When in Penang...we EAT!

Brellowgirl
Apr 11, 2016
13 min read

If you don't appreciate food then this is definitely not the post for you. Sometimes me, my crazy self and I will drive hours just for a certain meal! So we did what most do in Penang...we ate lots!

3.22.16

Penang day 1

We EAAT. Penang is known as the food capital of asia and it’s no wonder why. Dwayne took us to a famous stand to get chendul, a Malay dessert of shaved ice with pandan (a green leaf) flavored palm flour noodles, coconut milk, brown sugar and kidney beans. It was very good (although I got mine without the beans).

Dwayne gets a tattoo. He’s been wanting one for a while so we were his support while he got some fresh ink done at a popular shop called skin nation.

We ventured around for a bit wandering into a main street with a bunch of street food. It’s here where Dwayne gets his favorite wantan mee, which is egg noodles in a black sauce (soy, sesame oil, sugar) topped with fried wantans, sliced char siu, boiled greens (choi sum) and diced green onions. It was probably my favorite dish in Penang. So so yummy. Dwayne also got some fried popiah for us to try. They’re like lumpia but I don’t think ours had meat in them, just glass noodles. They were served with chili sauce and were on point!

On the way down the street we passed a stand for lok lok and Jason dove in. It’s like hot pot where there are boiling pots of communal broth and alllll kinds of skewered meats, fish, vegetables, etc and you just take a plate and pick what you want and drop it in the soup, wait till it’s cooked and then eat. There was a crowd of people around sampling different things and Jason tried some of the weirdest looking things. Each skewer is colored so after you’re finished they can charge you accordingly. Jason tried century egg for the first time…it looked gross but it’s a delicacy here. It’s just a preserved egg that sits in a mix of clay, ash, quicklime and rice hulls. They make a paste and cover the egg and then let it preserve for a few months. The yolk becomes black and the white becomes a translucent, jelly dark brown. It’s gummy in texture.

We got to see some street art also before we went back to the house. Penang is known for it’s street art and most of it is really really amazing.

3.23.16

Penang day 2

We’re on a hunt for chicken rice. I had some in Singapore but Dwayne took us to a place he likes down the street. It was DELICIOUS. It’s so simple yet so yummy. Steamed chicken in a soy based sauce, rice that’s been cooked with ginger and a clear broth soup is usually what you’ll get. Dwayne got seconds. From there we went straight to the Tropical Spice Garden. Dwayne’s family friend is the MD there so we got discounts on our tickets and spent a good amount of time there roaming around the jungle walks, looking for vanilla beans, swinging on giant swings, learning about the exotic flora and of course enjoying the company of hundreds of hungry mosquitos.

We went to Him Heang’s to buy some traditional Chinese biscuits. We got a pack of tow sar bing and a pack of sweet lotus paste. The tow sar bing is a dry biscuit (almost like a dry bun) with a filling made with flour, green beans, fried onions and sugar (like a paste of it). It was very good but made my mouth really dry.

We walked down the main road and Dwayne took us to visit a grandpa who runs an apom stall. He’s named uncle Guan and he makes these little bite sized, fluffy pancakes that are filled with sliced bananas and creamed corn. He has run his stall for about 5 decades and when we queued we found out that he was in the process of making 90+ more of them for the order before us….UGH. the griddle only makes 9 at a time and to make apoms with love it takes a bit of time. We decided to walk down the street a bit where there’s another apom stall run by uncle Chooi. Yes, they are brothers. Rumor has it that they had a bad falling out and now they run two separate apom stalls down the street from each other. The mini pancakes were delicious although the corn was a bit weird. They were coconutty, airy and sweet from the banana. We walked back to uncle Guan’s stall and just as we were passing the lady who had placed the huge order before us was pulling away in her car. She stopped right beside us and asked us to wait for a second while she pulled out a bag of 5 apoms from her order and handed them to us out the window. She said that we had to try them, it was so nice of her. We were really taken aback but excited to try Guan’s famous apoms. They did have a bit of a different taste even though I’ve heard that they both use the same family recipe.

We tried (what I think is) Penang’s most famous stall for char kway teow made by a lady named Seon Chuan Choo (she wears a red hat). Her noodle dish is hella expensive at 12 MR ($3.00USD) but it had giant prawns in it which probably accounted for the price. It was, indeed, very good and the three of us split one dish so we could keep on going with the food tour.

For dinner we indulged at a restaurant called Siang Pin. It’s a Chinese restaurant where you order a bunch of dishes and sharesies with your company. We ordered a Chinese egg dish where they cook the egg by steaming it, some kind of tofu, chicken in a sour plum sauce and broccoli in garlic sauce. It was really nice sharing food and recapping our day together. Rice comes with dinner and I am happy.

After dinner I am determined to purchase a pair of thai pants (yes, I know I’m in the wrong country). I was stupid and didn’t buy them when I was in Thailand and now I’m regretting it. I’m looking for an extremely painstakingly particular pair though. They’re harem style (baggy crotch), really comfortable cotton, in black with a stretchy waist. I don’t find anything remotely close to that. We walked around for a while though looking at all the stands of badly done knock off purses, watches, sunglasses etc. I can’t believe so many people buy this stuff, it doesn’t even look like the real deal. Last but not least we went to Starbucks. Not to buy anything but just to see it. This was the most beautiful Starbucks I’ve ever been in. It was right on the beach so there were lounge chairs on the beach where you could relax with your drink, there was a gift shop, yeah a gift shop in the Startbucks! It had all this Starbucks Malaysia branded stuff and was really nice. The whole place was too cool for a Starbucks.

3.24.16

Penang day 3

We’re up early for dim sum! I’ve had items that are served at dim sum places but I’ve never done dim sum properly-until now. We sat at a huge round table that originally I thought was entirely too big for just the three of us but once food started coming I understood why we needed the space. Dwayne ordered a pot of Chinese tea and one by one we flagged down the old ladies wearing uniforms who were pushing carts. Each cart had something different in it and I was on a mission to try everything! We got Chinese egg tarts, 3 kinds of shumai, char siu buns, I got some kind of porridge, 2 kinds of fried wantans and a few other things. I slurped my porridge until I got to some weirdly colored UFO’s (unidentified food objects). Usually I eat around things like that but in this case Dwayne caught me and said that I had to try it. It was century egg. Here was my chance to man up and prove I was a true foodie. It took some convincing but I finally put it in my mouth. The yolk tasted like yolk but the white tasted so gummy. It didn’t taste distinct at all because it was in my porridge but I could see how it could be unpleasant.

After that meal we all just wanted to roll around and tend to our food babies but there was still so much city to see. Dwayne drove us to a good spot where we could start a walking tour to see Penang’s most famous street art. I loved it because the art work is so amazing here. The most famous is the work of this guy named Ernest Zacharevic. So we spend the day eating and seeing street art. Hot, sweaty, beautiful, yummy Penang. We saw about half of the murals on the master list but because of the heat those were enough for me. Amongst his most famous are “children on a bicycle” and “we want bau”. The works are so witty, using real props in his art.

We walked near the jetty to find another piece and then ended up walking all the way down. There were houses all along the jetty, people living in houses on stilts. Super cool, probably dangerous. We walked around for a bit then found a café to relax in. I hadn’t tried asam laksa yet so I got a bowl. Not my favorite, as asam isn’t my favorite but I had to try it nevertheless.

In the evening we say our goodbyes to Jason who leaves for another workwaway not too far away in a town called Buttersworth. It’s right over the bridge on the mainland. He’s volunteering at a Hare Krishna temple and I can’t explain to you how funny I find this. Jason, about to be a devotee of a very strict practice. We drop him off in front of the temple but the gates are closed. Ha. We amble around to the Buddhist temple next door to see if they have any insight as to where we can find someone to help us at the Hindu temple. No luck. Jason eventually is able to contact a guy named Siva from my phone who tells us to hang on and that he’ll be down in a few.

The gate opens shortly after and we walk through slowly into the dark compound. The temple is huge and instantly I’m a bit jealous that I’m not staying to do a workaway here also. I’d like to spend some time releasing bad energy in the form of meditation and chanting. I think I may have been a yogi in a past life. We stand outside what we think is the correct passageway and not a minute later a short man in what looks like half a toga walks over to us. He doesn’t smile, he doesn’t greet us. It’s a bit of an awkward silence so I offer a “hello” and then when he barely responds I throw Dwayne an awkward turtle gesture behind Jason’s back. While Siva talks to Jason I see that what he’s wearing is just a white cloth wrapped around his waist and it goes down to the floor. He’s not wearing a shirt. If I could get away with not wearing a shirt in this heat I would too. Problem is, I’m already breaking all the rules by wearing jean shorts and a tank top and walking around the temple. I’m so immodest I’m like walking sin. We say our goodbyes and Dwayne and I make our way back home. It felt like dropping off our kid at college or something. Jason, off to experience a new, big world.

3.25.16

This is our lazy day. Sleep in, eat, sleep, eat, sleep. Exactly in that order too. Koalas live the life.

Dwayne takes me down the street to try hokkein mee, vermicelli and egg noodles in a spicy fish broth with slices of pork, greens, half an egg and dried shrimp-it’s delicious. We run into Cat, his family friend who’s the MD at Spice Garden. She’s feeding her son while holding her three month old baby girl. The girl has sparkling deep gray eyes, she’s gorgeous. After we finish eating, we of course, eat more. There’s a lady who sells some good bau (steamed buns) so we get red bean buns to go. I’m never had red bean that’s so smooth before. I’ve lowered my standards because all I eat at home are the frozen ones from Kam Man or Hmart and the red bean in those gets crumbly after you microwave them but these are so yummy and pillowy.

For dinner we try another Chinese place where we share dishes. This one is called Tsunami Village, appropriately named after it was devastated by the aftermath of the Indonesian tidal wave back in ’04. It’s a big restaurant and we find a table by the river. Dwayne points out the huge floating Mosque behind me but I would have figured it out myself because in 5 minutes time prayers were starting and you could hear them over the loud speaker, drowning out all the conversations people were having during their dinners.

We get butter prawns, fried eggplant, mixed vegetables and chicken in plum sauce (have to try it at each place of course). My body is craving vegetables so badly that after we scarf down the food and I’m stuffed I order another plate of the veggies (overeating vegetables is like having a huge slice of cake on your birthday, I.e. it doesn’t count).

3.26.16

Today is my day to leave the island. On a whim, last night I bought a ticket to Malaysia’s island counterpart, Borneo. Indonesia also shares this island with the Malay’s. Islands, islands, islands, I love it. I’m supposed to fly to a town called Kuching in Sarawak around 4pm. Plenty of time before that to get in my last meals in Penang!

By now you must be wondering how I eat so much. I have always had a big appetite since I was younger. Growing up with two brothers I didn’t know anything different than to eat just as much as them. So I did. I was tall, awkward and skinny at 11 and swam for the local JCC/YMCA… I could put down healthy amounts of food. My main exercise recently has been running and more recently (since traveling) walking around and going on hikes here and there (also sweating, does sweating count?). So yes, people, I HAVE been gaining weight. I’m not a goddess with an ungodly high metabolism –unfortunately. I don’t even want to know how unhealthy exactly but I’m interested in getting my blood taken when I get home because I got it done right before I left to make sure everything was in check before traveling. We shall see…

Dwayne and I leave at 10am so we can drop Dwayne’s car off to get serviced before his long drive back to Kuala Lumpur. His AC is a little weak which is a huge deal when you’re driving around on a hot day (which is everyday, get it?). We are almost in town when I get a FB message from Jason, “Hey, what are you guys up to? I left the temple”. First we were shocked, then we burst out into incontrollable laughter playing out every crazy scenario that could have prompted Jason to leave after only ONE full day at his workaway (our favorite was the scenario in which Siva made Jason walk around the temple wearing a white cloth around his waist and no shirt so they could be matching buddies. This makes me die laughing). We agree to meet up but before we can confirm a place and time, Jason leaves the Subway he was sitting at for wifi and leaves me hanging. Great, how are we going to find him in this city?

Dwayne and I take care of priority one first, food. We hit a hawker center and I get a bowl of curry mee, more noodles! Egg noodles, vermicelli noodles, fish balls, fried tofu and slices of pork in a very spicy curry, coconutty, yummy broth. All these soupy noodle dishes are served with a big spoonful of sambal, which is chili paste, wtf??! This curry is already very spicy and it is already very hot outside, I don’t understand this need for constant mouth pain.

We grub, chill, then calculate the time that has passed and agree to walk over to the jetty and see if we can catch Jason coming off the boat onto the island. We have some waiting to do at the pier and I spot some big scales to weigh luggage on. I step on for fun and when the dial doesn’t move for a second I freak out thinking that I’ve gained so much weight I’ve broken it. Then I realize you have to pay to use it, jeeze, ain’t nothin’ in this world for free nowadays.

We’re there for a few minutes before a boat pulls in and people stream out. We spot him. Little Jason with his blue suitcase. We run over and barrage him with endless questions as to what happened at the temple and we hear stories all the way back to the hawker center.

Jason orders deep fried frog legs and we catch up. For only a day having passed we have tons to talk about. That’s the best thing about making new friends, there’s never a shortage of things to talk about.

Time flies and we drop Jason off on Love Ln to find a hostel before Dwayne takes me to the airport. I have more adventuring to do and although I’m very sad to leave my new friends behind I’m excited to be on the road again, just me, myself and I.

The plane ride is a short hour and we land in Kuching. It’s 26MR for a damn taxi to the city and that’s the only way I can get there unless I want to walk. It kills me when there’s no public transportation to get from the airport to the city. I turn around and chat up the next people that come to the taxi counter. My luck, it’s a mother and her two teenage girls. Splitting it four ways is sweet. She gives me a hard time and we end up splitting it in half and although I want to say something I don’t. Half is better than full price. They’re from Canada and the mom seems a little doozy. The girls remind me of myself a bit, I ask if they’re homeschooled. I find out they’re taking 6 months off of school. Not really sure how that works but doesn’t sound super healthy…they get dropped off at their hotel and I walk down the street to mine. Didn’t even get their names. My hostel is dark. Why????? I call the hostel and get let in 15 minutes later. It’s already dark out so I drop off my stuff and head out to find some dinner. I’m almost down the stairs when a girl about my age opens the door to the hostel and passes me up the stairs. I’m almost out the door when she says hi and asks if I’m alone. I hesitate, say yes and tell her I’m on a hunt for food. She asks if she can join and we’re instantly friends.

Her name is Alice – inflection on the second syllable, not the first. She’s French and doing her masters in Singapore. She has two days of classes and then tries to travel on the rest of them. We have dinner together by the river and then promise to hang out during the next few days.

I have so much to tell you about my stay in Kuching and then my jungle adventure in MULU!

Much love,

Cas