Hameed Pata Mee Sotong + Pisang Goreng + Ais Kacang Swatow Lane (New World Park)

Didn't realised that I havent been blogging for quite some time, since early December actually. Been busy shopping for Christmas! Since my Penang trip is now a stale post, I might quickly breeze through HAHA Okay, so one of the places that I would recommend people would be the Pata Mee Sotong!

Hameed Pata Mee Sotong

Padang Kota Lama Foodcourt

Pata Mee Sotong stall

This place is accessible by the free Penang shuttle bus. You would have to look out for #18 Bus Stop (Padang Kota Lama). Right behind the bus stop you will be able to see this cheap and quite dirty looking food court LOL Yes, that's where Pata Mee Sotong is at!

Don't worry, it may look dark and a little dirty from the outside but the stall itself is rather clean. Had the mee sotong there for countless times and haven't had an incident of diarrhea so it's tested and proven!

Pata Mee Sotong, RM5 (small)

This is what your delicious seafood- sweet noodles will look like! It's basically fried noodles with squid. I love the dish because the noodles is moist and the squids are sweet! Love the taste of mush, starchy taste from the potatoes that they include in the dish. YUMS!

Being a host to the tourist

Also, a must have for me when I'm having my Pata Mee Sotong is a coconut shake from the stall next to Hameed's Pata Mee Sotong! It's a good combination because the Mee Sotong can be spicy. If you prefer mild tasting noodles, it's best if you inform them when placing order. Anyway, spicy is good!

Jalil Special Ice Kacang

Padang Kota Lama Foodcourt

Coconut shake stall

Coconut shake, RM2.50 (I think)

Ice- cream toppings!

I don't remember ordering special so I'm assuming that the normal coconut shake comes with ice- cream as topping! Unlike the ones that you find in Melaka (Klebang or Batu Berendam) where additional charges apply if you want ice- cream on top.

After lunch, I was so fortunate to sample the yummy Pisang Goreng!! I've heard of this rather famous pisang goreng that is situated near the general hospital if I've not mistaken.

Pisang Goreng 

Nearby General Hospital

I don't think the stall has a name but here is a picture of the Pisang Goreng stall

A bag full of RM4 worth of bananas

Sweet bananas, sliced thinly, battered nicely for crunch!

I'm really in love with those bananas because they were so sweet!!! Unlike the bananas that we usually find in KL- the plain tasting and a little kelat tasting:S Back here in JB, we usually dip our bananas in sambal kicap because it's a great dip and it's also because our bananas aren't too sweet.

But the pisang goreng I sampled in Penang is so good that you could eat it on it's own! It would be a sin to mask the sweet crunchy bananas with any dips at all! 

So after lunch and after snacks, it was dessert time!!! 

Ais Kacang Swatow Lane

New World Park

Ais Kacang stall

Ais kacang without fruits, add on ice- cream RM4 (I think)

This suppose to be the must eat ais kacang in Penang. The stall used to be at Swatow Lane (hence the name) but the hawkers there have been moved to the current New World Park foodcourt. I was a little reluctant to write about this ais kacang because I thought that it tasted horrible. Way below average in taste :(

Anyway, I'm writing this so that people visiting Penang can just skipped this "must have". The ais kacang was sad looking when it came to us.

Usually, shaved ice will be nice and tall when it comes in a bowl, colourful with syrup drizzles and what what not! It should feel like you are about to eat a unicorn LOL

But this Swatow Lane ais kacang was almost flat when it came:S

Ais kacang with fruits, add on ice- cream RM4.50 (I think)

If you really have to have Swatow Lane Ais Kacang, please have the one without fruits because the one with fruits tasted even worse. Weird fruits that shouldn't be there like papaya tainted the ais kacang taste. Oh man!

Concluding my post: 3 out of 4 foods were super yummy! Quite expected since it's Penang.

Stay tuned for more Penang food post and many more procrastinated food blogs. Teehee.

Myeong Dong Topokki, Sunway Pyramid

It's Christmas real soon and I'm super duper excited!!! Been missing Christmas for two consecutive years but this year I'll be home for Christmas! Talking about Christmas, I have this urge to see snow like real cold snow. Not sure if I can manage the cold but if I had a Christmas wish, I'm hopping for snow:D

So I was thinking where is the closest country which is can go to which snows? Then I thought of Korea! Well, it's not thaaaat close but it's close enough! Plus, Korea is in my to-go list! Only if I'm not saving up for US:(

Anyway, when Reb was up in KL the other day we brought her to this new Korean food store to have her favourite Topokki!

Myeong Dong Topokki

Asian Avenue, Sunway Pyramid

Myeong Dong Topokki store

This korean shop has a subway theme! So it's like you're rushing to catch the next train but you're hungry so you drop by this small stalls at the subway to grab a snack! I'd love to go to Korea and then grab a real Korean snack from those small authentic stalls.

Value Set meals

Menu

They have not too much of variety on the menu but I think it's sufficient because it's supposed to be a gra and go snack shop anyway. They offer value set meals if you want something heavier. We just had lunch the other day so Reb ordered their signature dish Topokki to snack on as post- lunch.

See those bubble talk boards stuck on the glass window?

They are detachable for to take selfie! How do I know? That's because I saw the row of poloroid pictures hung there, people were posing with those bubble talk. Okayyy, so I assumed that we could pull it off for a picture. So what? LOL

Pull that off for Reb, but I stuck it back of course HAHA

I think this is some sort of fermented rice drink. Reb loves it like mad! I think about RM3

This Paldo drink taste very much like our barley drink so I'm okay with it. But I've tried real homemade authentic fermented rice drink and OMG it gave my brain a shock! I couldn't process what I was drinking because it tasted so foreign on my Malaysian tongue, lol.

Topokki, original RM4.50

Reb chose the original Topokki instead of the super spicy one and thank God she did! The original version already tasted SPICYYYY. Tongue was on fire when I had a few bites. Topokki isn't my favourite snack because to me the rice taste so uncooked and too chewy.

I love the fishcakes that they serve together with the topokki though! If one day I go to Korea, I'll eat up all the fishcakes from stalls by the side of the road! LOL Also, I love the fact that they have us half an egg! Never knew egg was included in this dish.

Spicy rice cakes!

Actually to think of it, it taste very much like the one that Reb cooked before. So I suppose it's good because if it taste similar to homecooked food then it's healthy? :P

Yes, I pulled out one more bubble talk. So? LOLOL

70's Ice Ball, Armenian Street Penang

The problem with not writing about your trip immediately after you return home is that there's this possibility of you getting all lazy and the enthusiasm to write and share about the interesting places or food diminishes greatly.

Been rather caught up with journal reading which means that the laptop screen is taking a toll on my eyes. Good news! My sis brought up the unused monitor from back home so I've a bigger screen now!

Last month, my sis and I decided to have a vacation in Penang! Penang has become a must go place for me at least once a year so if you haven't heard of the BEST drink to cool you down under the scorching heat of the island and the BEST fried oyster read this. 

Armenian Street, Georgetown

Penang

Sis with the famous kids on bicycle mural

I've been to Penang for the fourth time now and whenever I'm there I'm never interested in wall arts or in fact any artsy stuff because all my focus would be on food. Each and every moment on the island I'll be thinking about what food should I have next? 

But this time round, my sis wanted very much to check out the famous wall paintings and I obliged since there wasn't much to do after eating anyway.

If you are into artsy stuff head over to Armenian Street!

Here you can find lots of wall paintings and really pretty artsy shops like this

Love the patch work blankets, rattan chairs and cloth anyaman stools! I bet they aren't cheap so I didn't bother to check the price. I would love to have the patchwork blanket for Christmas though!! 

Talking about blankets, my sis always complains that my blanket is too thin to be acknowledge as a 'blanket'. My argument... Malaysian weather what! LOL

Outside the artsy shop they had this DIY road pointers. Thought they look nice as camwhore props :P

And they grow plants out of old shoes!!

And we walked and walked and walked till she took lots of pictures with all nice and the.... not too nice wall paintings/ artsy stuff.

Not so nice artsy stuff:X

For me, a person who is not interested in wall paintings, I am attracted to Armenian street because of...

70's Ice Ball, Armenian Street!!!

70's ice ball stall outside the shop

Last time during my mum and dad's days, this was their snack! I think they didn't had the money to indulge in cafe (which I think they would consider a luxury only affordable by Westerners) like what we are doing these days i.e. cakes, macaroons, tea etc. 

So they had ice balls!

I've always been a big fan of ais kacang aka ABC so I was tremendously excited when I saw this! I mean, I've seen people posting pictures of them and the ice ball in Penang but I totally forgot about it (hence, not in my food list) but was pleasantly surprised when I stumble upon this shop nonetheless! 

Seller filling up two bowls full with shaved ice. Then she topped one bowl on top of the other. Removed the top bowl, compact and rotated the ice shavings into a ball!

There were many flavours available on the menu and the best part is that we can have two flavours!! Also, if you like you can request for asam boi (extra charge I think).

I suggested syrup because it's old school. Syrup would be the exact flavour that they used to have on ice balls during my mum and dad's days!!! 

Of course, back in those days they also put milk and chocolate on the ice balls. Dad said he would always ask for more chocolate but the seller would be a scrooge because chocolate was expensive those days (Now also expensive what, lolol).

For the second flavour, sis chose Sarsi!

Sarsi on the ball

Plenty of syrup on the ball!!!

Tada! 70's ice ball!

The seller told us that we are suppose to just suck the syrup from the ice ball and not munch on the ice so that's what I was doing. 

Then came this group of older people who were also very excited about the ice ball. Probably the last time they had it was when they were 5 or 6. So you can guess their age lol Anyway, the uncle was chomping down on his ice like a machineeeee! Eating ice ball like a boss!

His wife was funny though. She asked if they should all sanitized their hands before buying the ice ball and the husband got irritated and said , No need la!! HAHAHHHA The ice ball is served on a plastic tray though :P

Us with the 70's ice ball!!

Ice ball cost RM3 each! 

For the fun of it, and in the heat of the moment, I bought the ice ball withought thinking twice. But now that I've tried it and took lots of picture with it, I don't think I'll be spending RM3 on ice balls in the near future. It's just ice. And syrup. And all the hype of something we can't find these days, of course. 

Whenever I go to historical places or like have olden days food, I wonder what was I in my past life (if it does exist at all, JUST a silly thought la :S). You know like the Chinese TV series Scarlet Heart, there were times when they were doing the same thing (like walking at the palace) in different times?

So it felt like Déjà vu while I ate the ice ball:X

Okay, enough of this nonsense I'm cooking honey chicken today! Till the next post, bye.

Ais Tingkap, Lebuh Tamil & Fried Oyster, Chulia Street Penang

It's Friday!! WOOT! That means today will be the last day cooking home cooked food! KFC come to mama! I'm trying the Cheezy Zinger Mash Potatoes soon! Actually I was secretly hoping that I could have KFC today instead of tomorrow. I crave fried chickennnn!!

Talking about food, this bog post marks the start of my Penang food posts! It seems like going to Penang for food has become a yearly affair. 2 years ago, I went to Penang with my bestie Nit! That was when she was still an omnivore. Last year, I went to Penang with youngest sister, Rebecca and this year I went to Penang with...

Naomi!!! That's  us in the bus heading to KLIA2 early in the morning

Thank God for the cheap air tickets by Air Asia that cost exactly the same as bus tickets! So we fly to Penang with ease! Travelling time only took about an hour compared to 4 hours by bus. Also, I'm not sure if I'm getting older or what but I'll tend to get bus- sick (i.e. seasick but in the bus).

Her first time at KLIA2

We wore the same t-shirts like very typical holiday goers! Hehe

The only thing with taking flight is that we had to be in the airport early. Actually we weren't that early because we woke up later than planned LOL

So breakfast was at KLIA2. We saw the breakfast menu at KFC, this egg zinger burger for RM5+ so I thought okay la reasonable for a set meal. Turns out, that was the price for a la carte! A full meal (Burger + Hash brown + Drink) cost RM10+!!

Grr.

Both of us looking good with fresh makeup XD

Touch down at Penang airport within a blink of the eye! From the airport we were suppose to board the Rapid Penang 401E bus that would drop us off right in front of our hotel.

But since there was a 401 bus waiting and the Rapid guy told us that he had no idea when 401E will arrive, we decided to hop on the 401 bus that takes us to Komtar.

I was pretty proud that I knew my way around Georgetown fairly well because it's my third time there and I managed to even help these two tourist with directions! Teehee.

It was a 15- 20 minutes walk from Komtar to Chulia Street so we stopped halfway for some refreshing drink. This was recommended to me when I last came and I like it! So I had to let Naomi try it out.

Ais Tingkap 

Lebuh Tamil, Georgetown

Ais Tingkap man just opened his stall for the day at about 11am 

Menu for your reference

Ais Tingkap, RM2 per cup!

It really is THE drink to have when you are strolling around sunny Georgetown! It's ice-y syrup with coconut water topped with coconut flesh and basil seed!

It's also THE drink to have because the owner of the place is such a sporting and friendly person! His friends saw me taking picture of the stall so they ask me to go into he drink making area for a picture instead!

The Ais Tingkap man was initially rather shy but at last he posed for a picture according to his friend's cue! He's friend asked him to show the thumbs up HAHAHHA

My favourite picture of the entire trip!! This picture look like I'm those food TV host! My dream job LOL

Not long after, we walked to our hotel located at Chulia Street. After checking in, we left our stuff there and headed off to my favourite Fried Oyster stall which is situated along Jalan Chulia! Just 5- 10 minutes walk away!

Crispy Fried Oyster @ Lam Ah Kopitiam

Chulia Street, Georgetown

(In front of the bomba place. At the junction of Chulia Street and Beach Street)

Uncle frying oyster

About this place, I've gotta give you a heads up that you would need to wait for quite some time for your food to arrive. The uncle takes about 10- 15 minutes to dish out his fried oysters (He makes about 5 plates before serving them).

Also, there are very limited seats at this coffee shop so you would need to keep an eye for empty seats. It's a norm for people to share tables there so if you see an empty seat you would just have to kindly ask the person who is already seating if you could join them LOL

Lam Ah Kopitiam, no seats how???

Thanks to this uncle and his wife (not in picture) for sharing their table with us! Eventually they moved off to another table to share someone else's table and no one else wanted to share our table so... all the better! hehe

Or else, the lady boss of the coffee shop (she sells drinks there) would help allocate a seat for you. If you prefer to not share table, she will ask you to simply sit first then when there is a free table available she will send you there.

Crispy fried oyster in the making

It's very very important to note that this uncle's fried oyster is the best because it's crispy!!!! Unlike elsewhere where the flour batter will be wet and soggy (the normal way fried oyster is being made), this uncle deep fries his egg batter and then separately tops it off with juicy stir fry oysters!!!!

I think I've read somewhere that you could request for the normal way of wet batter also but WHYYY? :P

Whenever I'm in Penang I'd always opt for his fried oysters. I don't find the need to eat fried oysters anywhere else on the island LOL

CRISPY Fried Oysters

See what I mean by crispy! Btw, this is a small serving RM5. If you want double of this portion, of which I really recommend, tell the uncle you want the Big one! RM10! Very worth it because he give you lots of oysters and double the amount of yummy sweet chilli sauce!!

I'm using so many exclamation marks (!!!) to describe the fried oyster that I think the button is quavering LOLOL

Uncle refilling his batter, I realised that all his measurement are by estimation so hard to copy!

Penang White coffee, RM2.30. Another thing that I usually order in Penang is their white coffee! Love how aromatic their coffee is! My sis and I stashed back 4 bags of coffee for our coffee addict parents :P

Happy girl with Penang White Coffee. Feel a little bad pulling her here and there to try out all kinds of food within such limited time. 3D2N in Penang is insufficient!! Next time must extend vacation!

One more shot of the crazy good fried oyster aka Oh Chien aka Oh Luak: