PENANG Island, a Full Circle! (Part 2)

"Please, sir, I want some more!" - Oliver Twist

Yes! Food, glorious Penang food, is what thousands of tourists and homesick Penangites oceans and clouds away; coming back for more!!

They own one of the Hokkien Prawn Mee stall in Penang, you got to eat their noodles to savour the "hot", sweetness and oomph to realise why patience customers sat in the humid afternoon heat up to 30 minutes, waiting for their order! We did!

Never underestimate "hawker" who serves Penang goodies, most likely he make more money in a month than you in a year!

Penangites claimed to know hawkers who own half a dozens of "hi-end" properties on the island!  And looking at the customers at some of the stalls, I believe the gossip ;)

PENANG Island, a Full Circle! (Part 1)

My blog posts on our 4 weeks break should have started from Penang, our Malaysian hometown!  But like the Star Wars Trilogy, I started from behind and wrote about Taipei, then Singapore and now, a full circle later; Penang!

It was a long, long EIGHT YEARS ago that we were in our hometown! This time round we only have EIGHT DAYS to get whatever we needed done on this often known "The Pearl of the Orient", or "东方花园" (Garden of the East)!

Before we landed on this now over crowded "garden", I had promised to meet up with good friend like Jeff Ooi; FB friends like Sam Ong (of Eat Out With Sam fame) and Bea Chai, but alas; like life, it did not work out as we thought... there were just too many commitments with relatives, so here; thousands apologies to all those friends that I cannot catch up with. So so sorry :(  It was my loss!

The Penang I remembered fondly has changed!  It is now SO CROWDED, the number of cars on the road; I can imagine the massive traffic jams during festive seasons!  Just as well we did not arrive during the Lunar New Year!

We ♡♡♡ Taipei Part 3

Taiwanese love their night markets! If you are visiting Taipei, you must go and experience the Shilin Night Market!

Shilin Night Market (士林夜市; Shìlín Yèshì) is a night market in the Shilin District of Taipei, Taiwan, and is often considered to be the largest and most famous night market in the city.

Our hotel provides a free van service to this famous night market.

What's inside the market?  Pictures are better than words!

We ♡♡♡ Taipei Part 2

Taipei 101 (臺北101 / 台北101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan.

The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest and largest green building in the world!!

Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee and Partners (nothing to do with C.Y.Leow ;)) and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture. The construction was finished in 2004. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening.

Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media. - Wikipedia.

We ♡♡♡ Taipei Part 1

Hardly a week in Penang, the super humid and hazy weather was driving us up the wall! We decided to take a four nights trip to Taipei :)

We bought the rather pricey China Airlines direct flight from Penang to Taipei, other airlines do a round about trip to get there in 8 or 9 hours; China Air only 4!

The service of China Airlines was impeccable! Since I am on a walking stick, we are given priority check-in and boarding :) They even have priority seats while we wait to board! This was the first time I find out about this service to seniors with impaired movement, I was given special attention in Penang, Taipei and Sydney BUT SADLY, NOT in New Zealand!

Our plane landed at the beautiful Taoyuan International Airport and a wheelchair and a friendly helper was waiting for us.

In Singapore, What The Duck!!

No, that is NOT a typo; if you read on, What The Duck is correct ;)

On our recent break in Malaysia, we decided to spend three nights in Singapore; before we head home to Wellington.

The last time we were in this island nation was 6 years ago! Goodness, the Little Red Dot has changed; a lot, from what we remembered!

The most eye catching building is the Marina Bay Sands which jut out like a sore thumb, in my view; not a very attractive structure ;)

However, two days later; we were taken up to the KU DÉ TA restaurant up at Marina Bay Sands Sky Park, and the panoramic view really impressed me!