yellow ferry

Yes I was in Penang and I had sooooo much fun even if it was just for the weekend. I met up with my fiance (ehemm gedik) in Penang, he came down 'all the way' from Alor Star. Alor Star isn't that far from Penang. It took him about an hour or so to reach the island. Remember my tart gulung? He bought me a box from the ever famous Pekan Rabu. Haha, happy okay!! Glams. So I've got one now. Let's see whether it's really delicious or not. On Friday we went to berbuka at Hai Nan town, Jetty. It's at Weld Quay, right next to the ferry terminal. If you're in Penang and you want something different, other than nasi kandar (but don't be silly lah, please give priority to nasi kandar if you're in Penang), Hai Nan town serves really delicious nyonya dishes. It's one of my family's favourite restaurants in Penang. Every time we're there, a visit to the restaurant is a must. Among our favourite dishes are curry tumis pedas (don't get mistaken with curry asam pedas, which is not as tasty) and inchi kabin (special fried chicken). And don't forget to try its dessert, bubur pulut hitam. Perghhhh. It is served hot with just the perfect amount of santan. You'd want more, I kid you not. Unluckily for you, I forgot to snap pictures of the dishes even though I've made a mental reminder to myself not to forget it this time around. I've been meaning to take pictures of it. :( I only have pictures of myself and him, minus the food. Haha. And so it was really exciting to be able to bring him to berbuka at that place. He enjoyed the food (of course) and the view....ahh, gorgeous! Simply breathtaking at night. Macam dekat overseas with all the lights, ferries, yachts... I only have pictures of the place in the evening. Malam dah lupa. Tapi the ambience was really pretty and romantic! We sat by the quay, table for two plus the scenary, perfect perfect memorable night. :) Selalu pergi with my family je kan, so it was my first time there with someone so darn special. Hehe. Hmmmm dreamy!

After dinner topped with the not-to-be-missed dessert, we decided to just drive around the island. We passed by a few places that hold special memories for me. Like, the apek jual apom pisang by the roadside near the huge Maybank building. My favourite since I was a kid until today! And then there's Jalan Kelawei, there's a nice kedai makan which sells malay dishes with its specialty being the fish head curry (Malay style, not mamak). We came to a stop at Gurney Drive. That night the place was especially quiet because the Chinese had some religious event going on, so some stalls were closed. Buttttt, my 'muar chee' stall was open and that was all I cared about. Muar chee juga adalah my favourite since I was a kid. I used to buy it at Gurney Drive lah but from a different vendor. Rasa sama je, thank God. Muar chee is made out of rice balls (I think) and then it is dipped in crushed peanuts, topped with bawang kering. It is chewy and it is yummyyyy. So we bought three packets and ate 'em in the car. Haha.

We continued our journey back to my late grandma's house. My aunts live there and my family would also sleep over at the house whenever we're back in Penang. We don't stay in hotels unless we really have to, like, if my other aunts and uncles are also back from KL and there's not enough space in the house. Otherwise, we prefer to stay in the house I grew up in. :) It was so sentimental seeing him in that house, I never thought the little me, the little girl who used to live there and entertain her grandma's friends with songs from Engelbert Humperdinck (memang ol' skool, my grandfather's influence la tu), would one day bring home a man that she's about to marry, in the same house, more than 20 years later. I showed him the room I used to share with my grandparents, and the shops I used to go to, and of course, ini wajib, I showed him my 'tadika' (if you can call it that). He had a good laugh. There's a whole different story about my pre-school education, which I've shared with my readers in my old blog. I think I might just copy and paste the entry here, just for the benefit of those who might want to read it. :)

After a short rest, we continued our journey to Kayu nasi kandar! Berapa kali tah I need to say this but the Kayu there is just so much better. Yes, we had nasi kandar on the same night! Ahh, it was so satisfying even though lepas tu dah rasa full gila. Zaki slept over at Ted's place that night. (Thanks Ted for the hospitality, and to Neesa, saya tak tau how to send your love to Ted tapi saya telah surround dia dengan my lovesick aura. Enough,no?Hehe). The next day we went to Queensbay Mall - mall terhebat outside KL, if you compare it with the ones in Kedah! This is according to the man who stays in Kedah ok, not me. But Queensbay is almost complete and you almost feel like you're in KL once you step into the mall. With shops like forever 21, MNG, topshop and restaurants like TGIF, Paddington House of Pancakes, Starbucks etc, very KL-like, right?? If only it wasn't the fasting month, I would've brought him to Tanjung, to try the apom pisang, pisang goreng near Batu Ferringghi, mee udang Sungai Dua and just lots lots lots more places to eat. Since our activities were pretty limited, we opted to watch a movie. Dating all the way in Penang ok, nothing less! LOL. ;p After that jalan-jalan lagi until it's nearly time for berbuka. We didn't berbuka together because he received an invitation he couldn't resist from Ted - to berbuka at Equitorial Hotel, while my family went for berbuka at Hai Nan. Yes, second time for me, two days in a row but I still ate like I haven't tasted the dishes for years. Hehe. I bade farewell to my fiance as he left for Alor Star that very same night. :( To drown my sorrow, I had nasi lemak Liverpool in Batu Lanchang. Haha. Simple RM1.50 nasi lemak but delicious! I ate it at Kayu, with teh ais, while the rest of the family had supper. I told you, balik Penang je sure keep on eating like there's no tomorrow because there are lots of good food there. Itu pun nasib it's the fasting month, or else I don't know how much I'd put on weight. We always eat what we couldn't find in KL, that's why selalu makan puas-puas, because we don't know when we'd come back again. So definitely no Western food for me in Penang. Rugi.

*sigh* It was such a short but definitely memorable trip for me and Zaki. It was like sharing a huge part of my life, a huge part of who I am, with him. I was 'introducing' him to Penang, even though he has been there countless times, but it was his first time there with me. I'm so glad now whenever we reminisce about my childhood, he'd have a clearer picture of what I mean. Definitely another sweet milestone in our relationship don't you think so:)))