Just For Fun

Tongue, Tongue and more Tongue 'Mat Rempit' wannabes Modern day Monkeys Pick the little man You call this Riding? His expression speaks for itself... Girl on far left has a problem don't you think?...or does she have iron legs... Anyone for poached human legs??

Road Trip - Day 5

The last and final day of our trip. We left Pangkor Island and back to the mainland to retrieve our ride. We then headed south back again to Ipoh. On the way to Ipoh, the weather was rather gloomy and rained quite a bit. Once upon a time, Kantha used to live in Ipoh and recommended that we have lunch at a popular place which serves Nasi Briyani. Kudos to him as the rice was quite delicious.

Ipoh is also famous for a variety of Chinese biscuits and tit-bits. So, we scouted around town for some kaya puffs, ‘heong pheng’, peanut filled kuih kapet and others. As it started to drizzle, we decided to quickly get on our way to our last destination, Trolak Hot Springs!

Upon arrival, we had to pay an entrance fee to access the water park and hot springs. Without further ado, we went to the water park…with cool water. There was a huge slide for everyone’s enjoyment. There were loads of kids using it, the standard and safe way. However, without minding what other people would think, Shawn unintentionally showed the kids…other ways to use the slide. Without a moments thought, he jumped on the slide head in front and slid down on his belly. The kids got surprised and excited and soon followed suit. (Apologies to all the parents for teaching their kids to do the not-so-safe thing…oops :P)

Anyway, we soon headed towards the hot springs. Now, the water here are all naturally heated by the earth and some areas can reach up to 70°C or more. Those around 50°C supposedly have therapeutic effects on the body. Good for the body but the water was…HOT!!!

The night began to fall upon us which was are cue to get out of Trolak. So, back to home sweet home. Unfortunately, the ride back was not so sweet. In fact, it was quite a stressful and scary ride back as Boeing 7887 was low on fuel. This part of the trip was the ‘fastest’ that Kantha had ever driven on a highway. He was doing all in his power to get power from each and every drop of fuel left. The most stressful part of this ordeal was that we would see the sign boards for rest stops and hoping for a petrol pump sign. We drove by one, none. Drove by a second, none. Drove by a third…also none. We were in deep shit. Thank goodness we got to one on the next pit stop. PHEW!!

To end our trip, we had a late dinner with some good old pork. We had Bak Kut Teh along Jalan Raja Laut. The famous stall under the tree. Everyone was sent back after that which concludes our Road Trip!

Road Trip - Day 4

Without a doubt, this day started off as another lazy morning. Pitter, platter, pitter, platter. Well what do you know, we were greeted with rain. When the rain stopped, we headed out. Now, during this part of the trip, I believe everyone on the trip would agree that this was the most ‘fun & exciting’ part of it all. We decided to follow the ‘economically & ecologically’ thing to do (taken from Jeff Dunham), we rented bicycles! Anyway, we were heading towards Teluk Nipah. In the beginning, it was all in good fun till we reached…HILLS!

Not 1, not 2 hills but quite few and not just 10%, 20% gradient but even up to 50% gradient hills. Let’s just say that we had a real workout to get to our destination. Of course we made a few stops to catch our breaths. In the end, we had a late lunch at Teluk Nipah with some burgers and fried rice.

Having refueled our ‘tanks’, we spent quite some time at the beach here and this was the clearly the best beached we visited throughout the whole trip. The water was reasonably clear, the sand was not too shabby and the weather was rather nice.

When everyone had about enough of the salt water, we headed back WITH our bicycles. Fortunately, returning to the hotel was half as taxing or tiring. From sea to pool yet again. We had loads of fun in the pool on this day as we did some battling…you know the one where one person sits on the shoulders of another person and tries to push the other team down. We rotated partners and had quite a number of battles but in particular, I won’t forget Shiao Teng’s amazing recovery…celaka! (come to think of it, she may have some abs…don’t play play man :P)

Since it was the last night of our trip, we decided to have a nicer dinner. We were actually hungry for some ikan bakar but apparently we were on the wrong part of the island to get some. So we settled for some Chinese food like crispy chicken served with thai chilli sauce, vegetables, claypot wild boar and few other dishes.

Après nous prenons notre dîner (After we had our dinner), we bought some soft drinks and just went to the beach nearby our hotel to chill out. It was really relaxing.

Again, as the last night, we just took time to relax back at our hotel. Everyone turned in after telling and listening to stories…especially from Apple!

Road Trip - Day 3

Check out time, 10 am. As soon as we received our deposit, we made our way out of Sri Sayang and onto the next destination. About an hours drive from the bridge would get you to Taiping. This is where we stopped for lunch. As Shawn’s mum is from Taiping, she recommended that we go to Cashere’s Market to eat as it is one of the biggest food courts in town. By the time we arrived, it was just nice to have our meal. Let’s just say that everyone was pretty pleased with the pricing of food and drinks here. Just to give a rough picture… 5 drinks including canned drinks totals up to RM7. A plate of Char Kuay Teow, no more than RM3 and chicken rice not more than RM3.50. As this was personally my second time to Taiping, I still think this town has the cheapest pricing on hawker’s food. After lunch, I took the group to Taiping’s Lake Gardens which is quite a beautiful sight to behold. We spent about 30mins to take some photos before departing for the second last leg of our vacation, to Pulau Pangkor!

We reached Lumut at about 4.30pm and had to take the ferry across to Pangkor Island. We waited for the ferry which was scheduled to depart at 5pm and cost us RM10 each, to and fro. For those who have never taken the ferry to Pangkor, you need not worry too much about timing as there are ferries scheduled approximately every 30mins. Upon setting foot on the island, we hailed a taxi to take us to Coral Bay Resort. There is always a notion that these hotels with 4-star rating would be impressive. But we were truly mistaken were somewhat disappointed with the place. The hotel looked old, run-down and really not what we expected. The reason that we opted for this place was that it offered condo units and we were entitled to discount with the usage of Shiao Teng’s Golden Reservation card. But nonetheless, we checked-in and tried to make the best of the place.

The sun was about to set and we decided to head to the beach. Down the street from our hotel was a long stretch of beach which was quite decent. We found ourselves a spot along the beach and went on to test the waters. By this time, the tide was coming in and granted us the chance to have some good fun with the waves. The guys started off trying to ride the waves as it hit the shore. Soon everyone gave it a go. There was a battle going on and guess who won? Yes. The sea bullied the hell out of us…haha, but we really had a smashing…or should I say…splashing time. As the tide was getting quite high and sun almost set, we retreated to the hotel’s pool…the same routine as we had in Penang. In this hotel too, we got chased out of the pool…oops! Naturally, everyone showered and got ready to have dinner. All the water and swimming got is really hungry which made us pass up the choice to eat at a restaurant with more people. Our f&b studies have thought us that crowds are indications of a good outlet. But our stomachs told us to be impatient and opted for the restaurant with not so many people. This restaurant was located just outside of our hotel. Despite the fact that the dishes were not all that delicious, guess which was the dish everyone favoured? The simplest of all – ‘Sang Choy’ aka Lettuce…because all had problems doing ‘big business’.

After dinner, what do we do? The same thing we did on previous nights but this time with the premium stuff. Some black jack and mushrooms got everyone…in the right mood to have a sound sleep. :)

Road Trip - Day 2

As this was a trip meant for relaxation, you could call this trip a rather lazy one. On the second day, some woke up a little earlier and some decided to sleep their asses off after a rather noisy and disturbing night…(the other 2 blokes on the trip…you know what you did…) After watching some tele and waiting for everyone to get ready, it was time to ‘chiak pooi’ As a recommendation from Kantha’s cousin, we went to Lorong Selamat to find a supposedly exceptional Char Kuay Teow. Apparently, this is no ordinary plate of kuay teow as it comes with ingredients such as mantis prawns and such. BUT unfortunately, we were not able to try it as the stall was closed. On the bright side, it benefited our budget as it is said that a plate of this dish can cost up to RM 7. At the end of it all, we settled for plates of Wan Tan Mee or Wan Than Mee, as how they spell it in Penang. Prior to eating lunch, we stopped by one of the famous biscuit shops by the name of Ghee Hiang. This shop has been in existence for more than 150 years and is famous for their Tau Sar Pneah, Beh Tew Saw and few other varieties. Ghee Hiang is located on the corner of Macalister Street.

Later, we returned to the condo to gear up to go to the beach. We had no clue where to find nice beaches in Penang and decided to inquire. It was suggested that we drive along the road from our condo on the way to Teluk Bahang and we would see some nicer stretches of beaches. It wasn’t the best but much better that the beach we went to the day before. Not too bad but we had the company of ‘man’s best friend’. Not one but two and one in particular was a little TOO friendly…(guys, you know what I mean).

Having had enough of the sea water, we retreated to Sri Sayang’s pool and again had a pretty good time. This time we didn’t get chased out.

For ‘makan malam’, we were to meet Kantha’s cousin at New World Park. We thought we were going to have free dinner…but it was not to be. So we ate in the food court which was quite depressing to say the least. I guess we KL people are so used to stalls being opened till 10,11pm and even after midnight. Stalls here close much earlier and we were left with a few choices to eat. We later went to find a place along the street to buy DVDs. They’re really cheap at RM 4 a piece. I think I need not explain how the night ended…pretty predictable. However, everyone turned in a little earlier due to tiredness and the fact that we needed to clear out off the condo by 10 am the following morning.

Road Trip - Day 1

Despite the fact that we were all supposed to be undergoing ‘internship’, for some reason we all seemed to take it easy and even took time to plan for a holiday. So we planned to embark on a Road Trip. Initially, the people supposedly to go for this trip were Shawn, Kantha, Wan San, Apple, Mimi and Crystal. But once again, somebody decided to ‘take the plane’ instead. So as we had 1 place left, Shiao Teng managed to join us.

26^th May 2008, 6.30am Monday morning, transport had arrived at Shawn’s house before beginning our journey. By the time everything was sorted out like appointing Shawn as the ‘Financial Controller’ we left around 6.45am (first thing in the morning already had to feel like a loan shark…haih).

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard flight 7887 departing from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. Estimated time of arrival to Penang is eleven hundred hours and we will make a short transit at Ipoh town. The weather looks calm and fine. We hope that you will have a pleasant journey and thank you for ‘flying’ with Toyota”.

The drive north-bound to was not too bad as it was a weekday but there quite a lot of road works going on which at one point or another gave us a few scares and surprises (for the ones who were still awake at least). There were some hard breaking and even…workers throwing cones in front of you…while you’re driving past! But nonetheless, we reached Ipoh town in approximately 2 hours. In Ipoh, we made our way to one of the coffee shops to have breakfast. So what’s famous here? None other than their Kai See Hor Fun. The bowls of noodles we had were really nice with soft and smooth kuay teow, fat and crunchy bean sprouts and wonderfully flavoured chicken and prawn broth garnished with chives. Not only were they delicious but cheap too. Kantha and Wan San had Wan Tan Mee but they commented that KL makes better noodles. Having finished our ‘petit dejeuner’, we wasted no time and headed straight for Penang.

It took us about another 2 hours to reach the Penang Bridge and thank goodness for Smart Tag otherwise we would have been caught up in the queue along with everybody else. I think I’ve made this comment more than once on the trip. We are like some ‘super-saavy’ travelers who need no maps no matter where we’re going. Conclusion – we think we know where we’re going but…in the end still need to ask for directions. What a joy-ride. Anyway, we had to make our way to Sri Sayang Hotel and Condominiums which is situated on the north-east side of the island directly opposite the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort.

When we got there, we were in for a little predicament. We booked a condo online the day before and hoped that our request had been processed. Upon arrival we were told that our reservation was not conformed and that the hotel was fully booked. Reason…SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!! With the bad news, we left the lobby and decided to search for another place to stay. As we were about to exit the parking lot, as if he was a drug dealer, the security guard discreetly gave Kantha a piece of paper with some numbers on it. For a moment it all seemed a little fishy. But the truth was that some people had condos for rent and he was the middle man. So, we rang the land-lord and in 20 mins we had a place to stay. Lucky us and thank you Mr…drug dealer?? By the time we went up to our rooms and rested for a little while, our stomachs were telling us what to do next. As we had no clue where to go, we just headed to Gurney Drive to see what was there. As they say, Peneng is another Foodies Galore of Malaysia. It was quite late for lunch but we managed to find somewhere to eat. We had some Char Kuay Teow and Lobak. Let’s just say we weren’t ‘wowed’ by the Penang food. I guess the best of Penang are already all in KL.

Just before dusk, we went to the beach along the Rasa Sayang Resort. The sea was not exactly what you call clear and the sand was very rough. Quite disappointing actually when you’ve been to better beaches like those in Langkawi. It started to drizzle and we went back to the pool at our hotel for just a little while. Fast forward, after everyone showered and got ready, we went to Gurney Drive again to have dinner. By this time, the corner of this road transforms into a night food court with a wide variety of stalls to choose from. We decided to order and share. Of course we had to have some Asam Laksa. We also ordered dishes like rojak, oyster omelet, grilled fish and grilled cuttlefish as well as chee choeng fun. Penang food is usually accompanied with prawn paste of ‘har koh’. We weren’t ‘wowed’ by the food here either.

The night was still young, so we went back to our hotel after walking around Gurney Plaza for a little bit. Oh…just to let you all know that to get in and out from our hotel to the city takes a 15 minute winding drive. So…here’s a question. What can’t a holiday trip do without? Due to the cost factor, we opted for the ‘not-so-premium’ stuff. Some drinks, cards and money. Simple way to end the night ain’t it guys?

7 Months

Man!! It took approximately 7 months for this blog to be updated. But you guys who are reading this would understand that a lot....and I mean A LOT has happened in the past months that explains the reason this blog hasn't been updated since. Anyway, marche-marche cherecher manger finally gets it's update. Despite the name of the blog, I would like to think that the primary subject of the blog has changed. Instead of a foodie blog, it is more of an account of our holidays...which I am sad to say may not happen again . But not to worry, life has to take it's course and I will try to feed this blog whenever I can. Cheers.