This is a second part of a two-part series. Read the first installment here.
Dinner for the first night in Penang was in New Lane. The last trip I was here we ate lots of char kuey teow, but I was told that the Pork Intestine Porridge here is very good. So this I came back to try it. My MIL also tried a bowl.
The congee was smooth, but the intestines were fried to a crisp. It’s quite different to the Ipoh style which I am more used to.
After walking around New Lane (its turning into quite a commercial area these days, with the new biscuit shops)
The next morning, we planned to walk around Georgetown, so breakfast was at Pulau Tikus. While having curry mee, we bumped into Lee Yen (her parents’ house were just around the corner) back for the weekend.
After breakfast it was down to Georgetown. My nephew hasn’t been here before so we went round the usual circuit of wall murals, street food, roadside stalls, etc.
(that’s quite a heavy meal)
Weather was blazing hot so in the late afternoon we went back to the hotel for a snooze and a dip in the pool. In the evening we didn’t have any place to go, so we went down to Gurney Paragon and Gurney Plaza. It was 2 days before Christmas so the malls were bedecked with décor.
First we had dinner at Gurney Drive. It was quite packed with folks, and I had to line up 20 minutes for my char kuey tiaw.
(view of Anjung Gurney from the mall carpark)
The next morning, we had breakfast in the apartment. When Penang, what other touristy stuff can we do? Penang Hill, of course! We haven’t been here since my first kid was a toddler (>10 years) and since my nephew hasn’t been here, etc.
Penang Hill on a holiday weekend + school holidays was crazy packed as you would expect. The lines for the funicular train was super long. But they’ve made a lot of improvements to the station recently to handle crowds.
we couldn’t really stay long since we had to get back to the apartment and check out. After that we drove home to Ipoh. For our early dinner that night, we tried this little roadside stall in Gunung Rapat. The stall is run by a very old (and slow) couple and their son. Although its just 3 plastic tables at the side of a quiet road, the stall is immensely popular especially with call-in and takeaway orders.
The next day was Christmas eve, we went around town doing some errands – buying a Christmas gift for my daughter (a backpack), kaya puff for my colleague (the line at Sun Eng Heong was 3.7km long, we went to Ming Yue in Pasir Pinji), and a visit to Chin Han Guan. Everything popular in Chin Han Guan was sold out clean, and new orders would only be ready in Monday. Monday next week!! It was only Thursday!
Christmas eve dinner was a hearty Hakka dinner by my MIL.
The next day was Christmas Day! Not sure what we did but for dinner we went to Tuck Kee in town. The place was so full we didn’t bother waiting for a table.
We went to this place opposite (my BIL knew the owner) and we had cream custard and Tuck Kee delivered the food across the street to us. If you are in Ipoh you need to try this Gui Lin Tong. The cream custard is simply amazing. They also have a variety of homemade herbal jelly and drinks.
On the way out we passed by Lou Wong Beansprout Chicken and you can see the crowds here. THe place is so popular a whole auxiliary side market has emerged around it in the form of trucks and stalls selling biscuits and drinks.
The next day was Saturday, it was time to drive back to KL. thus ending our one week holiday up north. Until the next time, then.