Morning mist along the highway, somewhere around IpohI'm back from my gastronomical marathon in Penang. It was a two-day road trip, with the sole purpose of stuffing our deprived guts with as much good food as possible.
Ahh. *rubs protruding belly* I miss it already. When are we going back?
Penang people and their food never cease to amaze me. We'd drive along the streets and Mel Sim would just point to an unassuming hawker stall with only two tables and say, "This stall sells really good [insert food name]." Penangites appear to keep a (long) mental list of eating specific food at specific places. Mel Sim planned our itinerary and path along the nice makan places (stop here to eat chee cheong fun, then next stop at around Komtar for cendol, ...), even factoring in a walk in the mall to digest the food before the next session of food-guzzling.
I love Mel Sim. I dedicate this paragraph to her. Mwahhhh!!!
Which brings me to the point - Penangites are so friendly! I don't see why some people insist on thinking that they're calculative and selfish. All the Penangites that I know are really nice and very direct, so there's no miscommunication involved. And their Hokkien! I met an Indian lady whose Hokkien is better than myself, of Hokkien descent. So shameful lah. *hides face*
Back to food. Good food commands respect in Penang. A famous char kuey tiao stall in Lorong Selamat charges a whopping RM5.50 for one plate, does not bring food to your table and makes you line up under the blazing sun to retrieve your plate. The sight of the waiting line of people wiping their brows meekly convinces you that the char kuey tiao is that good. It is! *salivates*
Another case in point is this lone stall beside the road selling deep fried "ni kueh", nian gao in Mandarin. A man parked his Mercedes by the roadside, crossed the road and took his place at the end of the queue. I don't see Mercedes-laden men in KL doing that. (Would be hell easier to meet one if they did.)
The said ni-kueh stallPenang drivers. My friend PL from Penang is a state biker (context: bicycles) and he drives like he's navigating on his bike. Point is, many Penangites drive like that. And due to the scarcity of parking spaces, they're whizzes at side parking. Mel Sim even queried if our driver is good in side parking before he came. (He is. Incidentally he aces at return parking as well.) Penang motorcyclists are also a bunch of cocky lot as they tend to swerve in from nowhere then hog the whole road. The car drivers are surprisingly tolerant of the motorcyclists. (Maybe because my limited sample size consists of drivers who are also motorcyclists themselves)
Shopping. Heh heh heh heh. I broke my oath of no more shoe shopping and here's the Arnold Palmer pair of flats that I got. I think it's discounted but not very sure. Guilty sikit. =P
And this is my prized catch! Behold, a sliver of my childhood memories in the full 38 series of Ranma 1/2, by Rumiko Takahashi (translated into Chinese of course). Check out the panda bears on the spines of the books! *sighs in happiness*
Didn't take any food pictures. Too busy eating to do so. Here's a picture of sunrise in Penang to compensate. Mel Sim and Mel Tan took it while I was busy sleeping in the apartment.
The sunrise that I didn't seeI love Penang. =D
