Category: Penang

• Jusco Penang

  12.15.06 |Food, Penang, Shopping, Sushi| Permalink | 12 Comments

  
  
  

  Why do I love to go Jaya Jusco? One and only one reason that is I can get cheap and tasty sushi. Every Jusco store has a sushi counter. All kinds of sushi or hand roll can be found like nigrizushi, gunkan and norimaki. Yummy. Most of them cost less than RM2 per piece.

  
  
  

  Why do my children love to go there? They have a smaller version of kidzsport, an internal playground with fun activities. It cost RM2 per 20 minutes per child. They also have arcade types of ride. I don’t recommend that you take any of those rides, as it will burn a hole in your pocket. RM1 for 1-minute ride.

  
  

  
  

  
  If you want to avoid traffic to Queensbay mall, go before 10am or 3-4pm or weekdays except Friday. At 3-4pm, the crowd will leave and of cause new crowd will come at 5pm for dinner. It is not as bad as Mid Valley jam though.

• Florist II

  07.13.06 |Penang, Service| Permalink | 8 Comments

  Continuing my story from yesterday, about the extremely unsatisfactory florist. As most of you commented, it will be offensive to tell my kind friend about it. On the other hand, I was very grateful what she has done. I send a thank you message to her, expressing my gratitude. Knowing her, she asked me how was the gift. Oh oh. In the end, I told her about it, in a tactful manner. She said she wants to look at it, so I took a picture and send it to her.

  What I got:	What was ordered:

  She was furious, not with me but with the florist. She called the florist and I suppose bombarded her. They were in shocked when they saw the picture too. They apologized and will resend another bouquet to me. Weird, they should send an apology bouquet to my friend too. They have to send it to my office as I already started work. The bouquet came, a very small one. Peculiarly, it was send to an admin, usually bouquet are received by the receptionist. The admin called me to pass it to me. Casually I asked, why did it land on your desk? You know what she told me? The florist shop belongs to her manager’s (Senior Manager’s position) wife. Oh oh. What a small world?

  I blog this NOT because I want to offend my friend or put her in an awkward position. I really thank her for the special gift and the thoughtfulness of her. This blog is to let you know that when you order anything from the Internet, you really have to be careful, especially from people you do not know. There is a case where this guy bought a second hand notebook and when he got it, it was already broken.

  As for florist, usually they will use affiliate florist if it is from another state. The affiliate florist will not have a clue or picture what the customer order. It is merely base on descriptions.

  p/s The chicken essences are at the bottom of the basket but a different brand. Not sure whether it tastes good, I let you know when I tasted it. 😛

  Tracy’s side of the story.

• Penang Durian

  06.30.06 |Food, Information, Penang, Travel| Permalink | 8 Comments

  I received this through email. Drool over it. :drool: I will make my way there to locate them. Yum Yum. :good:

  Source: AsiaExplorers

  Durians of Balik Pulau

  In Penang, Malaysia, the best place to get good durians is in the town of Balik Pulau, on the southwest corner of Penang Island. Balik Pulau is a 30 minute drive over the main range and has a lot of durian orchards.

  The following is a selection of branded durians which I photographed during the 2004 and 2006 AsiaExplorers Durian Feasts.

  D11 “Number Eleven” is a very popular durian in the 70’s. It has creamy yellow flesh with a pleasant taste and a subtle smell.

  D604 The D604 was first cultivated by the late Mr. Teh Hew Hong of Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau. The flesh is quite sweet, and has some “body” to it as the seed is small.

  D600 This durian originates in Sungai Pinang in Balik Pulau. The flesh has a bittersweet taste to it, with a touch of sourness. The one that I documented is a bit hard.

  D700 The flesh is darker than D600, like chrome yellow. Also slightly hard. Crispy, but the smell is not very strong.

  Ang Sim (Red Heart) Ang Sim is a durian with flesh which is quite soft and very sweet, and dark yellow in colour. It also has a nice aroma.

  Khun Poh This durian takes the name of the late Mr Lau Khun Poh, who first budded it. Khun Poh has beautiful orangy flesh with a slightly bitter-sweet taste and a heavy aroma.

  Hor Loh (Water Gourd Durian) The flesh of the Hor Loh is very soft, dry and quite bitter. It has a sharp smell to it. Hor Loh was first cultivated at the Brown orchard of Sungai Ara. It got its name from its appearance resembling a “Hor Lor” pumpkin. If the durian hits the ground hard when it falls, the flesh tends to be bitter thereafter.

  Ang Heh (Red Prawn Durian) Ang Heh originates from Pondok Upeh, Balik Pulau, and has a round-shaped husk. The orange reddish flesh is highly aromatic, very soft with a bitter-sweet taste.

  Xiao Hung (Little Red Durian) Xiao Hung, whose name means “Little Red One,” originates in Sungai Pinang, Balik Pulau. The flesh has a bittersweet taste to it, with a touch of sourness. The one that I tasted for this write-up is a bit hard. There are only one or two seeds per section, but the flesh is thick.

  Yah Kang (Centipede Durian) Yah Kang is one of my favourite durians. Although its flesh is whitish, the taste is superb, milky, like very sweet, melting chocolate. The name “yah kang” means centipede, and accounts for the number of centipedes found at the foot of the tree, hence giving it the rather unusual name.

  Bak Eu (Pork Fat Durian) Bak Eu has a slightly acidic aroma. The flesh is whitish while the taste is quite bitter but nice.

  
  The following are some of the durians I tried the first time at Peng Siew Durian orchard in Titi Serong, Balik Pulau, on the AsiaExplorers Durian Feast, 17 June, 2006.

  D17 D17 is dark cream flesh. The taste is slightly dry but sweet. It is a tasty durian.

  Coupling This durian is gets its unusual name because it looks like two durians joined together, one big and one small. When split open, you almost thought the two halves belong to two different durians. Coupling has whitish flesh which is slightly dry but tastes good.

  Ooi Kyau (Tumeric Durian) The name Ooi Kyau (tumeric) describes the colour of the bright yellow flesh of this durian. It is very sweet and tasty.

  Chaer Phoy (Green Skin Durian) Chaer Phoy is shaped like a small canteloupe. The skin is bright green, giving it the name which means “green skin”. Chaer Phoy has creamy white flesh which is a bit dry, not too sweet but tasty.

  Ang Jin (Red Yoke Durian) As the name suggests, Ang Jin Durian has deep orange flesh. It is very sweet and tasty.

  Lin Fong Jiau This durian is named after Lin Fong Jiau, aka Mrs Jackie Chan. I wonder whether it is indicative of the relationship of the celebrity couple, for Lin Fong Jiau is a bittersweet durian, for too bitter for my liking. The flesh is whitish and wet.

• Penang Tropical Fruit Farm

  06.09.06 |Food, Information, Penang, Travel| Permalink | 8 Comments

  My department arranged for a Fruity Friday as a team-building event. We went to Penang Tropical Fruit Farm. There is not much to see, only if you are interested in looking at fruit tree. I learn a lot about different types of fruit trees. There is a particular plant that the guide explains it can improve fertility and it is called “dukung anak”. You can use it to make tea and drink. It is a common plant that can be found everywhere. The seeds of the plant are beneath the leaves. Very interesting. Half the time the guide tells us that this plant can cure this and that. Not sure how true.

  
  Fertility Plant/Dukung Anak
  
  

  Anyhow, this place has plenty of fruits to eat. We went at the wrong time. July to August is the best season where there are lots of different fruits. We had banana, jambu, guava, jackfruit, local durian, pineapple, watermelon, papaya, dragon fruit, mango and honey dew. They also serve refreshing fruit juice. If that is not enough, you can also opt to try out their BBQ lamb, beef, fish, chicken, squid and satay. There are healthy salads too. I really enjoyed the healthy lunch to cleanse my system.

  The fees, the BBQ lunch is RM28 & dinner is RM38. If you just want the fruits package, it is RM25. You need to call in to make a booking. More information here: http://www.tropicalfruits.com.my/packages.html .

  Enjoy the fruity pics:

  
  

  

  

  

  

  The BBQ Lunch

  

  

  

  Yellow Mangosteen Tree

  

  Dragon Fruit Tree – It is actually a type of cactus.

  

  The red pineapple for deco.

  

  The View.

  

  More Fruits:

  

  

  

• Happy Belated Dumpling Day!!

  06.01.06 |Food, Information, Penang, Special Day Event| Permalink | 5 Comments

  Yesterday was Dumpling Day. My neighbor made dumpling. My house was filled with the delicious aroma of those dumplings. They gave some to me. It was so good, wanted to ask for more. :giggles: I have been having dumpling for breakfast these few days.

  I always wonder how they make it. Usually in the wet market here, they will have a special section that sells all the dumpling ingredients. I am always so tempted to buy and try it at home. If any of you know how to do it, please contribute your recipe on http://cookblog.mybabybay.com

  
  
  

  Wrapping Method Here.

• Dell Factory Visit

  04.28.06 |Information, IT, Penang, Technology| Permalink | 5 Comments

  Yesterday, a few of us from my work place made a trip to dell factory in Prai. That factory produces 80% of the Dell notebook world wide. I am very impress with their supply chain. It is very efficient and no inventory storage that drive cost up, meaning maximize profit at the end of the day. All the notebooks are build to order. A lot of checkpoints, to make sure no missing parts.

  Each operator can produce at least 6 units per hour. You do the math to see how many they produce in a day. The factory runs 24×7. All testing on the notebook is automated and softwares are dowloaded in the same way. They have this huge racks, probably 5-6 notebook per rack for this purpose. I notice that the operators who assemble notebook are mostly female. Those in the server lines are male. Probably servers are much more complicated heavier.

  Actually Dell does not produce anything, mainly assemble the parts together to make the final product and name it DELL. By the way, if you want to purchase a notebook, order at the end of the quarter. If they run out of the specification you want, they probably bum it up for you to meet the orders. For example, if your notebook has 40G hard disk and they ran out, they probably give you a 60G or next higher in stocks. It doesn’t work all the time, ok, only if you are fortunate enough.

  Sorry no pictures for the visit because no camera allowed. However I did take back with me a lot of value added information and a great eye opener. Who knows, I may open up a MELL factory. 😆

  P/S I did get some door gift.

• 9th Malaysian Plan

  03.31.06 |Information, Penang| Permalink | 4 Comments

  Penang got a second bridge and a monorail.

  68. Apart from this, regional growth centres will be identified in several regions to spearhead development. The Southern Johor Economic Region will be developed in a comprehensive and systematic manner. The construction of the Second Penang Bridge will spur growth in nearby areas, including mainland Penang, Kedah and Perak and, will spur economic activities particularly for businesses that benefit from the port facilities and air cargo services

  85. A National Commission will be established to regulate the overall public transportation system in the country and a specific commission will be established for the Klang Valley. Integrated transport terminals will be built in Gombak and Bandar Tasik as transit hubs to Kuala Lumpur. The Government will also implement a number of major projects across the country, including the Penang Monorail and the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor.

  Read about it here, the transcript.

• Penang Hot Spell

  03.09.06 |Information, Penang| Permalink | 13 Comments

  Penang is facing a hot weather spell, the newspaper said it will last till 10 more days. It just rained but no help, it is still hot.

  I am on MC for 2 days. I woke up with a swollen eye. I couldn’t open it at all. I was very frightened. I went to the doctor.

  Doc: What can I do for you?
  Me: Eye swollen, yesterday was fine but waked up swollen.
  Doc: What happened?
  Me: Weather so hot that it melted my contact lens, I guess.

  He applied some eye gel and bandaged my eye. Now I am typing with 1 eye bandage like a pirate. I really have to be careful with contact lens. I do clean it everyday but not sure what happened. It’s the hot spell fault!

  I am fine, I still can see.

• Toy Museum

  01.15.06 |Children, Penang, Toys, Travel| Permalink | 9 Comments

  Penang has the largest toy museum in Asia. It has over 100,000 figurines, toys and models of a variety of characters in the toy world. If you step in and admired every single toy, it will take you days. It is located in Tanjung Bungah, very close to the Copthorne Orchid Hotel. Opens from 9am to 9pm daily. Entrance Fees are RM10 per adult and RM6 per child. It is a great place to visit if you are here.

  The toys ranges from Star Wars, Lord of the rings, all action figures like Superman, Spideman, Ultraman, Batman, Incredible Hulk, Toys Story, Chicken Little, Barbie, Disney Characters, Harry Potter and some horror characters too.

  As usual, Emily and Tim enjoyed the place. One set back about this museum is that it has so many toys, so tempted to take and play with it, but you can only see and not touch. 😥

  Enjoy the pictures:

  The place:
  

  

  

  Mr Bean:
  

  Jacky Chan
  

  Chow Yuen Fatt
  

  Bruce Lee
  

  Tomb Raider
  

  The Beatles
  

  Elvis
  

  Star Wars
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  The LOTR
  

  

  

  Star Trek
  

  My Dream Car
  

  Batman
  

  Incredible Hulk – Emily can copy this charater very well. Yet to capture it on video.
  

  WWF
  

  Chicken Little
  

  

  

  Little Mouse
  

  

  Monsters
  

  

  

  Incredibles
  

  Doremon
  

  Japanese Doll
  

  

  Warning: The section below contains horror characters, view it at your own risk. Please do not let your children view, they may have nightmares.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
  The End
  
  

• Penang Immigration Office – Excellent Service

  11.24.05 |Penang, Service| Permalink | 2 Comments

  
  
  

  I am very impress with the Penang Immigration Office at Esplanade Penang. Yesterday I went there to renew my passport. I went there at 8:30am and I got everything done by 9:00am. They were pretty fast in servicing customers and the officers are pretty friendly. In comparison with 5 years ago, the officers were very fierce looking and they were wearing a “Service with a smile”. On top of that, I can collect my passport the day after. Great Job on the customer service improvement!