Monday, September 25, 2006

Padan Muka Gua

It was an impromptu trip. Threw a few pieces of clothing into the bag, went to the bus terminal and got a ticket and 4 hours later, I found myself climbing the stairs and walking to board the ferry from Butterworth to the island.

A nephew picked me up from the Penang ferry terminal to the house and we waited for another nephew from Gua Musang who arrived shortly. Famished by then, my brother's family and I proceeded for some food at this seaside restaurant along Northam Road(didn't look out for the name because was busy 8-pohing & looking at one young chap walloping a girl in the carpark). Horrible food, they have there. Just imagine 'muar chee' (steamed glutinous rice flour balls rolled in ground peanuts & sugar) drizzled with peanut butter. Blerrgh....

Next morning, had Hokkien Mee (Penang Prawn Mee) at at coffeeshop along Rangoon Road. Gotta wait like 30 minutes to be served. Stomach filled, went to the flea market at Lorong Kulit. Got this pair of reading glasses for RM7.


At about lunch time, gave a call to my cousin and told him that I would be bringing his Pop & Mom (my Ah Koo & Ah Kim) to his apartment at Farlim. Cousin said he's at work but the wife will be at home. Cousin and family stayed with Uncle & Aunt for more than 20 years but had since shifted out to their own place about 2 years ago and can you believe it - the 2 old folks have not been to their son's new home. Neither cousin nor wife or their kids have offered to take Uncle & Aunt!

After the visit, Uncle and Aunt were in high spirits and offered to buy afternoon tea and we ended up in a coffeeshop along the Penang Hill Road. Uncle & Aunt had curry mee and lorbak, teh-o and kopi-o. Sent them home and spent the rest of the afternoon with them.




Later, I had a piece of piping-hot 'barn charn koay' (pancake with brown sugar, peanut and drizzled with melted margarine). Then went to Gurney Drive hawker centre for dinner. Not that the food is good there but I wanted to have a good look at this.


It's chicken-skin/chicken carcass(kai hok)/chicken neck/chicken backside(bishop's nose)and all the other chicken spare-parts(innards & gizzards) rolled in seasoned flour and deep fried. Mind you, you gotta queue quite a while to be served. Don't ask me how it taste like - sorry, I don't do skins and bones.

Next morning, had curry mee at this unique stall in Air Itam. I was told these 2 charming old ladies have been at this place for more than 20 years. Look at them, they serve sitting down on small wooden stools.



Had another piece of the 'barn chan koay'. Then went to Swatow Lane for some yummy ice kacang and another bowl of curry mee before heading to Sg Nibong to catch the bus back to KL.

Now, I'm having sore throat and running a slight fever. Had been pigging too much over the past 2 days. Padan muka gua.
 
posted by nyonyapenang at 12:08 AM, |

35 Comments:

  At 2:23 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
I missed the penang prawn mee and also char koay teow!!
OMG! U hv just made me sooooo hungry!!!!! Arrrghhhh!!!!
*drooling*
  At 6:03 AM Blogger U-Jean said:
that's what you are suppose to do! they're so many great food around, it's almost a sin not eating them. what'a a minor sore throat?
  At 7:39 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Wah. those skin and bones are tempting me... *drools*
  At 7:44 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Your Uncle & Aunt are really beautiful ppl. If I'm there with you, I would hug-hug them. :p
  At 7:53 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Good for u! Went 2 see Uncle & Auntie again! BTW, u said u don't do "skin and bones". U mean u don't like skinny people??? Gee!! I'm fat...very fat!!! Ha ha ha!
  At 7:56 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
BTW, should u be buying reading glasses at flea markets? They say may make ur eyesight worse!!! Go to qualified people and get a proper one done!!! But come to think of it, for people my age, and shape and size, being unable to see clearly may be a blessing in disguise!!! "The spirit is willing but...!!!" Ha ha ha!
  At 8:55 AM Blogger ah nel said:
any food served in that klassik chicken bowls owes da best... ;)
  At 9:25 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Get well soon Nyonya & after that, wallop some more :)
  At 9:32 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Oh gosh... oh gosh...
Chicken skinnnnnn...
I have not had them since secondary school... they're just tasty
Abou the 2 ladies serving curry mee, I heard there's this hokkien mee stall by some road too, served by an old couple... no chair no table just eat by the roadside as you like...
Yummy!!!
what is good to eat? ... along the road to penang hill? me will be going to penang next month. Blur like sotong, dunno where to go, what to see, where to eat. somemore will be doing self-drive. penang drivers ok ornot? :P
  At 10:44 AM Blogger jazzmint said:
wah wah..alot of food oo....

you make me miss penang so much
  At 11:06 AM Blogger Unknown said:
nvm... this weekend or next weekend i going back Penang n hamtam all the foods! I help u revenge ok? kekekeke... u forgot to drink more 'leng teh' lah, that's y kena.
barn-charn-koay...one of my favourite snacks!
Whenever I'm in Penang, I never fail to go to...err, where ah...to...to..Pulau Tikus? (I think!) Must have the assam laksa from the corner coffee shop, and then the pancake from the man outside. Hmm....nice, hot n crispy!!
And, get well soon.
  At 1:46 PM Blogger savante said:
Dammit! You are making me hungry!!!
  At 2:42 PM Blogger sming said:
hungry hungry...
barn chang koay my fav.....
Char koay kak in penang is the best.. cannot find any that come close to it here in KL.. :(
I miss penang food..
  At 4:33 PM Blogger Sasha Tan said:
eat first suffer later. If i get to eat the yummy food, i'll be like you also.
aceone,
the prawn mee & char koay teow calling your name ledi.

angel,
thot you're still on fish & chips mode. LOL

u-jean,
you're right!

ian,
i've seen people enjoying those skins & bones with cold beer.

jemima,
thank you.
my sayangs to you too. ;)

suituapui,
cikgu memang pandai read between the lines. LOL
my fren told me that once you start on those reading glasses(whether cheapo or prescription ones) you'll be very much dependent on them. at the moment, still can manage without them.
nevermind, if sense of sight weakens, sense of touch will be enhanced. kakakaka.....

ah nel,
you're very observant.
so next time, i will only use those 'chicken bowls' bcos i cook bad.
kakakaka....

immomsdaughter,
thank you.
ok, one 'ban charn koay' extra peanuts please!

zeroimpact,
wuuahh, you're a connoisseur of chicken skins.
hmmm... must check out the hokkien mee couple on my next visit. no chair, no table oso nevermind. most important food must be good. ;)

las montanas,
some suggestions for street food:-
breakfast - for variety, you can try the 2 corner coffeeshops (back to back of each other) in Pulau Tikus opposite Balai Polis.
breakfast - hokkien prawn mee at coffeeshop in Jln Rangoon. Turn in from Burma Rd and you can see the shop on your left.
lunch - try swatow lane, famous for ice kacang and also variety of hawker fare.
dinner - coffee shop in New Lane/Jalan Macalister junction.(the stall selling yummy 'chee cheong chook' starts early @abt 3pm & finishes by abt 7.30pm)
supper - yummy curry mee, wan tan mee & apom balik along Chulia Street. tables are placed along the five-foot way and a small lane
you can check out gurney drive and esplanade, but i find those places touristy.
also, for mamak soups, try those along upper penang road opposite hotel malaysia.
those places i mentioned are quite easy to locate. just ask around. ;)
errr..... don't ask me about fine dining places - wor pu cher tau.

jazzmint,
make a trip there. ;)

kenny,
hahaha... if go back, tak makan puas puas, macam tak kena hor?

savante,
read my reply to las montanas.
make a trip there la. ;)

sming,
actually , i had char koay kak after the ban charn koay. that's why this sore throat thingy la.

sasha,
that's why lor, whenever people talk about going on a diet la, slimming la, i pretend din hear.
kakakaka....
  At 7:24 PM Blogger Chen said:
Penang = food mah
u can't avoid that after all
LOL, hebat lah u
manage to sapu so much food in the past 2 days
  At 9:19 PM Blogger Mushu said:
sore throat comes in the package. didn't you read the label before eating?? LOL
  At 9:35 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Chicken skins is tasty...
About the hokkien mee, that is so far what I've heard... I'm looking for them too...
They say it's the best there
aiyoh Nyonya! thanks a million! I'll get the chief minister to confer you a tourism award!
  At 10:47 PM Blogger sengkor said:
worth it, rite..? i m willing to be in ur shoes..
  At 11:12 PM Blogger Jo said:
Wish someone can bring me to penang for a food tour... I have never been to Penang. Really one
chen,
i don't go for rice whenever i'm in penang. ;)

vern,
hahaha.... too busy eating, no time to read.

las montanas,
pu yao kher chi!
in penang hor, everywhere you turn, you'll see food, food and more food.
btw, for the 'barn charn koay', you can get it in the morning from outside the coffeeshop in Pulau Tikus and at night from another hawker centre known as Lak Chap Tnah(60 stalls in hokkien) next to the Trengganu Rd/Taman Free School Roundabout. N.B. this hawker centre is closed on Thursdays.

sengkor,
quick, quick, plan a trip there. ;)
lil'joy,
plan a trip with your bloggers' gang. ;)
  At 11:38 PM Blogger ikanbilis said:
i miss eating muar chee! the vegeterian one lah! and also the deep fried chicken skin looks tempting! hahaha. nasib baik i didn't read this post during the day since now puasa ade, otherwise ah, im will mampoih dee coz of hunger! =P

old folks are just so cuddly and huggable! =D
ikanbilis,
i think nowadays, the muar chee is prepared using peanut oil/vegetable oil.
not too sure about those other type of biscuits though.
*smacks forehead*
I'm so bad...
I didn't ask how are you? Hope lu boh huat seo liao...
*sayang-sayang*
  At 2:20 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
why never go to Abu Siti lane for fresh coconut?? Then you will not have such sore throat...
  At 12:33 PM Blogger Unknown said:
Wah! Lu saja khi Penang chiak nia si bo? Kui jit chiak.
angel,
awww.... you're so sweeet.
**sayangs you balik**
boh sio liao tapi masih sakit kerongkong.

angeleyes,
last year, i had the coconuts at aboo sittee lane. aiyooh, too much 'angin' la and i fell sick the next day. LOL

bernard,
chiak si hok!
  At 2:24 PM Blogger 5xmom.com said:
Wuah...Siam Ee. The two old ladies never grow old one. Last time, when I was all 17 yrs old, I used to go there makan with the ex-bf and his motorbike. Nowadays, hardly can go cos no parking wan. Must 'teh' hubby to take his son's bike and bawak me jalan-jalan like when I was 17 yrs old. LOL.
  At 3:28 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
hummph...u went penang again! gua dun fren you leow...soooooo jealous!!!
5xmom,
their name is Siam Ee izzit?
quick, quick get your atm to fetch you on motorbike. remember to peluk kuat, kuat, nor. ;)

laundryamah,
please, please, continue be my fren la. plan a trip with your whole family. am sure the kids will enjoy it. ;)