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!

YiPin Restaurant, Sungai Nibong, Penang

YiPin's tagline on the menu says it all:
Reasonable price, Variety choice & Comfortable Environment

We ordered four 'small' dishes and the portion was enough for 3-4 persons. Price range around RM8.00 for a small Deep Fried Chicken in Marmite Sauce to RM12.00 for a medium and RM16.00 for a large. Comes with Deep Fried Mantou too! Taste wise was good. No complains. So was the Braised Garden Green with Mushroom, Braised Homemade Beancurd with Assorted Meat in Hot Plate and Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup (which wasn't really hot though).YiPin serves a mean Gui Ling Gao too! A must have desert so leave space for them (yes, you might just have more than one)!

Deep Fried Chicken in Marmite Sauce

Braised Garden Green with Mushroom

Braised Homemade Beancurd with Assorted Meat in Hot Plate

Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup

The four year old restaurant only houses ten tables to ensure comfort while dining there. Baby chairs are available and the waiter very kindly suggested dishes suitable for Baby Lee too.

Besides serving dishes with rice, YiPin also serves set meals of rice and noodles with drinks and soup or dessert at a price range of RM6.00 to RM9.00 for fish fillets which we are keen to try another time. Will certainly be back for more as they serve some of our favourite dishes! - Homemade Lobak, Deep Fried Nestum Prawn Fillet etc!!


Food ****
Price ****
Baby Friendly ****
Cleanliness ****
Parking Spaces ****

YiPin Restaurant
7, Lorong Bukit Kecil,
Sungai Nibong,
11900 Penang.
Tel/ Fax: 04-646 6480
Email: yipin.res@hotmail.com
Business Hours: 11.00am - 2.30pm, 6.00pm - 9.30pm (Closed every Monday)

Penang New World Park Swatow Lane Hawker Centre

New World Park Swatow Lane Hawker Centre seems like one of the many all-in-one hawker food centres in Penang. However, New World Park Swatow Lane Hawker Centre stands out for being clean, spacious, cool and comfortable with plenty of parking spaces available along its periphery. Sturdy, wooden baby-chairs are available and there’s plenty of room for strollers.

It is a pity though that food tastes average here and may be a tad over-priced for the portion. The Pan Mee (RM3.50) was way too oily. I had to remove what seemed like half an inch of solidifying fats from the bowl before reaching the real contents. The Pan Mee actually wasn’t too bad apart from the fact that it is missing the vital ingredient of deep fried ikan bilis.

As for the Assam Laksa (RM4.00), we promised ourselves that we would not order it again. At a glance, the soup looks diluted. It did taste diluted and doesn’t give any kick at all.

Pasembor and Mee Sultan

Papa Lee must have been real hungry by then as he ordered Pasembor and Mee Sultan (RM9.00 for both). The Pasembor tasted sweet and the supposedly crispy crackers had lost its crispiness when it was served. Mee Sultan (named after the Sultan of the stall aka the owner) on the other hand is worth going back for. Mee Sultan is none other than just mee goreng friend with squid. Maybe because all the rest were a bit of a disappointment, Mee Sultan wins the taste factor hands down. Don’t be put off too early though as there are still plenty of other stalls at the New World Park Hawker Centre to discover - hong siu ca yok mee (minced pork noodle), oyster noodle, Hokkien prawn mee, Tom Yam mee to name a few..

Weekend Market in the Park

Food aside, we do find the New World Park a nice hang-out place for the family with safe, wide open spaces for toddlers to run around. New World Park itself also has other food outlets (eg. Mizi Bistro, Passions of Kerala, Old Town Cafe, Starbucks, Nyonya Cafe and more). One of the most popular events organised every 1st and 3rd weekends of the month at the New World Park is the Weekend Market in the Park. They also conduct aerobic dance exercises every Thursday (7-8pm) and Saturday (8-9am). If you dine in on a Saturday evening, you may just be entertained by strollers strolling in the various F&B outlets. For more information, call: 04-226 1199.

Food *** (Papa Lee thinks it deserves only a **)
Price ***
Family Friendly ****
Baby Friendly ****
Cleanliness ****
Parking Spaces ****

Malaysian-German Society Christmas Bazaar

Bratwurst and sauerkraut

Christmas came a bit early this year as we ‘celebrated’ the event at the Malaysian-German Society premise yesterday. This year’s Christmas Bazaar started at 3pm. For the Lees, we headed straight for some bratwurst to fill out tummys first. We were a little taken aback at the price though. A plate of German wurtz and sauerkraut (or potato salad) costs us a whopping RM9.00! Canned soft drinks were priced at RM3.00. Anyway, we were happy to chomp down some authentic German food.

Once fed, we headed inside the blue colonial building to check out the stalls selling Christmas decorations, jewellery and jams amongst other things. Our favourite is Patricia’s Celebrate Life stall selling self-sewn trinkets and aprons. Sweet!

Patricia celebrating life!

Inge's homemade jams and pickles

At about 4pm, the German children gathered upstairs to sing us a few Christmas carols while we enjoyed homemade traditional German cakes! Mind you, you can’t find these baked commonly in Penang. These cakes were prepared specially for this occasion in the kitchens of our German friends based all around Penang! Mmm....

Singing Stille Nacht (Silent Night)

Poppy seed crumble

At 5pm, the children were whisked away for a story telling session in German and English on the first floor while at the foyer downstairs, the International Women Association serenaded us with more Christmas carols, this time in English, before a trendy Santa Claus with cool sunglasses whizzed in on a motorbike! He was immediately flocked by the eager children who had been good this year (as they all received a little goody bag each!). Oh what fun!

Here comes Santa Claus!

Besides organising an annual Christmas bazaar, the Malaysian-German Society also conducts German language classes, film shows, cultural performances, Oktoberfest, and events. There is also a mini Library with a good range of books in German available too.

For further enquiries, you can contact:
Malaysian-German Society (MGS)
250B Jalan Air Itam
10460 Penang
Tel/ Fax: 04-229 6853
Email: office@mgs-penang.com

What's On in Penang

So many events so little time! Not to mention no on/off baby sitter...

Anyway, we manage to find lots of baby-/ family-friendly events and activities happening in town where we will be going, subjected to the weather and nap times. Check them out yourself in the column on the right entitled "Where you will likely find us".

Any willing babysitter out there???

Joo Leong Cafe

Joo Leong Cafe at night

Select your seafood here

Fresh prawns served with 'maggi' noodle in sweet seafood broth

Fast, fresh, yummy! Which is why we have been back numerous times to this blue premise located along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah / Sungai Tiram.  Basically, you choose the type of seafood to be included in your bowl of noodles (‘maggi’ noodle being one of the favourites) or porridge. The selection of seafood varies but we have seen fish fillet, ‘tau teh’ fish head, cuttlefish, prawns, crabs, fish balls, fish maw, and sometimes even frogs. Double check the price before heading back to your table as your bowl may costs more than RM20! Typically, a bowl of noodles with just fish fillet costs less than RM10. On average, a bowl with 2-3 items costs around RM12-14, again depending on selection but at the same time, one of our visits for two bowls of noodles costs us only RM12.

Salted Chicken Stall

 Other food served here includes salted chicken, some kuih as well as chicken and pork satay. Yes, pork satay. This is our first time trying it the pork way but we concluded that the chicken ones tasted better from this stall anyway. Joo Leong Cafe is also open for breakfast and is well-known for their roti bakar (toasted bread) served with half-boiled eggs. The good news is, Joo Leong Cafe roti bakar is also available for dinner!

The place is clean and comfortable although the high chairs for toddlers here can almost be considered antiques! There is plenty of room for strollers too. The main problem dining at Joo Leong is probably the parking or the lack of. You will have to find a spot by the side of a road with high traffic. Start locating a space when nearing the shop. Otherwise, you will find yourself parked way down the road or having to make two U-turns to get back for a second attempt.



Joo Leong Cafe
179-H, Sungat Tiram, Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: 010-412 4865 / 012-4984865
Breakfast: 6.20am - 11.30am
Dinner: 6.00pm - 11.30pm

Penang Children Library

We love books and have been encouraging Baby Lee to love books too. We were really glad that the Penang Children Library (Georgetown branch) is located not too far from us. I brought Baby Lee there one of those afternoons to check the place out. It is a two storey building with different sections of books for children of different ages. There seems to be quite a good collection of books but only a handful for babies and toddlers. The place is clean and conducive though it can be a tad too quite for a curious toddler who is still clumsily flipping through the pages of a book and shouts excitedly at a familiar picture!

The best part of the library is the availability of the I-Play Room. This area is a child's (and maybe some adults') wonderland! For a nominal fee of RM12 per year, a child can go goo-goo-gaa-gaa in there! There's a closet full of clothes for pretend play, bright chairs and tables for activities, make belief kitchen area, wooden work benches.. you name it!

I was informed that they conduct some activities for kids on Saturdays and Sundays at about 11am too. I have been trying to look for some places to bring Baby Lee to during the weekdays instead of just staying at home. This place would have been great for us if not for the opening hours. The Children Library including the I-Play Room are only open on weekdays Wednesdays to Fridays 2pm-5.30pm which is right smack in the middle of Baby Lee's nap time! :(

Anyway, to register, you will need your child's MyKid or copy of birthcert with two passport size pictures and RM12.

Penang Children Library (Georgetown branch)
11, Jalan Scotland
10450 Penang
Tel: 04-2287010
Email: kkanak@penanglib.gov.my
Opening Hours:
Wednesdays to Fridays 2pm-5.30pm
Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 5.30pm (Lunch break 1pm-2.30pm)
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays as well as Public Holidays

siTigun Bicycle Pit-Stop Café

We've been wanting to check out this place and finally managed to drop in for breakfast this morning.

siTigun is a nice little carefree hang-out park-your-bikes café with the word green in mind. Don't expect air-conditioning or expensive ice-blends. Instead siTigun serves home-roasted, rich Robusta coffee (from Bali, Indonesia), home-made croissants and cinnamon rolls amongst others. We like!


Then there's the original Indonesian style satay only available on Friday and Saturday nights. Interesting. We have to go back and try the yummy looking cakes too!

Why a bicycle pit-stop café? The owner, Tigun Wibisana used to travel around on his bike searching for the right place to settle down. If you're looking for a relaxing place to exchange conversations over a cup of roasted coffee in one of Penang's heritage buildings, check out siTigun!

Location: 15 - 17 Jalan Nagore, Penang
Tel: 04-228 7108

Monday
closed
Tuesday - Sunday
8.00am to 10.00pm

Queensbay Mall Penang

Queensbay Mall is probably the nearest mall to where we are located. Besides being the newest mall in Penang (since 1 December 2006), it is also the largest around.  Queensbay Mall also has a good array of tenants with Jusco being its anchor.

Other than the Golden Screen Cinemas and the Neway Karaoke Box, Queensbay Mall offers a fairly large skating rink (CYC Mega Fun World Roller Skate) and children soft play area (CYC Mega Kiddies World) in the South Zone on the third floor. 

CYC Mega Kiddies World is pay per day. So parents can form a tag team to watch the kids and shop or play, lunch, and then play again! They have two rates for weekdays and weekends/public holidays. We will have to reconfirm the entry price but it is in the range of RM13-RM16. Children have to be accompanied by an adult. Socks are mandatory and some are available for purchase at about RM3 per pair. This does look like a good place to release your little Energizer Bunnies!

Just diagonally across from these is the trendy Queens Food Market (Center Zone) which houses a wide array of food stalls. From Thai to local delights. You are bound to find something that suits your taste there. The food court is clean, spacious and comfortable. The only vital thing lacking are high chairs for children! So be prepared to bring your own portable high chair or stroller, whichever suits you.

There are a handful of baby changing rooms available but not all are user friendly. We have been all over looking for one before only to find that the room only contains a cold slab of melamine with no taps or bins or straps! The cleanest and most equipped so far is the one found on the Lower Ground Central Zone. Having said so, it still lacks tissue holders and rolls. This baby changing room has a partitioned room suitable for breastfeeding. They usually have a baby changing room in the anchor tenant but we have not checked if there are any baby changing rooms at Jusco.

We rate Queensbay Mall (out of 5*s)
Family Friendly ****
Baby Friendly ***
Breastfeeding Friendly ***
Variety ****
Cleanliness ****
Parking Spaces ****

CUSTOMER INFO COUNTER
Queensbay Mall
Ground Floor, Central Atrium
100 Persiaran Bayan Indah
11900 Bayan Lepas
Pulau Pinang
Tel: (604) 645 4848
Operation Hours
Mondays – Sundays: 10.30 am to 10.30 pm