Author: ajay

What made my short stay in Penang so worth it is that I didn’t taste anything that wasn’t to my liking. Meaning, everything was delicious to my curious tastebuds. I didn’t even eat in a restaurant labelled as “fine dining.” Because to have an inkling of Penang cuisine, you’d have to be there on the streets, where the cooking mamas chop onions as fast as those chefs on TV in their little stalls and serve food on makeshift tables. Outsiders would have the impression that whipping up good hawker food was a way of life there, and the practice was passed on through generations. This is what comprises the legend that is Penang food.

The first real meal I had upon arriving was this colorful wan tan mee, priced at $1 or forty plus pesos. This was egg noodles in black soya sauce with slices of roast pork, dumplings, green veggies, chilies and other bits. Simply superb!

That’s me making tusok the fishballs I love the Lok Lok! These are shabu-shabu or steamboat ingredients put in barbecue sticks. You choose from an assortment of goodies on display, dip these in boiling water to cook for a few minutes and slather with your chosen sauce. The great Penang food adventure wouldn’t be complete without experiencing the lok-lok.

Photo is kinda blurred, but the sticks or skewers are color coded so that the stall owner will be able to compute how much you’ve eaten. A brilliant street food idea, I must say!

A heavy breakfast I ate just as we were about to depart Penang. It is something I crave until now if only for the oh-so-yummy fried rice that had a topping of fried little anchovies. The meat on the other plate was from a lechon (roasted pork) stall I saw in the market. The coffee was perfectly blended, even though it was just their kopi with condensed milk. Cost of this meal was about $2 or one hundred pesos.

Yam cake - a local rice flour delicacy with dried shrimps, green onions, chilies and fried shallots.

These banana pancakes were glorious! Only cost one ringgit or fourteen pesos for two pieces.

Cendol or cendul - dessert primarily consisting of shaved ice, green noodles (like spaghetti) and milk. Definitely a great summer cooler.

Ais (ice) kacang with ice cream - yummy! What you see here: sweetened red beans, a brown-colored jelly, barley pearls and syrup. Totally refreshing.

Uncle Bob’s fried chicken - perfect breading, perfectly-seasoned meat. My picky son gives this a thumbs up!

Cheap and delectable dimsum on the street. Penang stalls sell Japanese and Thai food too.

I find this sign in an outdoor restaurant quite meaningful. This foodieventure is something that will stay with me, even after I have left the place <3

We stayed in Georgetown, Penang at about the same amount of time it took us to get there - a total of 10 hours from Kuala Lumpur, and back. It wasn’t really much of a bother as the ride was smooth and it afforded views of the Malaysian countryside I haven’t seen.

Add to this my determination to go to Penang because of all the things I’ve read about it in publications like 1000 Places to See Before You Die and more recently New York Times’ 44 Places to Go in 2009. Curious old me wanted to see what the hype was all about.

And glad to say I wasn’t disappointed. Sure,it had all the tourist traps like not being picture-pretty clean and those trikes possibly overcharging me in their quest to earn a living. The place wins on the fact that it had oodles of character, if those ancient shops, buildings and temples aren’t proof enough.

Most of all, Penang lived and breathed food 24/7. The hawker food was far from antiseptic but it was whipped up so delectably from the stalls of seasoned cooking mamas. It should rightfully be put on top of any foodie’s must-go-to list.

Anyway, our trip to Penang began and ended with a passage through the beautiful Penang Bridge, the third longest in the world. I was only able to take this candid shot from our tourist bus.

Georgetown was teeming with motorcyles. I was warned again to hold on to my bag for dear life due to previous snatching cases. I guess these warnings are getting to be fairly common in most crowded cities in Asia. particularly the tourist spots

A common sight in Penang were three-wheeled cycle rickshaws or trishaw. It can be as expensive as riding a taxi, but for someone like me who was pressed for time and didn’t know my way around, this proved to be convenient.The trishaw gives one a leisurely ride around town while you admire the old buildings and other structures in this heritage town.

A common sight was old buildings like this which even had a mark on what year they were built!

Sorry but on this trip , I wasn’t only focused on the food but also on little details of Penang’s architecture. I like old things, especially those which have been preserved well and this is probably the reason why I was impressed with Georgetown, and Penang, in general.

We were able to get the last room available at the Cathay Hotel in Leith St. on the day we arrived. The part of me believing in everything I read in magazines prevailed again, so I tried this joint because it was featured somewhere This charming, colonial era building stood out with its all-white facade over blue signage. I liked the fact that it cost me only 75 RM ( about $20 or a thousand pesos!) per night, in exchange for having an old TV and an equally old bathroom with chipped tiles. Ugh. My son, who is used to modern amenities, hated being here as he was looking for good cable and wi-fi. But I just dig the way this hotel made me feel like I was living in the 1920s.Bring it on.

A part of Cathay Hotel will always haunt me because it was unlike any other establishment I’ve stayed in. Old men manned the reception desk and they were writing in long hand in a tattered logbook to register us, before they handed out the chunky keys. I don’t think you’d even succeed if you tried to make an internet booking with this hotel, LOL.

The lobby was decorated with Chinese lanterns, colorful wooden doors and going further inside, you’d find a pretty inner courtyard where the afternoon sun shone in. The long staircase in the middle was also eyecatching.

Almost on the same street as Cathay Hotel was the legendary Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. Dating back to the 1800s, this used to be the residence of China’s last mandarin and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is unmistakable from outside because of its blue facade. Its intricate decorations, latticed work and other details were patterned after feng shui principles and provide a good study of Chinese architecture in the 18th to 19th centuries. What more, the mansion has a actually been converted to a bed-and-breakfast. I made a mental note to join its daily tour or stay here, should I visit Georgetown again.

Cathay Hotel
15 Leith St. Georgetown, Penang
Telephone number: (604) 262 6271

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
14 Leith St. Georgetown, Penang
Telephone Number : (604) 262 0006

Just when you think Boracay is the overcrowded paradise it is, high-end developers refute that by saying “the best is yet to come.” Proof is the forthcoming unveiling soon of a Shang-ri la resort in the island and the soft-opening this March of 7Stones Boracay Suites, to be managed by the company behind Punta Fuego in Batangas, Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay, Hotel Vida in Clark and Pearl Farm in Davao.

I guess it all depends on which part of Boracay you’re in. While Station 2 is just about cramped, the new Fuego Hotels property is located in Bulabog Beach, a known destination for surfers. 7Stones has five-star prices, but we were definitely impressed by the size of the rooms (smallest is at 40 sq.m. while the biggest is a two-bedroom executive suite at 182 sq.m.!

Moreover, all suites have jacuzzi as well as fitted with topnotch facilities like LCD flat screen TVs, wi-fi and an open plan living, dining and kitchen areas. This should appeal to families and groups on vacation. I’d vote for the kitchen because after all is said and done, it really IS expensive to eat out every time in Boracay.

7Stones Boracay Published rates (as of March 2009):

Superior Room 40-50 sq.m. $180
Junior Suite 61-99 sq.m. $230
Deluxe Suite 89-93 sq.m. $280
Grand Deluxe 129-133 sq.m. $350
Family Suite 129-133 sq.m. $380
Executive Suite 182 sq.m. $430

Below’s the map and a few pictures of the interiors designed by Budji Layug:

Credits: Photos courtesy of Fuego Hotels & Properties

This piece of news is a tad too old, but am retelling it here because I don’t think too many local bloggers made mention of the fact that Boracay Island made it to the New York Times list of “44 Places to Go in 2009.” (January 11 issue, ugh.)

In fact, I just stumbled upon this a few weeks ago while researching about Penang, Malaysia - the other Asian country in the list, along with Phuket, Thailand and India. It does make we wonder if they made the list before the security situation in the latter two countries.

Not to be a killjoy about it, but don’t you think listing Boracay JUST NOW is too late in the day? Boracay as one of the “44 Places to Go in 1999 ” would have been more apt, as all my friends rave about how a gem it was back then in the early days, without all the overcrowding, pollution and high prices.

Still, some news is better than no news. We all know that our dear Boracay deserves it, because it is more naturally beautiful than Bali or Phuket! All other underrated Philippine islands deserve it too, but I bet international publications will mention them 10 years too late

I do agree that Penang is the culinary destination it is touted to be. That place just reeked of food as a way of life! I do believe we have our own Penang in the Philippines, and the closest place I can think of is Pampanga. It really is high time that the local government of that province get the traditional vendors together and market Pampanga as the must-go to place for culinary delights in the Philippines. It is not too far from Manila either.

Anyhoo, more about Boracay and Penang in my next posts.

P.S. Suddenly, I like to go to Marrakesh!

I really think I could travel more if only I wasn’t scared shite of flying …. and my vacation credits aren’t close to nil What a bummer.

Thanks to Spanx for giving Pinoy foodies a heads-up on this piece of news:

Philippines’ Most Popular Fast-food Chain Lands in Queens. Via Grub Street.

500 overseas branches, and counting? Wow! This is just positive news, especially as we don’ t really see too many Filipino companies going global. I did see Pancake House International during my last visit to Malaysia. I had to blink twice. Kudos to these firms for expanding.

Photo shows a signage I saw in Jollibee Macapagal Avenue. I simply had to take a picture as I was amused, without knowing why. It wasn’t like any store signs I saw elsewhere. And mostly because Chicken Joy is just a joy when hunger strikes