Penang 2010
We thought we’ll make our yearly Penang trip this year earlier during the June school holidays.
We decided that this time we’ll not stay in Batu Feringgi, but in George Town instead, so that we don’t waste time travelling to town for all the good food. We chose Traders Hotel as our base, since I thought this is a business hotel and it should not be as crowded with families on holidays.
It was definitely a good choice, Traders Hotel is so near to everything, provides very good breakfast spread, and although there were many families on holidays, it didn’t feel as crowded. The only complaint I have is the room is a bit small for our family compared to rooms in hotel at Batu Feringgi.
♥June 10 – Thursday♥
We left home late morning, and 1st stop was Tanjung Malim town for (so-so) duck rice. After that, instead of heading towards Penang, Daddy drove back towards KL by mistake. He only realised that when we were reaching Lembah Beringin. 45mins wasted journey.
It was in the evening by the time we reached St Anne, Bukit Mertajam, a place we try to come once a year to give our thanks to all the blessings we received.
Zaria would now request for her photos taken at places she likes. Here is one with her in front of the old church.
And another at one of the station of cross.
Girls like the taps at the St Anne’s Water, because they get to play with water without get scolded.
And even do some water fight.
It’s always a nice feeling coming to this church.
Since we didn’t quite like the sea food in Bukit Tambut last year, we decided to have dinner in Penang Island instead. We headed to our favourite char kuey teow stall (Jalan Siam and Jalan Anson junction), but were told they have sold out. We headed to Nonya Breeze instead for home style Nonya food. The food at this place is always satisfying.
Girls were all excited when we reached the hotel. When we got into our room, they immediately rushed to the bed to jump. Some thing they always do on hotel beds! We had to literally drag them out of the room to head across the road to have some Tang Yuan.
Daddy can’t understand the rave about this tang yuan stall (across Traders Hotel on Magazine Road). It’s good but nothing fantastic. I told him he was lucky I made them at home, even the ones with fillings, or else, this would probably the best tang yuan he’s ever eaten.
♥June 11 – Friday♥
After a really good breakfast at the hotel, we let the girls spend time at the pool. The hotel has 2 small swimming pools (one for adults and another for kids) but because there wasn’t a crowd, it was very enjoyable.
We then headed to Ah Leng char keuy teow (junction of Jalan Dato Keramat and Jalan Dunlop), recommended by Chubby Hubby, where the kuey teow is a little wet, like pad-thai. It was ok but not really our cup of tea.
Girls fell asleep in the car, and we headed to Pulau Tikus to search for the best Soya Sauce made in Penang, which is also recommended by Chubby Hubby (Kwong Heng Loong 廣興隆醬園醬油, 7A, Jalan Pasar, Pulau Tikus).
I requested to taste the soya sauce before purchasing, and the shop owner scoped some out from an urn and dripped some into my palm to taste. Boy, it was good. I bought 10 bottles of the best ones, and already regretting I didn’t get more.
You can buy the soya sauce in bottles.
Or you can bring your old bottle to the shop for refills.
After that, we headed to Lebuh Armenian to look at all the World Heritage buildings.
We saw 2 of the houses under Straits Collection, run by Bonton.
We then chanced upon the Khoo Kongsi, and decided to visit it (RM5 per entry for adults).
It is a nicely preserved, and a beautiful place. Even though I don’t know much about architecture, I like the place and the feel of it.
If you think the outside of the clanhouse, Leong San Tong, is beautiful, the inside is even more so.
Since we didn’t get to eat our favourite Chay Kuey Teow the night before, we decided to try our luck again and went there earlier. Such an unassuming stall, but the char kuey teow is super good. The man who’s frying is rather old, I wish him good health so we can continue to enjoy his char keuy teow.
If you think Lorong Selamat or Sister’s Char Kuey Teow is good, wait till you try this. And only for RM3.80 per plate.
Back at the hotel, girls had a wild time jumping on the bed and playing hide and seek in the cupboard, until they got tired.
♥June 12 – Saturday♥
We have struck a deal with the girls that after breakfast, we’ll head on to Chowrasta Market and swimming will come later.
Instead of going to the market building on Penang Road, we went to the stalls along Jalan Kuala Kangsar.
Saw this man selling King Crab (I heard that’s what it’s called) and Giant Snails. Something we don’t find in KL except in those expensive sea food restaurant.
I bought ham and chinese sausages from this shop last year, and I went back there again to get more since my MIL said the ham was rather nice (and the chicken Chinese sausage is rare to find any where else). Zara was giggling away watching the animated owner when he gave us recommendations and introductions of items he sold in his shop.
Found a stall selling Kueh Ketayap. She was almost done for the day, but decided to make more batter, so she could sell a few to me to try. The coconut was grated fresh on the spot. It was soooooo delicious, even when we had them in the evening.
I also saw a popiah skin seller making the skin on the spot.
Girls found the place extremely interesting too, although it was a hot day, they enjoyed themselves checking out all the different stalls.
We then stopped by at Toh Soon Cafe (Lebuh Campbell) for drinks. I absolutely love the ice coffee-C (coffee with evaporated milk) there.
And Zaria loved the ice teh-C.
Pity the girls have to endure the heat, but luckily they didn’t complain.
We had some light lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a nap.
Girls spent more time at the pool after their nap, and was really hungry during dinner. We had our last dinner at De Happy Seafood Restaurant (62, Macalister Road) near the hotel. It was not bad, although a bit pricey.
♥June 13 – Sunday♥
The hotel was extremely busy on our last day. We had to wait for 15mins to get a table for breakfast, as the restaurant was full.
After breakfast, I went back to Chowrasta Market to buy nutmeg and zhong (Mandarin : rice dumpling) while Daddy took the girls to the pool.
After I got back with my loot, we checked out and headed for lunch. We decided to go to Lorong Selamat for Char Kuey Teow. Big mistake. The place was very crowded, and we were told the wait is more than an hour, and if we weren’t willing to wait, we can go else where.
We waited, and true enough, got served only more than an hour later. And seriously, the kuey teow isn’t as good as our favourite stall (and RM7 per plate!). And the people in the coffee shop where the stall was located were extremely rude. We decided this would be our last time here. Next year, we should boycot this place.
Drive back home was rather slow as the traffic on the high way was very heavy. Maybe before Zara starts Std 1, we should try to go for holidays during school days instead to avoid all the expensive hotel rates and crowd.
