11 February 2014
The decision was made in split seconds.
An unemployed woman, another on the bench woman, both decided to travel spontaneously.
After deciding the location, they browsed through Agoda and managed to obtain an affordable insider deal for Penang one night stay accommodation.
Without any preparation, they packed their belongings, some clothes, some toiletries, and they kick started their journey 5am in the morning.
Smartphone had been a great help in navigating the 2 directionless women to reach to their destination.
Their journey started with yawning, and more yawning, loud yawning and with the accompany of OneFm DJs.
They spend approximately 2 hours on the road before stopping at Ipoh for their breakfast. Breakfast was awesome. They ate the famous Ipoh 'Ho Hei'. 'Ho Hei' is the Fishballs version of 'Ho Fun' with chicken floss. It was a satisfying meal, plus they were hungry.
- Penang, We Conquer -
Soon, after their breakie, they spent another 2 hours drive to Penang. The sun was glaring when they reached the hotel. Parked their car, and the exploration for food and cultural experiences begun.
Luckily, the on the bench woman had been to Penang last year. Hence, she somehow figured that they can board free shuttle services to most of the tourist destination. The plan was simple. To go to the last tourist attraction spot and walk back towards the hotel. They thought that the bus can bring them to "Kek Lok Si". Unfortunately, the route plan of Penang free shuttle changed. However, they reached Chew Jetty unexpectedly. It was an eye opener to them.
They decided to have their lunch infront of Chew Jetty. Unemployed woman ordered a bowl of laksa whereas the on the bench woman ordered Hokkien Mee. On the bench woman was surprised that a bowl of reasonable Hokkien Mee only cost RM2.80. The noodle tasted reasonable compared the one she tasted in Kimberly street.The unemployed woman mentioned that Chew Jetty is similar to Pulau Ketam. As they walked deep into the floating village, they discovered the gist of the sightseeing visit. Durian Puff was on sales! They bought the creamy fulfilling Durian puff and ate under the hot sun.
Clueless of the next destination to visit, they randomly stopped at another station. They walked clueless-ly in search for Love Lane. Love Lane was easy to spot. It directed them to Armenian street. Too bad it wasn't a weekend. Hence, they missed out the opportunity to visit a Tarot Card reader recommended by on the bench woman's friend. They did admire the heritage of the old buildings, the street art, and yes, they
captured plenty of the street art drawn by Ernest Zacharevich. People seemed to enjoy queuing up under the hot sun just to have a moment with the boy and his sister on a bicycle.
As they wandered around, they saw a famous pastry shop. They forgotten which route was it. However, it is located at the back lane of ChinaHouse.
Exhausted due to the hot sun, they randomly entered a cafe. Moustache Houze. It was a great place to chill. They drank Kiwi Iced Cube. Its basically Kiwi processed into Iced Cube, served with chill Sprite. The drink was like "elixir of life". A little bit of exaggerating, but it definitely cool them down a little.
They checked into the hotel around 4.30pm. Showered and slept for around an hour. They were awakened by their alarm clock. Its time for a food hunt at Kimberly street. Kimberly street is famous for its wide selection of food. However, not all food are tasty. Unemployed woman enjoyed her pork and duck porridge and drink. Everything on the bench woman ordered was tasteless. The Hokkien Mee was tasteless. The longan drink was tasteless.
Dissatisfied with the dinner, she proposed to go for Nasi Kandar. Nasi Kandar is popular in Penang. They headed to the famous New Line Nasi Kandar shop. Before arriving at their destination, they saw a signboard stating 'Massage by the Blind'. They were bold enough to explore the massage parlour. Nothing hanky panky. They met 2 friendly blind masseur. The masseur provided foot and shoulder massages. They talked about the blind academy, the massage experiences, the encounters etc.
Having foot massaging for the first time, the on the bench woman stated that she wanted a hard massage. Unemployed woman gave her a 'are you sure' look. Ended up, the on the bench woman lower her requirements, from hard to medium to soft. Everyone went laughing.
After the 30 minutes massage, they finally reached Line Clear Nasi Kandar. They ordered a plate of Briyani rice served with fried chicken, topped with fish curry, and Roti Tisu, to satisfy their cravings. Unfortunately, it happened that the foods didn't meet their expectation. Unemployed woman found a string of hair on her Roti Tisu and instantaneously lose appetite. They left the scene to walk around Georgetown. Didn't manage to catch a movie in First Avenue. Grabbed a Chipster and a bottle of Cactus, walked back and chillax.
- The End of Day 1 -
Day 2 is filled with good food. They visited ChinaHouse for breakfast before driving home. ChinaHouse had served them extremely memorable healthy breakfast, and latte. After breakie, they traveled back KL with Mindy Gledhill Anchor album.
