Malaysia Food Blog - Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel - A Wedding Dinner

Location: Tanjung Bungah, Penang Isle

I may have attended a few wedding ceremonies, but getting invited to one in a beach hotel is a first for me. When I was invited to the wedding ceremony of my German language coursemate, I got my first ever chance to write a piece on the experience of dining in a seaside hotel, more so in an event of holy matrimony. 

The hotel in itself is breathtaking, and a sparse lobby greets its customers. Going past the lobby is the hotel's beach, and since I arrived with my other coursemates in the evening around 7p.m., we were presented with a magnificent sunset view over the beach.

Since we were early, I took a walk around the hotel's lobby area to kill time. The view over the beach was breathtaking, more so with the sun setting. The long stretch of beach was dotted with visitors and guests, all contributing to the lovely view. I especially loved the veranda that stood looking over the beach and across the sea, with benches provided for guests to marvel at the sunset over the beach; this painted an unforgetable picture of a romantic moment I once saw on TV.

Lovely sunset view over the beach behind Tanjung Bungah Beach Resort

Mysterious Photo - June 2011

I had this idea when I started aiming my camera everywhere, capturing moments for me to experience later. There were times when I saw a particular photo later and forgot where it was from. So I thought of posting some photos of usual dining spots in Malaysia and see whether everyone could guess where it was from.

This first photo is taken in Penang isle. Make a guess on the place's name... ^^

Answer to be revealed at the end of the month...

Malaysia Food Blog - Sugar Dynasty (糖朝)

Greetings from Sugar Dynasty

Location: Georgetown, Penang Isle

When I started off working in Penang, my colleagues and I used to organise a "makan-makan" trip to sample food from different corners of the isle. I was new then and had no inkling of where what was, but I do recall vividly this shop. When I tried to work my way around the twisting roads of Georgetown (pardon this fellow who has trouble around Georgetown even after 3 years), I finally managed to revisit this small shop located in one of the locations listed under World Heritage Site - Nagore Road.

The name Sugar Dynasty is actually a homophone in Mandarin. The name in Mandarin, 糖朝 (táng cháo) is a homophone of Tang Dynasty, 唐朝 (táng cháo), and truly, the shop is a haven for lovers of the Chinese style dessert. Sugar Dynasty greets its customer with a menu filled with 4 pages worth of dessert of your choice, and most of them are less than RM5.00 per bowl. Some of the choices cater for those with exquisite taste, with expensive traditional Chinese herbs like swallow's nest (燕窝) used as the ingredient, and costs more than RM30.00 per bowl. 

Contaminated Food Products from Taiwan

With the recent news on the ban of Taiwanese food due to the involvement of an illegal element, I have tried to look for more information on this. I find it surprising that the coverage was quite limited in local news. Some online search shows more scattered coverage around the world, with most concentrated around Taiwan itself.

Taipei Times:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/05/29/2003504450
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/06/05/2003504998

Focus Taiwan News Channel:
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?ID=201106040009&Type=aTOD

News Straits Times:
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Taiwanfoodcheck/Mobile/article_html

Self-made Flavored Coffee

My personal cup of Hazelnut coffee,
with strawberry UHT milk added to
grant a strawberry flavor.

Ever went to your neighborhood café to fancy yourself a sip of smooth flavored latte, took one look at the price, and wished that you could whip one back home without leaving the comfort of your room and spending RMs just to satisfy your desire for flavored caffeine? Well, why don't you do so?

Flavored coffee usually get its flavor either from the roasted beans treated with chemical flavorings or from syrup added into the cup; find out more from About.com. Die-hard coffee drinkers may not find this notion acceptable, with the additional flavor "contaminating" the smell and taste of a bitter cup. Well, I am not really a faithful drinker and I find that strong taste a little unpleasant, so I prefer my cup to be blessed with some sweetness and flavor. I have tried some flavored coffee from different cafés, and sad to say that not all are up to my expectation, including those from the famous ones (your favorite neighborhood 'S' and 'C', pick one).

Malaysia Food Blog - Hidden Recipe café

Location: Sungai Dua, Penang Isle

A shop which unabashedly copy the famous brand of Secret Recipe? That was my first thought, but a visit to the shop shows that it is anything but. Although it shares a word in its name with your favorite neighborhood confectionery shop, a taste of its food does give credit to its namesake.

The shop has a tropical outlook, and the interior is lined with wallpapers of bricks with photos of happy visiting diners decorating a portion of a wall. Glow of yellow light beckons lovers to spend a romantic dinner or the occasional passer-by to spend a relaxing night, although the interior is a little packed from the cramped arrangement of tables and chairs. Since it is strategically located just a few blocks from USM and with its offer of 10% discount off of set dishes for students of USM and INTI college who can show his student pass, you can expect this spot to be frequented by students.



Welcome to Hidden Recipe! Greetings from a tropical outlook and well-lit interior...

Malaysia Food Blog - Fatty Loh Chicken Rice shop

Location: Georgetown, Penang Isle

When I first heard of the comical name Fatty Loh (大肥罗), it was because my colleagues said that it is one of the must-visit shops for chicken rice enthusiasts. His name resounds throughout my colleagues, and by chance I managed to visit the shop in a sunny afternoon when I drove past the street. And what do you know, if you read its logo carefully, it does say "Penang's Most Famous Chicken Rice".

Chicken rice may not be any extraordinary dish for Malaysians, but it is not easy to find a decent one anywhere. With stalls sprouting anywhere a shop is located like mushrooms after the rain, the dish is enough to satisfy one's belly but not one's taste buds. For this shop, they serve enough to satisfy both.