Sinfully Penang

Just came back from food paradise and feels a bit remorse after all the sins that I have committed during the weekend.

I have to repeatedly remind myself that I am only human, and to err is human.... I mean, who could resist all those temptations? Cheap and delicious seafood; prawns (mantis and normal), crabs, fish, cockles, muscles, snails, escargots, oysters, all fresh from the sea into the wok, cook to perfection...



And even the hawker food is super tantilising:- asam laksa, curry laksa, prawn noodles, fried koay teow, koay teow th'ng, wantan noodles (It's spelled as 'Wan Than Mee' there), popiah, lobak, Batu Maung satay (with the sauce burnt in), o'chien (fried oysters on eggs),....

Also the deserts are mouth watering.... ais kacang, cendol, rojak, fried ice-cream (@batu kawan), apam, apam balik, tody (coconut wine@Ong Cheng Huat), etc

*Note: For hawker's treats, I find that Gurney and Air Itam laksa are too commercialised. Instead, go for Lorong Selamat, Swatow Lane, Pulau Tikus, Jalan Datuk Keramat to experience the hidden treasures.

The food list goes on and on.. and even though I have an indefinite appetite for good food (and highly unrestrained but acute tastebuds to match), I was short of time and had limited stomach capacity, and thus, much to my dismay, I couldn't fit everything in one trip. However, I am quite pleased that we managed to pack in as much as we can and besides, it's the quality, not quantity, that counts.

As we've been to Penang many many times, we strived to go to places less travelled and take the roads least taken. We literally drove around the island in search for food. We went from "Beginning of the World" to the "End of the World" to sample the best and cheapest seafood around. Did you know that the mantis prawns can cost RM3 per mantis prawn in one restaurant and RM100 per 1 kg in another and these 2 restaurant are in the same area (Tambun) and only a few doors away from each other? Ok, I know the price commensurate with the size but I find it exhorbitant to price it at RM100 per 1 Kg! I might as well eat imported Alaskan Snow Crabs with this price! We also go to great lengths to taste the Batu Maung Satay. You see, the Tasty Seafood restaurant which used to be located on stilts at sea, has been replaced by a a quay. If we weren't adamant enough to ask around, we wouldn't have found out that it has moved to a shop lot nearby.

Enough said about food, let's talk about places of interest. With time constraint, we visited only selected places, mainly to introduce the kids to the uniqueness of Penang. We visited the Snake Temple (to show the kids real snakes in close proximity), and Kek Lok Si (to view the old and new statue of Kwan Yin and it's one of the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia). And since the kids have never been to the beach, we took them to Gurney Drive, Pulau Jerejak Jetty and Batu Ferringhi to show them the different types of seaside (man made, rocky and sandy). Also introduce them to some natural water resources by showing them 2 of the 3 dams in Penang, i.e. Air Itam dam, and Teluk Bahang dam and then later on the way home, took them to Sg Klah hot springs in Sungkai (teach them how to boil an egg or half boil if you please)



And a trip to Penang is not complete without buying the authentic "Tau Sar Pneah" (aka green bean/dragonball/Tambun biscuit) and Sesame Oil from Ghee Hiang. Incidentally, we also bought Heong Pneah from a peddlar after tasting the sample at Tambun seafood area.

Anyway, nothing beats the real thing, so dont let my words and photos influence you. Go taste and experience Penang for yourself.

Monkey see monkey do...

The title sounds like monkey business, eh? Actually, I am talking about a more serious issue here. It's about exposing children to the violence and profanities that a lot of movies or games which are often simply rated U here to allow more audience and to boost up ticket sales. Yeah, many would say that I am just over-protective ... but something that little b said today reinforced my need to filter all the things that gets to his eyes and ears...

He was playing with his Ninja Turtles figurines... and was talking to himself...

"Hey, I am a lady, which one of you are attracted to me?"

Actually, this was a line said by King Julien in the Madagascar 2 trailer.... There's nothing vulgar or inappropriate about this line. It's just the fact he's repeating the words without knowing the meanings of it that bothers me.

*note: I have parents telling me that they hear their sons repeating profanities such as the following after playing some games.

"Die you a**h*le!"

"F*ck!"

"Sh*t! Not again!"

You see, I am very careful about what movies that little b gets to watch or what kind of games he can play... online or otherwise. I have trained him from young to avoid TV shows or movies which are too violent, too much blood, or has too many swear words or shouting going around. I told him that these are "adult movies" and he would often tell me that he prefers to watch cartoons or disney channel whenever there were killings or fist/sword/gun fighting movies are around. Also he would tell me about violent games he comes across online and I would tell him to avoid playing them and play with educational games such as Fisher Price, Barney, Disney Channels etc instead.

Lately, he has taken up the fancy of watching movie trailers on the Apple website. I allow that because I trust that US have strict movie ratings systems and even the trailers have ratings. And so I gave him full access to watch anything he likes and since he's been trained to avoid those horror/thriller movies, he'd go for cartoons, and comedies. Then again, cartoons are being catered for adult viewing nowadays and so the dialogues in it may not be too appropriate for younger viewers.

Maybe I am a little paranoid, maybe I am over-protective, maybe I have to accept the fact that little b is growing at his own pace... no matter how fast it may be. Yeah, he's growing up real fast. With the internet, his access to knowledge is way faster and is way beyond the frontier of what it used to be during our "ancient" (before internet) times.

Oh, side track a bit, yesterday I brought him to his new school to register for Year 1 and as I watch him mingle with the other 6-year-olds, I wonder where and how all these 6 years flew pass. I really can't remember it all. When I see other flustered parents; bumbling around looking for their classes, their books, the teachers, fussing over their kids with cameras and video cams, I know I am not alone in bringing up my bundle of joy.

And none of the kids cried or cling to their parents. I can hear parents telling the children, "Quick sit in front" or "Just tell the teacher what you want" or "Say your name loudly" ... to which the children reacted positively... i.e. they sat in front, and told the teacher that they wanted to sit next to a girl all by themselves, and wasn't afraid of public speaking. And then I realised that this is the new generation. A generation who are not afraid to speak their minds, very independent and is highly capable of taking care of themselves and their own needs.

So, back to our topic of filtering the best for our children, seeing how assertive this new generation can be, I still think it's best to filter out the good things to "feed" to our children to build their foundations. I know that I can't protect him forever, and he's expose to 1001 bad things out there but I can rest in peace knowing I have done my best for him. The rest is up to God and himself... :)