Now we come to my first post on Penang! Yay! Although I absolutely love visiting my friends and family in Kuala Lumpur, it can be... I dunno... a little soulless? Apart from lots of shopping and some great food, I don't feel like there's a lot for foreign visitors to do, it can be quite dangerous with pickpockets, and it's so difficult to navigate!
Penang, on the other hand, is totally super-duper awesome! Beautiful architecture, loads of history and culture, The Best Food in Malaysia, and my favourite hotel in the whole wide world. (Blogpost to come!) As with any city, it's better if you have locals to guide you around, but I still think Penang has a lot to offer, even for solo tourists.
Being surrounded by Hokkien-speaking Chinese Penangites makes me feel right at home. Finally! A Chinese dialect I can understand properly! Even though I've lived my whole life in Melbourne, I still think of Penang as my home town. And whenever I'm in Penang, I consider Pulau Tikus to be my 'hood - my dad grew up around the corner, and my lovely Aunty Rosie, with whom we always stay whilst in Penang, lives close by.
Pulau Tikus is full of great food stalls, shops and a market. Today will be a picture-heavy post. Let's take a look:
 |
| Kedai Kopi Swee Kong |
Swee Kong is a kopitiam ("Coffee Shop" in English, "Kedai Kopi" in Malay), on the corner of Burma Road and Solok Moulmein. We came here for breakfast on our first morning in Penang!
 |
| Interior of Kedai Kopi Swee Kong |
 |
| Hokkien Mee stand |
 |
| Hokkien Mee |
I had a bowl of Hokkien Mee, as this stall is my dad's favourite. You'll notice that Penang Hokkien Mee is a rich prawn-and-pork based noodle soup dish, unlike the Hokkien Mee from other parts of Malaysia, which is just fat yellow noodles stir fried in dark soy sauce. Clearly, the Penang Hokkien Mee is superior.
Whilst the broth tasted amazing (see how rich and red it is?), the aunties here were very tight with the fillings - no hard boiled egg, and only one or two little prawns, each sliced into even smaller pieces!
If you're not up for an intense bowl of prawn soup for breakfast, there's also an Indian stall in this kopitiam, selling my favourite: ah pong! These are light little pancakes, cooked in small wok-shaped pans, so the centres are thick and soft, whilst the edges are thin and crisp. Totally delicious.
 |
| Ah Pong! |
As you can see in the below photo, there's another restaurant directly opposite Swee Kong on Solok Moulmein, but I've never been, so no idea if it's any good!
Ok, so if you continue down Solok Moulmein (i.e. going straight ahead in the below photo), there are heaps of great stalls on the lane itself...
 |
| View of Solok Moulmein from Burma Road (Kedai Kopi Swee Kong is on the right hand side of the intersection) |
... including... a
ban chang kuih truck! We came here for breakfast a few days into our trip.
 |
| Ban Chang Kuih truck! |
This guy does different flavours, including kaya and banana, but I always go for plain peanut and sugar.
 |
| Inside the Ban Chang Kuih truck |
 |
| Ban Chang Kuih truck and seating on Solok Moulmein |
Behind the truck are some seats - if you sit down someone will come around and take your drink order (you pay them when they bring the drinks). Just like in a kopitiam (e.g. Swee Kong, above), each stall is run independently - i.e. the
ban chang kuih truck is one business, the drinks is a separate business - but they all share the same space.
You'll notice that Pulau Tikus is predominantly a Chinese area - so no asking for "
teh ais", or for your drinks to be "
kurang manis"! Speak Hokkien here (or English).
Peng means "ice", and
jua means "hot", which should help you when trying to order.
For example...
Iced Tea - "
teh peng"
Iced Milo - "
milo peng"
Iced Coffee - "
kopi peng"
Iced Barley - "
barli peng"
 |
| Ban chang kuih! |
Mmm... check out that
ban chang kuih! This is the thin style; at other stalls you can buy thick doughy ones - all down to personal preference.
One of my favourite Malaysian sweets is
mua chee: slightly chewy glutinous rice flour dough, chopped into bite-sized pieces and thickly coated in ground peanuts and sugar. They serve it in little containers with toothpicks. (I'm told that normally the
mua chee man only comes to Solok Moulmein at night - we were so lucky he was open on the morning we were there!)
 |
| Muah Chee |
If you keep walking down Solok Moulmein and turn right at the end, there are more stalls for food, and the market!
 |
| Another Uncle making bah chang kway |
Check out the traffic here! The cars drive so close to the stalls... eek! Streets in Penang are always damn packed - always kena jam - I wouldn't dare drive there.
 |
| More food stands |
Around this area is the market, selling everything from newspapers and iPhone covers to fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, crockery and more!
 |
| Market from outside |
 |
| Market stalls |
 |
| Laneway |
 |
| Pork stalls - when you see pork, you are definitely in a Chinese area |
 |
| Fish (I think these stalls are actually Malay - yay for harmony!) |
 |
| Fish, turtles and frogs |
You can even buy live frogs and turtles! I'm not sure what to cook with turtles - I imagine soup? - but apparently frogs are often put in rice porridge (AKA
moi), and it's supposed to be very good for your complexion.
Some more streets in the area...
 |
| Fancy-looking houses |
 |
| Burma Road |
 |
| Burma Road |
The covered pathways feel very "Penang" to me.
I'm planning on doing a separate post dedicated to attractions in Penang, but for today I wanted to show you two very beautiful temples that are in the area.
Wat Chayamangkalaram Temple
Burma Lane
George Town, 10250
Penang, Malaysia
The Thai temple in Pulau Tikus is famous for having the third largest reclining Buddha in the world. I visit it every time I come to Penang, to worship (i.e. "kee pai"), and also because my grandmother's ashes are kept here. It's a stunning temple, so even without a personal connection it's definitely worth a visit.
 |
| Reclining Buddha |
 |
| Monks on holiday! |
Directly across the street from the Thai temple is the Burmese temple. I must admit that this was my first visit to the Burmese temple, and we only thought to go because we had Sandra with us and we thought that as a tourist, she might be interested to have a look.
Dharmikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple
Burma Lane
George Town, 10250
Penang, Malaysia
Unlike the Thai temple, there was more of a garden in the Burmese temple, with grass, sculptures and even a large koi pond.
 |
| Sculptures in the garden |
 |
| Lotus candles |
 |
| A Buddha |
Now we come to my first post on Penang! Yay! Although I absolutely love visiting my friends and family in Kuala Lumpur, it can be... I dunno... a little soulless? Apart from lots of shopping and some great food, I don't feel like there's a lot for foreign visitors to do, it can be quite dangerous with pickpockets, and it's so difficult to navigate!
Penang, on the other hand, is totally super-duper awesome! Beautiful architecture, loads of history and culture, The Best Food in Malaysia, and my favourite hotel in the whole wide world. (Blogpost to come!) As with any city, it's better if you have locals to guide you around, but I still think Penang has a lot to offer, even for solo tourists.
Being surrounded by Hokkien-speaking Chinese Penangites makes me feel right at home. Finally! A Chinese dialect I can understand properly! Even though I've lived my whole life in Melbourne, I still think of Penang as my home town. And whenever I'm in Penang, I consider Pulau Tikus to be my 'hood - my dad grew up around the corner, and my lovely Aunty Rosie, with whom we always stay whilst in Penang, lives close by.
Pulau Tikus is full of great food stalls, shops and a market. Today will be a picture-heavy post. Let's take a look:
|
| Kedai Kopi Swee Kong |
Swee Kong is a kopitiam ("Coffee Shop" in English, "Kedai Kopi" in Malay), on the corner of Burma Road and Solok Moulmein. We came here for breakfast on our first morning in Penang!
|
| Interior of Kedai Kopi Swee Kong |
|
| Hokkien Mee stand |
|
| Hokkien Mee |
I had a bowl of Hokkien Mee, as this stall is my dad's favourite. You'll notice that Penang Hokkien Mee is a rich prawn-and-pork based noodle soup dish, unlike the Hokkien Mee from other parts of Malaysia, which is just fat yellow noodles stir fried in dark soy sauce. Clearly, the Penang Hokkien Mee is superior.
Whilst the broth tasted amazing (see how rich and red it is?), the aunties here were very tight with the fillings - no hard boiled egg, and only one or two little prawns, each sliced into even smaller pieces!
If you're not up for an intense bowl of prawn soup for breakfast, there's also an Indian stall in this kopitiam, selling my favourite: ah pong! These are light little pancakes, cooked in small wok-shaped pans, so the centres are thick and soft, whilst the edges are thin and crisp. Totally delicious.
|
| Ah Pong! |
As you can see in the below photo, there's another restaurant directly opposite Swee Kong on Solok Moulmein, but I've never been, so no idea if it's any good!
Ok, so if you continue down Solok Moulmein (i.e. going straight ahead in the below photo), there are heaps of great stalls on the lane itself...
|
| View of Solok Moulmein from Burma Road (Kedai Kopi Swee Kong is on the right hand side of the intersection) |
... including... a
ban chang kuih truck! We came here for breakfast a few days into our trip.
|
| Ban Chang Kuih truck! |
This guy does different flavours, including kaya and banana, but I always go for plain peanut and sugar.
|
| Inside the Ban Chang Kuih truck |
|
| Ban Chang Kuih truck and seating on Solok Moulmein |
Behind the truck are some seats - if you sit down someone will come around and take your drink order (you pay them when they bring the drinks). Just like in a kopitiam (e.g. Swee Kong, above), each stall is run independently - i.e. the
ban chang kuih truck is one business, the drinks is a separate business - but they all share the same space.
You'll notice that Pulau Tikus is predominantly a Chinese area - so no asking for "
teh ais", or for your drinks to be "
kurang manis"! Speak Hokkien here (or English).
Peng means "ice", and
jua means "hot", which should help you when trying to order.
For example...
Iced Tea - "
teh peng"
Iced Milo - "
milo peng"
Iced Coffee - "
kopi peng"
Iced Barley - "
barli peng"
|
| Ban chang kuih! |
Mmm... check out that
ban chang kuih! This is the thin style; at other stalls you can buy thick doughy ones - all down to personal preference.
One of my favourite Malaysian sweets is
mua chee: slightly chewy glutinous rice flour dough, chopped into bite-sized pieces and thickly coated in ground peanuts and sugar. They serve it in little containers with toothpicks. (I'm told that normally the
mua chee man only comes to Solok Moulmein at night - we were so lucky he was open on the morning we were there!)
|
| Muah Chee |
If you keep walking down Solok Moulmein and turn right at the end, there are more stalls for food, and the market!
|
| Another Uncle making bah chang kway |
Check out the traffic here! The cars drive so close to the stalls... eek! Streets in Penang are always damn packed - always kena jam - I wouldn't dare drive there.
|
| More food stands |
Around this area is the market, selling everything from newspapers and iPhone covers to fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, crockery and more!
|
| Market from outside |
|
| Market stalls |
|
| Laneway |
|
| Pork stalls - when you see pork, you are definitely in a Chinese area |
|
| Fish (I think these stalls are actually Malay - yay for harmony!) |
|
| Fish, turtles and frogs |
You can even buy live frogs and turtles! I'm not sure what to cook with turtles - I imagine soup? - but apparently frogs are often put in rice porridge (AKA
moi), and it's supposed to be very good for your complexion.
Some more streets in the area...
|
| Fancy-looking houses |
|
| Burma Road |
|
| Burma Road |
The covered pathways feel very "Penang" to me.
I'm planning on doing a separate post dedicated to attractions in Penang, but for today I wanted to show you two very beautiful temples that are in the area.
Wat Chayamangkalaram Temple
Burma Lane
George Town, 10250
Penang, Malaysia
The Thai temple in Pulau Tikus is famous for having the third largest reclining Buddha in the world. I visit it every time I come to Penang, to worship (i.e. "kee pai"), and also because my grandmother's ashes are kept here. It's a stunning temple, so even without a personal connection it's definitely worth a visit.
|
| Reclining Buddha |
|
| Monks on holiday! |
Directly across the street from the Thai temple is the Burmese temple. I must admit that this was my first visit to the Burmese temple, and we only thought to go because we had Sandra with us and we thought that as a tourist, she might be interested to have a look.
Dharmikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple
Burma Lane
George Town, 10250
Penang, Malaysia
Unlike the Thai temple, there was more of a garden in the Burmese temple, with grass, sculptures and even a large koi pond.
|
| Sculptures in the garden |
|
| Lotus candles |
|
| A Buddha |
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