Old Town White Coffee Kopitiam, Penang

While heading to our next destination, we passed by Beach Road and saw alot of ol' gothic-like colonial buildings...

 i have kinda impression that this place is sort of a business and administrative districts during the colonial days with banks and merchants shops located and centralized at both rows of shophouses located along this stretch of road. 

The building here are well maintained...as part of the UNESCO trail

Somewhere in the middle of this place, stood a familiar establishment

Yeapz, it is Old Town White Coffee Kopitiam!

and with some innovation on the interior to copy back of those 1920's coffeehouse architecture, it attracts alot of youngster like me to frequent to this place.

 mable round tables and wooden chairs...very 20's-ish! Me likeeey it very mch!

 the spiral staircase leading to somewhere...not sure if there is an upper floor for this kopitiam...

 there is also some sofa couch seats for u to rest ur back

this place is jst as well decorated as the outlet back at my neighborhood ;-)



Straits Quay, Penang

I got to know Straits Quay from some blogger's post and thought i shall drop by to visit...

and here we go!

It looks majestic from afar with its' glittering yellow lights and crystal light bulb decorating the main entrance.

this place is jst another hangout place for the rich

 ok, mayb not...but the shops here are definately high-end...

this place is for those rich or expats who wish to rent a yacht for their private sail, coz behind this building, there is a dock with many yachts parked side-by-side (not sure if some are privately owned)

 the entire place was quiet, mainly b'coz not mch shops were open. However, this Chatime cafe is surprisingly crowded with youngsters...i wonder where they're from coz i can oni see some serviced apartments around...

mayb these youngsters are rich brat who stayed at nearby place

 there are also plenty of bistro-like hangout places, and alfresco dining restaurant at the corridor facing the straits...superb yet romantic view!

 back into the building itself...i found tis cute wall hanger/decorative from a florist shop...

the place was so majestics that it reminds me of Fullerton, Singapore...I feel like wanting to move into one of the service aparments there...

Bendera Hill, Penang

We adjourned to the next nature attraction after getting down from Air Itam dam...

this time is a more established place...the Bendera Hill (aka Bukit Bendera). I hav been to this place some 20 years ago when i was only a kid.

We tried out the new cable tram which they hav just replaced on last year...The fare to ride on this tram is MYR8 for locals (with MyKad/MyKid) or MYR30 for foreigners, for a return trip ticket.

It was a quick ride and the whole journey was amazingly smooth and fast!

i guess the Penang government has invested alot in purchasing this tram from a Swiss company!

btw, if u wonder how the very first tram looks like...this is it! The tram is completely made of woods, some hundred years back ;-)

There's not mch to be seen at the hill top except that if u want to visit the Owl Museum, which i think is overpriced...with nothing mch to be seen!

 anyhow, our purpose here is to savor the famous ice kacang (or known as 'ABC')...

 there are a few stalls operating at the food centre selling this same dessert...and at the same price!

so, we ordered 2 bowls to be shared among 4 of us!

 colorful display of the ice kacang...the kids gonna luv it!

 after a satisfied ice kacang ordeal, we went for a brief walk around the hill...

due to the haze...i can onli managed to see Penang in a very limited vicinity...

In a normal clear day, we can see Penang bridge from afar

adios Penang Hill...

till my next trip....(shall be another 20 years later...)



Some ol' rusty stuffs from a hidden lodging place...

Before i show u some ol' rusty stuffs...let me feast ur eyes with this ol' charm!

 looks sexy, ain't it?

now...let me tour u around a hidden budget lodging in Georgetown...

 this is the mini cafe located at the ground floor of an ol' pre-war shophouse in Lebuh Muntri

 it uses recycled items to decorate the entire place...old furnitures and gadgets mainly from the 50's and 60's era...mind u, some dining chairs here are rocking!

 it brings back some familiar sights of my grandma house...especially the luggage bag and the ol' wooden cupboards

 and i saw this mooncake mould in one of the glass rack...

Since mooncake festival is near, it serves a lil' purpose of using this baking gadgets again...

Nope...i did not buy this from them...it is merely for display oni

Air Itam Dam, Penang

Air Itam dam is located at hills area...it takes some 10-15 minutes of 'slow' drive up the narrow roads from the hillstep to this place

abit taxing on ur car coz of the steep road...it requires some good manuevre due to the curves too...

 but it was worth it...coz up there, u can get some very nice nature view and cooling air

 it has a 2.2km walkway for joggers or pedestrian, and to complete the trail, it took us about 40mins of walking (yea, we are slow!)

u will be mesmerized by the beautiful scenery once you got up there....

Some delicacies from bakeries...

During my short trip up north, i managed to buy some delicacies from their famous local bakery shop...

There is this shop in Ipoh, known as JJ Cakes & Swiss Rolls selling a variety of swiss rolls

 below here is one chocolate and coffee flavor with cheese creams

 and some assorted flavors and colors too!

 meanwhile in Penang, ur trip won't complete without getting some Tambun biscuit from this famous store

 basically it is baked biscuit with thin and slightly oily layer of skin wrapping a lot of green bean paste...(jst look at the pic below i took from my box...it makes me droolin')

if u got one, try wallopin' the whole piece and voila!

it tastes HEAVENLY!!!

i'm gonna miss it for long till my next trip to Penang and Ipoh again...

Nice Pair of Shoe at VKI

After one whole morning of exposing under the hot scorching sun, we opted for some indoors walk - at 1st Avenue mall...

Surprisingly, Penang has now begin surpassing KL in terms of fashion sense and  great deals.

While browsin' around, i found this cute shoe displayed in one of the outlets...

 it looks good...

 tried a few times and luv it so mch as it makes my feet looks smaller...

 it comes in 2 colors, grey and brown

 the below are the comparison...

which one is nicer?

Banana Leaf Rice

While in Penang, our dear fren (cum tourguide) brought us to have banana leaf rice in this popular Indian restaurant.

 it was kinda occupied when we reached there at about 7.

We browsed thru the menu, and with some recommendation from our dear fren, each of us ordered a banana leaf rice set...

well, by default the meal comes with 3 veggie dishes...

 to supplement our needs for meats...we ordered beef and chicken cheese masala, and tandoori chicken.

Below is the picture of the delicious tandoori chicken 

banana leaf rice is never cheap, but luckily this meal was her treat ;-)

Foods....glorious foods in Penang!

Here are what i had during my recent trip to Penang island...this place is such a food haven...

with a variety choice of local foods, tempting yet dirt cheap!

The famous Char Kuey Teow (fried flat noodles)...this is one sinful temptious food...looking at it makes me droolin'!

 then, the Penang Rojak (fruit salad in black soy sauce sprinkled with peanuts)...the fruits blended so well with the nuts and sauce!

 not forgeting, another famous Penang fare...the Asam Laksa (rice noodle in sour and spicy fish paste soup)!

 We tried two version....one each from different stalls

 there is also duck meat kuey teow (duck meat flat noodle) from the morning market 

 the Penang prawn noodle (or known as 'hokkien' noodle)...quite cheap too, less than an USD!

 the Curry Noodle (pic below)

Penang version of curry noodle comes with squid, cockles, taupok (fried beancurd), and with a spoonful of sambal (chilli paste) to add some kick on it!

 lok-lok (steamboat)...darn...it has a variety of choices!

 I also went to try out the bak kut teh (pork and pig bone in herbal soup) at Gurney Drive...this place is patronised by lotsa Japanese and Koreans

here is another dish that we have ordered....fried meehoon (fried rice vermicelli)

 and the fried prawn noodle...it was so-so only and expensive, mayb due to the place being frequented mch by the expats and foreigners...

Bon Appetit!