Hokkien Mee 1173 - Permatang Tinggi

Some people call this Ah San or Ah Shan hokkien mee but I would rather refer to it's address 1173, because you'll need it. 

Locating the shop, is no easy feat .Wedged inside a Chinese New Village enclave , where roads are narrow and challenging to navigate and decipher , we actually got some help from local folks at the local town hall to show us the way .

Coming all the way , having gone through all that trouble to finally arrive at the right place , was worth it. 

Requested for additional ingredients such as a whole egg and one chicken feet and the hearty , filling portion just blew me away  .

However , if you are from the island , you need to know that you will probably find this salty . But if you are say, from KL or Ipoh , you might agree that the very tasty prawn and pork broth brewed together with a lethal dose of pounded dried chillies , is what one would refer to as ....Mee Yoke. 

Small portion with additional ingredients .

Delicious .

Golden bananas from the foothills

It has been a really long time since I'd seen these. A blight free , bruise free , fine specimen. 

To think , they were right under my nose all this while but because I have been looking in all the wrong places , it took me this long to find this local species at it's absolute finest.

Called Pisang Mas , or Golden Bananas , these are not your usual Cavendish or Montels . The skin is a thin membrane which when peeled seems almost translucent , but the flavour inside is so robust , they must have surely come from a misty hillside where cool winds and clear brooks ramble alongside a fertile lush trail .

Priced at around MYR 7 for this comb alone , yes it is indeed exhorbitant . But again , by virtue of being almost perfect , I returned again to load up on another comb just before the shutters went down .

" By the way , where did these originate from ? " I enquired

" These are from the foothills " replied the trader while pointing towards Penang Hill. 

No wonder they are so sweet as if a barrel of sugar was injected into each fruit .

Bow wow

Oh the stray dogs in Penang , they lie in the middle of the road like this. Without a care in the world or the fear of being run over . Except this one is different.

He decides to take an OKU zone, my goodness. 

Superchampz - a short parent report

That I am parent to a most negative teen is not something I wear as a badge of honour. 

In fact , I do not even know if I should tear my hair out as the once upon a time sweet angel erupts ever so often out of sheer stress.

Thought long and hard about it ah , but it took a post on facebook that said 

" Free Seminar " for me to sign up without blinking or even thinking.

Honestly , I did not know what to expect. What I did have was a little tiny window of hope. 

I googled , found a video and liked what I saw.

However, the protests began. Followed by the furrowed brows and indignant response to having a leisurely Sunday doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING disrupted. 

" You are going to attend this. If you do not go ......"

Yes you see , it has boiled down to this.

This normally non Tigerish mum to a Lion cub turned into something else today.

Good , cub guard is down or so I thought. But just to be sure I asked , no , I stated in no uncertain terms that I expected the cub to be on the best behaviour today or elseeeeee. I will turn into a Pontianak just you wait and see. 

We walked past this banner without incident.

Does your mother like ice cream

We went to that favourite makan place of ours again today. Placed our orders and then they waited for the food,  while I booked seats. 

My personal Thor , first brought over the drinks , then went back to wait for the food. Somehow today , his meal was ready in a jiffy and so the dear koochi moochi was left waiting for our remaining sets.

The waiter started a conversation with him.  Took a while but by the time he came back he said this to me....

He : " These Banglas are desperate "

Me : " Oh ? Why ? What happened ? "

He : " He was asking me questions about YOU " 

Me : " Like whaaat ? "

He : " I don't even want to remember "

" We were talking, talking , talking when all of a sudden , he told me his shift time "

Me : " Aaanddd ??? "

Ensuring clams have no slime

Not many are fond of this shellfish because of the sliminess. Here's how I get rid of it.

Buying wild honey from a local Indian guy

The big Indian guy passed our table . He was lugging something heavy . Looked me in the eye and asked me if I wanted some. 

I thought he was selling drinks and I told him no. 

When he walked off , I noticed a huge blob of something floating at the top. 

That's his friend , not the big guy.

Nona Bali - IJM Promenade

Have consistently been putting it off . Been so reluctant to step foot there , I swapped destinations so many times already . 

But ah , this is where the social media steps in. It really does wield a strong influence on us . We do care about other peoples likes and dislikes , even if they're complete strangers . 

That's why you're here reading this. We are voyeurs who like to see other peoples life experiences from a safe distance.

 Coming down to me , when I see a flight crew come home all the way from the middle east and one of the first restaurant he hits is a Balinese joint , I want to know what I've been missing .

When the MPPP tows your vehicle - I hope these numbers help

Update September 2016 :

1. There is no whistle warning issued before clamping . The officers will throw down the clamp and walk away before the tow truck comes

2. I know of two locations where they haul the vehicles to 

- one is just behind Penang Times Square

- the other is opposite Marina Bay condominium near Gurney Drive 

----------

Saw this the other night. A nightly occurence. 

The Unit Traffik towtruck had pulled this vehicle out of a holding yard and was towing it to a second destination .

Cini Gado - Thai durians

I never buy Thai durians. 

Those that are brought in here are so utterly tasteless it isn't even worth parting 2 ringgit for no matter how large they may be. Part of the problem is because the fruit is cut from the tree instead of allowing it to drop on its own . Add to that , the chemical soak to hasten the ripening process. Ugh. No way am I buying any. 

Temple of the Batcave - not Batman ' s hideout

Well I didn't exactly go in. This is just a picture of the sign towards the property.

No relevance to the subject but if you must know , some old timers in Penang actually have consumed bat soup before and according to them these fruit bats are very tasty but no , I am never having any thank you . 

Anyway , this is a temple. Not Batman's hideout. 

If you're near Penang Hill , you might wanna check this out. A lot of legends exist and the Tua Pek Kong is a Malay spirit whom the Chinese here worship.

The professionals are at it again

Trust the 'professionals ' to ' change ' Penang for their betterment.

I hope the residents of Taman Pekaka ,Sungai Dua 

know that this 'trial period' will involve a consultancy study that is not free yo and will be thereon after stay permanent .

Uncle , auntie , mami , mamu , they just don't care what you think.

Bising pun tak apa , telinga dorang pekak , tangan diikat , no power konon. 

Japanese Salmon Yee Sang at Sushi Tei

Yee Sang is also known as Lo Hei, which is a most colourful dish symbolising prosperity , requiring all of 27 ingredients . It's not only fun tossing everything together with chopsticks , this creation by Sushi Tei Gurney Plaza gets the thumbs up from me as the absolute best , most yum yum, Yee Sang I've had all these years. Not too sharp, with the right amount of sour and just the right amount of sweetness, it is spicy , tangy and downright mouthwatering to the last sesame .

Beautiful presentation needless to say. 

Gerai Lekor & Cucur at Lebuh Downing

After seeing the RM796 ++ minimum picture of the Prosperity Poon Choi, Shang Palace sent to my inbox, I wondered who the photographer was. Because that picture made me so hungry, the abalones were looking back at me in such a come hither manner, I even wanted to go grab some chrysanthemums to munch on. They are edible by the way.

Now, before they even deem me worthy enough to be a food tester, a real one that is, not a virtual one,  I just had to go bite something. For real. 

No, not you boy. I need some lekor , ( a type of fish fritters from the East coast states mixed with a lot of flour ) and I need it now. 

Ernest Zacharevic's diablo workshop

Do you know how elusive and hard to find this man is nowadays ? If you follow his facebook page, the instant he posts up a new painting, there will be fans who rush out to the guessed location, hoping to see him do some touch up 

or artwork. 

Old Penang - Double decker bus along Jalan Dato Keramat

Was at a photo processing shop when a wall of nostalgic pictures caught my eye.Upon spotting the For Sale sign at the bottom, I asked the guy behind the counter how much it was being sold for.

" RM100 with frame " was his reply.

Fuuuuu....Forget it. No way .

Sensing my displeasure , he then fished out some smaller pics and showed them to me.

" How much are these going for ? "

" RM 10 " 

" Ok, gimme one .....by the way, where is this location ? "

My guess was either Jelutong near the wetmarket or somewhere near Komtar. Wrong on both counts. 

" Jalan Dato Keramat, the Creative furniture showroom, opposite the police station " said he.

Grilled skatefish with oomph ! - keeping this one a secret

The standard of ikan bakar or grilled fish, in Penang has deteriorated from a few years back already. Which is why I almost gave up on ordering the dish . Some hawkers have begun to compromise on  the ingredients that give the marinade that oomph factor , others scorch it till it becomes 

a bit too burnt to the extent that the skin turns rubbery.

 Though Ikan Bakar is a Malay dish, what I'm having here is the Chinese hawker version. Basted in a basic Thai sauce from a can and grilled on a banana leaf. 

Well what sets this place apart is that this particular hawker only has one rival , only one in the whole country comes close to this stall . And that rival is not in Penang but that middle stall alllll the way south in Tebrau Market, Johor Bahru which I haven't been to in ages, so I don't know if it's still around or not. Just bringing it up as a comparison. 

Essentials that went MIA since Raya

Maybe I was too late ( man yat pou) Maybe you can blame it on the large community of expats in my surrounds, but it took forever, since I came back from Langkawi, to get my regular dose of this fresh milk brand called Farm Fresh from Johor.The company doesn't even need to advertise . It's that good and everyone knows it. 

Batu Feringghi - Ya Habibi it's Arab season 2014

In Penang, there's durian season and there's Arab season .

Here at Lebanon Restaurant for the umpteenth time,it WAS hard to find a seat. But we did so eventually. 

Lebanon is so popular amongst them , that I had to wriggle my way through clouds of fruity shisha, hairy bermuda legs and billowy black head covers with dainty mouthpieces . 

 Peering out at passerbys, the little beach strip looks more like a village Souq than a Malaysian night market.

Yes, Batu Feringghi has awoken from it's lazy slumber. Everyone stays open for far longer than usual, when the Arabs, Yemenis , Qataris etc etc etc and etcs roll into town. 

So why am I showing you kebabs and lamb ? Well look, if they eat behind curtained partitions, would they want to be featured on my blog ? I don't think so.

Beginning of the Penang durian season

The school holidays are coming right around the corner and if you don't know already, that signals the beginning of the Penang Durian Festival ( 1st June - 31st July ) .

So, if you haven't booked your tickets here yet, you better start doing so, because this week itself,the thorny balls have started rolling in.

Yup, the "head" of the season. Most times if you don't know where to buy them from, the quality will not be so good yet.