An indigenous food of Penang, Penang Laksa, also known as Asam Laksa. This dish is a combination of both Malay and Chinese flavors, originated from Nyonya culture. Asam is the a Malay word for tamarind that is used to prepare the soup for this indigenous yet delectable Laksa. In a bowl of Laksa contains a thick sour soup of shredded fish, garnished with slices of shallots, cucumbers, pineapples, lettuces, mint leaves, chilies, ginger torch flower bud and topped off with sweet shrimp paste. Of course, it is served with rice noodles.
The delicious Asam Laksa & Siam Laksa, WOW!
If you happen to pass by this town of Balik Pulau, do hinder your hesitation on giving these famous Asam Laksa and Siam Laksa a kick to your taste buds in this coffee shop named, Nan Guang Coffee Shop, located at the T-junction of Jalan Tun Sardon and Jalan Balik Pulau as shown in the Google maps below with the blue marker.
Detailed Information: Nan Guang Coffee Shop (Corner)
T-junction of Jalan Tun Sardon and Jalan Balik Pulau
Early in the morning of 25th September 2011, a charity named "1Malaysia Charity Ride for Education 2011" was successfully created in Straits Quay, Penang. The event was organized by Kwong Wah Yit Poh and the One Malaysia Committee which were participated with a good cause by thousands and thousands of participants. Our Malaysian Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak pedaled together with the riders and students from Tanjung Pinang towards Gurney Drive. Our Prime Minister, presented 15 pre-selected secondary schools that were awarded a RM1 Million each in cash donation while Kwong Wah donated 2,500 bikes for all the schools.
Among the 15 pre-selected secondary schools were Chung Ling High School, SMJK Chung Ling Butterworth, Chung Ling (Private) High School, SMJK Perempuan Cina, Penang Chinese Girls High School (Private), SMJK Convent Dato Keramat, SMJK Union, SMJK Jit Sin, Jit Sin Independent High School, SMJK Phor Tay, Phor Tay (Private) High School, SMJK Chung Hwa Confucian, SMJK Sacred Heart, SMJK Heng Ee, and Han Chiang High School. They were given RM1m each which the moneys were raised from the public and 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
A video clip of the atmosphere while waiting for PM's arrival and when PM arrived.
Malaysian Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak.
Mr. 1Malaysia was giving a speech.
The event hall was crowded by thousands of participants consist of mainly secondary school students who signed up voluntarily.
Students were waving the mini Malaysia flags.
Some students and riders were still completing their rides.
Besides, VVIPs attended the event include YB Ng Yin Yen (Minister of Tourism), YB Senator Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (Ministry Department), another Minister from Ministry Department, Lim Guan Eng (Chief Minister of Penang) and Penang State EXCO.
It was such a rare opportunity to meet our Malaysian Prime Minister, YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, in person. The praise of Chinese role contributing in improving education in Malaysia was delivered by our Mr. 1Malaysia in his speech to the audiences below where the relevant article can be read here.
Ever looking for desserts in Penang after having delectable Penang dishes? So, I bet most of us heard about the Penang's Famous Cendol stall located off Penang Road in Lebuh Keng Kwee before a pedestrian bridge which many celebrities had visited and tasted the cendol and also it has been aired to the television channels. Besides, if you prefer to wait for your ordered cendol on the table instead of standing, you may choose to visit its second shop in Komtar Walk. What cendols exactly are? It contains crushed ices, cendol jelly, santan, brown sugar and kidney beans with vanilla ice cream as an optional. It, the cendol, is the thirst killer under the hot and searing sun. Are you thirsty?
Penang Cendol, normal. Penang Cendol with Vanilla Ice Cream.
Detailed Information: Penang Famous Cendol
Off Penang Road ( Lebuh Keng Kwee ) & Komtar Walk
Afternoon till 7pm, daily
The last supper with buddies. Oops! It was the last suppers with buddies! Three of them, Tjun Yee and Shi Jie both departed to oversea on Monday and Tuesday while Chawin who will be leaving this coming Friday. We planned to have our dinner at Abu's Mamak Store located in Datuk Koyah Road but we went there a little bit earlier so we decided to have our dinner over Line Clear's which is opposite of the road. Time really flies! Hope to you people soon next year and we should party rock hard before we all really headed separately to overseas, all the best!
Last day in the city of Hat Yai, Thailand, where my parents and I spent our last city walking tour in Hat Yai before we ended our trip. We happened to walk in into Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel towards the Sky Buffet Restaurant. It is a buffet restaurant located at the 33rd floor with a 300° city view. It was so beautiful enjoying the panoramic city scenery of Hat Yai from Sky Buffet Restaurant.
The trip to Hat Yai was fun yet enjoyable especially touring in Klong Hair floating market and the chance of tasting deep fried baby grasshoppers that tasted like egg yolks and protein powders and also the atmosphere of shopping in the night market where there are numerous fascinating yet amazing items were being sold that includes a craving of a human portraits that are, absolutelynaked! Citizens living there in Hat Yai are as friendly as we, Penangites do which is awesome!
Consumption of insects as food by humans is normal especially in Thailand. While visiting the Klong Hair floating market in Hat Yai, there was a stall selling these deep fried insects on the roadside along the path towards the floating market which is just infront of the Siamese temple. It is a must to try on these deep fried insects when you are touring in Thailand. The insects I seen in the stall were huge grasshoppers, baby grasshoppers, beetles, cockroaches, worms, worms, and worms! Yes, the blogger is indeed afraid of worms especially when it comes to consuming it. No way! He took just baby grasshoppers only.
Which kind of insects or beetles you find it disgusting above? For the blogger himself, the worms, fat fat worms with the imagination of the juicy content inside the bodies of the worms being squeezed out in your mouth as you are munching them. EWWW! Well, the baby grasshoppers do tastes like egg yolks or protein powders that most of us have in our everyday life. At least it is worthwhile to give a try on the deep fried baby grasshoppers because they do not look as disgusting as the worms or huge insects do. Entomophagy, anyone?
A group photo with the Intel's staff and course mates.
A knowledgable education visit to Intel's factory, an American multinational technology corporation and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker here in Penang, Malaysia. I love its American way of working environment where you go to work in small casual but of course wearing formals do look great. It was fun to know how patents work and developed in their unique way as a naif student. Despite the technical words, I do enjoy the theoretical on how a patent is developed as a whole picture.
Mid-Autumn Festival, some may refer it as Mooncake or Moon Festival at which they are called 中秋节 ( zhōng•qiū•jié ) celebrated by the Chinese and Vietnamese. Mid-Autumn Festival is always held 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, it would be either in September or October in the Georgian Calendar. This festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi and Chang'e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality where the story can be found here.
Shangri-La mooncakes gifts received by my father.
As a young kid, I used to love playing around with the lantern, my carfield lantern and also having mooncakes bought by my parents. Now, I enjoy the mooncakes rather than playing with the lanterns. Fattening? That is what I need as a skinny blogger. I had eaten my mooncakes! Have you eaten?
Rock your taste buds with this delicious sweet and sour bee hoon soup which also comes with a little bit of spiciness in the soup itself! This noodle soup, served with ingredients consists of lemongrass, chilly padi, tomatoes, bee hoon, and of course, slices of fish. The slices of fish can be ordered either they are fried or not fried. Well, it depends on your taste of getting the fried slices of fishes or not but personally I prefer them without being fried.
The Sweet and Sour Bee Hoon Soup.
The restaurant, Wong Chau Jun, selling such dish in Jalan Rangoon opens for business from 8:00AM to 2:30PM and closes every Tuesday. It is located a door next to Sin Kim San Hawker Center where Penangites have their dinners and supper in opposite of Esso Petrol Station.
Detailed Information: Wong Chau Jun Restaurant
Jalan Rangoon ( Next to Sin Kim San Hawker Center ) 8:00AM to 2:30PM closes on Tuesdays
Yes! It is a floating market located in Hatyai's Klong Hair, Thailand. Taking the Toot Toot cars to this destination is a wise yet convenient idea because the blogger himself also lost his track while on way there. Floating market in Klong Hair will be your second place of visit when you are touring in Hat Yai as the floating market starts in the late afternoon until 8pm. The foods and beverages are being sold at about 20Bath which is 2RM in our currency. There are all sorts of things you can find here including fried tom yam mee, mango rice, tit-bits, and so on with something BIZARRE! The boats are arranged and docked towards the riverside.
The Klong Hair Floating Market, Hat Yai.
Numerous kinds of foods and tit-bits can be found here. The arts of the prepared foods that are being sold were so attractive yet creative! Notice the clay-made plates, you may bring them home as souvenirs! Have you ever wondered how do those hawkers received their moneys and delivers their goods being sold? Are they using their hands? No! Take a look on the third photo, this is how they get paid and deliver their goods sold which is very interesting!
Stalls are set up next to the floating market on the riverside where you would be able to find a place to sit down and enjoy your tit-bits! It is not surprising to see a hawker selling sushis there but you will be amazed by the sushis arranged on the tables. They are very colorful and personally I think the hawker did a very great job!
Klong Hair Floating Market, a place of visit which is new to me and it is a must when you are touring in Hat Yai. It was enjoyable for me in my second day of Hat Yai trip with my parents, appreciate it a lot.
Ever wanted to listen to the latest songs or podcasts that you downloaded in your iOS devices from the iTunes without synchronizing it everytime? That sounds pretty impossible to you right? Not until a week ago, I felt silly as an iPad user who recently discovered this feature after quite some time. Well, the steps taken to enable the Home Sharing is very easy. Of course, you need to connect your iPad and your computer in a same wireless network and also a same Apple ID.
First of all, click on "Turn On Home Sharing" from your iTunes under Advanced in your computer.
Second, enter your Apple ID and password under iPod in the Settings from your iOS devices. After entering the Apple ID and password, you are now able to select the shared library from your computer in your iOS devices by tapping the "Library" above Music on the top left corner from your iPod.app. Enjoy listening your updated songs and podcasts without keep on synchronizing at home!
It is been a long time, Hatyai. Recalling my holidays spent with my family when I was just a little kid in Hatyai more than 10 years ago, it was a enjoyable trip where and when I banged my head on the wall while I was playing in a bathtub in a hotel. Besides, it was a tourism spot where my brother and I got small and squarish pillows with printed cartoons as our souvenirs which both of them are now still being used on my bed. Today's Hatyai is different from what it is since 1999 or maybe it was the maturity level in one's brain. The feeling was not like before which I remember that the street night markets were like endless in its routes. Regardless of how it is, traveling in a foreign country is always an adventure and also an exploration together with my family or maybe, alone.
"I Love Hatyai" rounded collar shirt can be found in the night market.
The journey started at around 12 something in the afternoon towards Hatyai across the borders of Malaysia and Thailand. It took us about 5 hours to arrive our destination with a minivan. It was a second longest journey on the road. As soon as we arrived, we went straight down for our Thai food dinner after checking in into the hotel in Daothiam Restaurant. The dishes called, Tom Yam, Green Curry Chicken, Fried Pork Meat, and Mango vegetables were filled into the stomaches of three.
The street night markets were our next stop after the satisfied dinner in the restaurant that we had in the same restaurant about 10 years ago. The street night markets are located around the Odeon Supermarket where you are still able to see various things are to be sold in every stall whereas the wordings on the shirts are very common in those stalls selling shirts.
One of the street view on the street night markets.
Huge prawns! Yes they are huge prawns from fresh water like rivers. It must be very tasty if the prawns are from salt water.
A group photo with my parents with the tall and bottled shape figure made up of the empty glasses of coca-cola.
After window shopping across the streets of the street night markets and bought myself the shirts of "Starbucks", we finally returned to our hotel room for our rests after walking around part of the city. This concluded the first day of our Hatyai weekend trip.
