Happy 1st Birthday Discovering Penang!

It has been a year since the Lees started blogging about their discoveries in Penang as a young family. Although we took a break off (due to morning sicknesses and what nots!), we are still very keen to share our amazing journey with you, especially together with a new addition to our family, Jr Lee, soon!!

Meanwhile, here is a big thank you for visiting our humble blog! Stay tuned!

Charlie Brown Cafe Penang

The first and only Charlie Brown Cafe in Malaysia finally opened its doors on the 9th of April, 2011 in Straits Quay, Penang. The popular Peanuts cartoon-themed cafe finally reached our shores with other branches located in Korea, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. It seems many have flocked to the cafe to have a closer look and take tonnes of pictures with the well-loved Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang.

Since it was Baby Lee's birthday two days ago, we decided to pay Charlie Brown and friends a visit as we were sure that Baby Lee will love it there!

Approaching the entrance of the Charlie Brown Cafe

The whole cafe is adorned from floor to ceiling with all the characters from Peanuts!

This way!

No one can resist a picture with Snoopy and Charlie Brown!

Tables

Ceiling

One section of the Charlie Brown Cafe

Souvenir Shop

On display but unfortunately not for sale! Ishh...

The cafe is huge and divided into different sections with different layouts - sofa seats, private rooms, casual rattan chairs... Overall spacious enough to maneuver buggies and for kids to run amok. Baby Lee made herself at home by lying and climbing all over the empty sofas!

All was well till we came to the food bit.. The ordering system was chaotic to begin with. We had to order from the counter with no proper menus for us to look at before our turn to order so there was a long queue as everyone waits for their turn to view the menus, consider what to order, make the order and pay. It would be better for them to have a big lighted up menu signage like those in McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken if they want to consider this system so that people in queue can decide on what they want to order while waiting.

Be warned that the menu is not extensive and definitely overpriced! For three mains, two drinks and a dessert, our total bill came up to a shocking RM85.15!! Well, to be honest, for its novelty and since it's a birthday celebration, we didn't mind paying but to pay that much for sub-standard food is unacceptable.

To start off with is the Mini Chicken Burger we ordered for Baby Lee. It is also the most expensive item we ordered. It is served with salted fries and some carrot shreds on a slice of lettuce. The two Mini Burgers are tiny. For RM16.80, the burger is not even a real burger patty but just half a slice of chicken ham fried in a teaspoon of egg resulting in some hard-textured 'patty'. Sandwiched between two buttered halves of wholemeal bun are the ham, a slice of lettuce, a slice of tomato and two half slices of cucumber in a little mayonnaise. I kept thinking that Baby Lee could have made the burger herself! The only thing I would give credit for is for them using wholemeal buns instead of processed white buns. Even then, the buns felt kind of stale.

Mini chicken/beef burger RM16.80

Two quarters of hard ham, a slice of tomato, lettuce and cucumber

Next is Papa Lee's Jumbo Chicken Hotdog again served with quite salty fries and carrot shreds on a slice of lettuce. Papa Lee said the sausage simply doused with tomato sauce and mayonnaise tasted as though it just came out from the freezer. The wholemeal bread was hard as rock though I must again give them credit for using wholemeal.

Jumbo chicken/beef hotdog RM15.80

 My Drumstick Chicken with Coconut Rice was probably the most value for money. A good whole thigh served with green (pandan???) coconut rice along with half a hard-boiled egg, deep-fried anchovies and peanuts, papadum and sambal. We decided to let Baby Lee have the coconut rice and chicken together with her slices of tomatoes, cucumber and lettuces instead.

Drumstick Chicken with Coconut Rice RM12.80

 Although serving size is good, they skimped on the sambal. Half-way through my meal and there was no sambal left. The chicken, though almost charcoaled on the outside, is surprisingly still red inside. Another disappointment. 

Still bloody inside though almost burnt outside!

We also paid RM10.00 for each drink. The Mango Juice is actually just mango syrup. Papa Lee's Apple Mint comes with some green liquid which presumable is the mint flavour. We ordered a cheese cake as an additional little birthday cake. The Lucy Lavender Cheese cake is probably the only good thing that we ordered. Rich in cheese and with sprinkles of real lavender decorated with a pretty purple ribbon and an image of Lucy on white chocolate. Would have preferred it to be a little lighter but it does taste pretty good.

Lucy Lavender Cheese RM12.00 and Mango Juice RM10.00

Coloured mint flavour in Apple Mint drink RM10.00

We actually brought our 'concerns' up to the manager and hope that they took our 'complains' constructively. We honestly have our reservations to go there again for meals. Maybe desserts and drinks or if someone is willing to buy us dinner! Sorry Charlie Brown. We still love you!

Michael Learns To Rock Penang!

MLTR is coming to town! We were debating hard whether to go or not and how to arrange for someone to babysit Baby Lee. Decided in the end that we will give it a miss :(

The MLTR World Tour Live in Malaysia 2011 will be held in the Penang PISA Stadium on 22 April as well as in KL and Kuantan later. They will be presenting some old favourites (remember Sleeping Child, 25 Minutes Too Late, That's Why (You Go Away), The Actor, etc.??) as well as new releases.

Should you decide to go, the event is organized by Star Planet and tickets for the MLTR World Tour Live in Malaysia 2011 are priced at RM323 (VIP), RM223 (PS1), RM163 (PS2), and RM103 (PS3).

For tickets, call Star Planet 03-92233667 or TicketCharge 03-92228811 or go to TicketCharge's website.

Penang Hill's new train service to start Monday, fares announced

Article on http://thestar.com.my 

By FONG KEE SOON 

Published: Thursday April 21, 2011 MYT 3:26:00 PM

GEORGE TOWN: The new Penang Hill funicular train service will be open to the public from April 25.

Penang Hill Corporation director Datuk Lee Kah Choon said the train will run for charity for the first six days until April 30.

"For a contribution of RM10 (return ticket), you can enjoy a 10-minute ride on Penang Hill's new funicular train.

"The proceeds from the charity sale of tickets will be channelled to the Penang State Welfare for donation to the underprivileged identified by the state government," said Lee, adding that children below the age of 12 years could enjoy the ride for free during the period.

Lee was speaking to reporters in a press conference here Thursday to announce the new train fares effective May 1.

For Malaysians, the fare for a return ticket is RM8 per adult and RM4 per child aged between three and 12.

Senior citizens will enjoy cheaper fares at RM4 per person.

The ride continues to remain free of charge for disabled persons holding the OKU card.

Also unchanged are the fares for Penang Hill residents, licensed traders and hawkers and workers, who can purchase monthly season pass at RM24.

The blue, air-conditioned Swiss-made coaches, capable of ferrying up to 100 passengers at one go, will run every half hour from 6.30am to 9pm daily.

The new RM73mil system replaces the 87-year-old funicular railway, which was closed in February last year.

Taken from http://holidaysinmalaysia.org

Island Park Restaurant - Assam Laksa

Finally a yummilicious assam laksa that is located just 15 minutes from where we currently reside! Funny how it took us so long to chance upon Island Park Restaurant situated just directly opposite the Chung Hwa Confucian High School. We have been back numerous times just for the assam laksa as this is one of the better tasting ones around. Given the location, taste, and price (only RM2.50 per bowl!), it is a sure winner with us and chances of bumping into us there is definitely quite high now. The well balanced sweet and sour soup is rather thick which is a sign that a good amount of fish is added into it. On top of that, every bowl is served with a dash of my favourite bunga kantan (torch ginger)! Mm mmm.... Now, all we have to do is wait for the verdict from Grandpapa Lee when he comes visiting next! Meanwhile, we’ll continue to enjoy it!!

Besides assam laksa, the newly renovated and comfortable Island Park Restaurant also house a vast number of stalls that serves curry mee, Hainanese chicken rice, economy rice, Hokkien mee, lam mee, chee cheong fun, wan ton mee, and lots more though we are only usually there for one dish! Parking is not usually a problem here too. Island Park Restaurant definitely scores three thumbs up with the Lees!

Island Park Restaurant
38 Tingkat Tembaga
Jelutong
Penang

Majestic Rojak

Rojak (a dish where bite size pieces of fruits and vegetables along with a few cuttefish at times is mixed together with a sweet shrimp paste and peanut concoction) is one of Papa Lee's all time favourite! He can gobble up the whole lot all by himself and gladly repeat the procedure day after day if no one stops him!

When it comes to rojak, Majestic Rojak has been hailed as the best in Penang! So we HAD to try it. We bought a packet back and when pouring the shrimp paste mixture over the fruits, we discovered that the paste was very thick and goo-ey, almost hard unlike the slightly more liquid ones that we usually eat. We also find the paste on the sweeter side. I suspect the paste has a whole tonne of sugar in it which explains why it is less liquid and sweeter!

Can't remember exactly what else was in the Majestic Rojak but there was definitely turnip, pineapple, cucumber, mango and cuttlefish. A small portion now costs RM4.00 and a bigger one RM5.00 which may be slightly overpriced but expected where it is located and with the name it carries.

So if you're a fan of thick goo-ey, sweet rojak, head on to:
Majestic Rojak
14, Lorong Swatow, Penang.
Business Hours: 10:30am – 6:30pm
(Closed on alternate Tuesdays or Thursdays)

Enduring Forever Beauty Spa

Enduring Forever (EF) is beauty spa tucked in a secluded section of Penang on Leandro's Lane intersecting Kelawei Road and Burma Road. It is an all female spa with an English themed setting, very different from the other typical Balinese, Thai or Zen themed spas indeed. We accidentally discovered it one of those days out in town and thought the exterior very appealing.

My appointment was for noon but I was a half hour late as I got lost! Still not familiar with the routes here. The pouring rain didn't help either causing traffic to crawl.

After parking in one of the allocated lots, I headed to the building. As I neared the entrance, the door opened and a young girl (whom is also my masseuse) greeted me and swiftly brought me through a series of nicely adorned hallways to a dimly lit room, all decorated with a touch of English charm. She then handed me a disposable bra, panty and shower cap and told me to change into them. She also informed me that we will start with a foot scrub before proceeding onto the body scrub and then left me to undress.  I must say that this is the first time I see a disposable bra (which is basically just a piece of tissue-textured material placed across the chest and tied behind)! Even spa resorts like Tanjung Jara and Four Seasons in Bali do not provide these. Nice to know that there is an option for those who want to keep it more modest.

My masseuse came back into the room and gave me a foot scrub. She told me the salts used helps in removing dead skin cells and has whitening properties. During the scrub, I managed to find out her name (whom we shall call A from now on), that the establishment is only half a year old and owned by a local. After that, I was told to lie on the massage bed for the body scrub. To my surprise, the bed has a thermal blanket which keeps it nice and warm. They really do think of the little details. The scrub lasted about half an hour. I found out then that this is A's first job. So she only has about six month's experience. Hmm...

After the scrub, A brought me to another room with a tub for my 'fitness bath'. She told me to lie in the tub filled with warm (more to the hot side) water on a mat which has some 360 holes. Eh? She then explained that 15 minutes inside the bath is equivalent to having worked out for 3 hours! Hmm... Besides, the bath helps with firming, detox and slimming... Wow... (while trying to suppress a little laughter of disbelieve of such wonder). A then switched the bath on and the mat started 'boiling' bubbles around me. So that's what the 360 holes are for. A dimmed the lights and left me for the next 15 minutes. I tried to close my eyes and relax in the 'pot of soup'. After a while, I started to feel like I was floating in the middle of a vast ocean with thousands of squid surrounding me squirting ink on my face! Hmm.. this bath thing is not really my cup of tea. I never knew 15 minutes can last soooooo loooong... but hey, if it slims, firms and detox and leaves you thinking you have done 3 hours of gym........... At some point, I started to even feel a little dizzy. Sea sickness? The squids has not stopped squirting ink on my face!

When the whole floating in the sea experience ended, I actually did feel tired, as though I had just worked out! A came with a cup of ginger tea and asked if I was feeling light-headed. She told me to continue sitting in the bath for a while and relax before changing into another set of disposables for my massage.

Back on the massage bed, A started my Enduring Forever Treatment massage on my back. I did feel a little more relaxed after the fitness bath but a more experienced masseuse would be able to tell that I was trying hard to relax my shrugged shoulders. A more experienced masseuse would also be able to identify and focus on the tonnes of knotted muscles on my taxed back. However, being a young apprentice, A did everything wholeheartedly, drawing long slow moves, no short cuts unlike some experienced masseuse.

I started to relax more during the second half of the massage but didn't doze off unlike most times. Honestly, I would have preferred to have a longer back massage. Overall, it was still a pleasant experience and I felt pampered.

Note: No photography allowed so the above pictures are taken directly from their brochure. The body treatment costs RM68 as a one time first trial offer and the fitness bath costs RM50. Total treatment was RM118.

Enduring Forever Beauty Spa
332 Leandro's Lane
10250 Penang
Tel/ Fax: 04-229 5796
Business Hour: 10.00am - 8.00pm

Welcome 2011!

What a year it has been discovering Penang! We came to Penang in 2010 only with some knowledge of this place as a holiday destination and have since discovered so much more from finding a paediatrician to finding knick-knacks at the Little Penang Street Market, Roti Bakar off Jalan Hutton to Jalan Stesen Bukit Bendera Assam Laksa, Penang Children Library to Rapid Penang Bus Services and loads more that we have not managed to update! So we welcome this new year with much anticipation of more discoveries!