penang food, glorious food

12.08pm


woo hoo...i just realized that this is my 100th blog!! wow! i deserve a pat on my back! tee hee anyway my loyal followers, looks like today's blog is going to be all about food, which i hope that will whet your appetite (and im also throwing in some nice scenery into the mix as well!) all the photos that you guys are about to see today were taken during my trip to penang during the chinese new year, earlier this year and im telling you, if you're ever visiting malaysia, do pop by this great island called penang! 

penang has 2 "parts" to it , one part is on the mainland of peninsula malaysia (is known as butterworth) and the other is penang island itself. life in penang is not too fast paced (just right if you asked me!) compared to kuala lumpur. there's tons of street food or hawker food everywhere around the island some are open  24 hours and you're definitely spoilt for choices. from high end restaurants to your local fan fare, its a never ending food fiesta all year round trust me. 

so now, without further ado, lets get the show on the road. i will plonk photos and tell you a bit about it.

right so lets start off with my mom in law's speciality which is her  "lemak laksa". it has been a tradition that we have this for lunch on the first day of every chinese new year. however, this year, it was her sister that made it, which allowed my mom in law to "rest" just this once. hahaha. it was just as good as how my mom in law made hers, but of course with a slight difference, which you can hardly tell. 

voila! end product, after adding all the ingredients together. sorry mine looks a bit dry as i didnt add as much gravy/soup to my bowl coz i dont like it too watery/soupy. hehe.

of course penang is also famous for its durian, the king of all fruits. (kindly google for more info on this thorny fruit). and just so happen, it was in season and my uncle bought for us to try. omg! it was heavenly! i love this fruit but i cant take more than 5 seeds coz otherwise i will get bloated (durian produces lots of air just like onions and garlic) and get my spasms/ibs(anyways, that's another story altogether). with this fruit, its either you like it or hate it. the smell...omg! hahaha...if you can overcome the smell, then its a homerun. and if its a darned good durian, when you take a bite, the taste just hits your nostrils just like how wasabi does...its like you're tasting the alcohol XO. im serious! i've experienced this a couple of times and its da BOMB yo!

here we have the "yee sang". its one of my favourite dishes and i look forward to having this dish every chinese new year! only sold for a couple of months before and just after chinese new year. almost every chinese household will eat this starting on the eve of  chinese new year (but nowadays, people would start ordering this like a couple of weeks before new year rolls around). another name for the yee sand is  "lo hei" or prosperity toss. nowadays, not only the chinese eat this but other races as well as they too like it and you know what, its actually quite a healthy dish. consists of raw slices of salmon, mixed with shredded veggies and a variety of sauces and condiments. you can also google this dish for more info. oh by the way, this so called tradition is only popular in malaysia and singapore.

this 2 photos was taken by our friends. one of them was kind enough to stand in the queue for a couple of hours, just to buy this for us for our supper. they drove from penang all the way to teluk intan (which i think is a couple of hours drive), where a very popular chinese "snack" is sold. people flock to buy this snack from 1 up to 50 packets (or more) of these! imagine that ok. its called liew kee chee cheong fun (steamed rice rolls). actually the stall that sells this is called liew kee and they only open for business from evening onwards till late. great thing about it is that only when you order they would start doing it, made to order, so to speak hence the long long wait. 

Liew Kee's ingredients includes short slices of turnips, chopped up salted radish, deep-fried shallots, finely chopped deep-fried dried prawns and finally topped with some pickled green green chilli. there's no gravy/sauces added to this like how we would normally eat our chee cheong fun and its texture is soft and not floury at all. you gotta eat it when its fresh and not keep it overnight preferably. so dear friends, if you should ever be around this area and want to try out this local snack, be prepared to wait long unless you go early in the evening. kindly google for timings and location.

next we have these few dishes that was cooked by one of our close friends. he and his wife decided to open their own little so called coffeeshop or as we locals in malaysia and singapore like to call it "kopitiam" that sells a variety of fried noodles or soup based noodles, rice and curries etc. a group of us decided to pay him a surprise visit one hot afternoon and he was really touched not to mention surprised to see the lot of us trooping into his shop. thankfully it was late afternoon and the lunch crowd had already gone, so he wasnt too busy, thats why he could cook up a storm for us, plate after plate of different stir fried noodles or fried rice etc. for us to try.  by the time we left his shop, we were all so full. 

one of the days we decided to go to gurney drive, a very very popular open air hawker "centre" in penang island where tons of tourists and locals love to come and eat. selling only street food from fresh fruit juices and fruits to indian, malay or chinese food. gurney drive is located along the esplanade overlooking the sea. you can only see those red ornaments (hung above people's heads) only during chinese new year period. just so you know, there's other cafes, bars, eateries, shopping malls all along the esplanade.

this is what i meant by the esplanade over looking the sea. its a pretty long stretch of road with plenty to do like you can eat and/or shop. happy days huh. 

bit of scenery of the city taken from the 17th floor of gleneagles hospital coz we went to visit one of our cousins who was admitted there. he had a nasty fall and had his kneecap busted. ok long story that one. wont get into it. 

remember i mentioned earlier about the esplanade and that it was a long stretch of road, so much to do and see like eat and shop? well this was taken in the evening just before sunset. there's all these luxurious condos along the stretch of this road, skyscrapers for condos and some comes with attached malls down below. how convenient is that? 

at night on our way our out for drinks, we passed by G hotel (with the purple lighting). the lights changes color every few seconds.we had drinks at a place in straits quay, which is the first seafront retail marina. this place has quite a few pubs/bars/eateries  that open until late especially on fridays and saturdays. at the pub we were at called healy mac's irish bar/restaurant, they've got a live band performing. so you can always pop by for a drink or to suck in the ambience of the marina or just to chillout with some friends. pssst..i was there 2 nights in a row ok! 

this is the marina i was telling you about. i took this shot around 1am after our drinks session at healy mac's. so peaceful and quiet. besides it being a retail mall and marina, there's expensive condos around it too. therefore quite convenient for people living here to just pop down for a drink or to eat or to buy their groceries. one stop shop literally! and its ok that you dont own a car, just own a boat will do....hahahhaa 

my auntie ordered some freshly made sourdough bread from this shop called yin's sourdough bakery. i googled it and its the only bakery in the whole of penang island that sells only sourdough breads and buns. my auntie had already placed her orders a couple of days beforehand (its a mad rush before the new year so better to order in advance) so i had to drive her there to pick up the orders. pretty good stuff! 

locals and tourists cant go back home empty handed and this is one place where you can get your hands (and taste too!) on some local goodies like freshly baked cookies or biscuits. alot of stuff are sold there from coffees, teas, snacks, biscuits, sweets, etc which are mostly locally made. you could say its a speciality shop and the stuff thats sold here is pretty reasonable too. thats why tourists like to come here in droves and the shop name is called tean ean.  

a friend of mine introduced this bakery - jenni homemade cakes and bakery. he recommended that i get the chocolate chip cookies (which is one of bakery's bestsellers) and let me tell you, its so crispy and not overly sweet and you can taste the chocolate chips and nuts! it just melts in your mouth and it goes so well with a nice cup of hot coffee. omg! besides this, theres also other delectables to choose from like their cakes! oh and best part is, you can taste these cookies for free! (not their cakes tho)

 aha! this is definately hands down one of my all time favourite favourite pancakes, local pancakes i mean. not those western type that you see on tv. those folks dont know how to make these! its to die for. take my word for it ok. from the 3 photos that i've enclosed, you can see how this "uncle" is making it, the old fashioned way, using charcoal instead of gas. this chinese pancake is light, eggy, not too sweet and it doesnt make you "jelak" (which means, feeling unpleasantly full) after eating 1-2 pieces. once you start you just cant stop. 

you know, i used to order 30 over pieces for my mom who loves this (she stores it in the fridge and takes out a few at a time to eat..slow and steady hahhaa) and the "uncle" knows me by sight. that's how often i buy from him, once/twice a year and i would usually pre order from him a few days beforehand, that is if im ordering alot to take back for my mom who lives in kuala lumpur. otherwise i just buy a few for myself to take back to singapore. 

our friends bought about 10 packets of this spicy noodles called called jawi assam laksa (@ wan li laksa). now, jawi is a small town in penang, which is situated on the mainland of the peninsula. this laksa's signature features is that its being served on a plate instead of in a bowl and the laksa noodles are homemade and prawn crackers are given as topping. you see, usually when it comes to the "normal" assam laksa, there's NO prawn crackers given and its served in a bowl, not a plate. thats the difference and moreover it was my first time trying it. the verdict - i loved it! taste way better than the "normal" assam laksa! its flavor is sourish and spicy, not too salty, perfect in every bite, well to me that is.

 finally, we have the durian puff (anything with durian i love!) and also the layered cake (as per the second photo). both equally good! freshly made. yummy!! in the pictures i have taken the liberty to add their telephone numbers, so if you want to buy these, just give them a call (or you can always google!)

right, thats it folks, im wrapping it up for now. im tired after all this explaining. hopefully one day you guys will go to penang and try out these places that i've mentioned and explore the food around this wonderful island. as we locals like to say "die die must try" which means no matter what, you've gotta try it!  :)

ttfn and be kind to one another!

3.23pm

lee kuan yew - sept 16 1923 - march 23 2015 (my tribute to the founding father of singapore)

2.40pm

it was around 7am in the morning on the 23rd of march that i heard the sad news of the passing of a great leader of asia, founding father of singapore, mr lee kuan yew or also known as lky by many. how i felt? well, sad of course. although i may not be a citizen of this country, i have been a resident here for almost a decade (come next year).

but anyway, it was so disheartening to hear this kind of news so early in the morning. mr lee kuan yew passed away at around 3.18am. he was not well and was admitted to the singapore general hospital sometime in february this year and apparently died due to severe pneumonia most likely. (but please do not quote me on this ok! you guys can go google more about it).

over the years i have heard alot about this man. i heard that he ruled singapore with an iron fist. a very strong resilient man. i have also heard from some singaporeans complaining about the government etc but you know what, they dont know how good they've got it. sometimes i guess people are never satisfied with what they've got until its gone. like from where i come from, its a bit "chaotic". instead of moving with the times, i guess they want to take 2 steps back. you get the picture. i dont know, but its the way these "people" think, with different ideas, ideology, background...too complicated. 

but mr lee was a visionary, a great leader, a pragmatic person. you know there's very few people whom i admire in my life (for the record one my mother is one of them) and mr lee is on my list. why do i admire him? ok..in a nutshell, this should speak in volumes as to why i admire this man. look at singapore then and now. basically they had nothing to start off with and look at singapore today, from 3rd world to a 1st class city, not to mention one of the most expensive cities to live in! how can you beat that huh? to be able to turn things around in about 40 over years its bloody amazing, admirable even. it took alot of guts and gumption, not to mention with his strong team backing him up every step of the way. thats why i say BRAVO and KUDOS to this gentle giant. (and honestly, he reminds me of my grandfather).

you know, i hate it when people (who clearly are jealous) just shoot crap out of their mouths by saying - oh singapore is such a small country, easy to control and do things bla bla bla - hey, excuse me, you think it was an easy feat? if you were in his shoes, could you have done it better?? its always so easy for people to just rattle off their mouths, not knowing what goes in internally, with the hardship, the stress, mental torture, sleepless nights etc... just to put this small tiny dot of a country on the world map. if you guys dont believe me, just read up on singapore's history. google it.

oh and by the way, i have a thought. if a country is too big and too hard to control, why not start on a small scale? start with a city and see how that progresses. gotta have the never say die attitude, dont knock it till you've tried it, who knows it may just work. dont just shoot down the idea. dont you know that everything begins with a first step, which is always the hardest. then once all the kinks and problems has been ironed out, things can run smoothly like clockwork. well thats my idea.

i believe and know that mr lee kuan yew has done his best with his given abilities and know-how,  the then and now decisions made, too were made at that point in time, with no regrets. he is a man who is steadfast, trustworthy, reliable, fair, just, loyal, courageous, dedicated (leader, husband and father), has a remarkable foresight, whose humble, pragmatic, clear about what has/needed to be done,intellectually honest, no nonsense kinda guy and his never ending or should i say relentless pursuit of singapore's development/betterment. he also believes in integrity, transparency, credibility, corruption-free and no discrimination in his government/country. so to me, that is a recipe for a great leader not to mention a great country. 

ooh i just remembered a saying that goes something like this - a stable home creates a stable family (or was it vice versa..whatever). so if a country is not stable, how can the government/citizens be? and if thats the case, how does a country even prosper and be successful like singapore, for instance? 

i think that first and foremost, you've got to set in place a transparent government, with a no nonsense attitude, dont do any favors for anybody (so that you "owe" them later) but instead be self reliant..., etc. once the "foundation" has been laid is strong, only then would your fellow countrymen look up to you and give you due respect. just like what i've been seeing with my own eyes at these tribute areas. i saw some people crying or drying their tears and some paying their last respects to mr lee. i can see that they all loved him very much, despite all their grumbling and complaints over the years about the government. its funny but having said that, the citizens still cant help but feel a sense of great loss of such a great and wonderful leader, the founding father of this small and new nation, whose about to celebrate their 50th independence on the 9th of august. 

ok enough talk. im getting sad again. i've included some photos that i managed to take today.  

i took these at the singapore general hospital, block 7. there were lots of get well and condolence messages, balloons, prayer stuff, flowers, soft toys, etc all put by fellow singaporeans (and others). as you can see, its very organized, neat and tidy. that's how singapore is. i paid my respects, said a prayer before heading off for my appointment which co-incidentally was at the same hospital but at a different block. 

now this picture above was at bedok town centre, one of the designated tribute sites. so, on my way back home after my appointment at hospital, i decided to stop by the tribute centre ( which wasnt too far from my neighborhood), to pay my last respects and to write my tribute to the late mr lee kuan yew. now, all over singapore, tribute centres were being set up so that the public can go to there or to their nearest community centres, libraries and designated areas to pay their last respects to mr lee . blank page books were put out for the people to write whatever they wanted. it was all done in an orderly fashion and people just follow whatever that was being told to them by the helpers at these sites. although there was a long queue, nobody complained whilst they were waiting which could take a pretty long time. it was quite solemn atmosphere. again i could see some elderly ladies shedding tears or blowing their nose (not too sure if its to do with the situation or they were just having a cold...)but whatever.

there were 2 different queues, one line for writing tributes and the other to go up on stage and pay your final respect to mr lee. all done perfectly without much hiccups. in some ways, im a bit OCD and i like things arranged neatly and it goes without saying in this kind of situation, everything was done very tastefully and not in disarray. 

above picture is the stage to go up and give your final respect/bow or say a quick prayer. documentary on mr lee kuan yew being played (on loop) on a huge projector screen so that the public and sit and watch. 

last but not least posters of a very  brief history of what mr lee kuan yew did for singapore thruout 60 over years. you know this past whole week, i've been glued to the tv watching documentaries of the history of singapore, old news, archives as well as current news on the founding father and also interviews given from family members and ministers (old and new) or those that knew this great man.

before i end, i would like to thank mr lee for all that he's done for singapore, past and present. without his hardwork, unwaivering dedication and deep deep love for the  country (perhaps even to a point of obsession), it wouldnt be where it is today. a bustling growing metropolis filled with people from all walks of life, a country that is rich in culture, heritage and whereby every citizen is treated as an equal, without discrimination. if im not mistaken, he once did say something along the lines of "...its not my country, its our country..." now those are wise words coming from a true leader! sad to say, not many leaders are or can be like him because he is FOR his country not FOR himself. 

actually there's alot more that i would like to say but i wont go there. you guys get the gist of what im trying to imply in here. if you dont get it, just too bad then. 

now i would like to end with a few quotes from the man himself - 

" i have spent my life, so much of it, building up this country. there's nothing more that i need to do. at the end of the day, what have i got? a successful singapore. what have i given up? my life!" 

on his life's work

"i have never been over-concerned or obsessed with opinion polls or popularity polls. i think a leader who is, is a weak leader!" 
"what are the things important to me in life? my family and my country. singapore is my concern till the end of my life!"
"...even as you lower me into my grave and if i feel that something is wrong, i will get up!"

 AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES A GREAT MAN AND A GREAT LEADER! I SALUTE YOU MR LEE AND YOUR TEAM! (if only some countries could follow in your footsteps...but that's just wishful thinking on my part). you ARE singapore and singapore WILL survive! you turned an impossible dream into reality! follow the rainbow, go ride it, sir! may you rest in peace and may your enduring  legacy be continued on for a very long time. you may have left this world but you are definitely not forgotten. 




ttfn
4.19pm


p/s if any of you would like to write your tribute, you can check out 
www.rememberingleekuanyew.sg  or you can go to facebook too (rememberingleekuanyew)

and here are some video clips for you to watch on this great man.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loWRruq3B74
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rPofi-AUw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVDE0KPMaeY



updated today at 9.47am on 25 march 2015

live telecast of mr lee kuan yew's body (inside the casket) being placed inside a glass box and being taken on a ceremonial gun carriage. he will be ferried to the parliament house where he will be lying in state (till saturday at 8pm), so that the general public can pay their last respects to him,( which will be opened for 24 hours due to overwhelming response) and then on sunday, mr lee's body will be taken for a private cremation at mandai crematorium. 

updated today at 4.03pm 26/3/2015

i took a little trip down to the istana (palace)/sri temasek (official residence of the late mr lee kuan yew and family) to pay my last respects to him at his home for the last time and wrote my tribute to him.  well, its the little that i can do for this great man. photo 1 is just outside of the istana, with a few guards on duty. it was pretty quiet there and no crowd at all as most of them were at the padang, where the queue starts in order to get into the parliament house where mr lee's body is lying in state. 

scene at the padang around 10ish this morning when i was on my way to the istana. there were tents set up i think, as makeshift canopies to sheild people from the scorching hot sun during the day, there were barriers set up and not to mention road closures to some roads leading to the parliament house area. there were heaps of people around! lucky thing all of this was properly organized and in an orderly fashion. kudos! 

29/3/2015 5.15pm

last update from me on this very sad topic. finally today its over. as im typing this, the late mr lee kuan yew's body will be taken to the mandai crematorium. i was glued to my tv from 12.30pm till 4.45pm. i took 2 photos from the tv to show you guys. 

21 gun salute for founding father. it was raining heavily yet that did not deter the people from standing in line and waiting to say goodbye to their leader. they stood in the rain (with or without umbrellas or raincoats) and waited until mr lee's cortege had passed by for the last time. 

scene around pinnacle @ duxton, which was on the way to national university of singapore where the state funeral was being held. pinnacle @ duxton is a 50 storey public housing development which happens to be the tallest in the world (for public housing) otherwise known as HDB here in singapore. amazing architecture and design, this place holds a special place in mr lee's heart. finally, you can see heaps of people lining up the streets in the rain, bidding their last farewell and some throwing petals as mr lee's cortege was passing by. what a sad sad day and even the heavens are crying. 

kpop idol TOP from BigBang visited the art science museum at marina bay in january 2015 for prudential eye awards

2.52pm

hello hello again. yes it has definately been a while since my last blog, which i think was before chinese new year. i've been kinda busy with my travels and whatnots and now that i have a breather i can sit down and do a quick blog. 

well, this blog is like a part 2 of my previous blog which i wrote when my idol TOP (from the very popular kpop group Big Bang) came to singapore sometime in january to receive an award at the prudential eye award. and in that blog that i had written, i retraced his "footsteps" when he went to the singapore art museum (SAM). this time round, i retraced his "footsteps" to the art science museum at marina bay sands. 

you see, all this while, we have to pay to go in to this museum but i saw a tweet mentioning that it was FREE entrance for the first monday of the month and i was like holy shit. that's awesome. why pay when they are making it free right? but of course there was a catch to it. patrons were only allowed to certain floors of the museum (if not mistaken there's 4 floors and i was allowed to go to the 3rd and 4th floor, well which was good enough!). 

anyways, when i saw this tweet it was end of february (weekend) and the 2nd of march was just around the corner and thats when i decided to go there. so yeah, here's what i managed to see when i was there.

yes so this the view from the art science museum outside which is overlooking the river. you can see 2 round-ish domes in the distance which is the esplanade, a very tall skyscraper swissotel...etc etc so basically thats part of the city centre of singapore. lovely view isnt it? thank god it wasnt a very hot day. 

picture one - upon entering the 3rd floor of the museum. picture two - outside the art science museum and picture three - inside the museum (one of the areas)

voila! my free ticket to the art science museum. how great is that! call me a cheapskate or whatever you like, i dont care but why pay when you can get in for free?  

ok so these are some art pieces that i saw which looked pretty interesting, dont you agree? and no im not going to be explaining to you guys about these contemporary art pieces as i dont understand them in the first place nor do i know how to appreciate them. im sure you should know by now that i am not a big fan of art or museums. i only went to these places because....thats right you've guessed it...because of my boo TOP. i would never ever think (or suggest) to pop by a museum and to just wander around, whichever country im visiting (unless i've no choice). 

aha! there we go! retracing TOP's "footsteps". so what he saw i saw too! hahaha ... oh as i mentioned earlier, i couldnt go down to other floors (1 & 2) coz i gotta pay! so i skipped that bit. well dear friends, should you ever get bored and have a bit of time on your schedule, take a peek at the art science museum! dont forget, for a free entry, go on the first monday of the month! but oh yes, please double check before going in case they dont practice this anymore. 

right i think thats about it for now. stay tuned for my next blog. you never know what im going to be blogging about. until then, take care and be nice to one another! have a blessed weekend!

ttfn

3.31pm