JetSaver Light Challenge aka EATS!!!

Food Glorious Food

Wednesday 1st July 2009












It was a short flight to Penang and we arrived ready for the JetSaver Light Challenge.

My dad and I were seated in the last row so it took us a while to get off the plane but hey, we're on a holiday - no rush!!!

Wow, there was a welcoming troupe of dancers and drummers waiting for us at the immigration. Felt like celebrities! The revelry was captivating.

After clearing customs, we were directed to the bus and another 45 minutes or so, and we arrived at our hotel - Sunway Hotel.

We checked into our room. Nice :)

We unpacked and were soon ready to embark on our “food find”!!! It’s been a long long time since we’ve been to Penang. Naturally, as Peranakans, food is our (my) passion!! So we couldn’t wait to get hold of the famous Penang ‘grub’. My relative, Aunt Anita picked us up and we paid a short visit to our grand uncle of 92 years of age and quickly zipped off for dinner.

First stop was at Bee Hooi Restaurant which is actually a coffee shop.

My order list:

1. Penang Rojak (the sauce is similar to the Indian Rojak you find in Singapore but this dish is more healthy as there are lots of shredded cucumber and turnip, and the crispy batter of prawn fritters doesn’t leave an oily aftertaste)

2. Poh Piah

3. Penang Laksa and

4. Lor Bak (Ngoh Hiang to Singaporeans). In Singapore, the meat is all minced whereas here in Penang, you can actually bite into yummy chunks of pork – both the lean meat and the fat!!! Decadent!! Every dish was only Rm 3.00 to Rm 4.00. If only I had another stomach, I would have ordered more heheh.

This Lor Bak plate cost us only RM9.6 0. See the chunks of delicious tasty meat!!!!

It was a most satisfying feast as you won’t find back home!!! And I washed it all down with a cool glass of "Guleng Ping" (Rose Syrup Milk – similar to Bandung). It was ABSOLUTELY delicious!!!

A 5 Star rating!!!

A most satisfying first meal for our visit to Penang.

Then it was off for seconds .... and where better to get my wanton noodles but in Gurney Drive!! Yum Yum!!

With our stomachs full, it was back to the hotel. However, what meal is complete without dessert? Fortunately, there is a store across from our hotel that sells Tung Yuen (Ah Balling).

They offered all sorts of varieties but I chose the Traditional Tung Yuen – the kind without any filling. Only Rm 2.60.

The owner was so nice, he even gave me the chance to help prepare it haha.

Now I could sleep and rest well for tomorrow’s food finds. Ahhh.... Life is great!!

Thursday 2^nd July 2009

Another glorious FOOD day! Breakfast was at the hotel and they had a very nice buffet spread. The Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang was absolutely lip-smacking delicious. And there were mini Paus too.

Yellow was custard filled, Green was Lotus Seed, Purple was Yam and Pink was Tau Sa. So many to choose from….. sigh, I tried them all…. and I had seconds heheh.

Then off for more food, good food seems to begat a greater appetite for more great food! Hmm.... YUM, can’t wait for more!…Next on the menu is the famous Penang Curry Mee. The Curry Mee here is very different from that found in Singapore. The curry has a different taste - not so coconut milky and its lots spicier. Plus they add cockles and ‘curded blood cubes’ – truly Scrumptious!! Where can we find this?? Pulau Tikus (Literal translation - Rat Island???).

I also tried their Chee Cheong Fun but

I found that I prefer Singapore’s sauces – they're not so sweet and the chilli has more ‘kick’. Again I washed it down with a cool glass of Guleng Ping – can’t get enough of this sweet concoction! Brunch done!!

Now for some sea breeze to blow off some of the sweat generated by eating so much! So we hot footed to Gurney Drive water front, couldn’t bear to lose sight of the food places. Better to keep them within arms length especially when the food was digesting faster than expected. What a life! That million dollar feeling, good food, sea breeze, how perfect can this be?

The eating and walking off is getting into a nice rhythm. I must keep this up so I can eat more. I must keep telling myself that if that’s not enough, I can run an extra 10km everyday when I get back to Singapore to burn off all the extra weight I’m piling on for this trip. Sigh....

The walking isn’t so bad especially when you think of more food to come. Beginning to feel like a camel, if only I can eat all I want and then store it up somewhere and hibernate in Singapore. Ai yoh, a little far-fetched? So run lah, what to do! Still human,

Yippee, lunch time!!!

747 Café in YMCA serves one of the better Asam Prawns.

Also ordered some Penang favourites: InchiKibin (Marinated Fried Chicken)

Curry Kapitan and

Chun Piah - its similar to fried spring rolls but the skin is thicker and the filling has crab meat - soooo much tastier haha!

OK, we indulged a little as it cost us Rm 37.80 (our share taking out Anita’s). After an absolutely filling lunch, I thought we better do some ‘exercise’ again to quicken the digestion and make space for more food later….and to burn off the calories.

So off we went to the Botanic Gardens to soak in some nature. It was a nice, quiet, peaceful place.

I must say, we got into some kind of rhythm. ... eat, exercise, eat….. and now it’s ‘exercise’ time.

As there was another half-day to go, I thought it was better to let my dad take the tram ride (only RM2.00!!!) so as not to tire him out too much.

As for me, I tried to fill my quota for exercise by running behind the tram haha. It was moving VERY slowly, so it was not much of a challenge haha.

After that, we checked out the gardens together on foot. My dad was really intrigued by this tree – called the Cannon-Ball Tree haha. The flowers and fruits seemed to grow from the roots.

So other than all the delicious food I’ve ‘inhaled’ so far, The Botanic Gardens visit was truly memorable as it gave my dad and I some time to talk and take in all the greenery and beauty nature has blessed us with. Even the waterfalls, which I recall wading in when I was 4 years old was still there, though it didn’t look as big as I remembered haha. This place brought back such fond memories.

The Botanic Gardens is so peaceful, you can just soak in the serenity. If you want to feel at one with nature, this is the place! No sight of any monkeys though. According to the caretakers, the monkeys come out for feeding later in the evening as it was too hot when we were there (no loss to me as I see so many at Macritchie Reservior). So for a non-food place, it got my STAR JUMP stamp!

Enough of nature….it’s food time! What time? Tea time!

Next, Anita brought us to a market that sells very good nonya kuehs – Batu Lanchang Nonya Kuehs. We got there at 3 pm and discovered that they only open at 3.30 pm so we had some Chendol and Ice Kachang as we waited. Only Rm 1.70 each!!!

By 3.20pm, a crowd started to gather at the Nonya Kueh stall so we quickly finished off our iced desserts and joined the ‘mad rush’ It was an enjoyable frenzy as everyone just started shouting out their orders – 10 pieces of this, 8 pieces of that….. so I willingly joined in. Each piece was only 50 sen!!! Felt like a kueh kueh STOCK MARKET.

The Kueh Talam was lip-smacking good!!! The santan was soooo fresh. I had to have more. The Lapis Kueh was also yum yum……. the Kaya kueh was delicious with the FRESH Kaya .... the Binku Ubi was just perfect, not too sweet.…Ang Ku Kueh, soft and tasty…. My gosh!!!…. I was getting stuffed and I still needed to keep space for dinner. But, no!!! – I had to try as many as I could since I was going home the next day. I can start my running again once I’m back in Singapore.

Satisfied, it’s walking time again, this time at the esplanade. Had to keep the rhythm going.... eat, walk, eat, walk...jog.

We decided to have a 'simple' dinner near the hotel – along New Lane. The stores were closed yesterday but they would be out in full force tonight. But on the way back, we had to swing by the famous local ‘biscuit’ store Him Heang to buy some ‘piah’. Bought only one packet. Rm 6.50.

Finally, it was dinner time. The street was filled with sweet smelling smoke from the various stalls.

I decided to try some the Satay and the Wanton noodles. My dad had the Penang Char Kwey Teow (It was VERY VERY GOOD!!! One of the best I've ever tasted!!!). And we also ordered the Lor Bak again. Can’t seem to have enough of them.

Admittedly, the previous night’s Lor Bak was much better but I can’t complain since I cannot find this in Singapore. Anyone know if there is a place that sells this in Singapore?

My last chance for Guleng Ping was ordered to wash down the dinner.

Then as we walked back to the hotel, we caught sight of a couple stalls selling Apong Balek and Apong Manis - this is like a local pancake (you cannot get this in Singapore too!!!). They cost only Rm2.00 for 5 pieces. No need to consider.... I gulped them up!! Burp!!

Finally, I walked by the Tang Yuen stall and bought back the traditional Tang Yuen to the hotel room for my supper. Enjoying every last morsel of the Glutinous Rice balls.... I was truly satisfied....ahhh.... now I can go to bed and dream sweet delicious dreams...zzzzzzz.....

This was truly a most satisfying eating trip man!!!!

Friday – 3^rd July 2009

Early in the morning and we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel. Not much to eat – guess it was too early. Sigh.

We rushed off to the airport and met the rest of the other challengers and we all took a nice group picture (minus one team – couldn’t find them – sigh). That's me in the back in Blue - no more Orange shirts heheh.

In retrospect….. I guess we didn’t see many sights as we’ve been to Penang many times before.

However, as our prime objective was TO EAT authentic Penang fare – I think we did pretty well! Hmmm, wonder when will be the next time!

Thanks Jetstar for fulfilling my food cravings!

Now onto my next food find!