Famous Tourist Attractions in Penang Island, Malaysia

Penang Island, Malaysia has always had a special place in my heart. As a child, I spend a lot of my time in Penang as my grandparents used to live there. Having strong family roots at the island, I always looked forward to my regular weekend trips to this beautiful island especially to eat lots of delicious food.

My fond memory of this island is picking sea shells by the beach situated just behind a prestigious 5 star hotel with my sister and mother. We also made it a point to visit the local ‘kuih’ stall at Penang Plaza and always bought the specially blended yoghurt drink at the yoghurt vending machine at the plaza.

Although we always made regular trips to Penang, we never did any touristy stuff while we were there as we always went to the local hotspots with my Auntie who used to live there. One fine day, my sister, my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I decided to go there, this time as tourists.

These are the places we visited:-

Penang Hill

We were privileged to sit the old train going up to Penang Hill before it was demolished. The train ride was fabulous, with us being able to get ourselves so close to nature as we travel alongside the tropical forest towards our destination. Once we reached the top of the hill, we enjoyed the refreshing cool air and tranquillity that Penang Hill has to offer. We decided to chill out in style at the hill by savouring some delicious English scones and fruit cake at a classy English restaurant called David Brown’s Restaurant.

The old train to Penang Hill

English scones and fruitcake

Fort Cornwallis

We also decided to indulge in a bit of history by visiting Fort Cornwallis. Fort Cornwallis is an interesting historical landmark in Georgetown, Penang. The fort was built over a century ago and it includes a chapel, prison cells, ammunitions storage area, a harbour light house and several old bronze cannons.

Bronze cannons at Fort Cornwallis

Tambun Biscuit Factory

As we love hunting for good food, we took the opportunity to buy some Tambun biscuits straight from the Him Heang biscuit factory at Burma Road, Penang. Tambun biscuit is a famous traditional Chinese biscuit in Penang. Although there are many places where you can buy Tambun biscuits in Penang, it is worth a drive to get your biscuits from Him Heang as their biscuits are exceptionally good. When you buy it straight from the factory, the Tambun biscuits are even more aromatic, fresh and delicious.

Food

If you have ever wondered why people often tell you that Penang food is good, stop wondering and try them for yourself! I guarantee you that you will find Penang food really, really good! If you like to eat Malaysian food, I would recommend you to try their Penang Nyonya food. If you like Western food, why not try some of the Western food made by the Penangites (Penang locals) and discover their fusion twist to everyday Western food.

During our trip to Penang, we ate ‘Loh Mee’. Loh Mee or Lor Mee is a Chinese egg noodle dish served with thick starchy gravy. The noodles are served with fish cakes, boiled eggs and pork. We went to an old coffee shop at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling called Hai Beng Coffee Shop. The ‘Loh Mee’ there is absolutely delicious!

The traditional shops in Penang

Loh Mee or Lor Mee

Hai Beng Coffee Shop at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling

That pretty much summarises my trip to Penang Island, Malaysia. Hope you enjoy what I have just shared with you.

Cheers,

Caroline Poh

Stir fried Chinese Cockles

After a few years of not eating cockles (also known as clams or pipis), I finally had the opportunity to cook some stir fried Chinese cockles last night. It is very hard for me find fresh cockles for sale in South Australia. Residing in a country town in regional South Australia has made it even harder for me to find these beauties. During my recent trip to Adelaide, I managed to find some fresh cockles for sale at a pretty reasonable price. Immediately, I decided to satisfy my craving and buy some cockles to make some stir fried Chinese cockles.

This stir fried Chinese cockles recipe is modified based on a recipe I found at http://madamkwong.com. I did not measure the ingredients as I made the dish based on my instincts and adjusted the taste while cooking.

Stir Fried Chinese Cockles

Stir Fried Chinese Cockles

Ingredients: 

Approx 500g cockles/clams/pipis
3 canned pineapple rings (cut into cubes)
1 tbsp fermented soy beans, crushed
3 pips of chopped garlic
1-2 tbsp plum sauce
Dash of sweet/hot chilli sauce
1-3 sliced dynamite chillies/thai chillies
Some water and diluted cornstarch for the sauce
Salt and sugar to taste  

Method:

Heat frying pan with some oil. Add in the sliced chillies and chopped garlic. Fry until garlic is slightly golden in colour. Add the plum sauce and chilli sauce. Then add in the canned pineapple. Put some water in the pan. Season sauce with salt and sugar. Then thicken slightly with diluted cornstarch (a mixture of cornstarch and some water). Lastly, throw in the cockles/clams/pipis. Adjust the consistency of the sauce by adding more water, diluted cornstarch, chilli sauce, salt or sugar.

Cook until the cockles/clams/pipis shells are opened. This means they are cooked. Do not overcook as cockles/clams/pipis get cooked very quickly.

There you have – Stir Fried Chinese Cockles.