Category: The West Side

The last part is finally up! Busy busy busy… CNY is around the corner. Let’s finish up this post before welcoming the year of the goat. After seafood lunch, we headed back to the island.

First stop, Snake Temple. Icky! I don’t like snake… It’s so scary to go in there but managed to go in at the end. Luckily not that many snakes in there phew… Then again, still scary.

Dragon Pure Water Wells, only managed to locate one. Not sure where’s the other one.

The visit to the temple is a short one. Didn’t stay too long and closing time was around the corner too. Even if it wasn’t closing, I won’t want to stay long here hahaha…

We headed to Fort Cornwallis. I’ve been here. Back then it was just very basic. Now it’s so different. The entrance fee increased a lot too. We’re given with a bottle of water after we purchased the ticket. There’s free WiFi in there to use too! WOW!

This section used to be nothing much yet now… There’s projector in there introducing Penang and many buildings models in the glass displays. However, the prison out there, they were in very sad state, restorations were still underway. Hopefully it will be an informative section after the work is done.

We went to Queensbay Mall for dinner. Well… I’m not gonna tell you which this place. It’s a franchise restaurant serving Hong Kong food. It was so packed! My first time dining here. We decided to try this place out because we’ve been hearing about it a lot, so we’re curious.

Hmmm… Really cannot trust the menu’s pictures… Get what I meant? We were shocked to see how different the food when it’s served. Unbelievable! Borsch Soup, where’s the green and the red, nothing much in there but onions? The taste really didn’t pass my average standard… Oh dear…

Cheese Baked assorted mushroom, shocked with this too! *LOL* Not very bad while it’s hot, I love cheese! However, once it’s cold, it got a bit too hard to swallow.

Red Bean and Coconut Milky Lure, need me say more? So much difference. Understandable as that the red beans sank, so did the sago pearls. Too sweet for my liking. Actually I wanted to order something mango but mango was out of stock that day. Too bad…

These looked similar to the pictures in the menu, no big deal ;p Taste wise… Nothing to rave about, just edible.
Left: Sesame Snowflakes Ice.
Middle: French Toast.
Right: Seafood Spaghetti with Cream Sauce.

Was stuffed albeit not that delicious or I had too high expectation on this place. Won’t come back here again. There aare other better places to go.

That’s the end of my Penang trip! Phew… DONE!

Final second part of Penang trip. This is our last day in Penang. I’m splitting it into two posts.

First stop was Taman Rekreasi Kuari. Lots of monkeys around. Nothing much to see. If you are here for morning walk or hike, yes, you’ll find it interesting but not for us. Not even in proper gears for that.

We headed to Batu Ferringhi for the sea view and to hunt for lunch. We stopped at Hard Rock Hotel Penang for a visit and also toilet break ;p

My second time visiting a Hard Rock Hotel. First was in Singapore, 5 years ago. Didn’t take much photo. Just few snaps.

After that, we went for lunch. Most shops were not opened in the day, only at night. So we just drove to nearby commercial centre and we came across a roadside stall for quick lunch. Really have no idea of the location hahahaha…

Again… Tried out their Char kway teow. Hmm… At least it’s slightly cheaper here if not mistaken. Still, portion was tiny.

Ordered their duck and chicken rice which tasted as it should. Not to forget the teh tarik. This teh tarik wasn’t that sweet even though still sweet for me. If you are to compare it with the Indian stall, this one considered not so sweet. My first time had Indian teh tarik was back then I was in Penang years ago, it was way too sweet -.-”

We then took the new Penang Bridge to the mainland for another round of lunch. Seafood!

We went to Restoran Jety at Bukit Tambun (Jalan Bukit Tambun, 14100 Simpang Ampat, Penang).

Saefood overloaded! Price was cheap though, I don’t remember the price but for 5 adults, it’s considered cheap.

Left: Peanut on the table, it’s charged so just eat! Even if you don’t eat, you’ll be charged for it too.

Right: Lala, simply ordered this one and ended up it’s quite nice. Sweet, sour, and spicy.

Left: Oyster pancake, not my cup of tea. Well… Those from Kuching usually don’t like this type, our version is the crispy type. However, the oyster in there was generous portion.

Right: Nestum buttered prawn, not up to my expectations, kind of bland. The prawns were fresh, should have ask them to steam. It would taste even nicer.

Left: Vegetable soup. Felt like there’s a lot of MSG in there. However, the soup was packed with ingredients.

Right: Steamed fish, no idea what fish ;p also simply ordered and didn’t ask for price.

Overall, it was a good meal. Was stuffed! It was our late lunch, around 3pm if not mistaken.

After that, we headed back to the island. Next post will come.

CNY around the corner, haven’t start my annual baking. Thought wanna do it in the weekends but were occupied by going out shopping. Last time, I would do it on the weekdays but now with this job, where got such luxury?!?! Maybe will only be able to start on the last 3 days before CNY because I will be on leave, full swing baking!

WOW! It’s been more than 10 days since the last post. Now, last day of January. How time flies!? 1st month of 2015 is gone…

Day 2, we had no plan. We just looked at the map and simply pick some places.

First stop was Kek Lok Si. Came here before so nothing interest me except the bird. Isn’t it pretty?

We then went down to for Pasar Air Itam Laksa (Jalan Pasar Road, 11500 Air Itam). The place was packed! We ordered 3 type of drinks namely (left to right) sugarcane, what’s-this? LOL! I don’t remember!! , and nutmeg.

Left: Penang Assam Laksa, the main purpose we’re here. RM4 per bowl. The previous time I was here, I also had the laksa. It’s nice. I like it.

Right: Deep fried lo bak, popiah, and so on… Nothing special to say about this. Acceptable.

After lunch, we went back to Georgetown and since it was raining, we drove around and spotted some wire arts on the street which are one of the tourist attractions in Penang. Saw the famous drawings too but didn’t take any photo because was inside the car and not in time to get the camera ready also due to the rain water on the windscreen.

After we found a parking, we went to Penang 3D Trick Art Museum (10, Lebuh Penang
George Town, Malaysia). Just opened not long ago and there’s still more trick arts to come.

We had fun. Just sharing some photos with you. Go and experience it yourself next time you’re there. I forgot how much we paid for the entrance fee. If you’re Malaysian, you get cheaper entrance fee. Staff was friendly and helpful. They made sure you took photos at the right angle and posed the right way, and they also helped you to take photos to ensure that all of you are in the photos, no one is missing.

After having fun, we’re hungry so we went to Bee Hooi Kopitiam (415, Jalan Burma, 10350 Pulau Pinang), we just went without doing any research, drove around, saw it and in we went.

Left: Since there is no way to go to Balik Pulau for har mee because I’m not sure how to go there, no proper address too, so we just ordered one here. Still prefer the one at Balik Pulau.

Right: Hokkien Mee aka Dai Lok Mien (RM5 if not mistaken). It was OK. Can’t comment much as this is my first time eating this in Penang. Last time, I always had this in Adelaide.

Left: Hokkine Char (RM5 if not mistaken). Again… Can’t comment much, first time eating here too. Don’t quite like the taste based on personal preference. Just not my taste.

Right: Char kway teow again… Still not a fan of it, still small in portion, still expensive ;p

I have no idea how much all the food cost. I wasn’t paying attention and was distracted.

Since, the rain came again, we went to Gurney Plaza because it was raining. Supposed to go to Gurney Drive Hawker Centre.

We ended up at The Little Nyonya Cuisine. It was packed. We had tom yam fish soup. Spicy and sour enough, very flavourful. Great to go with white rice.

Left: Nasi Lemak Special (RM8.80), just so-so…

Right: Chicken Lo Bak (RM7), not much to rave about too.

Left: Deep fried squid, salty, hard, and crispy enough. However, not too bad. Even though it’s deep fried, not oily at all. I ordered it because I’m craving for salt and pepper squid.

Right: Bubur Cha-cha (RM4.30), I don’t remember the taste.

Overall, the food is fine, just average. Price wise is reasonable.

That’s the end of day 2. We will see when day 3 will be up hehehe…

Let’s see will I manage to get this post done before CNY hehehe… Not many photos taken and not many places we went. It’s my second time in Penang.



The trip was rather unplanned even though ticket was booked months back. We touched down, hopped in the car and looked for our apartment. After that, just drove out without much plan.

While driving around, E&O Hotel (aka Eastern & Oriental Hotel) popped up in my mind. One of the luxurious hotel with historical values in Penang. So we ended up there. How funny! First time visiting this hotel. Instead of tourist spot, we headed to a hotel.

The view from the parking lot next to the hotel.

Views from outside the hotel.

Very nice hotel, old but well-maintained. Very grand! Love the ambiance. Not cheap to stay here. One day maybe… At the same time, I took the opportunity to get some ideas and inspirations for work.

After the hotel, we went to Gurney Paragon as it seems like it’s gonna rain. While we were there, there was one incident there that got the mall management and the tenants quite a bit of panic.

After window shopping, we went to Gurney Drive Hawker Centre aka Pusat Penjaja Anjung Gurney (172, Solok Gurney 1, Georgetown, Jelutong, Pulau Pinang) for dinner. Luckily we headed there earlier and when we were about to leave the rain came!

Right: Deep fried chicken skin and a type of prawn. Very crispy, not that oily too. No idea how much because I wasn’t the one who paid for this dish. Great to have it with beer heheh…

Char Koay Teow (RM6), we ordered 3 plates. I can never understand what’s so nice about this dish. I guess I’m not a fan of such dish no matter where it is. Truth to be told, eating this dish in so many places, the Penang Char Koay Teow has the smallest portion (so small that it is even smaller than my small hand -.-“) and the most highly priced of all. I guess it’s because of the prawns and sometimes the cockles in there. With such price, you can get triple the portion of char koay teow in Kuching with the same ingredients. However, no doubt the breath of wok aka wok hey is high enough, I guess that’s why. Still, can’t convince me to make this dish my favourite food. Hahaha… Also, I cannot justify the price and the portion.

This stall, 71 has a long queue. We just followed the crowd hahaha…

Sambal stingray and sambal cuttlefish with four-angled bean. Spicy! Not sure of the price too as I didn’t pay for this dish.

So full from all these food. Thought of hunting for more food even though we’re full, the rain came and sent us away to Queensbay Mall for groceries before we called it a night.

That’s all for day 1. Let’s see when I’m going to get day 2’s post ready ;p