28 Jan 2010 - Penang
And then there were none. The last eligible bachelor amongst the SAS crew has finally hung up his spurs and found Mrs Right. Marvelous has met Mrs Marvelous. And he invited some of the (older) crew up to Penang to partake in the joyous occasion.
As Saturday (30 Jan) was the wedding date, some of us elected to fly up a few days earlier to eat, drink and be merry. Marty aka Contrary aka The Pink Flamingo had arrived on Tuesday with his entourage (wife, 2 kids and their caregiver), and Rickey and I landed on Thursday morning.
As usual, flying Jetstar meant the flight was delayed. As much as I like flying Jetstar, it has not once been on time. We were delayed an hour leaving, and 2.5hrs on the way back. Jetstar still ranks number 1 for me in terms of flying budget (1. Jetstar, Air Asia, Cebu Pacific... NEVER FLY TIGER) but I really wish they would be on schedule.
Because of a date clash with thaipusum, our first choice of hotel was fully booked. Luckily, we managed to get rooms at the Gurney Resort Hotel. It was a blessing, as GRH was by far the better hotel with an entire floor dedicated to various fun activities. They had converted their 7th floor into a fake beach (with plenty of real sand), 2 pools, including a beautiful eternity pool, and a slide pool. There was also a volleyball court, pingpong tables, foosball, an faux-venice-muscle-beach gym and an archery range. We could've stayed within the hotel premises all day. If you go to Penang with kids, this would be the prefect place to stay.
The rooms were wonderful as well. Huge rooms with a sofa and gorgeous views of the waterfront. There was even a dining area if one chose to order room service. Of course the clincher for me was the jacuzzi bathtub. My one requirement when I choose a hotel is that it must have a bathtub, and this one definitely took the prize. And of course, lots of makan places close by.
The only downside to the hotel is that it's on the opposite end of the Gurney beachfront from the Gurney Drive night makan and Gurney Plaza mall. As Martin had rented a condo just behind Gurney Plaza mall, we pretty much walked the 1km+ stretch a couple of times every day (our standard meeting point was the macdonalds at Gurney mall, though I did manage to convince Martin to meet us at a prata place nearer our hotel on one morning). The walk was great at night as the weather was cool with a lovely breeze blowing in from the sea, but not so good in the day in the searing heat. Penang was hotter than Singapore for sure. On the plus side, all the calories taken in at the Gurney Drive food stalls were easily worked-off on the walk back.
Our first day was pretty much uneventful. The rooms were ready for us to check in, so we left our bags and took the walk down to Macs to meet Martin. Grabbed lunch at Nandos, then chilled at his condo with the family. Martin walked us back to the hotel where Rickey and Marty started a pingpong tournament in the rec area. Martin won the tournament (beating both myself and Rickey). In our defense, he had the sun behind him, and the wind in front of him and the better bat and the table sloped on his side causing depth perception problems....
Dinner was down at the famous Gurney Drive Night Market. Its a little like Newton, with the exception that the stallholders won't cheat you. There's still touting and restricted seating (you can't sit in front of a stall if you don't order from them). I had probably the best fried kwey tiao of my life. I hate the Singapore version, with the sweet sauce and the hum and the yellow noodles mixed in. The Penang version is the superior by far. And healthier as well. Simple rice noodles fried over a high heat with prawns, an egg and bean sprouts. Thrown in a dash of chilli, and perfection. Absolute perfection.
Gurney Hotel
The Fabulous Infinity Pool. Gorgeous seaview at the end
Huge room, with a view
I would've liked to have had a chance to have dinner in the room, but the schedule was too packed. Definitely next time.
Lovely view
There was a gap.
Nando's for lunch.
I had 'extra hot', which was really extra hot...
BH had 'hot', so that she could add the spices on the table.
Uncle Rickey with the B boys.
Oscar B. Was it only 4 years ago when we visited Philippines when he was born?
Ethan B. Probably the happiest baby alive. He was always smiling and hamming it up for the camera. Kid loves to pose.
I loved this old bungalow along the waterfront. Need to do research on ALW, the initials on the front. Wonder who owns this place now.
Rickey and Marty play pingpong. Keep your eye on the ball Marty.
Oscar B loves the camera too.
Queen Rickey?
Gurney Drive Makan Place.
Noodle man making Wanton Mee
Nothing like an old man dancing to the rhythm of a hot fire to whet ones appetite.
Best Char Koay Teow I had...ever.
Some cockle dish that looked really tempting, but did not live up to the taste.
Yummy chicken wings. We returned next day for dinner and I had the chicken thigh. Delicious.
As Saturday (30 Jan) was the wedding date, some of us elected to fly up a few days earlier to eat, drink and be merry. Marty aka Contrary aka The Pink Flamingo had arrived on Tuesday with his entourage (wife, 2 kids and their caregiver), and Rickey and I landed on Thursday morning.
As usual, flying Jetstar meant the flight was delayed. As much as I like flying Jetstar, it has not once been on time. We were delayed an hour leaving, and 2.5hrs on the way back. Jetstar still ranks number 1 for me in terms of flying budget (1. Jetstar, Air Asia, Cebu Pacific... NEVER FLY TIGER) but I really wish they would be on schedule.
Because of a date clash with thaipusum, our first choice of hotel was fully booked. Luckily, we managed to get rooms at the Gurney Resort Hotel. It was a blessing, as GRH was by far the better hotel with an entire floor dedicated to various fun activities. They had converted their 7th floor into a fake beach (with plenty of real sand), 2 pools, including a beautiful eternity pool, and a slide pool. There was also a volleyball court, pingpong tables, foosball, an faux-venice-muscle-beach gym and an archery range. We could've stayed within the hotel premises all day. If you go to Penang with kids, this would be the prefect place to stay.
The rooms were wonderful as well. Huge rooms with a sofa and gorgeous views of the waterfront. There was even a dining area if one chose to order room service. Of course the clincher for me was the jacuzzi bathtub. My one requirement when I choose a hotel is that it must have a bathtub, and this one definitely took the prize. And of course, lots of makan places close by.
The only downside to the hotel is that it's on the opposite end of the Gurney beachfront from the Gurney Drive night makan and Gurney Plaza mall. As Martin had rented a condo just behind Gurney Plaza mall, we pretty much walked the 1km+ stretch a couple of times every day (our standard meeting point was the macdonalds at Gurney mall, though I did manage to convince Martin to meet us at a prata place nearer our hotel on one morning). The walk was great at night as the weather was cool with a lovely breeze blowing in from the sea, but not so good in the day in the searing heat. Penang was hotter than Singapore for sure. On the plus side, all the calories taken in at the Gurney Drive food stalls were easily worked-off on the walk back.
Our first day was pretty much uneventful. The rooms were ready for us to check in, so we left our bags and took the walk down to Macs to meet Martin. Grabbed lunch at Nandos, then chilled at his condo with the family. Martin walked us back to the hotel where Rickey and Marty started a pingpong tournament in the rec area. Martin won the tournament (beating both myself and Rickey). In our defense, he had the sun behind him, and the wind in front of him and the better bat and the table sloped on his side causing depth perception problems....
Dinner was down at the famous Gurney Drive Night Market. Its a little like Newton, with the exception that the stallholders won't cheat you. There's still touting and restricted seating (you can't sit in front of a stall if you don't order from them). I had probably the best fried kwey tiao of my life. I hate the Singapore version, with the sweet sauce and the hum and the yellow noodles mixed in. The Penang version is the superior by far. And healthier as well. Simple rice noodles fried over a high heat with prawns, an egg and bean sprouts. Thrown in a dash of chilli, and perfection. Absolute perfection.
Gurney Hotel
The Fabulous Infinity Pool. Gorgeous seaview at the end
Huge room, with a view
I would've liked to have had a chance to have dinner in the room, but the schedule was too packed. Definitely next time.
Lovely view
There was a gap.
Nando's for lunch.
I had 'extra hot', which was really extra hot...
BH had 'hot', so that she could add the spices on the table.
Uncle Rickey with the B boys.
Oscar B. Was it only 4 years ago when we visited Philippines when he was born?
Ethan B. Probably the happiest baby alive. He was always smiling and hamming it up for the camera. Kid loves to pose.
I loved this old bungalow along the waterfront. Need to do research on ALW, the initials on the front. Wonder who owns this place now.
Rickey and Marty play pingpong. Keep your eye on the ball Marty.
See what happens when you look at the camera?
Oscar B loves the camera too.
Queen Rickey?
Ethan approves.
Gurney Drive Makan Place.
Noodle man making Wanton Mee
Nothing like an old man dancing to the rhythm of a hot fire to whet ones appetite. 
Best Char Koay Teow I had...ever.
Some cockle dish that looked really tempting, but did not live up to the taste.
Yummy chicken wings. We returned next day for dinner and I had the chicken thigh. Delicious.29 Jan 2010 - Batik Death March
I had my own agenda planned for day 2. Specifically, I wanted to visit the old Fort Cornwallis and the old religious buildings dotted along the georgetown area. Of course I had also wanted to visit Chinatown to see and makan some of Penang's unique food. Marty also had an agenda, to pick up a Batik shirt for the wedding, and since our plans coincided, we decided to meet up and head out together.
Me being me, I got up at 4am and wandered the streets. As we were staying in the more 'resort/holiday/tourist' part of town, there wasn't anything much to see. Sitting on the waterfront to welcome in the sunrise was nice, but getting feasted on by mosquitos was not. Grabbed a pre-breakfast breakfast at the prata place close-by (2nd best cup of coffee I've had in my life. 1st being in Vietnam). When dawn broke, we met up with Martin and family and headed down to Fort Cornwallis (btw, breakfast was in the same prata place as everyone wanted to try the coffee. Needless to say, many a cup of coffee was had at that particular prata place.)
Read the wikilink for history and information on Fort Cornwallis. The most interesting thing about the place was the Sri Rambai cannon that supposedly possesses magical powers of inducing fertility in barren women. Well, we didn't try it. We know the Bazylewiches are plenty fertile and I wasn't gonna let the BH try it.
From the Fort, it was on to 'Sams', the listed locale for Batik purchasing in the guide book. Being tourists, we decided to play it safe, follow the tourist maps and find our way towards 'Sams'. Little did we know what we had in store for us. We must have walked 5-6km, in the searing heat, with 2 kids and 2 strollers from the Fort to Sams. Indeed, it was the aptly coined 'Batik Death March'. We did manage to break for some charsiew rice (we had to stop, the place was crowded and busy, and it looked wonderfully good... As in Singapore, long queue means...'must be good').
When we finally got to Sams, we found that though they had plenty of designs, they didn't have Marty's size. So the party trugged on towards Komtah. Scouting the way, I finally found a little shop, located in a little nook with some Batik shirts. Nice designs... check. Good price... check. SIZE???... CHECK! Hooray. Mission completed. Marty had his Batik shirt for the wedding. With that Marty pulled the ole 'The kids are tired' trick, and grabbed the first taxi home. Rickey followed in the next cab, but BH and I elected to continue exploring.
Of course, if the fellows had joined us, they would have managed to snack on the 'famous' Penang Street Teochew Chendol. We found it on the next lane. Cold, sweet dessert. Precious reward for the weary, heat-stricken traveller. After exploring the heritage trail that is Campbell street, we finally made our way to Komtah. Grabbed a bus back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.
We had previously arranged to meet Marv for a stag night at Chillis at 9. So Rickey and I decided to grab some dinner down the street before. We returned to the BBQ chicken place. Poor Rickey and his allergies. He can't eat seafood, and almost 90% of the food in Penang is prawn-based. He finally found his perfect dish at the prata shop (no, they didn't serve Ceasar Salad). It was this massive plate of Naan+Tandoori Chicken...and it only cost 6RM. Totally worth it. No picts though, cos I had planned on getting drunk at the stag party and didn't bring my camera.
Turns out the service in Penang is opposite that of Singapore. Waving the white-hand gets you ignored. Why can't Singaporeans learn from this? We are no longer under the colonial rule of the white man. Why treat them special? Anyway... 2 margeritas and we were done for the night. How sad is that. The strippers didn't show up either.
Sunrise in Penang
Fort Cornwallis
The ammo room.
The famous Sri Rambai cannon. You can see the original colour of the cannon, worn from the thousands of women 'riding' the cannon. The rest of the cannon was green from age. I suggested that they should start a rumour that the tip had more powerful magic. Then it would get polished back to its original gleam.
Yeah, as if anyone pays attention to the sign.
The crest of East India Company.
What were goats doing in the fort? My thoughts, they were reared for food for the soldiers.
Somewhere along the Batik Death March trail, we came across this car. I have to say. Its AWESOME!!!
"Are we there yet?"
The charsiew rice place we stumbled upon. The charsiew and siewbak (roast pork belly) was very good.
My homies
Penang Chendol. I'm not a big fan (I don't eat red bean), but I think I prefer the Melacca version.
Lovely waxed-pork bellies drying in the sun. Salty-Porky goodness
Blast from the past. 15 years ago it was there.
I have no idea what this building is, and I couldn't find it in the guidebooks, but I loved the old building.
Komtah
Me being me, I got up at 4am and wandered the streets. As we were staying in the more 'resort/holiday/tourist' part of town, there wasn't anything much to see. Sitting on the waterfront to welcome in the sunrise was nice, but getting feasted on by mosquitos was not. Grabbed a pre-breakfast breakfast at the prata place close-by (2nd best cup of coffee I've had in my life. 1st being in Vietnam). When dawn broke, we met up with Martin and family and headed down to Fort Cornwallis (btw, breakfast was in the same prata place as everyone wanted to try the coffee. Needless to say, many a cup of coffee was had at that particular prata place.)
Read the wikilink for history and information on Fort Cornwallis. The most interesting thing about the place was the Sri Rambai cannon that supposedly possesses magical powers of inducing fertility in barren women. Well, we didn't try it. We know the Bazylewiches are plenty fertile and I wasn't gonna let the BH try it.
From the Fort, it was on to 'Sams', the listed locale for Batik purchasing in the guide book. Being tourists, we decided to play it safe, follow the tourist maps and find our way towards 'Sams'. Little did we know what we had in store for us. We must have walked 5-6km, in the searing heat, with 2 kids and 2 strollers from the Fort to Sams. Indeed, it was the aptly coined 'Batik Death March'. We did manage to break for some charsiew rice (we had to stop, the place was crowded and busy, and it looked wonderfully good... As in Singapore, long queue means...'must be good').
When we finally got to Sams, we found that though they had plenty of designs, they didn't have Marty's size. So the party trugged on towards Komtah. Scouting the way, I finally found a little shop, located in a little nook with some Batik shirts. Nice designs... check. Good price... check. SIZE???... CHECK! Hooray. Mission completed. Marty had his Batik shirt for the wedding. With that Marty pulled the ole 'The kids are tired' trick, and grabbed the first taxi home. Rickey followed in the next cab, but BH and I elected to continue exploring.
Of course, if the fellows had joined us, they would have managed to snack on the 'famous' Penang Street Teochew Chendol. We found it on the next lane. Cold, sweet dessert. Precious reward for the weary, heat-stricken traveller. After exploring the heritage trail that is Campbell street, we finally made our way to Komtah. Grabbed a bus back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.
We had previously arranged to meet Marv for a stag night at Chillis at 9. So Rickey and I decided to grab some dinner down the street before. We returned to the BBQ chicken place. Poor Rickey and his allergies. He can't eat seafood, and almost 90% of the food in Penang is prawn-based. He finally found his perfect dish at the prata shop (no, they didn't serve Ceasar Salad). It was this massive plate of Naan+Tandoori Chicken...and it only cost 6RM. Totally worth it. No picts though, cos I had planned on getting drunk at the stag party and didn't bring my camera.
Turns out the service in Penang is opposite that of Singapore. Waving the white-hand gets you ignored. Why can't Singaporeans learn from this? We are no longer under the colonial rule of the white man. Why treat them special? Anyway... 2 margeritas and we were done for the night. How sad is that. The strippers didn't show up either.
Sunrise in Penang
Fort Cornwallis
The ammo room.
The famous Sri Rambai cannon. You can see the original colour of the cannon, worn from the thousands of women 'riding' the cannon. The rest of the cannon was green from age. I suggested that they should start a rumour that the tip had more powerful magic. Then it would get polished back to its original gleam.
Yeah, as if anyone pays attention to the sign.
The crest of East India Company.
What were goats doing in the fort? My thoughts, they were reared for food for the soldiers.
Somewhere along the Batik Death March trail, we came across this car. I have to say. Its AWESOME!!!
"Are we there yet?"
The charsiew rice place we stumbled upon. The charsiew and siewbak (roast pork belly) was very good.
My homies
Penang Chendol. I'm not a big fan (I don't eat red bean), but I think I prefer the Melacca version.
Lovely waxed-pork bellies drying in the sun. Salty-Porky goodness
Blast from the past. 15 years ago it was there.
I have no idea what this building is, and I couldn't find it in the guidebooks, but I loved the old building.
Komtah30 Jan 2010 - Mr and Mrs Marvelous
Saturday, the big day. After the previous day's death march, we decided to have our own plans for Saturday. I wanted to try the Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Tea) place that we walked by everyday. I also wanted to explore the back lanes behind the hotel, and get a foot massage to reward my aching feet. We even managed to try some of the 'mantis prawns' that we've been seeing in the seafood places.
We were back in the hotel by 3 to change up and prepare for the trip down to Batu Ferringi for the wedding ceremony.
With the beach as a backdrop, it was a simple yet beautiful ceremony. As it was held in the garden are of the hotel, there were plenty of spectators with some even recording video of the wedding. After the ceremony, we adjourned to the ballroom for pre-dinner cocktails before the dinner proper.
I must say, this was one of the most unique chinese wedding dinners I've attended.
1. It started on time.
2. The couple sat down and actually ate (ask around, the bride and groom never get to eat)
3. The bride didn't change a billion costumes.
4. The food was actually quite good.
5. No baseball hats were in attendance.
Although, how Marvelous managed to get the Canadian equivalent of Coach to make the speech we do not know. The guy was talking hockey, and no one was paying any attention to him. He went on and on and on and on. We all had Guppy Wedding Flashbacks.
Breakfast. Bak Kut Teh. Not your average BKT. This one was cooked in a claypot, with mushrooms, tofu and many different cuts of pork. It was very good.
Thanks to Marty, we are all looking for property in Penang
Lunch at Bali Hai. Corny name, but great food. Wonderful dimsum.
The xiao long bao here was pretty special. They topped it with some fishroe, steamed on a xiaobaicai leaf. The skin was perfect. Not so thin that you couldn't pick it up with chopsticks, yet thin enough to melt in your mouth.
The tank of live Mantis Prawns. Btw, the cantonese name for these translates to pissing prawns.
We ordered it steamed with garlic and ginger. When cooked, the meat tastes much like lobster. Wonderfully sweet. They gave you a scissor to cut into the shell.
Nothing left but the shell.
Lunch for 2. 2 Mantis Prawns, and assorted dimsum. 110RM (the prawns were 35RM each)
Batu Ferringhi beach. I thought it was quite a crap beach. They had horses running around shitting all over the place. Idiots on 4wheelers, and people swimming alongside the jetskis. Zero safety rating. The sand and water was crap too. Don't believe what you read online. There is no white sand and clear waters.
Photographing the photographer.
Nothing like a dash of Singlemalt to spice up the milk.
Dr Ted 'Crockett' Wong making an entrance to the ceremony. Where's Tubbs?
"Survivor Penang"
Mrs Marvelous
There's Tubbs... in the background.
The Saturday Softball Crew. Guppy and Ted obviously didn't get the memo about the Batik dresscode.
Just Married.
The hotel had a playroom for parents to dump their kids while they go off for some beach fun. The playroom actually has the entire collection of Enid Blyton books. I asked to be left in there, but the dinner was about to start.
The Hustler
Oscar knows a thing or 2 about Canadian Rules
Martin B and little Ethan. Strange thing. Ethan was bawling his eyes out and Marty had to take him outside. When I followed them to take a photo, Ethan immediately stopped crying and posed for the camera. Of course he started crying again the moment I took the lens off him. Serious camwhorage.
The next generation of SaturdaySoftball. Oscar and Jeffery
Mr and Mrs Marvelous make their appearance at the dinner.
We were back in the hotel by 3 to change up and prepare for the trip down to Batu Ferringi for the wedding ceremony.
With the beach as a backdrop, it was a simple yet beautiful ceremony. As it was held in the garden are of the hotel, there were plenty of spectators with some even recording video of the wedding. After the ceremony, we adjourned to the ballroom for pre-dinner cocktails before the dinner proper.
I must say, this was one of the most unique chinese wedding dinners I've attended.
1. It started on time.
2. The couple sat down and actually ate (ask around, the bride and groom never get to eat)
3. The bride didn't change a billion costumes.
4. The food was actually quite good.
5. No baseball hats were in attendance.
Although, how Marvelous managed to get the Canadian equivalent of Coach to make the speech we do not know. The guy was talking hockey, and no one was paying any attention to him. He went on and on and on and on. We all had Guppy Wedding Flashbacks.
Breakfast. Bak Kut Teh. Not your average BKT. This one was cooked in a claypot, with mushrooms, tofu and many different cuts of pork. It was very good.
Thanks to Marty, we are all looking for property in Penang
Lunch at Bali Hai. Corny name, but great food. Wonderful dimsum.
The xiao long bao here was pretty special. They topped it with some fishroe, steamed on a xiaobaicai leaf. The skin was perfect. Not so thin that you couldn't pick it up with chopsticks, yet thin enough to melt in your mouth.
The tank of live Mantis Prawns. Btw, the cantonese name for these translates to pissing prawns.
We ordered it steamed with garlic and ginger. When cooked, the meat tastes much like lobster. Wonderfully sweet. They gave you a scissor to cut into the shell.
Nothing left but the shell.
Lunch for 2. 2 Mantis Prawns, and assorted dimsum. 110RM (the prawns were 35RM each)
Batu Ferringhi beach. I thought it was quite a crap beach. They had horses running around shitting all over the place. Idiots on 4wheelers, and people swimming alongside the jetskis. Zero safety rating. The sand and water was crap too. Don't believe what you read online. There is no white sand and clear waters.
Photographing the photographer.
Nothing like a dash of Singlemalt to spice up the milk.
Dr Ted 'Crockett' Wong making an entrance to the ceremony. Where's Tubbs?
"Survivor Penang"
Mrs Marvelous
There's Tubbs... in the background.
The Saturday Softball Crew. Guppy and Ted obviously didn't get the memo about the Batik dresscode.
Just Married.
The hotel had a playroom for parents to dump their kids while they go off for some beach fun. The playroom actually has the entire collection of Enid Blyton books. I asked to be left in there, but the dinner was about to start.
The Hustler
Oscar knows a thing or 2 about Canadian Rules
Martin B and little Ethan. Strange thing. Ethan was bawling his eyes out and Marty had to take him outside. When I followed them to take a photo, Ethan immediately stopped crying and posed for the camera. Of course he started crying again the moment I took the lens off him. Serious camwhorage.
The next generation of SaturdaySoftball. Oscar and Jeffery
Mr and Mrs Marvelous make their appearance at the dinner.
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