Category: Malaysia

A Day in Malacca

Continuing from “A Day in Kuala Lumpur 2“, we decided to check out from the hotel early (immediately after breakfast) so that we can visit Malacca on our way back to Singapore. We spotted Philea Resort and Spa when we exited the expressway and went in to have a look. 🙂

Philea Resort and Spa, seems like a quiet place to rest and relax.

Close-up view of the accommodation at Philea Resort and Spa. Think the ambiance at night will be great!

Swimming pool at Philea Resort and Spa. There wasn’t much guests around when we were there, think they might have checked out…

It was almost time for lunch and we were already hungry so we stop by Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice Ball.

The interior of Restoran Famosa – comes with air-conditioning. A relief to the hot weather!

Chicken Rice Ball at Restoran Famosa. According to their website, the rice balls are moulded by machine so it’s hygienic.

Dumpling Soup at Restoran Famosa.

Fish Ball Soup at Restoran Famosa.

Roasted Chicken at Restoran Famosa.

Choy Sum & Roasted Pork at Restoran Famosa.

Steamed Chicken at Restoran Famosa.

Then after our lunch, we took a short stroll to the nearby “Tan Kim Hock Product Centre” to buy Dodol durian.

Other then Dodol durian, there are also many snacks and food products for sale. Some of them are really nostalgic – products that we used to have in Singapore!

Old historical scene of Malacca.

Passing by a Chinese temple.

YSL (Yue Sang Loong) selling Chinese raw medicine.

Old style coffee shop – we still have something similar back home in Singapore but it’s getting less and hard to find. Maybe I should go take photos and blog about it before it’s gone…

Provision shop at Malacca.

Antique wares at Malacca.

Heard that this is the famous Chicken Rice stall at Jonker Walk…but we already had our fill. Hehe! Next time!

Spotted San Shu Gong (三叔公) so we went in to buy food products. Heard there is one San Shu Gong at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 too!

Interior of San Shu Gong – there was a lot of people inside buying stuffs and it was pretty hot as the air-conditioning is not working. This photo shows the quiet corner as I didn’t want to jostle with the shoppers. Haha!

We couldn’t stand the stuffiness so we quickly bought our stuffs and left. There is a Lao Qian Ice Cafe near the entrance of San Shu Gong.

Walking down Jonker Street in search of famous Chendol to eat.

I didn’t have a gook look but think the stall is probably selling Ding Ding Candy…

Passing by a stall that sells ice cream shaped like an egg.

Hokkien Huay Kuan at Malacca.

Grilled cuttlefish – you can smell it from a distance away… 😛

Finally reached our destination for Chendol – Jonker Dessert 88.

Interior of Jonker Dessert 88 and it’s actually a cafe museum. Love the old nostalgic setting!

In the shelves, there are many exhibits such as old currency notes, pots, artifacts, etc but I think majority of the patrons are concentrating on the food only!

Waiting for our orders to be prepared. 🙂

Cendol from Jonker Dessert 88. Nice! Think it’s because of the superb Gula Melaka.

Ice Kacang from Jonker Dessert 88. My friend had this!

After the dessert, we went back to our car and continue our journey home to Singapore. We met with a massive jam at Johor Bahru (all the Singapore cars are going back!) and the vehicles were practically not moving at all. Then, we decided to break away from the jam to go for dinner first and hope that the traffic jam have eased. We were thinking too positively – the jam was worse after our dinner! We then decided to try going back by Tuas Checkpoint instead of Woodlands Checkpoint and to our surprise, there wasn’t any jam at all and it was so smooth. Lesson learned, next time just whack straight back from Tuas Checkpoint if we go to Malaysia during long weekends in Singapore, I think traffic will not be as bad as Johor Bahru even there is a jam! But crap happens too and you can be never too sure!

Kuala Lumpur

A Day in Kuala Lumpur 2

Hiya, this is a long overdue blog post! The Kuala Lumpur trip was made during the long weekend of 7th to 9th August 2010 where Singapore was celebrating it’s National Day and it’s a holiday on 9th August 2010. We (a group of 6 adults and 2 children) took the opportunity to go for a last-minute short trip and the hotels was almost full (well, they did jack up the prices though!). It was a self-drive journey and there was jams along the way (especially at immigration) as many Singaporeans also had the same idea of relaxing out of Singapore! Anyway, the photo above show my lunch (Fish Ball Kway Teow Soup) at Yong Peng Rest Stop.

By the time we reached our hotel (The Gardens Hotel) at Mid Valley, it was already around 6pm. There was a queue at the front desk and we got our rooms separated on different floors even though we have made requests.

The Gardens Hotel – Nice room with comfortable-looking bed.

The Gardens Hotel – Large desk area for those who are going to do work or surf internet.

The Gardens Hotel – Vanity area.

The Gardens Hotel – the bathroom comes with a selection between using the normal shower head or the rain shower function. You can also take a soak in the bath tub too!

The Gardens Hotel – Separated dry toilet for you to take a dump without getting your feet wet! 😛

The Gardens Hotel – View from our room.

The Gardens Hotel – Comes with a mini-fridge and complimentary tea/coffee/drinking water.

The Gardens Hotel – Outside of the hotel where you can valet park your vehicle. For hotel guests, it is much more economical to valet then to park on your own.

The Gardens Hotel – Sofas at the lobby area where we always use as a meeting place. 🙂

Taking a walk at Mid Valley Megamall.

Having our dinner at Little Penang Kafe at Mid Valley Megamall.

Little Penang Kafe serves the best of Penang cuisine and seems to get a fair bit of press write-ups!

Assam Laksa at Little Penang Kafe.

Prawn Mee at Little Penang Kafe.

After our dinner, we continue to take a walk around Mid Valley Megamall.

After several grueling hours of shopping, we head off to T.G.I. Friday’s to have a drink and light supper. It was already 10.30pm!

T.G.I. Friday’s – Long Island Tea for my partner and I had Erdinger.

Our simple supper at T.G.I. Friday’s.

T.G.I. Friday’s – The interior of the restaurant. Love the “Kitchen” signage!

T.G.I. Friday’s – Guitars and photos of singers are hung on the wall. Not sure why but it sure gives me a feeling that I am in Hard Rock Cafe…

Forward to the next morning, we had our free buffet breakfast within The Gardens Hotel.

Breakfast time at The Gardens Hotel was having long queues at the reception to wait for tables. Believe that lot of the tourists are Singaporeans!

After breakfast, we went to the swimming pool to have a look even though we were not planning to swim. Nice looking pool!

The view from the swimming pool at The Gardens Hotel.

After our tour at the swimming pool, we went to Suria KLCC and it’s shopping time for the ladies. Huge crowd here even though it was early morning!

Interesting roof architecture at Suria KLCC.

Our wives getting all frenzied up with Vincci shoes… It was so packed that there is virtually no air-conditioning in the shop… haha!

Went outdoors to take a photo of Petronas Twin Tower.

Open area in front of Suria KLCC. We didn’t hang around for long as it’s really warm outside!

We went back indoors and then to Olio Dome Café to take a break from our tired legs.

My drink at Olio Dome Café, think it was Passion Fruit Berries or something like that… hehe!

Wanted to have Bak Kut Teh but it was not open yet so we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant at the corner of Jalan Alor. My partner having chicken noodles.

I am having Wonton noodles. Decent meal.

The outside of the restaurant. Think most people might be familiar with this location.

After our meal, my friend decided that we should have durians for dessert and went to buy a couple of them. We brought them into the restaurant to eat after seeking the staff’s approval. Damn, these durians are good!

Next, we went to Pavilion Mall to walk around. Basically, this trip is more of hanging around and shopping rather than like my usual of exploring the less-traveled areas. It’s good for a change but not too often as I do get bored at shopping centers! Haha!

The next morning, we will be leaving Kuala Lumpur and back to Singapore, but before so, we will stop by Malacca for a couple of hours to buy food stuffs and eat Cendol! 🙂

Kuala Lumpur

A Day in Kuala Lumpur 1

Early morning around 7plus, I was woken up by some commotion at the lobby, think might be some guests checking out. Then, I tried to get back to bed but wasn’t able to so decided to wake up and have breakfast before checking emails and do some work. Above photo shows the complimentary breakfast at 41berangan – there is coffee, tea, milk, bread (jam & butter), etc.

After burying myself in the notebook for a couple of hours, it’s time for lunch. As it was raining cats and dogs, I wore the slippers (with permission) provided by 41berangan to go out. Oh, 41berangan also provided umbrellas too!

I went to Lot 10 Hutong to have lunch, this foodcourt apparently features the best food of Kuala Lumpur and there are plenty of choices!

Walk several times around the whole premises and finally settled for Soong Kee Beef Noodles. There is so much more that I like to try but there is a limitation to my intake. 🙁

Soong Kee Beef Noodles Set at RM 7.90.

After the lunch, I took a short stroll to Pavilion Mall.

Interior of Pavilion Mall. Amazed by the grandeur!

Restoran Island Bistro at Pavilion Mall – seems like a wonderful place to relax and have some drinks…

Spazzio at Pavilion Mall – various food and drinks are available.

A myriad view of escalators in Pavilion Mall.

Walking around in Pavilion Mall, it was relatively quiet for a Saturday afternoon…

So this is where the crowd is… having their lunch at Food Republic.

I have taken my lunch so only had a hot coffee from Toastbox.

Passing by a house while on the way back to 41berangan to check out.

After checking out from 41berangan, I walk to Plaza Low Yat to cut through. Not sure whether it’s the faster way towards Pasarakyat Bus Terminal but this is the way that I took when I reached so I am just retracing the route.

Reached Berjaya Times Square and saw that there is singing competition to be held in the evening. Some of the contestants are practicing their songs and I must say that they are very good!

Theme Park at Berjaya Times Square.

Interior of Berjaya Times Square – huge shopping center with over 1,000 shops!

Took a slow walk to Pasarakyat Bus Terminal for my coach back to Singapore.

Located Transtar Express and went to check-in. I had a coffee and some wafer biscuits in the lounge while waiting for the coach to be ready for boarding. There are also stalls around selling various items.

Food court at Pasarakyat Bus Terminal – only a few stalls is operational.

Boarded the coach and went to my seat at the upper deck.

Yeah, the LCD at my seat is working. Oh, I am using the ear phone from my iPhone instead of the ones supplied for easy switching between movies and songs (iPhone). Hehe.

Stop at Yong Peng for a short break. The time is about 645pm.

Transtar did not provide any mineral water for the return trip so I bought a small bottle to hydrate myself.

The Transtar Express Premium bus that I am taking.

The rest of the journey went on smoothly and it was a nice trip to Kuala Lumpur though a bit rush… but anyway I still had the opportunity to roam around and check out some stuffs so it wasn’t that bad. I am quite sure that there will be more trips to Kuala Lumpur in the future. I am anticipating it as there are a few food that I wanted to try! 🙂

Tags 41berangan, berjaya times square, bukit bintang, food republic, kuala lumpur, lot 10 hutong, low yat plaza, Malaysia, pasarakyat bus terminal, pavilion mall, restoran island bistro, singapore, soong kee beef noodles, spazzio, theme park, toastbox, transtar travel, yong peng

Kuala Lumpur

A Day in Kuala Lumpur

A recent business requirement brings me to Kuala Lumpur (KL) , Malaysia. This time round I will be taking the coach up north instead of driving as it will give me time to catch up on some reading as well as work. The journey on the coach is definitely longer then self-drive and it’s usually takes approximately 5 to 6 hours with one stop in-between. I have booked online for premium coach from Transtar Travel and it cost a total of S$54.59.

Singapore to KL (Pasarakyat Bus Terminal) – S$32.96 (includes 3% admin charge)
KL (Pasarakyat Bus Terminal) to Singapore – S$21.63 (includes 3% admin charge)

Above photo shows the waiting lounge at Transtar Travel. There are free coffee, tea, snacks available for consumption too.

Interior of coach – it is relatively clean and comfortable. The seats come with a massage function, which I truly appreciate.

Each seat also comes with a LCD screen where you can watch TV programmes or movies but the screen for my allocated seat is spoilt! By the way, there is also a 3-pin plug power source located near the bottom of the seat, this is especially useful if you are working on your notebook or just entertaining yourself on PSP, iPhone, Nintendo, etc. Each of the traveler are given a bottle of mineral water too!

Lucky Garden rest stop at Yong Peng – is one of the popular rest stop for interstate buses. There are many variety of food available for selection too!

Towards the end, there is a provision shop selling various kinds of Malaysia snacks and products. This is a heaven for those who loves to munch on snacks while traveling on the coach!

Walk around and I decided to have a Ramly Burger for breakfast.

Ramly Chicken Burger RM5. The chicken patty is wrapped up by the egg. 🙂

Finally reach KL (Pasarakyat Bus Terminal) and decided to talk a short stroll to Bukit Bintang area.

Walking towards Berjaya Times Square.

Krispy Kreme at Berjaya Times Sqaure. Remembered that Krispy Kreme is extremely popular in Japan and had super-long queues!

Lunch at Marrybrown (Berjaya Times Sqaure) – Lucky plate with Orange Juice at RM10.40.

The interior of Marrybrown at Berjaya Times Sqaure – clean and have various kind of seating available. Love the over-hanging cocoon seat!

After the lunch, it’s time to perk up with a Starbucks Mocha at RM11.75.

Went to Etude House to check out some items for my partner.

After my business meeting, I headed over to Bukit Bintang area. Passing through Low Yat Plaza, which is a shopping centre that specialize in electronics and IT products, much like our Sim Lim Square in Singapore.

Lot 10, another shopping center that serves middle-upper tier products.

Reached my accommodation for the night, 41Berangan, which is located at 41 Jalan Berangan. It is near to the famous street food (Jalan Alor), shopping malls (Jalan Bukit Bintang), night life and restaurants (Changkat Bukit Bintang). Trying out for the first time. 🙂

Free usage of the computer and internet access at the lobby area. You can also request for the WIFI password from the staff for free in-room access from your notebook or mobile!

Waiting area of the lobby.

Standard room (twin) – 2 single beds with shared bathroom. I booked this online at RM 100 (which includes RM20 surcharge per room for weekend) and also includes a simple continental breakfast. Room is rather small but still good enough for me. For those interested, please note that there is no TV in the room and you have to use the common bathroom. It is also on the first level and next to the check-in counter.

At a corner, you have an area where you can hang your clothes. You can ask for towels if they are not in the room.

Common wash basin area.

One of the common bathrooms, comes with shampoo and body foam.

Court yard area – There is 2 rooms here that is made from containers. The container rooms comes with 1 double bed with attached bathroom (deluxe).

Dining area – you can also watch TV programs or DVD movies here too!

A shop which is beside 41Berangan, you can get food, drinks or snacks here. The outside sitting seems like a great place to chill out!

Passing by Radius International Hotel.

Checking out Healy Mac’s Irish Bar and Restaurant at Changkat Bukit Bintang.

Reggae Bar at Changkat Bukit Bintang. Looks like a nice place to party!

Havanna at Changkat Bukit Bintang.

Hotel Rae – one of my accommodation consideration.

YY38 Hotel – another of my accommodation consideration. Think I will try either Hotel Rae or YY38 for my next trip to KL.

Temporary rubbish dump in-between Jalan Alor and Jalan Bukit Bintang? I have seen this scene since many years ago and the rubbish are still around…

Federal Hotel – used to stay here whenever I travel to Kuala Lumpur.

Passing by Restoran Dragon View. Is the food here any good?

Famous food street – Jakan Alor.

Many food stalls available at Jalan Alor. It’s also a popular place for tourist too!

A mobile kitchen selling Lok Lok (food on wooden skewers and cooked by dipping in a hot satay gravy).

Met up with a friend and headed off to Pavilion Mall to have some beers. Checking out La Bodega at Pavilion Mall.

Decided to hang at Weissbrau German Bistro & Bar and we had Hoegarden, Erdinger and Franziskaner. Nice place to chill!

Back to hotel and was feeling hungry so went to the coffee shop at the end of Jalan Berangan to order a packet of Mee Goreng at RM5. Went back to hotel and dine in the room while checking emails on the notebook. It was already 2am when I went to take a bath and then to bed. What a long day!!! 🙂

Penang

A Day in Penang 2

Third day in Penang. Same usual process of going for the free buffet breakfast as the previous day (see A Day in Penang 1), then headed out to KOMTAR (Malay: Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak) bus station to take Bus 204 to Penang Hill (last stop). Since I reached around 10.45am, I bought the earliest round-trip ticket RM4 for 11:00am at Penang Hill Railway ticket counter. Actually, I did come to Penang Hill the previous day too (as it’s nearby Kek Lok Si) but I have to wait for 2.5 hours for the next available rail. Thought it was a time-waster to just sit and wait, so decided to come back early the next day.

Finally boarded the 11:00am funicular railway. It was really crowded and cramped!

Leaving the main station and going upwards to Penang Hill. The funicular railway will not take you straight to the top, you have to change trains halfway.

Finally arrived after 30 min duration. Another group of visitors will take the same funicular train down.

Panoramic view of the city, 830m above sea level. It’s cooling up here! 🙂

Funicular train on it’s way down.

Jungle trekking is one of the popular activities in Penang Hill. Another attraction is Canopy Walk, which is a suspension bridge hanging over the treetops. Would love to do both but I just don’t have enough time as I need to collect biscuits from Him Heang and then meet up with my partner at hotel at 3pm! Sigh….

Is that the faint image of Penang Bridge?

Waiting area for the funicular train leaving Penang Hill.

At the top of Penang Hill, there is tea kiosk, restaurants, souvenir stalls, mosque, Hindu temple and Bellevue hotel.

Another view of city of Penang. Seems to me it’s kinda cloudy today and wasn’t able to see so clearly.

Bukit Bendera is the Malay name for Penang Hill, which refers to Flagstaff Hill, the most developed peak.

Walking around to explore. Noted that are some stalls around here.

A stall selling grasshoppers that care delicately made from leaves.

Seems to be an area where you can take photo with snakes.

Food center at the top of Penang Hill for you to chill out or eat.

Somewhere on Penang Hill, there is this 32 pounder cannon, weighing 2.75 tons. This cannon was probably transported from town to hill as an ornament or to warn the presence of pirates.

Sri Aruloli Thirumurugan, or better known as the Penang Hill Hindu Temple, is one of the oldest Hindu temples in Penang.

Old wooden funicular train of Penang Hill Railway, used from 1923 to 1977.

Taking another look at the city view before leaving Penang Hill. The journey also takes about 30min down and after which I took bus 204 back to KOMTAR area.

From KOMTAR, took a short stroll to New World Park along Jalan Burma (beside Tune Hotels Penang).

Food Court at New World Park. Huge selection of food available!

Koay Teow Th’ng (粿条汤) RM4.

After my lunch at New World Park, I went to Him Heang to collect my orders – 2 boxes of Tau Sar Pneah (豆沙饼) at RM19 and 2 boxes of Beh Teh Sor (马蹄酥) at RM13.

At Him Heang, I also bought 1 packet of preserved nutmeg (sweet) RM2.80, 1 packet of preserved nutmeg (sweet & salty) RM2.80 and 1 packet of liquorice nutmeg at RM4.30. Buah Pala is the malay word for nutmeg.

Left the Him Heang products back at hotel and met up with my partner. Then took a cab for RM12 to Gurney Plaza to walk around again! There is Dragonball Z Heroic Christmas Live Show happening at Gurney Plaza. I was a Dragonball fan when I was young (hmm…maybe I still am now …)!

G Hotel Penang at Gurney Drive. Should have stayed here instead but my partner mentioned that it might be a hassle to travel daily to Hotel Royal Penang for her training. It’s such a nice hotel – surely it can make up for the travel time! 😛

Walking along Gurney Drive sourcing for dinner.

We decided to try Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant at Gurney Drive, Penang as I was attracted to the Bali-themed decoration.

Huge selection of fresh seafood available at Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant. You can come up to this area and choose what you like to have!

Steam Live Prawns 300g RM24++.

Sambal Asparagus RM12++.

Fried mussels with Aroma Spicy Sauce RM15++.

Chilli Crab with Steam Buns RM52++. Oh yes, also had 2 bottles of Carlsberg at RM27++ to go along with the meal too!

Night setting of Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant. Very nice!

After the dinner at Bali Hai Seafood Restaurant at Gurney Drive, we took a cab to New World Park at RM15. Wanted to try Old Town White Coffee before I leave Penang.

Old Town White Coffee.

Mango and Cranberry Smoothie at Old Town White Coffee.

The next morning, we arranged for hotel limousine service to drive us to Penang International Airport after we had our breakfast. Reached the airport and immediately checked-in our luggage.

There was still some time left before our flight boarding so we relaxed at The Coffee Bean and shared a cup of Mocha.

This trip was pretty short for me as I only had 1 and 1/2 days to explore around. There were several attractions that I wanted to visit but did not due to the short stay. The next time I return to Penang, I will make sure to stay at one of the resorts at Batu Ferringhi and relax! 🙂

Penang

A Day in Penang 1

Second day in Penang (槟城), woke up around 7.30am and headed to the coffee lounge beside the hotel lobby to have our free breakfast buffet. After the breakfast, my partner went to attend her training which was also held at one of the meeting rooms in the hotel. I had another quick look at the free map which I took from the hotel lobby before stepping out to explore.

Walking along Jalan Burma towards KOMTAR (Malay: Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak). Spotted some colonial styled shop houses along the way.

Coin-operated parking meter that are still used in Georgetown, Penang. Interesting!

TuneHotels.com in Penang. Have heard great reviews about this hotel!

Another colonial-styled houses. Love the gold trimmings on the gate as it brings out the delicate design.

KOMTAR (Malay: Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak) – the tallest building in Penang.

On the top of the cross-junction bridge, noticed that there is an old building beside it.

Street view from the bridge. It was about 9.30am, traffic was smooth.

Slowly made my way to the bus station at KOMTAR and waited for a short while before boarding the bus. As there are various prices for different destination (depending on distance) so normally I will ask for the price for destination when I board the bus. You pay during then and will be handed a ticket as above. The buses are operated under Rapid Penang and you can check out their website for journey planner.

Shops near the bus stop (in Ayer Itam) where I alighted for my destination to Kek Lok Si (极乐寺).

It’s a busy morning! Rows of shops and stalls selling almost everything. At the far end of the road, there is a local wet market as well.

The Kuan Yin Octagonal Pavilion was only recently completed on 6th December 2009. 🙂

Reached Kek Lok Si’s Kuan Yin Octagonal Pavilion.

The area where you can purchase offerings for prayers. I made a purchase for 3 joss sticks for my prayers.

A resting pavilion at Kek Lok Si.

Ticket counter for incline lift to Five Directions Buddha Great Hall.

Made the ticket purchase for return trip at RM4. Then proceeded to queue up for the lift to arrive.

Inside the incline lift to visit the Five Directions Buddha Great Hall.

Five Directions Buddha Great Hall.

A long rows of Buddhas.

Bird’s eye view of Georgetown, Penang from Kek Lok Si.

Building beside the Five Directions Buddha Great Hall.

Very colorful and interesting architecture.

Walk up the stairs to 2nd level and you will see 3 Buddha in the room.

Went up to the Kuan Yin Octagonal Pavilion for closer look and to pray as well.

My first Penang Laksa RM3 that I had in Penang at a coffee shop outside of Kek Lok Si.

The stall that sells the Penang Laksa. There are several other food in the coffee shop as well.

Realized that I have not taken any photo of the Rapid Penang bus that I have been taking so I quickly took a snap while waiting for my bus to arrive.

While waiting for bus to arrive, I saw a stall (well, it’s a stall on a motorcycle) that is selling Penang Muah Chee ( glutinous rice balls coated in toasted peanuts). Decided to give it a go!

My RM2 worth of Penang Muah Chee . It was soft and chewy!

The interior of the Rapid Penang bus.

Took the Rapid Penang bus back to KOMTAR area and visited Prangin Mall. Went up to the 4th floor to check out the tech products!

Another area of Prangin Mall. There are a total of 167 Tenant in Prangin Mall. Cathay Cineplex is on the 5th floor!

At KOMTAR Walk, chanced upon Cafe Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol and decided to give it a try due to the hot weather.

Original Chendol RM5.50. My bad, focusing is totally out!

The interior of Cafe Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol. Nicely decorated with many old antiques!

Ghee Hiang (义香) at 216 Jalan Macalister – one of the famous traditional biscuits brands in Penang. The huge crowd in front was bought by tour operators as there was several big coach buses parked at the main road.

Another famous and popular biscuits brand in Penang – Him Heang (馨香). There is only one shop in Penang and it’s located at 162A Burma Road. Pre-ordering is recommended due to the limited daily production. I made an order for 2 boxes of Tau Sar Pneah (豆沙饼) and 2 boxes of Beh Teh Sor (马蹄酥) to be collected the next day.

After ordering the traditional biscuits from Him Heang, I continued my walk up Jalan Burma to visit Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram. I had some difficulties locating this area as I thought I have overshot it but actually I need walk further down (after asking a local lady). The above is Dhammikarama Burmese Temple which is located opposite Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram.

Entrance of Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram. The temple was built in 1845.

Walking into Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram.

Spectacular Reclining Buddha at Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram – one of the largest Reclining Buddha in the world, measuring 33 meters in length and is completely gold plated.

After the visit at Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram, I walked back to hotel to meetup with my partner. Then we took the 6.30pm free hotel shuttle bus (prior reservations required) to Gurney Drive and alighted at Plaza Gurney. Walking down to the Gurney Food Center.

Huge crowd was already forming at Gurney Food Center. Quickly found an empty seat and then went to order food.

Cantonment Road Famous Char Koay Teow at Gurney Drive. Can’t remember the price but believe it was RM3! It was really yummy!

Penang Laksa with additional fish ball for RM4. My partner had this as I have already consumed one bowl during my lunch.

Oh, the “Cantonment Road Famous Char Koay Teow” stall where I ordered my Char Koay Teow from.

Hokkien Prawn Mee RM3.50.

After dinner, we headed off to Plaza Gurney to walk around and do some shopping.

Plaza Gurney is the second largest shopping mall in Penang. The interior is classy!

While strolling around Plaza Gurney, A&W restaurant caught my attention as I have not patronize it since many moons ago. This is because A&W have pulled out from Singapore for quite sometime already (since 2004) and the only way for Singaporeans to eat it is to travel overseas (nearest either Johor, Malaysia or Batam, Indonesia). The A&W at Plaza Gurney have a retro-styled design.

My order for Beef Coney Dog Set RM13.35 – upgraded with Curly Fries and Root Beer Float. Was asked to take a seat first and the Coney Dog will be delivered when it’s ready.

Eating the A&W Beef Coney Dog. It may seemed like I have eaten a lot for dinner but trust me that this is just the replenishment for the energy I used up while walking around for the whole day. 😛

After the meal, we took a cab back to Hotel Royal Penang at RM12. The taxis in Penang do not use the meters and you need to ask/negotiate for the rate to your destination before boarding!

Penang

A Day in Penang

Recently my partner had to go Penang (Malaysia) for some training and since I was on annual leave, I decided to accompany her there and spend the whole day exploring around on my own. Actually, we wanted to catch the morning flight but it was sold out so we settled for the 3.45pm SilkAir flight from Singapore to Penang. Arrived at Singapore Changi Airport T2 early so we went for a short coffee session after we have checked-in our luggage.

Walking towards our boarding gate. The departure display was already showing “Last Call” so we hurried our footsteps. 🙂

Reached Penang International Airport after 1 hour 20 mins journey. We are staying in Hotel Royal Penang and have arranged for airport pick-up service. Arrived at the hotel within half hour.

Work desk, TV console and mini-bar area at Hotel Royal Penang. We bought the red wine on the desk at the duty-free shop at Singapore Changi Airport so that we can bring it out for dinner later.

Wash Room. My partner noted that there was some urine stains on the toilet seat! Apparently, it was not cleaned thoroughly!

Together with another colleauge, we met up with my partner’s boss (based in Penang) at the hotel lobby and he drove us to a kampong-styled restaurant somewhere in Bukit Tambun for dinner. The journey took around 1 hour as the traffic was peaking. Anyway, the first thing I noticed when we reached the restaurant was the Horseshoe crab. Hmm….wonder how it taste like? Oh, I also heard that you might get poisoning if you eat the wrong part? Is is true?

The rest of the seafood delicacies the restaurant have to offer.

Was about 7.40pm when we arrived at Gee Seng Seafood Restaurant (義成海鮮樓) and there was already quite a huge crowd of local diners there.

Some spiked snails that you need a toothpick to dig out the meat and dunk it into sambal chilli before devouring it. First time trying and it’s not that bad!

Stir-fry clams. The gravy works well on the white rice that we having. 🙂

Chilli crab with man tou (deep-fried buns).

Baked mud crabs. Comes with a wooden stick to crack the shell!

Prawns coated with salted egg yolk. Heavenly!

Well, the total damage for the dinner for 4 person worked out to be around RM110 and I find it really affordable! So next time if you are in Penang, please do visit Bukit Tambun as there are numerous seafood restaurants with vast offerings of fresh and cheap seafood!

After the dinner, we head back to the hotel to rest as my partner needs to wake up early for her training the next day. So for me, I just made some notes on which attraction in Georgetown I will be visiting the next day. After all. the inner city of Georgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! 🙂