat. Judging from the sight, it’s a family business and guess what? The father is the cook.

I read from internet about the famous aunty who fried char kuey teow (CKT) at Lorong Selamat. Most of them claimed she was too arrogant. You have to succumb to her rules. I’m not stupid. I am not a slave of her cooking. I tried the other one. Sister CKT. Erm… KL one is comparable at a much cheaper price and bigger portion. Readers might think sister’s CKT must be prepared by ladies. Sister ma… It’s true to a certain extent. When we left, I took a picture. The CKT sister took a break and was replaced by a man instead. Hopefully, not a victim of “potong”.

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On our way back from Penang, we dropped by Bidor to try the famous duck drumstick noodle or “ngap tui mien” at this shop called “Pun Chun”. Well, I didn’t saw the cook whether he’s a man/woman. However, besides the noodle, this shop is famous for the fried yam balls or in Chinese “wukok”. It was prepared by an uncle in his 50s.

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It’s no longer a tendency that woman must be the one that controls the kitchen. Cooking is not about talent or rocket science. It’s a skill that can be picked up by everyone. You just have to try and try over and over again even if your family is hospitalised eating it.

“I have failed many times and that’s why I am a success,” my famous basketball idol, Michael Jordan once quoted.