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Tag: Travel

Visited Chew Jetty Spontaneously with Yiphing

That day, I’ve forgotten which day it was. I went to Prangin Mall to print out my photo, then met up with Yiphing who was on NS holiday. Then while waiting for my photo to be printed out, we went somewhere else to let the time passed. I actually didn’t have the idea of where to go and suddenly, spontaneously thought of checking out Chew Jetty for fun.

I was not ready for it yet, so it’s actually a fun trip and I bet I will go back there again for a real trip which I take lots of photos at there. Waiting for a blue sky which is the green light for me to go there, and also a bunch of crazy friends. =D

Chew Jetty is a place/water house/livings/tourist place at Weld Quay, Penang. Every year, the famous Pai Ti Kong festival is celebrated at there.

I actually wanted to check out this place, pre-look around before bringing my NS friend to this place to see see. But somehow, the Penang trip that I had with them recently did not include this, the girls insisted to go to shopping instead.

I went here before, almost I came here every year but it was during the night, during the Pai Ti Kong festival. It’s my first time going during daylight, not very sunny on that day, a little bit cloudy and it was late afternoon.

The place was pretty quiet. There’s a little tourist touring the place and photographers taking photos at there. Not many residents around too, perhaps they’re still at work.

The place is peaceful, I wonder is any unit at there up for sale, so I can buy it in the future, and revamp it into the most beautiful home on the sea at that area, haha.

Sea water at there is dirty though. Sea water by the shore of Penang is always dirty, it’s not close to big ocean, and so much of development around the city, there’s no turquoise clear water.

Nice place. Everyday can get a good view of Penang and I wanna park a yacht here. Haha.

If you are a tourist, you can check out the Homestay at there. There’s a house with rooms for rent, include breakfast too. Pretty cool. Perhaps I can go there with friends some times. =D Try a bit of the life at there for a day or two. See some sunrise and sunset. Shiok!

We went to collect photo after that, then home! Yeah.

June 15, 2010
Quick Dropby at Eng Chuan Tong Tan Kongsi (Tan Clan House)

One day, I was driving, on the way to Beach Street from Prangin Mall, then I simply turned into a street, no idea where it was, some where on Beach Street I guess, then I looked around and accidentally found the Tan Clan House & Temple also known as Tan Kongsi to the local.

Alright, Tan is a Chinese surname, Tan is known to Hokkien people and my surname Chan is known to Cantonese people and we share the same ancestor thousands of years ago I believe. Tan, Chan, Chen, it’s all the same.

Found a parking space and parked the car. Then I went down to look around for fun because I’ve never been there before and it’s my first time knowing this place. The temple was close and I guess I may find names of my ancestor who first came to Penang many many years back.

This place is small compare to Khoo Kongsi, this can said that the Khoo has more families. This kongsi-kongsi was where all the people of the same surname live together when they first arrive in Penang island. Later then when the island is modernized, everyone spreaded out.

Pretty cool. Gonna go here again when it’s open.

June 9, 2010
Famous Ipoh Shredded Chicken Hor Fun (Kai Si Hor Fun) at Thean Chun Cafe

Here comes Ipoh food again. I was in Ipoh for fun 2 weeks ago and got to thanks Jee An and Voon Bin for their hospitality and accommodations. They brought us around for food and fun. One of the famous Ipoh food I had was the Shredded Chicken Hor Fun or known as Kai Si Hor Fun in Cantonese.

This famous shredded chicken hor fun stall located in Ipoh’s old town on Jalan Bandar Timah, more likely known as Leech Street to the local, in an old cafe named Thean Chun.

Ipoh’s Hor Fun are more likely the same as our Penang’s Koay Teow except that it’s more smooth and softer when put in mouth. They look the same, but the textual isn’t. Hor Fun to Penangite are something thicker than Koay Teow.

As for the Shredded Chicken Hor Fun, it’s just almost like our Penang’s Koay Teow Th’ng, except it’s a little spicy and there’s shrimp in it. You can find almost similar one on Buckingham Street near to the market there where you order a bowl of clear soup koay teow (清汤粿条) at the curry noodle stall in front of the market.

Talking back about the Shredded Chicken Hor Fun, it looks nice but somehow to me, I still prefer koay teow in it instead of hor fun, everything was good except the choice of noodle. Maybe I am a Penang person and love koay teow more than their hor fun. Anyway, if you go to Ipoh, this is a must try.

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May 20, 2010
Chicken Rice Served On Aeroline Bus

I took the Aeroline bus from Penang down to Kuala Lumpur, the bus is not like typical intercity express bus, but it’s something more luxurious with food and drinks served just like in an airplane, except there’s 4 wheels. LOL.

They have different menu for different time, I heard there’s nasi lemak, fried bee hoon, chicken rice and also Subway sandwich. As for my time, I took the morning bus at 1030am, they served me Chicken Rice. It’s warm and surprisingly the chicken was not bad, except for the rice, doesn’t taste like chicken rice to me. The gravy was nice when eating with the rice and chicken.

Food on-the-bus was not bad. Haha

May 17, 2010
Went to KL to Check Out MIFF with Dad

Last weekend, there’s a exhibition/expo happened in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. It’s the Malaysia International Furniture Fair. Dad is in part of the furnishing business so he brought us along to Kuala Lumpur. Usually, going there would be more likely a shopping trip for me and mommy but somehow, I didn’t really buy anything. It’s more like a business-acompany trip, nothing to buy actually and there’s no sale in Malaysia.

To be honest, I am not really into the furniture and related expo, I only interested in something like Electronic Gaming Expo or the Consumer Electronics Show, Tokyo Game Show or perhaps the Taiwan Computex. They’re cool and bombastic gadgets show, which I like! Somehow, I need to be interested in furniture because I will be doing interior design course in college. Yeah.

Quite a lovely rainy day in Kuala Lumpur, it rained so big, the cats and dogs type of rain, it’s nice because it had been very hot weather since Chinese New Year. Temperature here in Malaysia is sky rocket high.

It’s interesting that the MIFF was not located on one venue only, it’s spread out to 3 convention hall, the KLCC, PWTC and MECC. I didn’t really have the feel to tour KL so was just following daddy here and there to do his business.

After finish touring the exhibition hall, we went to check-in at the hotel. We stayed at Concorde. It’s a walk-in as I tried to book hotel but many hotels were fully booked and it’s quite last minute too. Thankfully, there’s still room in Concorde.

Penang also got Jalan P. Ramlee.

We then walked to Avenue K which just right opposite KLCC. From the hotel to Avenue K is like 15 minutes away only, very close, and passed by the night life district.

Have been to KL for so many times, been shopping in Suria KLCC for so many times and it’s my first time getting so close to KLCC, right below it. I now only believe that it’s so magnificent even though it’s not the tallest now. Still, it’s the tallest STAINLESS STEEL TWIN tower in the world. ^^

Malaysia BOLEH.

It’s really a beautiful building and it’s a must visit and photograph if you come to Malaysia.

Avenue K is actually a shopping mall, but then no idea why, there’s no shop inside. There’s only a few restaurant and we went there for dinner. I actually visited the supercondo above Avenue K before, it was like last year. =)

Nice uncle living in KL brought us to this Ah Yat Abalone chinese restaurant. Nice food, nice place!

After dinner, I went to Suria KLCC to window shop a while because it’s still early and I didn’t want to go back to the hotel so soon, as there’s no Internet access also. So might as well stay outside a little while longer. Only then we walked back to the hotel. Then sleep. ^^

Views from hotel room. Saw Hard Rock Cafe yeah. Penang got Hard Rock Hotel.

The next day, went to visit Taylor’s College Lakeside Campus, very beautiful and only then a real window shopping at Suria KLCC again where dad went to visit to MIFF, KLCC hall. Then came back to Penang in evening. Yeah!

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March 13, 2010
Hat Yai’s Street Food for Supper

I went to Hat Yai, Thailand recently. It’s very near to Malaysia and it can be said as my first trip to Hat Yai because I don’t really have any memory of my previous trip when I was very very very young. Thai food are very nice, I like but then some are not very hygiene, anyway, don’t care about the cleanliness, let’s talked about food I had.

After a nice tradition Thai foot massage, it’s 12am Malaysian time and it’s only 11pm Thailand’s time, we were walking along the street, on the way back to hotel. Then we saw a street food stall by the road side and dad decided to eat something.

he stall sells Koay Teow Thng ala Thai’s Chinese style and Chinese desserts (Tong Sui). Mom went to buy Thai’s 油条 (mandarin:you2 tiao2), a.k.a. yao zhar kway or Chinese doughnut. The shape was so different from what we have and it’s not hot.

The way of eating it is not eating with porridge as we Chinese do, or with Bak Kut Teh, or with soya milk like that Taiwanese does. They eat it with kaya sauce. Pretty special and the kaya sauce was sweet. First time eating you tiao in this way. One thing, if the you tiao was crispy and warm then it’s great.

We also ordered the Thai’s koay teow thng. From the look, it’s looks the same, but then when putting it into the mouth, it’s so different. There’s fish ball, meat balls, and some pork. The soup was very clear, different taste, like lack of lard and garlic. The koay teow, or aka flat noodle, was a bit fatter. Afterall, I still prefer Penang’s koay teow thng. ^^

I also ordered a bowl of their Chinese dessert aka tong shui. Tell you what, it’s super duper sweet, not good for health man. They really put a lot of sugar into it. Oh my god.

February 17, 2010
Hat Yai Travel: Hat Yai At Night, Before My Camera Went Dead

Yes, you read me. My camera, Canon 400D went dead on the first night in Hat Yai and which made me feel sad and I couldn’t shoot for the second day.

Oh my god. Luckily, I at least got photos on the first day so I could write it up here. To me, traveling without a camera is not call traveling already, I can’t live without a camera when traveling, I want to capture every moment of it because I don’t know whether I will be going there again or not.

Cut the crap and here comes the photos!

During the evening, I went to meet up a relatives who live in Hat Yai. We call him Wen Shok, I don’t know how to relate him to me, I only know he is close to my grandma. He brought us to see his new home in Hat Yai. It’s a 3 storey shop house.

And at there, I also met his very cute grandson, who can listens to Mandarin more than Thai. Cool right? I didn’t get his name though. Not really interested in new home and my phone GPS had some problem locating my location and I was bored at time. No choice, have to follow my parents.

Then we were brought to a very cool Thai restaurant near the university area. They have a very nice garden and the interior has a cottage-liked look. Like.

Gas station. Woo!

After dinner, we went back to our hotel area. Stalls were all set up by the road side and it’s a shopping street again and, Thai-style night street shopping, it’s just the same at every where in Thailand, Phuket, Bangkok. So, it’s nothing special to me already.

Quite many people went shopping too. I heard from the talking, most speaks Mandarin and Hokkien, so I assumed they were tourists who were from somewhere near my place. =D Another interesting thing is that the Thai at there speaks Mandarin too! We don’t need to speak English or point this and that anymore. Though, I don’t really like this because I like pointing this and that, it’s more challenging. Hehe.

Most stuff by the street were clothes and shoes. Nothing much already.

Boy sleeping while mom’s working.

Mango?

Then food is at another corner.

Famous fish tank/aquarium in Hat Yai. O.O

There’s 3 of us, me, dad and mom and the only person who was really shopping was mom only. Me and dad, two were just like bodyguard, following here and there.

The not-boring part was the foot and neck massage. Really relaxing and it’s one hour at there. The person do my foot, then a little bit of my hand and my neck too! Now I know why dad so like Thai massage.

After a massage would be some supper. It’s 11pm and 12am Malaysian time already, no wonder I felt sleepy a little bit at that moment.

Was planning to go to a live band bistro after supper but sadly, the bistro was full and we were not allow to go in, so in the end went back to hotel and at the same time, my camera went dead. Shit man!

January 28, 2010
Hat Yai Travel: Afternoon Walkaround in Hat Yai City

After checking into the hotel, Novotel Central in Hat Yai, mom went to do her shopping on her own, dad went to look for massage and I was alone walking around on the street. It’s the downtown or city center of Hat Yai and it’s both tourist and locals populated area, everyone is here, very easy to roam around and I didn’t even have a map on my hand.

Right below my hotel is a shopping centre, Central. I didn’t went in to see, it’s a department store. Instead, I started off my walk from the shopping centre which is right across the street, Lee Garden. I was attracted by the large Lacoste logo and Apple logo. Cool, imagine such a small city has Lacoste and Apple. I only can find Lacoste in Kuala Lumpur here in my own country.

Enjoying the view and wind. =D

It’s nice to see people walking on the street. I always love happenings street and we usually can’t find it in Penang. Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur is happenings though. It’s not very hot in the afternoon, sun shines were blocked by the building so it’s shady.

Lee Garden is a very small shopping mall. I notice that most Hat Yai’s teenager and youngster come here to hang out just like I always go to Gurney Plaza with friends here in Penang.

Although it’s small, there’s many thing to see. The Lacoste shop is in there and Apple too! There’s little area in the mall called Idea Market, it’s like flea market and can see a lot of handmade stuff, and the best part is that it’s air-conned and pop music blasting around. Pretty cool.

Big prawn! Dare to eat?

I like coconut juice. Do you?

I didn’t really buy things because nothing interest me there. It’s just the same as in Phuket, Bangkok which I had visited several times before.

I only bought a mobile sim pack which was used to contact my parents and post photo to my Away From Computer.

Keep walking along the street and found another departmental store, Odean Shopping Mall. Although I am not a fan of departmental store, I did go in to take a look to see how different is their departmental store with us. Surprisingly, interior was not pretty but there’s many people inside and many brands too.

What to buy in Thailand? Thai made funny shirt, I have a few already so I was not interested. Fake AA imitation product? Even if I do buy, I don’t dare to take out also. Genuine FTW!

Food stalls are everywhere. Every few walks, you will see food stalls, cooked and not cooked. Thai’s street food seems delicious but I scared it’s not clean. I only drink coconut juice by the road side before only.

A motel’s lobby. A bit scary.

Walked a few street and things were the same. It’s just like an exercising walk for me on that afternoon, hanging a camera around my neck. For sure, I am a tourist there!

Cute kitty. Do you want to zh’ng (pimp) your car like that?

Walked until very far, didn’t know where was I but I still know the way back the hotel. I believe I walked to Kim Yong Market. There’s many things to see and I was just getting into it, and my mom called me for afternoon tea. Oh shit, didn’t get to roam the whole area.

Another thing I wanted to say is there’s many 7 Eleven convenience store in just a small area. Every few turn into different street, I saw 7 Eleven, I think I saw 3-4 7 Eleven outlets there.

Many fruits! Apple, you like?

I asked her to wait for a while before I was quite far away from her. Another 10 minutes walk only can reach her, she was at a coffee shop near Odean. =D

January 24, 2010
Hat Yai Travel: Weekend Roadtrip to Hat Yai from Penang

It’s been a long time I’ve never been to Hat Yai, Thailand already, very very very long time. I hardly have the memory in my mind. I know my parents always bring me to Hat Yai when I was small but my real Hat Yai trip would be this time which happened two weeks ago on the weekend.

Hat Yai located on the southern part of Thailand and it’s just right across the border of the northern part of Malaysia. So they’re connected, and dad drove all the way there, for like 2 hours. It’s shorter than going to Kuala Lumpur from my Penang.

Dad didn’t bring the Touch N Go card so have to go back to the ancient way of paying toll which is queue for ticket and pay by cash. It’s smooth smooth all the way, no traffic jam or anything, passed by a lot of padi field which usually don’t get to see when traveling north and the rest houses are not so pretty. Hehe.

The road trip was good, I slept all the way, it’s so sleepy when sitting in the car for a long time and nothing to do. Didn’t even bother to listen to the music, sleeping is good for pasting time.

We then arrived at place called Changloon, no idea where the place is, but I only know the name and at there, we were already very close to the Thai border.

This is the place where we stopped by for a coffee break, toilet break, money changing and the purchase of insurance for entering the Thai.

I didn’t have toilet feel or anything, so I just wait my dad to settle the car insurance thing. It’s like around RM14 per car for entering Thai and a car can stay in Thailand for 14 days, after that need to come out and renew again.

Then back to car and drive for like 10 minutes and we arrived the border where the immigration buildings of the two countries are.

After passing the Malaysian custom, we need to park our car and got out to go to chop our passport. I waited so long at the queue for like half an hour, very very very slow Thai officer. I was like OMG and the line was so long already.

Mom told me to place RM1 note or 10Baht inside the passport when passing it to the officer. I didn’t know about this because the place didn’t have any sign for us to pay 10Baht for going into Thai, I think this is tips for them.

After the long long wait at the immigration, finally I got cleared and got into Thailand. Mobile phone still showing Malaysian mobile at that time and after a while it only changed to Thai roaming mobile.

It’s not Hat Yai yet, it’s only I-don’t-know-what-it’s-called after the border. I still have to sit in the car for another 45 minutes to reach the city of Hat Yai.

There’s no high rise building but you will see building almost the same height at like 7-10 floors and there’s the city. After a long hour car ride, we arrived in Hat Yai, the city. We went to lunch first only then to look for the hotel. We didn’t have any hotel booking in advance which made us encountered a little problem when looking for hotel.

Dad dropped grandma at a relative’s house, only we went to look for hotel. We actually wanted to go for New Season Hotel, but then it’s fulled. Then walked down a few blocks to May Flower Hotel, it’s full again, in the end went to Novotel Central Hotel. Mom doesn’t really like that hotel because she said the toilet is not very clean. They like New Season Hotel more.

Now we only know that so many Malaysian like to come to Hat Yai on the weekend and we need to book the hotel in advance.

Hat Yai is much alike like other place in Thailand, like Phuket and Bangkok, they all look the same with many cables and not so pretty building and same Thai architecture.

After we parked the car at the hotel carpark, checked in, dropped all our luggage in the hotel room, we went out to walk! Dad went to massage, mom went to shopping, I went to walkaround. Stay tune!

January 21, 2010
Christmas Day 09 to Gertak Sanggul, Teluk Kumbar

Continued from previous post where I talk about going to the Jelutong seafront promenade, after that I thought of going to Queensbay Mall but I didn’t know what to do at there. I believe there sure will be many people too because it’s a public holiday, so we went somewhere else where we haven’t been to before.

It’s around 4pm, afternoon tea time, we went to the food stall at the market near to Sunshine Square at Bayan Lepas to eat our afternoon tea. I had a bowl of laksa there and they ordered themselves a bowl of tomyam noodle.

After tea time, there’s 2 lame ideas for next destination, one is Auto City and another is Gertak Sanggul, Teluk Kumbar. I didn’t feel like going to Auto City because I was there 3 days before Christmas so we went driving up to Gertak Sanggul for fun, pointless, it’s just driving.

Was thinking to check out the beach or something near to the sea but found out that there’s a bridge which connected out to the sea, and the bridge is broken and not usable. Too bad.

We were at the seaside in Jelutong and we were at the seaside again at Teluk Kumbar. I don’t know this place is Gertak Sanggul or Teluk Kumbar. I like to call it Teluk Kumbar more, so any idea, precisely, this place is Gertak Sanggul or Teluk Kumbar? I think is somewhere between Gertak Sanggul and Teluk Kumbar.

There’s sea, a good spot for sunset but we were early and we were so far away from sunset yet, like 1 hour more till sunset, moreover it was drizzling a little bit.

Broken bridge.

We then take photos again, the 3 of us. Hahaha.

It started to rain a little bit and we ran away from there. Since there’s no bridge, there’s no beach, nothing much to see, we went to other place again. Christmas Day 09 haven’t end yet!

January 8, 2010

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