Holiday in Penang

Did I say I was born in Penang?

Both my parent were from Penang. My grandmother owned a coffee shop at Magazine road (they call it Tao Tiaw Lo or road number 1).

Since my grandmother and almost all my relatives are in Penang, I was a frequent visitor until age of 7. But since I started primary school, the trip down to Penang has been very few.

We decided to take this long holiday break to bring the kids to Batu Ferringi beach to enjoy the sand and sea. It was a choice between Terengganu or Penang. Penang is the winner after considering the distance and potential traffic during raya. The judgement on traffic however is quite far off. It took us almost 9 hours to get to the destination.

Penang is a food heaven. I wasn't aware of this until I landed in KL. Everywhere you go, you can see hawker stalls for Penang hokkien mee, Penang laksa, Penang curry mee, Penang Kuay Teow T'ng, Penang rojak, Penang this and Penang that. All the foods that you have taken for granted is so famous out there..

I took the opportunity to try out a few famous eating places during this trip.

First up was a restaurant beside New World Park, famous for Choo Cha. The bean sprout with salted fish is the best I've tasted before.

The next morning we went to the famous Lam Heng restaurant to try out the Or Kuih (Yam Cake), famous sisters char kuey teow and lobak.

The dinner is at a hawker center near Batu Ferringi. I had a Oh Chien, chicken wing and Hokkien mee.

The next morning we went to a restaurant near Pulau Tikus market. The place is jam packed with people and we had to wait 15mins for a table. There I tried the Char Kueh kak, Chee Cheong Fan, Muah Chi, Tang Yuen and Ban Chien Kuih. Yummy... Imagine you have to wait 30mins for a Ban Chien Kuih...

In the afternoon we stop by the famous Siin Se Kai restaurant for lunch. I had the famous Majestic rojak.

The trip to Ghee Hiang was a waste because they have ran out of the famous Tambun biscuit.

We head to Alor Star to my hometown.