A Halal Work Trip in Penang

First work trip of 2018 was to Penang on the 22nd. I had to go with my 2 Muslim colleagues therefore, I had to be prepared that it would be a halal trip throughout. Quite a waste as it is Penang we are talking about here! This would be a different kind of adventure, no doubt.

Woke up at freaking 2.30 AM. Not in a good mood as I did not get much sleep before that either. Fire alarm decided to ring at around 1.00 AM. Made it to the airport by 4.30 AM to get some breakfast before flying at 5.30 AM. Colleagues were no where to be seen when I arrived.

Reached Penang at 6,30 AM. It was dark. We had some breakfast at the airport cafe and came out at about 8.00 AM to catch an Uber to the hotel.

Flamingo Hotel at Tanjung Bungah. Very cold welcome. Hotel staff wasn't friendly. Maybe it was too early in the morning!!!

Hotel pool looked nice.

Caught a pretty Grab straight to work. Struggled until 4.00 PM. Came back to the hotel and conked out for 2 hours. Then at about 6.30 PM we came out to hunt for dinner.

Since other colleagues have been raving about Padang Kota, we decided to pay a visit. Nice spot as it is beside the sea.

Sat down and everyone who worked there came for our order, at one go. Yaaaa like we know what we wanted instantly!

I was more interested in the sea and that guy fishing!

Okay...we ended up ordered grilled cockles.

Sotong kangkung @ Squid with morning glory. Sauce was too sweet for me.

Grilled squid. Great taste.

The famous Pasembur. Horrible first impression. Like it was a blood splattered dish. I didn't like as the sauce covered everything. Everything tasted sweet and mushy.

Mee Bandung. Looked good but sauce was diluted.

Gurvey Paragon. After a short walk we decided to come to this mall for dessert. Ended up in Salon de Chocolat.

Fondue

Perfect shot!

YUMMMMM!

Next morning came downstairs by 7.00 AM. So dark. We had to get to work by 8.00 AM.

One of our students bought breakfast for us, bless her heart.

After work, decided to lunch at Masjid Terapung @ Floating Mosque. This is the entrance to the famous food stall.

This was my lunch! Fried pomfret, pickled 4-angled beans and salted egg.

My colleague's fish and my fish. I was teasing her about the right way to eat fish. My dad would not have been pleased if I had eaten the fish (on the right) this way and not finish it properly!!!

Floating mosque

Quite a pretty scene

Armenian Street

Loved watching old folks still putting their skills to work in their own way in this day and age

Ahhhhh my fav luwak coffee shop

RM38 per cup

Gotta have my fix

Snowballs

An old wooden house on Chew Jetty

Nice walk along Chew Jetty

A ride up Penang Hill

They had to have their chocolate and cream drinks. Not me! I had soursop juice.

Fascinating view

DEEN MAJU. Every Uber driver recommended us to go to Deen Maju for Nasi Kandar. It would be a waste if we didn't. Unfortunately, it started to rain on our way to the stall. We had to run in the rain from the cab.Lucky for us, the queue was bearable. The servers were very fast. Too fast! Customers needed to know what to order when it was their turns. I noticed everyone had their individual plates with mountain high amount of rice and curry poured onto the rice; curry literally dripping down the sides. YUCKS!

Oh well, I promised I would try everything on this trip and so I did. Not a comfortable dinner as raindrops were splashing at our table. I didn't enjoy my food except for the fried chicken. The chicken was very tasty. The others was not to my liking. Veggies were too mushy for me.

Curry on rice. We ordered with gravy on the side. NO way will I let my rice swim in curry!

This fried chicken was very tasty.

Curry squid

Curry prawns

Bittergourd

Despite of the heavy rain, Deen Maju was packed. People kept coming in for dinner. The food here is pretty cheap. Our dinner cost us only RM48 which included 3 drinks as well.

 

Last morning in Penang. We initially had planned to try roti canai at Transfer Road (downtown) but my colleagues were not that adventurous. We ended up in a Malay Kampung somewhere in Tajung Tokong, a market actually. Oh boy!

Tasteless Apam.

Puri.

My alone time before we head to the airport. I am trying not to mourn for not getting to enjoy my favorite food in Penang. There is always a next visit, ON MY OWN! It has been interesting though, being in the shoes of another culture. I have learned many and observed lots. I am glad this is a work trip as work trips are short and sweet.