Cathay Coffee Shop (Kedai Kopi Cathay) @ George Town in Penang [Malaysia]

The walk covering about 1.7 kilometers under sweltering weather, to Him Heang for their signature tambun biscuits, was torturing even for a Singaporean and we decided to step into an old school coffee shop to catch our breath, and for me to enjoy my first cup of coffee for the day!

My coffee, before and after mixing in the condensed milk, was nothing to scream about, and am just glad to have this perk to officially kick start my morning.

Surprisingly, it was Alex who got hungry and decided to order a dish he realized he enjoyed very much on this trip to Penang; the Penang hokkien mee, which was drastically different from the one we have in Singapore.

It's not a comparison as to Singaporeans, these were just two different dishes and we would have gladly categorized this as prawn noodles in our little red dot.

At RM 6.00 (less than S$2), the broth was a tad too light for my liking although Alex felt the plain tasting broth was more homely. And even though we asked for no chilli, it still tasted spicy!

For less than S$2, I really shouldn't have anything to complain about.

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Address

10, Jalan Mandalay, 

George Town, Penang, 

Malaysia

Map

As above.

Click here for my Five Days 

Itinerary to Penang in 2024

The Tambun Biscuits from Him Heang Sdn Bhd @ Penang in Malaysia

The most popular food souvenir to bring back from Penang would be packs / boxes of tambun biscuits, which were said to be the best tasting in Malaysia! 

I have to be truthful; I am never quite fond of tambun biscuits although I would gladly indulge in one or two if they were in front of me. Nevertheless, both my sisters sought the best brand in Penang the last time they were there and the one that appealed to them would be the tambun biscuits from Him Heang! 

Mind you, there was a queue outside manned by a guard in army uniform who shall determine your access! And once you are in, you feel pressured to let your eyeballs quickly scan through the wide variety of options, as those in line outside would stare through your soul! 

With so many people in the tiny shop, it's hard to take photographs; you may refer to the above for a sample of the range Him Heang has, and that's only a fraction.

Pricing for reference too; one box of 32 tambun biscuits cost just RM 20.00, only about S$6.00! Affordable pricing aside, I had to admit that I hungrily took one piece (after purchasing) and honestly, it wasn't the best tambun biscuit as I thought Ming Ang in JB was better. Maybe it's just me. 

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Address

162A, Jalan Burma, 

10050 George Town, 

Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Click here for my Five Days 

Itinerary to Penang in 2024

Hwa Ting Restaurant - Traditional Wanton Noodle @ Georgetown in Penang [Malaysia]

I might be on a starch-restricted diet but one thing I can't resist at times would be wanton noodles; hence,. when I walked past Hwa Ting Restaurant in Penang, I remember the name as it's quite similar to the michelin Hua Ting in Singapore!

A search on my saved locations on Google Maps revealed that it was strongly recommended by a Penang influencer who sounded so convincing! I had to drag Alex in simply because the guilt in me needed someone to share the fats.

Two things caught my attention; one, the setting within that screamed Peranakan culture with Western classic! Two, despite it being noon time, it wasn't crowded! And mind you, it had a review score of 4.7 on Google Maps. Whatever the case, it was air-conditioned, a cool respite from the hot weather. 

Honey Lemon - served with ice, this was thirst quenching good! Of course, I bet this could be easily made at home but back then, I was just so sick of drinking of plain water! Sometimes in life, you need a bit of sweetness and sourness to perk your mind. 

Fresh Prawn Dumpling Soup - I wasn't that keen in soup as noodles should be the star but Alex wasn't keen in having more starch as he was already quite full from all the food we had since morning! 

Soup was surprisingly flavorful, and it was further enhanced by the floating pork lards! Gosh, all soups should have pork lards! Anyway, the dumplings were large and meaty, although my mediocre taste buds could only discern the pork in it, not the prawns! 

Ko Cha Bi Egg Noodle - ko cha bi means traditional and this meant a lot for those have lived enough to have some inkling on how wanton noodles in the past, tasted like. First thing, the chilli was too spicy for me! 

Noodles were springy and although the strands were coated in dark sauce known to be sweet, they weren't as sweet as expected and instead, I can feel a nice layer of lard oil that was slurping delicious! Granted there was a light kee-ness (alkaline) but I am the rare individual who likes the alkaline flavor, so long it was excessive. 

A view of the dumpling which seemed to be the same one (albeit smaller) as those in the fresh prawn dumpling soup. Alex was disappointed though since he was expecting full prawn dumpling! p.s. didn't enjoy the lean char siew and fried wanton skin.

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Overall a good meal in a nice environment. Prices were on the high side when you compared to similar fare in Penang but if you like a clean, air-conditioned restaurant, this would be perfect for you. 

Address

37, Lebuh Melayu, George Town, 

10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Partial Menu

As above.

Pricing

Honey Lemon - RM 7.90

Fresh Prawn Dumpling Soup - RM 14.90

Ko Cha Bi Egg Noodle - RM 14.90 

(Subject to Service Tax)

Click here for my Five Days 

Itinerary to Penang in 2024

The Golden Bridge (Cầu Vàng) Held by Two Gigantic Hands @ Bà Nà Hills in Da Nang [Vietnam]

Mention Sun World Ba Na Hills and I guess many foreigners might not be aware that it's a popular hill resort theme park at Da Nang in Central Vietnam. 

However, there's an attraction within the theme park that's world famous (at least on social media) and you can already spot it while sitting on the cable car system said to be record holder for the world's "longest non-stop single track cable car""! 

Does this give you a better idea?! Yes, we shall be checking our the Golden Bridge, which was like the tourist icon of Central Vietnam! p.s. I don't know why, I have always thought it's called the Golden Hands! 

Upon arrival at Marseille station, you can already explore the Golden Bridge but our pretty guide, Mee, persuaded us to go later as the bridge would usually be very packed in the morning as it's the first stop for the cable car. So, we went at around 2pm instead.

Start of the 150-meter long bridge, which was opened in 2018 and "designed by TA Landscape Architecture (under Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture)".

Nothing beats seeing the bridge with my own eyes! From a layman, I was marvelled by the image of a pair of gigantic hands, apparently cut off, and eventually calcified, holding on to a bridge that hundreds of mere humans stand on.

Like many visitors, we all wanted that picture perfect view of the golden bridge, with us in it! Squeezing in between the metal bars (they were steel, painted gold) was one quick option although there were two other photography spots which I would share shortly. 

As we had limited time, I wasn't able to soak in the beauty of the bridge like this group of teenagers here. Hope I could do the same for my upcoming visit in May! 

Despite its popularity, I was telling some of my friends that the image wasn't exactly kid-friendly. Like the hands were totally cut off at the wrists, like some kind of horrific dismembering by a serial killer.

Even though the material looked like stone, the hands were actually constructed using "fibreglass and wire mesh" and I am guessing with concrete smeared on them to look like stone hands.

My incomparable thumb. 

Let's continue our journey; the bridge was very stable and you would be assured that it didn't swing / shake when we were there. To be fair, it wasn't very crowded. 

I am looking forward to my two-night stay at Bà Nà Hills and hoping for good weather, so that I can get photographs with much lesser humans! 

One path I didn't have time to check out was the one alongside the bridge but as it was a bottom-up view of the golden bridge; I figured the picture might not turn out as well, given my pathetic skill.

Just in case you thought there were just that two hands, surprises await at the end of the golden bridge. Here's the head, and wait, another hand?! Based on proportion, it didn't seem right that the two gigantic hands belong to the head.

There's even a leg! 

Morbid, it sure was.

Oh well, didn't stop me from taking some fun shots with the smaller hand, re-enacting the scene of the "Creation of Adam". Use your imagination to decide who is god, and who is adam.

Remember the two photography spots I mentioned earlier? One of them would be at the end of the golden bridge, where a platform was installed to take that perfect shot of the the two hands behind you. As expected, the queue was long and we were about to miss the timing to meet up with our guide! 

The time spent to hog the platform lengthened should any visitor decide to rummage through the dozen of flags to show their patriotism. Regardless of nationality, one photograph wasn't sufficient to record the moment.

Another photography spot could be found on your way back to the cable car station; which was pretty near the first spot. Only thing was that the picture taken here wasn't as great as from the first spot.

You get to be closer to both the hands but unless you have a super wide angle lens (not to mention the fish-ball effect that's not desirable for portrait photography), it may be quite hard to capture both hands in the same frame.

My attempt! 

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Location Map

Part of the Le Jardin D’Amour Gardens,

Sun World Ba Na Hills, Da Nang,

Vietnam

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam