The Great Escape -- Penang So So Fun Part 3: Kek Lok Si, Air Itam Asam Laksa, Hard Rock Hotel

To see the other parts of the trip : Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

This will be another photo loaded one, coz Kek Lok Si simply too beautiful!
So now, Day 2 of our Penang Trip.
Our initial plan was to have brunch at one of the chic cafes in Georgetown.
Walk around the old streets of Georgetown and you'll find there are many hipster cafes that serves coffee in a rustic vintage setting. We decided to go to Coffee Lane 咖啡坊 after reading some reviews. But so "bo yuan", it's closed :(

one of the restaurants near King's Street

I just adore the exterior hehe

you'll find lots of beautifully renovated coffee shops and restaurants in this area.

great place to hang out

Then we decided to have Char Kuay Teow, but sad thing, couldn't find the shop eventhough we have GPS. So we decided to have our lunch at Ait Itam before heading towards Kek Lok Si.

small town at the foot of green mountains, pretty lerr....

11. Air Itam Asam Laksa

If you come Penang but didn't eat Asam laksa, it's like the saddest thing weih!

situated at an old market, this laksa stall may look rather not-so-nice, but it's stalls like this that carries the best flavors hehe

I remember James 詹姆士 and 乔乔 came here before to film 美食大三通！Totally excited!

 Asam Laksa -- RM4.00

I really do like the flavor of this laksa, love the balance of sourness and sweetness. It's mildly spicy, that tinges the back of your throat a little bit. The soup, has the sweetness of the mackerel fish! LaiFun is chewy and goes very well with the strong flavor of the soup. 超开胃!

Proud to say I finished the soup!

Sugar Cane, perfect with the spicy and sour laksa.

 Deep Fried Popiah -- RM2.40

Not bad, crunchy crunchy crunchy!

Love the chili sauce. 

Asam Laksa
Pasar Air Itam
Jalan Pasar
11500 Air Itam, Penang

12. Kek Lok Si Temple 极乐寺

it's been 8 years since the last time I visited Kek Lok Si

I use to hate temples when I was a kid but now I find this place so pretty now, probably because I've grown up, and have better understanding on history and heritage.

I really love to visit religious sites like this, every inch of the place gives off a very timeless feel. 

oh yeah, the view that appeared in my primary school textbooks haha

the ONLY-IN-MALAYSIA feel strikes again!!

Love my country hehe

cable car towards the GuanYin Statue

有世外桃源的feel

making wishes hehe

and yes, I made one too!! guess what ribbon i chose?
yeap i chose the one for love haha...despo me LOL

gawd I love this shot!

forgive my super flawed face

No. 1, Tokong Kek Lok Si, 

11500, George Town

13. Him Heang Local Products and Kedai Kopi New Cathay

what trip in Malaysia will be complete without bringing some local snacks and hanging out in an old school kopitiam?

Yeap we drove all the way back to Georgetown just to buy some local products before we forget haha

For some reason, we were extremely hungry despite our asam laksa lunch. Went straight towards a kopitiam that we see and tried out various famous Penang food :D Gosh Penang seriously damn a lot of specialty food! 

Him Heang produces its own Tau Sar Peah and sells other local delicacies as well...

Brought home boxes of tau sar peah, peanut cake, sesame biscuit etc etc hehe

Him Heang

162-A, Jalan Burma, 

10050, Georgetown, Pulau Pinang

Tel: +60 4-228 6129

 again, ONLY-IN-MALAYSIA, u can find stalls like this

 Lor Mee 卤面 -- RM3.50

I forgot how long it has been since the last time I tried Loh Mee

Find this bowl of noodles kinda unique due to the thick gravy with chewy noodles and crunchy shallots 

Slightly oily though. 

 Hokkien Mee (Prawn Mee) -- RM3.50

again

my friend thought hokkien mee is the fried noodles in KL LOL

This one not bad also la, love the very rich prawn base soup, smelling the soup is one awesome feeling haha. 

Penang Char Kuay Teow!! -- RM3.50

another Penang MUST-EAT

love this so much larr...chewy kuayteow with mild taste of black sauce and chili, together with the super fragrant smell of eggs and cockles. 有锅气！

 Hokkien Char 福建炒 -- RM3.50

this is really something new to me...

it's fried noodles with a bit of gravy 

milder flavor compare to Char Kuay Teow

Hawthorn Drink 山楂水

recommended by the Tauke there hehe

very refreshing, with a tinge of sourness

Anyways it was a nice place to have a rest

the tauke was very friendly

but sad I couldn't really chat with him coz i totally can't understand Penang Hokkien!!

after watching so much Taiwanese dramas, now only i know Penang Hokkien is so different.

Langsung "TiaBo"

we asked for directions from the tauke, and he was very helpful, he even wanted to take us to our destination LOL

this is where you feel Malaysia's warmth, 马来西亚咖啡店里的人情味。 

Kedai Kopi New Cathay 

425-E Jalan Burma, 

George Town, Penang

After filling up our tummies, we continue our journey. If I remember correctly (gosh my memory sucks), we wanted to go to Queensbay Mall, but....

 we accidentally drove into the Penang Bridge!!! LOL

all of us were dumbstruck when we realize we took the wrong road haha

all of us were idiotically hoping there's a U-Turn on the bridge

gosh the bridge is so damn LONG!

wonder how much petrol we wasted haha

当场发明一个新的歇后语：走上槟威大桥---不能回头了

God knows how much time we wasted LOL

so we decided to cancel our plan to Queensbay but instead head straight towards Batu Ferringhi

I didn't know it takes such a long drive and the roads are unbelievably curvy

Just wanna say thank to my friends who were so good with driving haha

must be tiring to drive under the hot sun!

after the seems-so-adventurous roads, we decided to visit Hard Rock Hotel

14. Hard Rock Hotel at Batu Ferringhi

Batu Ferringhi, the beach area, loads of Hotels and Restaurants along the coast. Hard Rock Hotel seems to be a nice place to hang out since it's open to outsiders and you can access the beach through the hotel. Unlike another hotel that we went to, they charge RM30 for the parking homg... 

Anyways, Hard Rock Hotel was one kind of heaven LOL

it's like angmo world seriously...luxurious and posh

people over there, mostly foreign tourist with families. 

The rooms, are connected to the swimming pool, they can just walk to the balcony and jump into the pool LOL

Speaking of Hard Rock, one of the highlights will definitely be the music elements that you can find in the hotel. Check out this massive electronic guitar that greeted us. 

exhibition of outfits and musical instruments by notable musicians

it's a music fan's paradise!

oh ya, say hi to the King of Pop

 Super love this Beatles mosaic wall

loads of music legends over here.  

 Awesome splash pool for the kids

Beach, here we come!

mountains and waters

 Btw there's loads of watersports activity here...

too bad we didn't really expect to wet ourselves, if not, banana boat will be on the list hehe...

fuhyoh....gt feel lerr :D

laughters haha

Love the sunny weather! It was great to just soak our feet in the cold water and make footprints on the white sand hehe....

After absorbing all the vitamin D, it's time for a rest. Decided to splurge on a Beach side Tea Time at Hard Rock Hotel's Pizzeria. Yes you heard me, splurge!

chilling out under the big umbrella hehe

Fool's Garden -- RM15

Tea made from a combination of fruits

from what I've tasted, I assume there's grapefruit and lemon

Well quite refreshing, with a little lingering bitterness from the grapefruit

Iced Latte - RM13

Iced Chocolate -- RM18

And we ordered pizza 

 Can't remember what name is this pizza called

I shall name it Hawaian Chicken, since it has pineapples and chicken slices as well

RM30 (funny that I actually remember the price LOL)

not bad la, I like the thin crust

the toppings, not bad either, juicy pineapples with yummy tomato sauce

but don't really worth this price, to me. 

 So we just relaxed and see the sun sets...

And there's Part 3 : Day 2 of our Penang trip

Coming up next, our 2nd night on our Penang trip

it's where the food and drama comes in hehe...

To see the other parts of the trip :

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

The Great Escape -- Penang so so fun Part 2: Chew Jetty, Gurney Drive, Upper Penang Road @ Night and Pork Noodles

To see the other parts of the trip :Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Part 2 of our awesome Penang Trip yo!

It's still Day 1

after all the exploration around the streets of Georgetown, we manage to walk all the way towards the waters...visited the rather unique and idyllic Chew Jetty.

7. Chew Jetty 姓周桥

as the name spells, it's known as a clan jetty for the Chew family. 

I forgot when was the last time i visited such "kampung" place. Really feel grateful that such place still exist in this modern world. Tightly knit houses made up of wooden planks, wet wooden corridors, lanterns, motorbikes.... Along the main corridor, there are lots of shops that sells souvenir and also some childhood snacks and games.

It was shopping time for us haha...

Bought a nice cap (like the ones that Jihyo wear in Runningman) at RM15 only!!

Besides, the houses are really homes to lots of families, you can see the rather simple and small rooms with simple furnishing. There's a sense of peacefulness at this place. 

walk around and feel the salty sea breeze...

 Chew Jetty was also made famous due to its appearance in Ice Kacang Puppy Love :D

Chew Jetty, 

Weld Quay
10300 George Town

It was almost sunset, we decided to head towards Gurney Plaza by taking a 103 Rapid Penang Bus

After walking for one whole day, taking the bus may not be the best option LOL

we were dead tired haha...and due to the congested traffic, the journey towards Gurney Drive was around one hour!

8. Gurney Drive

walk out of Gurney Plaza, and turn left to go to Anjung Gurney aka Gurney Drive Hawker Center. 

If you just wanna have a taste of all the famous delicacy at once, this is the place to go.

However, we weren't very impressed with the taste of the food here. 

But it's still pretty fun to dine in a busy hawker center, sitting on plastic stools and eat like a boss haha

 Penang Rojak! RM4.00

Now only I know that they have squid inside haha...

along with all the fruits and cakoi, it's a really crunchy bite. 

Another representative Penang food -- Fried Oyster 蠔煎

seriously one of my favorite food in this whole wide world. Juicy oysters with super fragrant omelette.

My mouth is watering as I'm typing this. 

 Fried Sambal Sotong

 Penang Hokkien Mee aka Har Mee or Prawn Mee -- RM5.00

unlike KL's black sauce hokkien mee, Penang's Hokkien Mee simply means Prawn Noodle

anyways, this prawn mee is quite yummy

 Grilled fish

Anjung Gurney

Persiaran Gurney

Penang

We were pretty much half dead despite having our dinner, we decided to head back to our hotel by taking taxi. After a short rest, it's time for us to experience the nightlife at Penang Road :D

9. Supper at Hon Kei Food Corner 汉记小食店
OMG super recommend this place!!!!
The pork noodles totally melted my heart haha
This place is probably the main reason for me to return to Penang once again...
yes no joke, my favorite dish of the trip!
anyways, this shop is opened till late night, it's a good place for supper.
The restaurant is also situated in a restored ancient shop lot, has a vintage feel as well.

 Lor Bak 卤肉 -- RM6.00

This is something new to me. 

Too bad i didn't take a photo of the sauce, the sauce is the main character yo!

Love how the slightly spicy and sour sauce enhances the flavors of all the fried items. 

My favorite is century egg, sausage and tofu!

and Here come my favorite!!!!

 Pork Noodles 猪肉粉 -- RM7.50

with thick noodle (粗米粉) and Pig Liver

I'm totally in love with this bowl of noodles. The soup has a very natural sweet taste, while the handmade pork balls are super chewy and tasty. The best part is, the liver is actually very fresh and it's crunchy, does not have any strange smell or taste. Thick noodles go well as it is crunchy and it absorbs all the soup. Again, wish I knew better words to describe the awesomeness!! 

 Pork Porridge 猪肉粥

similar to the noodles, only it's replaced with rice. I assume it's rice because it seems more like rice in soup instead of the texture of porridge.

Love this too!

 Our drinks

a special note : my Neslo is super super kaw! they are so generous with the milo, there's one whole layer undissolved milo and I had to request for water refill LOL

Love this place so much that I actually asked my friend to take a photo of me haha...

Hon Kei Food Corner 漢記小食店

45 Kampung Malabar,
10100 Georgetown, Penang
Tel：012 - 443 5559 / 016 - 443 9085

10. Nightwalk around Upper Penang Road Area, Eastern & Oriental Hotel

time to experience Penang's atmosphere at night. Thanks to the location of our hotel, we're able to walk around the bustling and happening Penang Road at night. 

Love the neon lights, the sound of cars zooming past and the laughter of people walking along the road. 

 The happening Upper Penang Road

lined up with all kinds of bar and pubs, 

several restored colonial buildings are now clubs. 

it was a weekday night, but yet the place is super crowded.

Check out the beautiful lights man! It felt like an entirely different world.

 The beautiful Eastern and Oriental Hotel, situated right at the seaside. 

Love the building, its windows and the super pretty courtyard! Has a palace kind of aura.

Oh ya, enjoy the sea breeze and night view at the back of the hotel. 

 It's great to just sit down and chat with your friends and listen to the sound of waves beating. 

Eastern and Oriental Hotel (near Upper Penang Road)

10 Lebuh Farquhar, 

10200 Georgetown, Penang

And there goes our first night in Penang
More adventures in the second day!
Part 3 coming up :D

To see the other parts of the trip :
Part 1 Part 3 Part 4