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Kek Lok Si Air Itam

I wish I could stay on for a few more days to explore Kuala Lumpur since I hadn’t been there for years but we had to drive back to Penang island to catch the flight back to Singapore two days later.

Back in Penang, we continued to indulge in more authentic local eats on a Monday morning at Air Itam market. There were many market-goers around, probably cos it was Malaysia National Day, a public holiday. Or is the market always crowded in the morning?

penang-air-itam-market

It was quite unusual for someone who kept snapping away in this local market area. Obviously, I looked like a tourist. No, not all Singapore tourists are so engrossed in taking pics this way, unless… if you are a travel blogger?? So nowadays, whenever I see people taking photos, especially aiming at food before eating, I would think they might have a blog. XD

air-itam-morning-market

It’s so convenient. You don’t need to find parking lot and can just buy groceries along the way on a scooter, just like MacDonald’s Drive Thru’.  =D

air-itam-market-stalls

Fresh chicken.

fresh-chicken-stall

This friendly uncle took out a harmless-looking little snake from the container and posed this shot for me. Well, I guess, those snakes are for consumption. :S Or could it be for “animal liberation”?

snake-man

A cage of turtles. apparently, are for someone’s dining table. Hey maybe that’s for “animal liberation”. Also, live fish in buckets of water.

live-fish-market

We came to Air Itam for the famous “Kio Kar” curry mee! I bet Penangites know about this stall along the roadside manned by the two (or three?) old aunties who cook curry using charcoal stove. All the ingredients and pots are placed on the floor. While sitting on stools, the friendly ladies would prepare the food for the customers. It’s not easy to find seats as there are only a few tables along the busy street.

air-itam-curry-mee

I was a little surprised when my order came.  It wasn’t quite like the curry mee with thick red curry gravy that I know of. The curry has little coconut milk in it so it tastes like soup to me. If you like it more spicy, stir the chilli paste into the gravy. The bowl is topped with cuttle fish and tau pok (fried bean curd).

penang-curry-mee

Old wooden chopsticks, perhaps, older than you!

old-wooden-chopstick

Perched against a hill slope in Air Itam, Kek Lok Si (极乐寺) is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. The magnificent temple also houses a columbarium with niches to store cremation urns. Those marble niches at the top floor facing the city and the sea are the most expensive: one niche costs up to RM30,ooo (~US$8700).

kek-lok-si-columbarium

A panoramic view of Penang from Kek Lok Si Temple. Scroll Left->Right.

We see this beautiful sunset everyday from a room in the house.

penang-sunset-photo

Posted by eunice Posted in Malaysia, Penang Comments (11)

KL City sights & food

After a night at Genting Highlands, we drove back to Kuala Lumpur (KL) city. Though KL is merely a 30min flight from Singapore, I haven’t been there for many years.  To me, KL is a bustling city with people everywhere, many shopping malls around and traffic jams!

Somehow, as we stepped out of Sungei Wang Plaza, the city scene reminded me of Taipei and Hong Kong.

kuala-lumpur-city-scene

Sungei Wang Plaza is a few storeys high and filled with many small shops mainly selling apparels. Some say there are good bargains in the plaza; the locals say otherwise. Apparently, many shoppers are tourists like us. Anyway, I couldn’t get anything from there except a big blueberry muffin from Famous Amos! Nice!

There are also a few very big malls in KL where the locals frequent: Mid Valley Megamall, 1 Utama Shopping Centre and Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall.

sungei-wang-shopping-mall

That’s the monorail station in KL. Clean, swift, convenient…. During our stay in Malaysia, we were pretty surprised to see many people wearing masks to protect themselves against H1N1; we don’t really see that often in Singapore.

bukit-bintang-monorail-station

You can’t miss the Petronas Twin Towers in KL cos you will see them looming over the city once you get into the capital. Currently, the Twin Towers are the tallest twin buildings in the world. They used to be the world’s tallest building before being surpassed by Taipei 101.

world-tallest-twin-tower

At the Twin Towers, you can shop in KLCC which features many luxurious boutiques.  FYI, the food court in KLCC is pricey: A normal meal of rice with 3 side dishes can cost RM15!

KLCC-fountain

We could appreciate the day view of the KL Tower and the Twin Towers from afar at a relative’s unit on the 8th floor. During special occasions like the New Year Countdown, the family can enjoy the spectacular firework display at the Twin Tower right through their windows. How nice!

kl-city-aerial

At night, both the KL Tower and the Twin Towers are glowing gorgeously. In fact, KL Tower is the 5th tallest freestanding tower in the world.

kuala-lumpur-night-scene

Rows of little red roof houses in KL, as cosy as can be.

malaysia-kl-terrace-house

When night falls…

malaysia-kl-terrace-house-night

We put up a night at Pearl International Hotel. I’m not going to mention much about the hotel itself. It’s just an average 4-star hotel that cost us RM238 per night. However, the food at the coffee shop located at a short walking distance away from the left of the hotel (entrance) are good enough for our return!

The Portugese stingray is not just good but great! It’s not as oily as those cook on hot plate yet it’s hot and spicy. The dish offers a lot lady’s fingers too. OMG I’m craving for it now.

portugese-sambal-stingray

Also, try the  ”chee cheong fun” (rice sheet roll) wrapped with meat like shrimps! The “chee cheong fun” is really soft and it melts in your mouth!

steamed-prawn-chee-cheong-fun

Toasted “Tau Pok” sandwich with some veggies like bean sprouts and shredded cucumber mixed with sweet prawn paste! Tau Pok = Chinese deep fried tofu. It may look simple but the toasted “Tau Pok” is warm and crisp!

toast-tau-pok

Teh C Special, with 3 colours. The iced tea does not only look appealing; it’s refreshing and unique.

teh-c-special

We had our lunch at an eatery famous for their Nasi Lemak – Village Park Restaurant, located at Uptown Damansara. It’s one of the best Nasi Lemak I’ve ever eaten before. The plate of fragrance coconut rice goes well with their famous fried chicken and other side dishes too. It’s definitely worth trying.

Address: 5, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The restaurant is open daily:  7am – 8pm; 7am – 6 pm on Sunday & Public Holiday.

kl-village-park-restaurant-nasi-lemak

Posted by eunice Posted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Comments (12)

Lantern Festival @Mersing

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This year’s post on Mid-Autumn Festival: No more pictures of moon cakes; I grew tired of them. They are high calorie, high sugar, unhealthy, and don’t come cheap!  At least I save some calories for other sinful food. :D

OK! Brought back some pics and a video clip from Mersing as we spent the occasion over the weekend in Malaysia. You know, Mersing is a very small coastal town and it’s popularly known as the gateway to Tioman island and other exotic islands off the east shore of West Malaysia.

Here is a short video clip of families and friends walking in the lantern parade together with some performers on decorated vehicles. The lantern parade was privately organised by an established temple in Mersing.

Nowadays, at least in Singapore, most kids carry different shapes and sizes of lanterns that are battery operated. So it’s really nice to see traditional kind of paper lanterns lit with candles. As a kid, I like lanterns with candles ‘cos I like to play with fire. -_-||| And it hurt when hot wax dripped on my hands… And disappointments over burnt lanterns…
mersing-lantern-walk

The legendary Chang’e and her companions on the Moon – the jade rabbit that manufactured elixirs and the woodcutter Wu Gang who was banished to the Moon.

chang-e-rabbit-moon-festival

Little Chang’e scattering flower petals down the road during the parade.

mersing-lantern-festival-parade

On the same night as the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 (aka Moon Festival or Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival..phew!), the folks were also celebrating “Tua Pek Kong 大伯公” God Festival. You will see this old yet colourful Chinese temple known as Hock Soon Temple at the entrance of Mersing town.

mersing-hock-soon-temple

A life-size paper boat that, I supposed, would be burnt as an offering for prayer. Typically, you’ll see lucky numbers on offerings during such an occasion… 6618, huat ah! LOL

chinese-paper-boat-offering

chinese-paper-god

The man was cutting up a big roasted pig and later distributed the meat and other food to the devotees. Mind you, each kind of food on the table has prosperous meaning to the Chinese OK! As usual… ;)

chinese-roast-pork

Ceremonial food offerings laid out on the altars.

tua-pek-gong-offering-temple

Next, we adjourned to a hall next to the temple for a singing concert. Don’t expect it to be like the F1 Rocks Concert! Nevertheless, it was good entertainment on the Lantern Festival night in this quaint little town. BUT! Jacky suddenly popped out a question,”The Hungry Ghost month is over, isn’t it?” During the Hungry Ghost month, there are “Getai” (make-shift stage built for performances) everywhere and it’s a tradition that the front rows are reserved for the spirits… eeee… so do you see that the front rows were empty below? No, I didn’t sit on the reserved seat!

mersing-mid-autumn-festival-performance-stage

One of the singers with a sexy fancy outfit.

kuantan-lantern-festival

A typical scene of the rustic fishing town, with many fishing boats lining along the river under the blue sky. Unfortunately, trash is also floating around the river. Spot the largest trash. It’s fuming!

mersing-fishing-boat

Picturesque. If only I could paint.

mersing-blue-sky

There are many pondok (Malay word for such a structure) along the roadside. Btw, these photos were taken from Pasaraya Kini (supermarket) near the bus terminal in Mersing town.

mersing-malay-shelter-house

Where to eat in Mersing? We always go to this coffee shop “Restoran Al Hamid” for the Cendol, which is a shaved ice dessert with coconut milk, green starch noodles with pandan leaf flavour, soft red beans and palm sugar. It’s said to have the best Cendol in town. Also, you can try their Roti Canai (aka Roti Prata in Singapore). The Roti Canai is not oily at all yet it’s crisp on the outside. Usually, I will ask for fish curry as it’s less oily. This coffee shop is located along Jalan Dato Mohd Ali, opposite the yellow/orange Mersing Hotel.

mersing-cendol

Public buses at the terminal. Many years ago, I ever boarded a similar non air-con public bus and stood all the way for 2hrs to Mersing. Not a comfortable ride as some inconsiderate passengers were smoking on board. :S Hopefully things get better now. Anyway there was free flow of music as some youngsters were playing guitars on the bus.

malaysia-old-public-bus

That’s a sumptuous home cooked meal!

chinese-reunion-dinner-lantern-festival

You may be interested to visit Mid-Autumn Festival in Singapore 2008

Posted by eunice Posted in Malaysia, Mersing Comments (10)

Yummy Dim Sum

Restoran Zim Sum is a very big non-aircon dim sum restaurant. It was already filled up with customers when we reached there at 9plus in the morning. We had to wait for seats. (@Penang-Malaysia)

Dim Sum is a undoubtedly popular for breakfast in Malaysia. The dishes are usually wheeled around on a trolley by servers. At this dim sum restaurant, we can pick and choose our favourite dim sum dishes at the counter.

I want this… I want that!

Dim sum dishes stack on top of one another. You pick and choose the dishes and return to your seat. Read More »

Posted by eunice Posted in Malaysia, Penang Comments (27)

Ramly Burger

You heard of fish burger, double cheeseburger, ham burger, chicken burger…how about Ramly burger? Malaysians and most Singaporeans surely heard of it and even tasted it. Fellow Malaysians, if you never heard of Ramly burger before, don’t tell me you are a Malaysian. XD

I was in Penang and bought a “Ramly Burger Special” from this popular Ramly Burger stall known as Din Corner. A customer saw me taking photos at the stall and jokingly commented that I was from The Star (newspaper). XD

Steps on how to make a “Ramly Burger Special”. The patty is first wrapped in a thin layer of egg before stacking other ingredients like onions, margarine, cabbage, mayonnaise within the buns.

Din Corner is a neat and decent-looking stall located along the roadside, dunno which road but I know it is in Penang. =P

Speak so much of Ramly Burger and yet nearly forgot to take a pic of it to show how the end result looks like. Ignore the teeth impressions on the half-eaten burger! This burger tastes better than burgers from KFC, Mac and Burger King! Sedap!

Many Singaporeans like Ramly burgers but strangely, we could hardly see a Ramly stall in Singapore, except in pasar malams. I just read from Wikipedia that the import of Ramly Burger to Singapore is prohibited. Only frozen Ramly Burger patties are approved for sale, and yes, I see that in supermarkets in Singapore, and tempted to buy some. =D

Read Kimberley Street Hawker Food | Penang Botanic Gardens | Food Court At Bukit Jambul | Penang Bridge | Bad Weather in Penang

Posted by eunice Posted in Malaysia, Penang Comments (42)

Kimberley Street Hawker Food

Kimberley street has lot of good food! However, just like many famous stalls in Malaysia, those hawkers only start business at night. So, forget about dieting in Penang. It’s supper time!

It was drizzling, but that did not deter our eating mood to try out those authentic Penang hawker food.

The popular stall selling Duck Kuay Chap. “Kuay Chap” (粿汁) means flat noodles with broth. U can call it Kway Chap or Koay Chap as long as it sounds right!

Very tasty duck noodles with slices of duck meat and wonder why it also comes with two fishballs. @_@

For those who have never tried Char Kway Teow (fried flat noodles with cockles, scrambled egg & bean sprouts), and if you are in Penang, try it from this stall at Kimberly Street. The man was frying Kway Teow. Read More »

Posted by eunice Posted in Malaysia, Penang Comments (13)
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