First Vacation Since Sem Break

My first vacation since sem break, guess where?

No?

No?
No?

No? Okay, last hint..

Got it?

Answer : Penang!

That's right. I'm supposed to go Penang with my society but the trip was cancel. So, instead, I went with my family. It wasn't pre-planned but my first bro, Jeanette and her family coincidentally went on the same day too. And we stayed pretty closed to each other, to boot!

Day 1
So, we arrived at Penang at noon. We met up with Uncle Seow, my dad's friend who was kind enough to let us stay at his vacation home in Prima Place.

The living room. The apartment was very well decorated.

After we unpacked and rested for a while then about 5.30 p.m., we went to Queensbay Mall for about 2 hours. It's big, yes, but maybe because it's still new, there were still some shops unrented. In my opinion, Queensbay's interior wasn't as classy as any other shopping complexes in KL. I mean, the interior did not make the mall looked expensive. If I could compare it with any other shopping complexes, I would say Queensbay's standard is a little lower than Jusco Bukit Tinggi, only smaller.

Ate noon dim sum at a shop opposite Queensbay.

At night, after returning from the mall and showered, my brother, who was surprisingly pretty familiar with Penang, took us to New Lane for dinner. According to my brother, there were supposed to be a LOT of stalls lining up the street side but unfortunately, because it rained at that time, not many (in fact, were were just 2) opened. So, we ate at a restaurant there.

Jasmine soup tong yuen and 3 other types. Oh, yummy~

I was too indulged with my food, I forgot to take pics of my own food.

Because it was raining and Gurney Dirve was pretty congested, we headed home to our apartment early and rest for the day.

They call these, 'Apong'.

Day 2
The night before, Chee Choon (my Photography Society chairman who is a Penang-lang), spoke to me on the telephone and told me the direction to Jelutong Pasar. I got to know this place from Khai Chiah before I went to Penang. According to Chee Choon, Jelutong Pasar opens for the everyday, for the whole day. If want breakfast, go to Jelutong. You want lunch, go Jelutong. Dinner, yes you guessed it, go Jelutong. So, we went Jelutong, indeed. There were a lot of people walking around the pasar and eating there, either from the stalls, or shop, or both.

In a restaurant in Jelutong Pasar.

We were lucky we did not waited long for a table. I ordered 'chee cheong fun' and tea for breakfast. Perhaps because of the slight difference in the slang of Hok'kien, it was pretty confusing when spoke to the Penang-lang. I ordered hot tea. So, the waiter asked if I want milk in it (ai gu leng? When we usually say ai gu lin?) I thought he asked if I want it cold (ai uu leng?). Then I said no, then yes. Because of that, the waiter laughed and got our orders mixed up.

The tea was excellent! It was delicious! The chee cheong fun was just like how it's like in Klang, only without additional fish balls, fish cakes etc.. When I entered that shop, I saw a stall that sells 'roti bakar' and there was a long queue. Curious, my kayah ordered 2 pieces of toast. And I finally understood why would people queue for so long for the toast. The 'roti bakar' can easily make Uncle Lim, Kim Gary or Oldtown Kopitiam embarrassed. It was so tasty I wouldn't mind eating it everyday.

Teh ai gu leng XD

Chee cheong fun.

The best 'roti bakar' I've eaten so far.

Right after breakfast, my brother (who did not stay in the same apartment as my family) called and asked if we want to have breakfast together with Jeanette's family. Since Penang is all about food, okay! We waited for my brother and Jeanette's family at Fort Cornwallis. This fort was where the British empire watch over Penang from invasions. They have canons and stuff there, just like Melaka.

View of Penang from Fort Cornwallis.

Saw the canon?

The oldest hotel in Penang. Existed since the British Empire and withstand the Tsunami.


The 9 Kings celebration was very celebrated in Penang. There were vegetarian food stalls at almost every road side.

My kayah once watched 'Ho Chiak' and got to know one of Penang's speciality, 'ais kacang' with fruits and ice-cream. So, my brother took both families to New World, which was a food court to eat that 'ais kacang'. Well, the 'ais kacang' was unique but the taste was just normal.

There were ice-cream, mango, banana, and papaya in it.

After our second round breakfast, we went to 2 temples- The Burmese Buddhist Temple and the Siamese Temple. I didn't know that God would catch up with technology too. When my mom and sis went to 'kau chim' ('tilik nasib' in Cantonese), in the Siamese temple, there was this machine with a wheel where when you put your coin in, the LED will start to turn on and off and finally stop at a point and that's your fortune. The traditional way was to take a bundle of bamboo sticks and shake them so a piece of stick would drop out. Well, I don't know how true the fortune is but there were peopl queueing to put their coins in for furtune. So, I guess it's okay?

The Burmese Buddhist Temple.

The technology God was watching up with.

Yes, I was in Penang :)

Me, Jeanette and bro.

The sky started to get dark by the time we exit the temples to go to Kek Lok Si. Half way to Kek Lok Si, it started raining and the massive jam did not help. So, instead, we went shopping in Gurney Plaza while it cease raining. Gurney Plaza was smaller but much more happening than Queensbay. And there were more crowd as well.

After about an hour plus, we went to search for food again. We did not exactly search for food. Rather, it was my brother who took us to well-known hawker stalls. We went to this shop, where there were no other stalls save for one 'char kueh teow' stall outside. If I thought the crowd in the shop in Jelutong Pasar was huge, I must have mistaken because the number of people waiting for food in this char kueh teow shop was double. My dad was wondering how good can the char kueh teow be. Alright, maybe it's special since the aunty used charcoal to fry but that's all. So we waited and waited and waited and finally, after one miserable hour, 7 plates of the oh-so-famous-char-kueh-teow was served. It was yummy but certainly not worth the time waiting and certainly did not worth RM 6 per plate! One small plate where I can finish in less than 10 bites.

2 prawns, 1 hour and RM 6 char kueh teow.

Anyway, our next destination was Batu Ferringi. I guess this was the most exciting part of the vacation. I went for parachuting! Wooot~! It was awesome!! I'm so trying that again the next time I have the chance. Out of so many youngsters in both families (my bro, Jeanette, her 3 other brothers, my sister and I), only my brother and I took part. It would be fun if everyone took part, yes? The price was RM120 for 5 minutes but it was worth it, I tell you!

Batu Ferringi beach.

That was me and my bro :D

Landing...!

We survived! Yay~

We went straight for dinner after we left Batu Ferringi. My brother again took us to New Lane and this time, yes there were a lot of stalls lining up the road side. It's just so Penang and I loved it!

People sit from road sides to inside shopping mall.

Stalls by the road side.

After dinner, we headed home and rest for the day.

Day 3
We had breakfast at the canteen just a floor below our apartment. The food was okay. I had tea and egg sandwich.

There were 4 triangles but I've eaten one before I took a pic XD

Then, we went Kek Lok Si temple. There were a lot of renovation going on there. That's why they need lots of donation. I did! Look..

Poof of my donation.

I heard from my dad that the temple planned to build a free hospital as well. I don't know if that dream will come true for that temple but I guess it's a good thing.

In front of one of the buildings in Kek Lok Si.

Both the horses :D

At 12 p.m., we went back to pack and met up with my dad's friends. They were Captains who sailed, junior or senior to my dad. It was quite fun listening to their history and Uncle Seow was so so hillarious! All his jokes made me laugh XD

We rushed home before 4 p.m. to avoid jam in the Penang bridge. Well, it did not work since it started to jam at the Penang bridge by the time we reach there at 3.45 p.m.. We stopped at Tapah for dinner and reach home at 9.30 p.m..

Several facts I discovered while I was in Penang:
1. The fathers are all very young. I was quite a number of young men, aged probably 23-26 holding babies. So, they are either young or looked young.

2. More Penang-lang have tattoos. Beautiful ones on their arms.

3. I ordered only tea (for drinks) when I was in Penang.

4. Penang speak Hok'kien but much more polite than Klang Hok'kien.

All the while when I was in Penang, Chee Choon was very kind. He called and messaged frequently to ask if I'm okay with him bring me around Penang but sadly, everytime he invited, I declined. I really appreciate his kindness and I'm so 'pai seh' for rejecting all his kindness. Also, thanks a lot to Khai Chiah who told me where to go in Penang and Guat Shan who took care of my bonsai. Hahahaha!

Penang is pretty fun. If you have the chance, go!