Intoxicated in the State of Food

I was in Penang last week for a meeting with Indonesia telecoms authorities.  Its been sometimes since my last visit to Penang.  Penang is a state famous for delicous food, especially street food (I'm not reallly into nasi kandar, so I am not entitled to be the judge in this area).   And its the cheapest in the world!! I mean you cannot get cheap hawker street food anywhere else, not even in Kelantan.

Upon touch down, friend from MAS who is attending the same meeting invited us for a ride to the hotel with MAS coaster, so we obliged.  As I was craving for the penang asam jeruk, they offer a stop to buy malay-made jeruk at Sungai Nibong.  I was happy to get my stock of jeruk on the first day as I foresee that I will be busy during the meeting as I was chairing one of the Sub-Committee Meeting.  And our local friends said that Chowrasta is quite a distance from G Hotel - the hotel located in Persiaran Gurney.  I bought few kgs of mix asam.  Sg Nibong hawker center has other specialities i.e. Mee Pitchay and its surely look delicious.  I have to pass Mee Pitchay as I was fasting, but one of them bought me Nasi Goreng for buka puasa as it is nearing Maghrib.  True enough, this cheap but delicious nasi goreng testify to the reputation of the 'cheapest and delicious'. 

Hotel G is very nice hotel - its quite new and spotted No. 3 in Tripadvisor.  Its Zen interior is tastefully furnished - incorporated wood and glass and mainly straighline furniture giving cozy feelings.  Just a few shot of the room before I messed it up...

Cleverly designed with mix of wood and glass gave peace of mind at the end of my hectic meeting..

And this is view from my room. Beach is not great, its muddy, but good enough to provide wide-eye view..



We have a great welcoming dinner at Restoran Pen Mutiara at Batu Maung.  The food was great, but it  has similar taste to the many good Thai restaurants in KL.  And I heard that it is expensive too.  But who cares, its all paid for. 



Here is the restaurent.  I went there at night, so this pic is from the net



For the first and second day,  I was all stuck in the meeting.  I didn't even have time to go around.  The meeting with Indonesian authority is not easy.  It is pretty much a technical meeting, which should be straight forward.  But it can be likened to the meeting of settling the never-ending-maid issues between the two countries.  Its really tiring, but I have to rise up to the challenge...

Finally, the signing of agreement on the action plan

When its all over, I felt like 10 tonnes of weight going off my shoulder.. Alhamdulillah..

Exchanging the agreement to mark the end of the meeting... what a relief..

After the meeting, I skipped the excursion to go around the island because I wanted to have some time to stroll down the beach and need more food sampling.  I made a quick tour to Plaza Gurney next door and no surprise here.  So move down the lane looking for food.   It frustrated me at first as, when I met first and second cluster of food lane, it is all chinese stall.  

The fist and second cluster of stalls are all chinese stalls..

A hundred meters down, there are at last muslim stalls.  There are varieties of Penang famous hawker food here and its damn cheap.  Penang Char Koay Teow is only RM3, Nasi Ayam is only RM2.50, all the fried noodles and rice starting from RM3, and not to mention Rojak Pasembor.. Aiyoo belum makan lagi but I'm intoxicated in this state of food. I only have little stomach, and this is my last day.  After taken into considerations all the risk.. I settle for Penang Char Koay Teow.  Again, for RM3 a plate, its super deal...

Char Kuey Teow

Rojak Pasembur

Anything goreng offered by this stalls for RM3 per plate

After eating the kuay teow, I just have a slow walk along the sea pavement and while away until Maghrib.

Cloud with a little bit of evening sun - its cozy here

Nature and mordenisation sitting side by side..

Sometimes it's nice just to be alone and talking to mother earth by yourself.  This is the only few times that I would have for myself, just gazing the sky waiting for the day to end and only leaving for KL the next day.  If I had more time, I would have the chance to eat more.  And with few Kgs of jeruk, I came back to KL with delicious memory of Penang...