Penang Story Part I

We took advantage of the long weekend (and our leave) to visit Penang. Penang will always be our favourite destination. We consider ourselves gastronomic tourists as we are there for the food! I love the historical ambiance, the old buildings. My grandmother and mom were born in Penang, so I feel belonged. Rafiq belongs to Penang, as he has always considered Penang his second home. It was where he spent the best years of his life, when he was a student in USM. I have the advantage of being married to someone who knows where to go for gastronomy adventures. Not in proper restaurants or Jalan-jalan Cari Makan type but the Ian Wright's Globe Trekker style. BLISS!

We started our journey from Kajang at 10 a.m. on Saturday, 19.12.2009. Traffic was excellent even though it was raining in some parts of the journey. We only made one stop at the RnR. No commotion in the car as both Faiq and Aira slept most of the time. But we had to entertain Faiq's "Bila nak sampai ni?" questions when he woke up. It was a fun and smooth drive.

We arrived in Penang at about 2 p.m. Since check-in time was at 3 p.m. and we haven't had our lunch, we decided to start our gastronomy adventure at Medan Suri, Sungai Nibong for Mee Pitchay. They are famous for mee goreng and mee rebus. Memang power bila pekena dengan ABC & Cendol!

Lepas kenyang, we checked in at Vistana Hotel at Bukit Jambul. We stayed there (at the apartment) during our last visit, when Lachik, my brother in-law, was working in Penang. We got a good rate for it, less than RM200 per night. What was even better was there were baby cots available for use at no extra charge. We rested for a while before taking Faiq to the pool.

After pool time, we got ready for dinner. Destination was Gurney Drive, as we didn't go there during our last visit. But Rafiq warned us that since it was malam minggu, traffic was gonna be bad! He was right, but alhamdulillah after making a U-turn, we got a parking infront of McDonald's. And we thought we were early. We just wanna enjoy the ambiance and moment so we only ordered our next meal after we finished one. As we were about to leave the makan place, more and more people started to arrive.

We ordered Lala Goreng Berempah & Pasemboq. We had 3 glasses of sugarcane drinks and were immediately full. Spoiler betul lar! After dinner, Rafiq suggested that we lepak at Gurney Drive's Esplanade. I know he was reminiscing something he and his friends did 15 years ago...hehehe!

We tapau rojak buah and left the Esplanade at about 9.30 p.m.

-END OF PART I-