Penang Summary

Obviously my new year resolution is about to fail terribly for the first quarter for this is ONLY my first blog after New Year (shame shame)... went back to my lovely, all time hot & humid hometown - Penang on business trip for 2 weeks (I took a week's vacation on top of that) in conjunction with Chinese New Year celebration.

First impression after the 'long' 10 months apart from Penang is: crowded. Penang is just flocked by people coming from nowhere; streets are filled with heavy traffic (especially down town); restaurants are always full; and even toilet queues are always long!!!

I must admit I felt the Penangites are rather 'dressed down' in airport upon arrival but the heat very soon reminds me of how I used to 'dress down' and the reason behind. Hence, the very next day (I arrived in late evening), I've 'localized' with newly bought short pants, t-shirt & sandle and walking the 'down-dressing' culture ;)

Visited quite a lot of temple, the Kek Lok si, the sleeping buddha, the burmese temple, the Goddess of Mercy temple and I think the temples must be really rich to be decorated so nicely during the festive season. Love the lanterns...
It's becoming a routine to go for massage & spa session in Danai Spa everytime I go back. Feel brand new everytime after the massage and skin scrubbing. Despite its luxurious outlet in G-Hotel (and the fact that I'm staying there), I still prefer its first outlet in Tanjong Bungah for the outdoor experience. The only disadvantage is a 'collection' of mosquito bites on the 'new born' skin, sob sob...

My first visit to the Penang Peranakan Mansion, really really nice, especially if you know the culture. We're being toured by a Malay guy and I think I could have been a better guide ;)

Visit Penang Hill (view from top shown below), first time after my first visit when I was 5 years old and I can certainly explain why I never re-visit...it's hot along the way up hill in the funicular, packed with people (I feel like canned sardine fish) and it's very very slow. Sadly, the condition didn't change after all these years, still hot & packed & slow.

Saw the street sign board with 3 language street name (indian & malay street name at the back). It was a big debate back then whether to use traditional chinese or simplified chinese, I guess I know the verdict now ;)

Brought Mr.T home to present to my parents (he received a lot of 'ang pao' during the period, ishh) and of course he has to try a little bit of everything from Penang's wide range of food to 'taste' Penang. Refer picture below, (clockwise from top left): poori in mamak stall; hasma (frog's fallopian tube) from Dragon-I; char koay teow (fried flat noodle) from Golden Bay hawker food center; egg toast with sugar from a down town local coffee shop (he caught a lot of attention) & a mix of nyonya kuih (peranakan sweet cakes).

On top of that, also watched a RM10 movie (Percy Jackson, won't recommend it though); catch up with some friends and was surprised to find out a few of them (including some relatives) are getitng married in 2010/2011, some are even expecting babies...oh no...I feel old!!!

While I was away, some new restaurants pop up and out of curiousity, I sampled a few of them and was absolutely amazed with the fantastic super delicious food quality. Some highlighst:-

Mixed roast meats (roast chicken, roast duck & roast pork belly) from Canton-I, Queensbay Mall. The roast pork belly is unbelievable delicious, their roast BBQ pork with honey glazed is also great (not in picture)

Iced yun yong (coffee & milk tea mixed), used to be a Hong Kong specialty, now very common in Penang as well. The one from Canton-I is by far the best I've ever tasted. RM5.50 per glass though & Mr.T typically drinks 2 glasses!

Another nice surprise from Canton-I - deep fried durian. I didn't expect it to be as nice as this...fantastic. Hence explains my frequent visits to Canton-I (4 times in 2 weeks)

Belacan fried chicken in Mama's nyonya food, so delicious...it's 10 on scale of 10. It comes with a dipping sauce, a dip, brings the chicken's perfect score taste to heavenly.

For roast duck, don't ever miss out Xuan Xin's (in Gurney Hotel) roast duck. Crispy skin on the outside, full flavoured juicy meat on the inside, top with dipping sauce, mmmm...now I miss the roast duck!

Stayed in 3 hotels during this trip: G-Hotel, Equatorial Hotel & Eastin Hotel. Out of the three, I'd recommend G-Hotel for its central location, quality of service & its lovely pool; Eastin for the price & its proximity to the Free Trade Zone where most Multi-national companies are (in other words, close to work); but not Equatorial Hotel (EQ). EQ is one of the first 5 stars hotels with gold course but it seems to be going down hill. A friend who works in EQ said the hotel is under-going some renovation and the quality is expected to be improved after the new 'face lift' but I think I'll skip the chance & stay in G :)

Small down sides for this trip would be: bad food, 'small' scratch on car, paid unreasonable price for food (RM5 for a small bowl of prawn noodle in a local coffee shop in Gurney, it's not the amount of money but matter of feeling ripped off!!) & burnt by accidentally poured hot porridge on my back in restaurant.

Some of the bad food experience (just for your reference, from top left, clockwise):- steak in The Ship (so called 'best steak in town); green tandoori fish in Palace d'India in Queensbay Mall; soft shell crab in Sakae sushi Gurney branch; crab in 'weird sauce' in Bali Hai. I've had good experiences with these restaurants before, something must have went wrong when I'm away.

Nevertheless, a free trip home to visit friends & family plus an escape from the -11C cold Copenhagen is really really nice. For behaving good during the trip, Mr.T earn a family portrait with my family :)

New Year, New Start

Happy 2010...I know it's already 2 weeks into this new year but since I still make the mistake of writing 2009 whenever I wrote a date (force of habit), guess it's not too late for a new year greeting :)

So...2009 sum up? Lots of travel (Barcelona, Southern France, Vienna, Tokyo), first 'in-flight' (and the subsequent few) vomit, first 'in-cinema' throw up (courtesy to 'Avatar 3D') and many more that's gradually fading in my memory because it's filled up with 2010 happening & plans now.

First up: house moving (that's why I haven't manage to update my blogs for sooo... long, still more to cleanup & hopefully can get most of my old apartment down payment back), new travel plans and home trip soon (oh...all those Penang hawker food is awaiting me, yum yum).

New year resolution (limited to this blog): to update my blogs on a more regular basis than 2009's last quarter. Hopefully, if I don't give in to the exciting TV series that will make me a TV addict ;)

Frozen Lake

I have been in Copenhagen for 2 winters now but this is the first time I saw whole lakes frozen up. Last year I was back in Penang for a month during the winter, so not much to comment but this year's winter is hard and cold. All four large lakes in Copenhagen in city centre is frozen, uo to 16cm thickness (else we're not allowed to walk on it). 

Frozen lake with a little water opening left

I was so excited to walk on lake for the first time in my life. Not a good skater but I like the opportunity to see the city from another view, another angle...although it might be a little too slippery sometimes ;) Danes who are more accustomed to frozen lake are using this opportunity at a wider spectrum than I am. Skating, cycling, taking a 'short cut', putting their children on a slayer and drag along the lake...it's fun to see.

'Playing' on frozen lake

The discussing couple statue that's sitting by the lake

Glimpse of flying birds

I like snow, at least when they're fresh makes everything looks clean & beautiful & dreamy. I live in a fairy tale country!!!

Laksa

Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay, found in Malaysia & Singapore. There are several types of laksa but from where I came from - Penang, we're loyal to the ultimate laksa of all laksas - asam laksa.

Asam (tamarind) laksa is a sour fish-based soup. The main ingredients for asam laksa include shredded fish, typically mackerel, and finely sliced cucumber, onions (red / yellow), red chillies, pineapple, lettuce, mint (or daum kesum) and ginger buds; normally served with thick rice noodles and topped off with 'hae kor', a thich sweet dark coloured fermented shrimp paste.

There's no lack of recipe on the internet to cook Penang asam laksa from scratch but I received this wonderful laksa paste from my mom and also some dried laksa noodle (thick round rice noodles), just can't wait to try it out. The cold winter weather provides more reason to do so. 

Laksa paste from mom

Frozen mackerels from asian shop

A blend of sliced onion, mint, chillies, lettuce, cucumber & pineapple.

All ingredients are available from local Asian shop except the shrimp paste. Luckily I 'smuggled' a bottle with me when I came back from Penang last time. I knew there's always a need for it, at some point ;)

So boiling the fish & cook everything per instruction on the paste package and voila ~~ a bowl of steaming hot laksa. The taste? It's not as good as home, of course; but being 10,000 miles away and still can taste laksa, priceless.

A satisfying bowl of laksa

Screw-pine Leaves (Pandan Leaves)

Received a big bunch of fresh screw pine leave from Penang, they even have some soils attached! How can it be fresh? well, thanks to my frequent travelling colleagues from across the department who helped to bring it across the continent :) Sometimes screw pine leaves can be found in the Thai shop in Copenhagen but not always and I've been wanting to cook something with screw pine leave: nasi lemak & pandan chicken.

Screw pine leave (or pandan leave to locals)

So upon receiving the leaves, I've used some to make the nasi lemak (direct translation: rice in fat, but coconut fat) below following The Nasi Lemak Lover's guide. I make this two days in a roll to savour the anchovies chillies made from scratch.

Nasi lemak (Malaysian style coconut rice)

As for the rest of the pandan leaves, I made some pandan leave wrapped chicken with it. Pre-marinated the chicken with some turmeric powder, chili powder, salt and sugar to taste, and a few drops of fish sauce, then wrapped in pandan leaves. I can't figure out the traditional wrapping method, so I just roll them up and secure with toothpick, works fine.

Pandan chicken

Deep fried until chicken is cooked / leave turns brown, the aroma was great and the chicken is good. I won't say it's compatible to those available from restaurants in Penang but this is by far the best I can get in Copenhagen, and I'm proud of my own result :)

Oprah & Copenhagen

I haven't have time to update blog for quite some time, actually really quite some loooo....ng time, shamefully. Super busy with both work & after work life (renovating a friend's apartment, tough job) and organizing pictures for Tokyo trip really takes up a long time. However, there's something that I must share.

Oprah Winfrey was in Copenhagen during the Olympics 2016 host city selection to boost the Chicago bid. Oprah's cheer leading didn't win Chicago the right to host the game but did surely win my heart in her show featuring Copenhagen. In the show, she shows her audience the different lifestyles living in countries bidding for 2016 Olympics. Copenhagen is not bidding for it but it's where all the action of voting took place, so naturally also part of the show.

Oprah's almost presented Copenhagen as heaven to live in, lots of plus points to the city especially in the aspect of safety, social security & the beauty of being able to choose (career, marriage etc). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7s89ptz0dA&feature=related & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QS8dROjKNY&feature=related.

During such short trip, I don't expect her to have a total overview of Copenhagen but I do agree with her first impressions on Copenhagen, I felt exactly the same when I came about a year and a half ago. I was surprised to see the amount of bicycles & cyclist within city in normal clothings (or even formal suits); amazed that children can be left outside shops without being attended & still safe; the amazing Danish designs & of course, the 'notorious' tax.

The you tube version of Oprah's show is attached, checked it out for your own verdict :)

Tokyo - 4

Stopping at Hamamatsucho, the nearest JR station to Tokyo Tower, another surprise awaits. Right in the middle of the hustle street, the same street that houses the Tokyo World Trade Center is the tori leading to Zojoji temple. Pedestrians & motorists travel pass the tori towards the T-junction that stops directly in front of Zojoji Temple's front gate.


What is special about Zojoji temple? Honestly, I don't know. Didn't even step into the temple. The reason I was there is because one of the best view of Tokyo Tower is available from the temple's view. Isn't it amazing to have a tall telecommunication tower so close to a religious temple? Well, that's Japan.


Posted one of my favourite Tokyo Tower shots. Honestly, I think Tokyo Tower is more 'photogenic' than Eiffel Tower due to its colour scheme (which of course corresponds to the Japanese national flag colours). Look how pack Tokyo is from top...high rise buildings stretch beyond the reach of eyes (unless you have binocular, of course). Also played around with my new camera and shot a miniature view of Zojoji temple from top, hehe... Going to the first observatory tower is not a challenge but the second tier requires long wait in front of 1 single elevator, so be ready to spend some time at the tower.


Leaving the tower, proceeding to the smaller of the two parks available in Hamamatsucho - Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden. My first visit to Japanese garden and I've already fallen in love with the setting at first sight. Kyu Shiba Rikyu is a small garden but the settings are so lovely, craftfully planned, well maintained & quiet. No screaming kids, barking dogs, smokers, garbage lying around...just clean, peaceful & tranquil. It is amazing that despite being 50m away from a busy main street, you can barely hear any traffic, too bad I don't have sufficient skill to take a nice picture of this breathtakingly beautiful garden.


Next on the days itinerary is Sensoji temple in Asakusa. The time was nearly 4pm but because my travel companion insisted on the taking a cruise on Sumida river to the temple, we walked nearly a kilometer to Hinode Pier, waited 40 minutes for a nearly 40minutes ride to Asakusa. I was pretty grumpy about the time wasted but then was also grateful that we get to have a break in the glass top boat and cruise through bridges after bridges along Sumida river, seeing the other side of Tokyo.


Picture on top is the famous landmark for Asahi beer, locating directly opposite the pier in Asakusa. Arriving at Sensoji, the oldest temple in Tokyo dedicated to Goddess of Mercy with slight light remains & most tourists crowd gone, I get to take a shot of the famous Kaminarimon (雷门) lantern without too much 'obstacles'. If you're in the mood for a rickshaw tour, opportunities are plenty around the area, some provide guided tour.

Passing through the gate brings you immediately to the oldest shopping street that stretch towards the temple. I'd say this is one of the best place for souvenir purchasing, the second best is - the airport. So if you missed out the chance to buy yukata / Kokeshi doll here, you can always find better quality ones at the airport albeit more expensive. Strolling the street is a nice experience, probably because the crowd has slightly reduced compare to 'peak hours'.

Aside from souvenir shopping (which totally deviates from the intention of temple visit :p), lots of small tit-bits are also available on the Nakashime shopping street (not to mention the hundreds of restuarants on its branch out side streets). With full enthusiasm, me & my travel companion tried the deep fried mochi & the seaweed senbei. Senbei was so so but the mochi was absolutely delicious.

The Nakashime shopping street ends with blessing lanterns on both sides and another gate that leads to the Sensoji temple. As you can see from the picture, the sky is dark, and thus the temple is closed as well. Too bad for us that it's under some maintenance work, so part of the temple is covered, hence no picture taken to share.

I did my home work and found a century old small family run restaurant that serves best unagi in the area for dinner. Unfortunately for us, when we reach to the small slightly under maintain restaurant/house, it's already close for the days business. Craving for unagi, we proceeded to another restaurant that looks promising.

The meal was fine albeit not the best but it's definitely different from what I experienced before. First, put the spring onion & seaweed (and wasabi if you like) into the tea pot which actually holds dashi stocks, scoop the rice & unagi from claypot to rice bowl, pour some soup into the bowl and eat it. And of course, finish the meal with miso soup. I ordered some char grilled shishamo fish(had to take picture & show the waitress due to language barrier), serve with a lemon wedges and japanese mayonnaise, nice & authentic :)

Hot spring next blog...