The Eyes in the Sky @ Penang

It's harder to find me blogging under the "the eyes in the sky" label as even full-service airlines like Singapore Airlines charged for seat selection; but I could be fortunate sometimes to secure window seating, as in the case for my visit to Penang! 

No idea where we were but I am guessing it's somewhere around Perak. A check on Google Maps confirmed that this was Bukit Merah Lake located in Simpang Empat Semanggol, Perak.

Since Penang is an island off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia, seeing the coastline was a giveaway that we shall arriving at Pulau Pinang (the official Malay name for Penang) very soon.

Having said the above, some parts of Peninsular Malaysia actually fall under the state of Penang although my understanding is that Penangites themselves differentiate between those staying on the Island, and Mainland. 

Cruising past the north-eastern part of Penang (island).

Bottom right would be the Penang Container Terminal Port. 

This section of Penang island would be the UNESCO World Heritage site; unlike Hoi An, it looked a lot more modernized, and a bit like Singapore in the 70s and 80s, before massive development changed its urban landscape.

Unlike my visit in 2016, the rest of Penang appeared to have undergone a lot of changes. I can see so many high rise buildings beyond the UNESCO World Heritage section and it somewhat gave a Hong Kong vibe. 

In the past, the iconic KOMTAR would be all that caught our attention; but now, so many tall buildings jostled for the same attention. Anyway, I can see St. Giles Wembley hotel, my accommodation this time, from the above photo! 

See the sheer number of high rise buildings, especially bordering the waterfront! And they were all residential blocks. I heard from some YouTubers that Penang is having an oversupply of housing units. 

Cruising along, and passing by Penang Bridge, the first road connection to the mainland that was opened in 1985 and spanned 8.4 kilometres across Penang Strait. 

Right behind those high rise buildings would be the Penang Hill, a popular destination for many tourists! As you would probably guess by now, we landed shortly after at Penang International Airport.

A few days later, it's time to fly back to Singapore and even though I was nursing a badly sprained ankle, it didn't dampen my spirits to take photographs! That bridge in the photo would be the Penang Second Bridge, which was opened in 2014, to serve as a second land connection. 

Known officially as the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge, the Penang Second Bridge was much longer and just for the stretch over water, it already doubled the first Penang bridge at 16.9 kilometers! 

Did you manage to see the Penang International Airport from the above. Surrounding the airport would be the factories; in case you are aware, Penang is known as the The Silicon Valley of the East. p.s. the airport was said to be undergoing further expansion, including construction of an LRT station near the main terminal.

This large island is known as Jerejak Island and was "once famous as a settlement for exiled prisoners"; quite similar to our St John's Island in Singapore. 

I think these were fish farms. 

Pulau Gedung and Pulau Aman.

Not much information about them on Wikipedia. 

On the side of Peninsular Malaysia.

Since our plane was scheduled to depart at about 6.00 pm, we were blessed to catch the setting sun and also the beautiful rays reflected on sea water, as if gold were shining through the water. 

- The End - 

=====

Click here for my Five Days 

Itinerary to Penang in 2024

Yamada Beancurd @ Johor Bahru in Malaysia

I love soya beancurd and when I heard of this particularly famous one in Johor Bahru; my heart was so fixated on having a bowl that I took a GRAB down from KSL Mall an hour after hearing about it!

Opened at 6pm from Wednesdays to Sundays, this was the queue that greeted us when we arrived at 7pm. Thankfully, I was forewarned that the line can get to more 30 persons on a good day and hence, was kind of prepared for the wait. 

Line was deceiving though; the one on the right was where you order whereas the people crowding on the left were those waiting for their order number to be called. So you wait to order, and you wait again to collect. Take note. 

By the way, this Yamada Beancurd operated out of a food truck! Therefore, there is no address per se although the area is conveniently located in the pelangi area. p.s. they served beancurd from traditional wooden buckets! 

Wait from ordering til collecting wasn't excruciating; maybe about 10 minutes. Even the line to order was pretty quick unless you get an undecided customer in front of you who keep asking questions.

There were three kinds of beancurd; the traditional one with white sugar syrup, the traditional one with brown sugar (gula melaka) and the pandann one. Latter would only be available on Fridays and Saturdays, so no luck for me.

Beancurd with White Sugar Syrup - let's go with the basic first. My gosh, the beancurd was impossibly silky smooth and this was a big thumbs-up! Sadly, it lacked the rich bean flavor; if not, this would have been the perfect beancurd. 

Beancurd with Brown Sugar Syrup - same beancurd as above; albeit with the sweetness coming from the brown sugar syrup. Interestingly for both white and brown sugar syrups, they appeared watered down, and not as sweet-tasting. That's good news for health freaks; not for me though.

Signature Soya Milk - in stark contrast with the beancurd, this was a nice surprise! It was thick, and full of the beans aroma. As I requested for no syrup, my taste buds were literally bombarded with the full fledged taste from the soybeans.  

=====

Would I purposely go back for Yamada Beancurd? Unfortunately not but if I am in the area, I would definitely get the soya milk and should my visit coincide with a Friday / Saturday; I am going to try the pandan beancurd. 

Address

Jalan Sri Pelangi 3, Taman Pelangi, 

80400 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Beancurd with White Sugar Syrup - RM 3.00

Beancurd with Brown Sugar Syrup - RM 3.00

Signature Soya Milk - RM 3.00

Maison Marou Chocolate Flagship Cafe @ Da Nang in Vietnam

Aside from places of interest and popular eateries, the other thing I always research whenever I travel to a new country is the list of local food souvenirs frequently purchased by foreigners for their family and friends back home. 

One of them was Marou Chocolate, Vietnam's first bean to bar chocolate maker! You would find them for sale in Vietnam's airports but they are more expensive there. Hence, when I noticed a Maison Marou Chocolate Flagship Cafe in Da Nang, we decided to pay it a visit.

First thing greeting us were the displays of chocolate bars for sale! A standard set of six 80g bars cost 660,000 dong, about S$34 or about S$6 each. In the airport, it would cost about S$9.30. In addition to cheaper pricing, you can also sample the chocolates!

There's also a patisserie section, where you can have your pick of pastries, artisanal chocolate desserts and beverages. Chocolate lovers would likely go crazy over the selection although I am quite neutral as I am not a huge fan, preferring dark / milk chocolate bars and maybe hot chocolate. 

For your reference!

Since our vacation period was near Easter, Marou Chocolate also came out with chocolate Easter eggs! No idea if they were purely for decoration or for sale since I don't recall seeing a price tag.

Going up to the seating area on level two; and that pail we saw on level was like churner for chocolates! According to the step-by-step process in making chocolates, this is the grinding process, using a mélangeur grinder, where cocoa nibs would be "transformed into a thick paste, referred to as cocoa paste or cocoa liquor".

Empty seating area on level two. In the two or three times I was at Maison Marou Chocolate Flagship Cafe, the cafe was never 100% filled; maybe at most 40%? 

In this trip I made to Hoi An and Da Nang, one thing that dawned on me was that the flowers used in hotels, restaurants etc, were all real! Aside from the flowers, each table also had a bottle of freshly roasted cocoa beans! Not sure if they were still placed there since the market rate for cocoa beans has shot up a lot this year, resulting in a shortage of chocolates. 

Cheesecake - friends would know I am more into traditional cakes, instead of artisanal ones that pride more on being more visually appealing. And this cheesecake obviously captivated us for being unique in its own way.

Light and not heavy, I enjoyed the molded cheesecake on its own, and not with the marmalade jam which was a total mismatch. The accompanying chocolate items didn't result in any explosion of complementary satisfaction; meaning I could do without them.

Sometimes, simpler is better.

Just give me a darn cheesecake will do.

Opera Cake - the dough was too dry and why did this have traces of coffee?! For goodness sake, it's not a tiramisu! Just for the information for some of you, I don't enjoy coffee products unless they are in drinkable format, and unlike most people, I dislike tiramisu.

Mix Cone Ice Cream - those who love to complain the utter sweetness of chocolate and vanilla ice cream should give this a try; chocolate was bitter, the vanilla wasn't as sweet and the cone was just a thin crisp! 

Latte - this was for Alex and he claimed this was very nice; exhibiting the smoothness he looked forward to having in every latte. Only problem, overly foamy. 

Hot Chocolate & Iced Chocolate - the one thing I came back for three times in the four nights at Da Nang. Good quality chocolate that was so thick and luscious; it's a must order for anyone with a sick love for chocolate, regardless of whether it is hot / cold! And you saw that small glass of cream? I don't know what it was but it was lightly sweetened cream that I love to dip into the chocolate drink! 

=====

Address

197 Trần Phú, St, Hải Châu, 

Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above. 

Website

https://maisonmarou.com/

Standard Menu

As above.

Pricing

Cheesecake - 125,000 dong

Opera Cake - 150,000 dong

Mix Cone Ice Cream - 85,000 dong

Latte - 75,000 dong

Hot Chocolate - 90,000 dong

Iced Chocolate - 90,000 dong

(NETT)

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