Pulau-Pinang – Part 2

We basically doesn’t have much time on 2nd days since we gonna left Penang right after lunch time. Our host, FF’s cousin made a wake up call in order to bring all of us to the best Nasi Kandar in town again! Ya, don’t be surprise. We definitely gonna get Nasi Kandar for breakfast this time. Hopefully, perut ni boleh terima nasi kandar early in the morning. This time, our host brought us to Sulaiman Nasi Kandar (Famous Dhoby Ghout Nasi Kandar) at Jalan Air Itam (Jalan Utama). This shop is open only for breakfast from 5am till 11am.

The stall

Waiting for our turn. Time nie, mostly banyak lauk dah nak abis.

The traditional vehicle used by them to transport all the food. Our cousin told us that there are still nasi kandar vendors who brought their food using ‘kandar’. We didn’t experience that.

Oh ya, we had the best apam telur and apam biasa here as well! Serious! To die for! You can spot the Makcik and her lovely daughter selling apam just in front of the shop. We’re just lucky that we managed to get the last portion of apam from her stall.

Our food, the delicious nasi kandar and apam.

Our host, Abang Zul.

The proud owner, Pakcik Sulaiman. We’re quite shocked when paying the bills. Sangat-sangat murah. We never thought that it will be that cheap. Dah la sedap. Two thumbs up!

We then make a move to Rumah Kelahiran P. Ramlee (House of Birth of P. Ramlee) at Jalan P. Ramlee (formely known as Caunterhall Road). P. Ramlee was born in the house which was build way back in 1926 by the Father and the Uncle, Rejab bin Hussein before being handed over to Arkib Negara Malaysia (The National Archives). The original form of the house is still intact. Next to the house, you can actually visit the P. Ramlee’s gallery which is within the same compound featuring the press photos, personal artifacts such as the music instruments which all belong to Allahyarham P.Ramlee. Admission is free and it’s open daily to public except Monday. We spent 1 and 1/2 hours browsing around the area.

P.Ramlee (who actual name was Teuku Nyak Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh) was born on 22 March 1929. His Father, a sailor from Lho’ Seumawe, Acheh, who came to Pulau Pinang, married Che Mah binti Hussein from Kubang Buaya, Butterworth in 1925. In 1948, a lean pimpled teenage of nineteen made a date with destiny, a romance with the film would that met his fulfillment in the next tree decades of his life. It all began when he accepted an offer to sing an act for Shaw Brothers Malay Film Production of Singapore. P. Ramlee took his step and henceforth become a super star. Source : Arkib Negara Malaysia (The National Archives)

Our last destination before we headed back to KL was Chowrasta Market or Pasar Chowrasta. The name ‘Chowrasta’ in Urdu means four cross roads or Market of Thieves as stated in the Chowrasta road plaque found around the area. The area was dominated originally by Indian traders who sells fish and meats. The reason why it was called the ‘Market of Thieves’ is all because when ex-prisoners often found employment at the market those days. Oh yaa, to support the facts, local prison are situated nearby in Penang Road (Jalan Penang).

The main reason we are here is to taste the famous cendol at Penang road. Unfortunately is was not open on that particular day. Tak bernasib baik. Baru berangan nak merasa cendol kat situ. Just want to compare with the one at my hometown, Cendol Air Putih, Kuantan. Right after that, FF’s cousin brought us to buy some jeruk since mum’s was giving me a long list of jeruk to bring back home. We personally choose ‘Jeruk Nasir’ at one of the stall near to Chowrasta Market. We’ve been greeted and welcomed by Pak Nasir’s daughter who are in charged. Baik hati betul anak Tauke Kedai ni.

You can get all range of ‘jeruk’ here from buah pala, betik, mangga, kelubi and others. Couldn’t list all. Dah lupa sebenarnya. Just name it and you can get it all here. We drove back to KL right after lunch time. We will definitely come back to visit other places like Fort Cornwallis, Museum, Penang National Park and others. Time doesn’t permit us to cover all the places. Insya Allah. Not to forget our host, Abg Zul, Kak Ina and all the lovely kids (Seha, Ain, Shafeekah). Thanks for the warm hospitality and being our tour guide for 2 solid days.

Bye, bye Penang.

Simply us,
Zara AB & FF
The Province of Chroma

Pulau-Pinang – Part 1

Assalammualaikum and Hi there!

YES! I’m finally in Penang last weekend after about more than 25 years. I couldn’t remembered when was my last visit to Penang. The only thing that i could remembered is all those little rascals (wild monkeys) at the Botanical Garden, the Snake Temple (as far as i can remembered, i did not entered the temple at all. Snake is totally not my thing) and the Penang Hill cable car.

Penang, Pulau Pinang, Pulau Mutiara or The Pearl of the Orient, whatever it is, we finally did it (Macam la Penang nie jauh sangat kan? It’s just a matter of time sebenarnya). Again, FF came up with an idea to visit his relatives over the weekend last week. We leave KL on Friday, right after office hour and we finally reached Penang after 3 1/2 hours drive. We crashed at FF’s cousin crib somewhere at Batu Uban.

If i’m not mistaken, Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis. Our 1st impression right after crossing the Penang Bridge is that Penang look similar to Singapore and Hong Kong.

We started the day by going to the Penang Hill early Saturday morning. Yes! This is definitely one of the Penang highlight. A must visit place. We paid RM30 (Family package = 2 adults + 2 kids) + (1 senior citizen) + (1 adult) for 6 of us. Price for adult start at RM8.00 and kids at RM4.00 per pax. How cheap is that? MyKad shall be provided at the ticket counter in order to purchase local ticket price. While waiting for the train, i read and browse through all the information board and pamphlet in hands. Just to kill the time. Penang Hill is actually comprises of several hills which is Strawberry Hill, Haliburton’s Hill, Flagstaff Hill, Government Hill, Tiger Hill and Western Hill.

Recently, they have upgraded the train where the cabin/coach was fully concealed and air conditioned. If we refer to the PMA tag, it stated that the coaches are manufactured all the way from Switzerland. The 6 coaches could accommodate 100 passengers or 7000kg at one time. It took us less than 10 minutes to reach the peak.

Sun shiny day! Check out the whole view of Penang island once you reach the final station.

Up at the hill, there’s a Tea Kiosk, Pavillion, Canopy Walk, Convalescent Bungalow,Fernhill Bungalow and Owl Museum (i guess this is the new attraction of Penang Hill). You need to walk a few hundred meter up to the pavillion where you can see an old train coaches model ( i believe this is the original coaches used those days).

Bukit Bendera

Try out the colourful binocular at the price of RM1.00 (RM0.50 x 2pcs). You can view the whole Penang Island and the Straits of Malacca from here.

Half way to the Pavilion, we suddenly saw dark cloud moving in. At that point of time, we knew that it’s going to rain. But we still move on. Alang-alang dah sampai, basuh kuyup pun takper lar. Love the cool weather up there (tak sedar down the hill dah hujan lebat).

The Owl Museum at the Pavillion. We did not have the chance to enter the museum. There is an art gallery, souvenior shop and even a cafe. The museum is open daily from 9.00am till 6.00pm. Admission fees are RM10 for adult, RM 5 for senior citizen and free entry for kids below 12 years old.

The old train

The famous Penang Hill Kacang Putih

It was drizzling and we were running like cats and dogs to find a shelter but we still wanted to snap a photo to show you guys how cold it is. Oh ya, that was our niece (FF cousin’s daughter). She’s a Mami’s and Mamu’s breed. Penang origin!

Check out the long queue. It’s raining out there and everybody opt to wait for the next train.

Bye bye Penang Hill

We reached the main station somewhere around 11.30am. The only thing that we want right now is nasi kandar for lunch! Our cousin, Kak Ina and Abg Zul brought us to Hameediyah Nasi Kandar. No photo taken since we’re too hungry at that time. Tak boleh tahan lagi. We ate like no other people business. Dah tak tengok kiri kanan. Right after that we drove the whole island from Penang town – Batu Feringgi – Empangan Teluk Bahang – Balik Pulau and back to Penang town.

Empangan Teluk Bahang. Beautiful huh?

It’s time for dinner again. Apa lagi kalau tak nasi kandar. This time FF cousin brought us to Nasi Kandar Kampung Melayu, Desa Mawar Farlim (This is the branch, the main outlet is at the Kampung Melayu flat area). We had 2 different nasi kandar on one day. Nasib baik belum rasa overdosed lagik.

Gonna continue with Day 2 later.

Simply us,
Zara AB & FF
The Province of Chroma