Happy Thaipusam 2013~!

Zupp!

Just Wishing all my Indain friends out there
"Happy Thaipusam 2013!!"
And to all non-celebrating, Happy holidays!
*I know all my Indian friends are all probably at the waterfall area near the botanical Gardens about just now*

And I too realize I'm doing this wishes after everything...
Well, one timely thing for now is:
" Happy going to work tomorrow! "
haha!
Well..sadly..that includes me too :((

Well, better late then never! ;)

Mike

Holiday Time!!

Yo!

Photo source:
dollahyankee.blogspot.com

Will be taking a break, and I'm off with my buddies to Genting Highlands!!
Yeah, I guess this is another "cuti-cuti Malaysia" but hey, I love the place!! (Especially the cool weather)

This is really a much deserved break for me, always from all the thinking and planning..a short one before the planning of the next event i'm part organizing! It's gonna be great!!

I guess I will be doing allot of sleeping in and also exploring! 
Hope to have my beloved favorite "Curry Laksa" which is also curry mee btw, I have no Idea why it's called "Curry Laksa"!? But I guess out of Penang or rather the north side of Malaysia, its just not recognized as "mee" but "Laksa"..., but yo me, as long as it's tasty, that's good enough for me :D 

I will be taking of photos and quite excited about it!~ Holding on to my new Sony Cyber Shot! 
Will keep you guys posted ;)

Mike

Penang Laksa (another alternative type)

Hey guys!

So welcome, this is another series of "the secrets of Penang Island, Malaysia" haha!
Well, at least it is "my secret"! SSshhhhhh..!!
Today I will be exposing, errr..revealing...no no...introducing you to another favorite haunt of mine...

So i'm very sure everyone is so familiar with "Penang Laksa" or rather the famous "Penang Assam Laksa" that usually is found in Ayer Itam, gurney Drive, Balik Pulau and Tanjung Bungah right? 

Well, i found one, it's not the normal Chinese Assam Laksa, but its a modified Indian Laksa that has managed to hang on to my taste bud! 

If you are around Pulau Tikus area, look out for the CIMB Bank along Burma road and you will notice a colorful umbrella, with smoking hot soup!

Meet my buddy Raj, he has the most crispy poh pia and delicious laksa!

Yeah, im talking about this stall. Just a simple motorbike and umbrella!

In addition to Laksa, he also sells nonya kuih too! I personally love the kuih talam and the kaya kuih! (Forgot the actual name for it already. haha)

Raj is always ready with all the sauces and backup to handle the customers

The pot of Laksa soup, always heated up with charcoal fire

The Laksa soup is always hot, as there is always a burning hot charcoal under the pot to keep it warm and *just right* for serving! Soup comes with proper leaves and "asam" boay to keep its taste. The fish meat are all fine blended and mixed into the soup.

First stock of the day

The seller always prepares allot of stock to sell to his customers. Most of them are all regulars.

Poh Piah, best with Laksa soup as gravy or plain chilly sauce

Prawn Crackers, puffy, crunchy and delicious

My personal favorite, I usually add this in my soup (the seller will cut this up into smaller pieces for me), and I will ask him to add some chilly sauce, and chilly padi (smaller type of chilly that has a real punch of spiciness) into the soup! 

Tau Hu, Deep Fried soya curd

All these deep fried food is so delicious when mix with the laksa soup, when you deep or soak it inside, and then it you eat it! mmmm....!!!

His mobile stall is located in front of Goh Dental and CIMB Bank

For those who are not familiar, God Dental (Klinik Pergigian Goh) used to be the old Poly cafe Coffee shop! (I remembered the curry mee there, used to be so so good!) Now i'm not sure where the stall went

So this is how it looks like, without vege

Well i usually eat my laksa without vege because it gives me a "sour" taste, especially with the cucumber in it. So no thanks for me, just plain onions (bawang) will do! Also, I prefer lots of "Har kor" (prawn paste) in my Laksa! It makes the soup taste lovely! Ahh...the true Penangnite taste (spicy, salty and sour + sweet)

This is me, enjoying my top 10 favorite meal!

Okay gonna end my photos, cause im hungryyyy !!!

Sometimes, when I have no time for a 20 minutes lunch break, This is my 10 minutes, and very satisfying too!

The Laksa is selling at RM 2.50 a bowl (if not mistaken)
The Prawn Crackers, Soya Curd (Tau kuah) and Poh Piah (rolled vege) [all these are DEEP FRIED] are selling at RM 0.80 per-piece. 

Well, this Laksa is really good for me, but it may not be the same for you. But if you love it too, then we share something in common! If you have any other good recommendations, please do let me know so I can experience it too :) 
Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia There are so many types of Laksa in Penang, hope to blog all about it - one day soon! 
Penang Penang Penang Penang Penang Penang Penang Penang Penang Cheers!

ESCAPE: Time to Play (Teluk Bahang)

Hello~!!

So who wants to have some fun? If you guys didn't know..there is a new place in Penang at Teluk Bahang area called ESCAPE!

ESCAPE: Time to Play!

Yeah, that's the tagline of the theme park, errr...not not actually "theme park" but adventure park (yup, thats more like it)
The Adventure park consist of several games, packed with adventure and wild exciting challenges that can cater for both the young and old..eerr... young at heart! :D

So, I had the opportunity to visit the place and a very nice Ms. Zilla gave me a tour around the area, and oh boy, was it BIG! (Came here to check out the packages as I am organizing an event activity for the deaf club @ YMCA)

The place is managed by Sim leasure. (al the staffs e-mails end with @simleisure.com) so yeah..

It was pretty interesting, and I had only managed to take a few pictures as I needed to focus on the task at hand! 
Well actually, I would be going there again soon, March 24th to conduct the activities for the deaf there. I guess they are pretty excited about it too!

Ample car park, for you car parking needs :)

View of the open area, such a beau with the deco's

Had to take this to emphasize, lol

Reception and landing area

Such a cozy receiving area! The people were quite nice and friendly too!

Please read before entering, seems like they are real strict with the rules and regulations

High above the trees

For the adventitious and the "spider" heart

Well, would you just look at that! is that a bird? Plane? Superman? Well, more like Spiderman to me. Test your spidey skills here :D

Ahhh..Foxy Burrow!

Im not sure if that is the correct one, but they do have a play tunnel for kids. They can run through the tunnel in the dark and find their way out. Fun!! (Why am I not a kid anymore :( )

View of the thick green's here

Drop your body here! Penang's bungee jump!!

Now this takes guts! It's called the "Atan's Drop". Its exactly like bungee jumping, except shorter in height. Wel still, if it were me up there, ill be a-shakin' :S Brrrr....
This play is not included in your ticket, and can be played with an additional RM10 per person. Well, do it for the fun anyways (if you dare)

Hmm...looks like Mike's angels are figuring out what to do next

Hahaha, well, I guess i have 3 angels now..but i'm no Charlie. These are the deaf youths im working with. Super great experience for me :)

An illustrated layout map for visitors

when I saw this, I was like...hey, didnt i dream about this place before? "dejavu?" Yeah, it definitely looked like a fairy tail forest house! (Except no big bad wolfs here).
Actually, when I inquired about sightings of snakes, wild animals of sorts, there seemed to be...none! Yeah...so its pretty safe for children and young ones! (Or the old-er ones too if they are scared)

Such a nice scenery!

Nice little river passing by, eeerrr...well, its more like of a stream...very kampung feel!
Well, actually the whole place is built and designed to look like a village and kampung! All the games are kampung (village) games, like climbing of trees (coconut) and playing all sorts of jungle/ forest/ kampung games! 

Nice plants, growing very well...planted by the streams of water

Such a long way up....Who can climb up there first wins!..test of strength and agility

Hah! what did i tell you about climbing trees? The people here sure climb very fast! (they did a small preview demo for us to witness "easiness") *cough* *yeah, sure...right...woo hoo...*

My favorite picture! A good o' hammock like a good o' friend! Snoozeeee

Ahhh, this is my favorite part! After all the action, one needs his rest....what better way then a hammock!! So rare for me to see this! So cooling too! (I was so tempted to try this for a 5 minuter snooze)

Their meeting rooms, they have actual grass growing from the roof...looks like green hair?

The design here is tastefully made, its unique and special...making you feel "lost" is a totally alien world.

safety first! Don't climb trees without it!

Before you get moving around, remember: safety first!

Water from the mountain that contains...GOLD!

Ahh...this is interesting ..it will get the minds of the young children boggling...here lies the legend that there is gold in the water...so you have to search and filter the sand in the water until you hit gold! 
Get enough of gold, and weigh it down...give it to the person in charge and she will transform it for you into a medal!

The water drops here, this is a good place to start the gold filtering...

So who wants to go for a swing ride?

Father and son, Mother and daughter, Boyfriends and Girlfriends, all good to go for a swing :)

Ah, this is the mother game..its called the Tubby Ride ( i think) haha

You get to ride all the way down here in an inflatable "float"

For this game/ ride...player would need to get one of those "tubby" (inflatable swimming floats) of a kind and walk a 10 minutes walk, all the way to the top to slide down this slippery slide! 
Once your down, get ready for the ride of your life!!!

special VIP entrance for passport holders

Oh look! They got passport too! If you get the annual passbook/ passport, you may enter as many times as you want to...as long as it is within the expiry date.

As for the pricing wise, here is a chart which I got from www.onlypenang.com (thanks man, love the info). So, here's the price list:


The ticketing prices for Penang Escape Theme Park, Teluk Bahang are as below:

Range of ages	With MyKad / Malaysian (20% off)	Without MyKad / Foreigners
below 4 years	Free	Free
4 – 12 years	RM36	RM45
13 – 60 years	RM48	RM60
above 60 years	RM36	RM45

Online Ticketing Order

The Escape Theme Park tickets is available for purchase from their website – Buy Ticket Online!

Opening hours

Penang Escape Eco Theme Park opening hours: 9.00am to 6.00pm. Please visit Escape Calendar for more updated info

Group Purchase?

You may have group purchase too to enjoy Penang Escape Eco Theme Park games. Group Booking

Penang Escape Theme Park, Group Purchase

Ah, so the annual passport/ passbook is only at RM300 (for a limited time only) wor! So hurry la!

So well, thats my adventure for the day!
Will update this post with more info soon ;)
 

Straits Quay, Tanjung Tokong - Penang

Hey Guys!

I had the opportunity to visit Straits Quay, Tanjung Tokong the other day. If you guys are not sure where it is, it is at the new E&O development, just behind the Penang - Island Plaza. The housing development there is call Sri Tanjung Pinang, and the famous Breeza condo by UDA housing project is located there too! 

Real Estate and housing/ property prices here ranges around RM1.7 - 5 mil (landed property). I'm sure you can imagine the exclusivity of the area zoning here =.0
(I didnt managed to take any pictures of the real estate/ property here tho)

So anyway, I had the chance to explore my camera and decided to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery! I hope you enjoy my shots as I did ^^

Comfortable walkways for patrons to walk by the sea

Panoramic view of Straits Quay

The stage area!

This is the area (the Straits Quay stage area) where all the live performnces and entertainment are found. During New Year's Eve, Christmas and other big celebrations, it will usually be jammed packed with people, all waiting to party!

A view of the side of the ship yard, CNY decos already?!

Another view of the staging area: panoramic style!

Owners feel safe keeping their boats and yacht here!

Owners really pride themselves and are comfortable keeping their boats and yacht here! While sipping a cup of espresso from Starbucks or having a beer from the Irish bar, they can keep an eye and also their friends eye on their beloved!

One of the entrances from the building towards the sea area

I like their design!! Very colonial and heritage "feel"

Enjoy a slice of cake and coffee at Secret Recipe cafe!

I love this pic! Its the reflection and the mood settings

Ah, such a nice picture! My personal favorite! I guess that's why most tourist and visitors from Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Alor Setar all come to Penang, to see and behold such beautiful sights! Definitely one of the main highlights! 

Dining areas, beautifully done :) [ cant seem to recall what is the proper description for this areas] :S

Another picture from the same settings! I seem to cant get enough! Lol

Yeah, im a sucker for pictures such as this ^^

Chinese New Year Decorations! Nice!!

When malls start to put up Chinese New Year Decorations, I realize time just seems to go and move too fast!

See? they have liveable units above the commercial cafes!

Beware of wild cyclist!

Haha, i'm just joking. We have to be aware tho that there are cyclist, (and there is a sudden boost of cyclist in Penang Island - especially) that will be having their cycling activities around this premises, so we need to be aware of them for both the safety of both parties. 

Beautiful leaves, such a mood setter!

The grand entrance! ~ The management of Straits Quay set up CNY stage already i see?

The management of Straits Quay really keeps a close eye to detail and the maintenance of the image of the place. Bravo and keep it up guys!

Beautiful sky!! Such a good sight to behold before the end of day!

Ahhh, Yes.....what a great day! I hope I will be able to get the chance to take more pictures here next time! :)