Today we decide to check out the fishing villages on the northern side of the island and to visit the Tropical Spice Garden which we've missed on every previous visit. It was recommended to me by my good friend Ed Emmerick who was here a few months ago.
With the TomTom guiding us through the hectic traffic of Georgetown we finally hit the north side and hit is a good word. The road here hugs the coast and is very windy. On a previous trip we almost had a head on with a bike as he came around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. These morons will also overtake you over double lines and on blind corners so you need to be careful. Sure enough, one idiot on a bike appears in front of us on our side of the road and we both veer left to avoid a head-on!
But we stop every now and again so that I can get some shots of the small fishing fleets which pepper these pretty inlets. They are postcard shots... very pretty but very cliched of course.
We arrive at the Spice Garden which is set on the hillside amongst the rainforst, and opposite, right on the beach is a roadside restaurant, so we decide lunch would be nice looking out over the water. Liz asks if they have cold beer and the answer is no so, as it is so hot and a cold Tiger would be an absolute necessity... we decide to find something at the Spice Garden... and lucky we did.
We ask at the entrance kiosk and they say there is a restaurant up the hill called the Tree Monkey. Up the hill? In this heat... you have to be kidding! But the need for a cold Tiger is greater than the struggle up a steep walkway so off we go. Finally reaching the restaurant amongst the rainforest with a deck overlooking the forest and the sea, we are glad the other place didn't serve beer. It's like an oasis in the middle of a green, lush desert.
Inside the restaurant is another entrance to the Spice Shop. Liz goes to investigate while I wrestle a Tiger or two and she comes back to tell me that they have every spice known to man and the aroma is out of this world. I'll investigate shortly.
In the meantime we check the menu and decide on Satay and
a couple of seafood dishes. The waiter tells us that the Satay sauce
takes six hours to make and when we taste it, we can see why. It's
simply the best Satay we've ever had! And the prawns and rice... just
wonderful and this restaurant is definitely on the must-visit list when
in Penang. Thanks for the tip Ed.
We then go treking through the rainforest trails and every plant, flower and tree is described but I can't pronounce any of the names! But it's interesting all the same and the trail is hot and humid under the canopy of the rainforest. We finally make it back to the small lake near the entrance where a bridal party is getting set up. Seems to day is wedding day as we come across several groups on the beaches.
The heat is really tough to take so we head back to the hotel via a few more side tracks... one of which leads us to a beach where a group of local guys are catching small crabs on the beach. They wander along the beach break with sieve boxes and scoop some wet sand. Any crabs or small pipis are caught on the mesh.
Back at the Yeng Keng we sit in the shade and down a coupleof G&Ts and are joined by an English lady named Chris who is also staying at the hotel. She only has a few more days here before heading back to the cold weather in London. We are keen to try an Assam Laksa so we ask the waiter for a recommendation and he ngives us some vague directions. It's about 500 metres away... I should be able to make it so we invite Chris to join us and off we go into the bustling crowded Lebuh Chulia and head for Penang Road.
It's almost 8pm and the traffic is still bad... it seems everyone here goes out at night to eat in the relative cool of the evening and they park wherever they can. Most of the streets in this area are dotted with hawker stalls and the array of dishes and the aroma is amazing. People sit on plastic chairs around plastic tables and hook into whatever it is they have chosen for tonights dinner. Usually it is a little bit from a number of dishes... it's a great way to eat and everyone gets involved passing the dishes across the table.
We get a bit lost but finally find the place... it is called The Famous TeowChew Laksa and there are photos of celebrities on the wall to prove it! They speak little English but we order three Assam Laksas, the dish they are famous for, and bottles of cold water. They have NO TIGERS!!! What a bummer but hopefully the Laksa will be worth it.
Shortly three steaming bowls of Assam Laksa arrive and the three of us look at them with a little trepidation. Liz and I love our Laksa from Chinatown but that is Laksa Lemak from down south of Malaysia... it's made with coconut milk and, while spicy, is the food of the gods. The Assam Laksa they do up here in Penang is a different dish... it is sour and made with fish paste and tamarind. It will be an experience but at least we can say we've had one.
We all find it is surprisingly good and Liz especially commented that it wasn't as spicy as she thought it would be and really liked it. Chris insisted on a photo and then we ventured out into Penang Road to find our way back to the hotel. Once you get your bearings here it's all pretty easy to get around the town and walking rather than driving is the way to go.
We make our way through the traffic of Penang Road and then via the dark alleyways and backstreets to the beacon of our hotel... where the hawkers of Lebuh Chulia are just starting to pack up for the night. It is still hot and humid so we decide a drink before bed is in order so the three of us sit in the courtyard and sip cool G&Ts. I wonder what the rich are doing?
With the TomTom guiding us through the hectic traffic of Georgetown we finally hit the north side and hit is a good word. The road here hugs the coast and is very windy. On a previous trip we almost had a head on with a bike as he came around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. These morons will also overtake you over double lines and on blind corners so you need to be careful. Sure enough, one idiot on a bike appears in front of us on our side of the road and we both veer left to avoid a head-on!
We arrive at the Spice Garden which is set on the hillside amongst the rainforst, and opposite, right on the beach is a roadside restaurant, so we decide lunch would be nice looking out over the water. Liz asks if they have cold beer and the answer is no so, as it is so hot and a cold Tiger would be an absolute necessity... we decide to find something at the Spice Garden... and lucky we did.
We ask at the entrance kiosk and they say there is a restaurant up the hill called the Tree Monkey. Up the hill? In this heat... you have to be kidding! But the need for a cold Tiger is greater than the struggle up a steep walkway so off we go. Finally reaching the restaurant amongst the rainforest with a deck overlooking the forest and the sea, we are glad the other place didn't serve beer. It's like an oasis in the middle of a green, lush desert.
Back at the Yeng Keng we sit in the shade and down a coupleof G&Ts and are joined by an English lady named Chris who is also staying at the hotel. She only has a few more days here before heading back to the cold weather in London. We are keen to try an Assam Laksa so we ask the waiter for a recommendation and he ngives us some vague directions. It's about 500 metres away... I should be able to make it so we invite Chris to join us and off we go into the bustling crowded Lebuh Chulia and head for Penang Road.
It's almost 8pm and the traffic is still bad... it seems everyone here goes out at night to eat in the relative cool of the evening and they park wherever they can. Most of the streets in this area are dotted with hawker stalls and the array of dishes and the aroma is amazing. People sit on plastic chairs around plastic tables and hook into whatever it is they have chosen for tonights dinner. Usually it is a little bit from a number of dishes... it's a great way to eat and everyone gets involved passing the dishes across the table.
We make our way through the traffic of Penang Road and then via the dark alleyways and backstreets to the beacon of our hotel... where the hawkers of Lebuh Chulia are just starting to pack up for the night. It is still hot and humid so we decide a drink before bed is in order so the three of us sit in the courtyard and sip cool G&Ts. I wonder what the rich are doing?
Satays looked yummy.
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