Pearl of the Orient III: The Journey South
... continued from previous post ...
As soon as the food tour ended, we drove out of Penang Island to Sungai Petani, Kedah. Destination: My brother-in-law's sister's place. It was my first time in Kedah actually. The sister lives at the industrial area of Sungai Petani-- a up-and-coming township. The roads were good and the housing areas looked organized. I felt like I was in KL. Spent the night there watching "The Fellowship of the King" and playing "Brave Story" on my brother-in-law's PSP. The next morning, I met the little prince of the house, Yang-Yang. An extremely shy and xenophobic kid. I heard that he won't even let his aunt carry him though she had lived with him for a month! Surpisingly, the kid took a liking to me. I had been told that the odds of him letting me carry him is like striking 4D. Heh. An interesting fact about the house-- there are no mirrors, except at the dresser in the master bedroom... jeng jeng jeng.
Had breakfast at a nearby food court that is also self service (so Singapore). Curry Noodles at MYR2.40. Goodness. I ate herbal duck noodles and curry chicken with mantou. Mum and bro actually queued for 30 minutes waiting for curry noodles at another stall, but it was worth it. After breakfast, we visited the nearby clubhouse. Yang-Yang was practically tearing up the play area. Security guard monthly charges = MYR20. Clubhouse membership monthly fees = MYR20. The ringgit really stretches further up north. On the way back to KL, we stopped at Auto Mall for lunch at Pelita. Had a delicious naan set. Since it was the last day of the long weekend, people were leaving the northern region in hordes. It was practically bumper to bumper traffic at the Sg. Perak stretch. 20km/j -> 15km/j -> 0km/j. Resorted to the emergency lane for a bit, but that plan was abandoned after seeing over-zealous patrol cars cari makan that way.
"Slim River 20km"
(1 hour later)
"Slim River 15km"
($#@|@^%&*^&<%*:<*}?&^%)
After the tunnel, the traffic returned to normal because the highway had opened up to three lanes. I noticed something about three-lane traffic: the left lane is the new right lane. For some inexplicable reason, most people will drive on the middle lane with annoyingly moderate speeds, leaving the left lane empty and the right lane for the habitual speeders. Naturally, I turned the left into my personal right. Heh. I was quite lucky to be driving my brother-in-law's automatic Avanza, or my leg would have patah already. Had to rush back as my brother had train tickets back to Singapore on that night. He thought it was the 10:00pm train. But upon arriving home at 8:10pm and checking the ticket, he found out that it was actually for 9:10pm. He quickly showered and packed up and we were out of the house again to KL Sentral. Had to have a dinner of cream crackers on the road. Luckily he made it on time.
A truly different and fun CNY.
P.S.: Thanks for calling, Zemien. As usual, our stars didn't align. Hopefully we'll have the chance to meet up. :)
As soon as the food tour ended, we drove out of Penang Island to Sungai Petani, Kedah. Destination: My brother-in-law's sister's place. It was my first time in Kedah actually. The sister lives at the industrial area of Sungai Petani-- a up-and-coming township. The roads were good and the housing areas looked organized. I felt like I was in KL. Spent the night there watching "The Fellowship of the King" and playing "Brave Story" on my brother-in-law's PSP. The next morning, I met the little prince of the house, Yang-Yang. An extremely shy and xenophobic kid. I heard that he won't even let his aunt carry him though she had lived with him for a month! Surpisingly, the kid took a liking to me. I had been told that the odds of him letting me carry him is like striking 4D. Heh. An interesting fact about the house-- there are no mirrors, except at the dresser in the master bedroom... jeng jeng jeng.
Had breakfast at a nearby food court that is also self service (so Singapore). Curry Noodles at MYR2.40. Goodness. I ate herbal duck noodles and curry chicken with mantou. Mum and bro actually queued for 30 minutes waiting for curry noodles at another stall, but it was worth it. After breakfast, we visited the nearby clubhouse. Yang-Yang was practically tearing up the play area. Security guard monthly charges = MYR20. Clubhouse membership monthly fees = MYR20. The ringgit really stretches further up north. On the way back to KL, we stopped at Auto Mall for lunch at Pelita. Had a delicious naan set. Since it was the last day of the long weekend, people were leaving the northern region in hordes. It was practically bumper to bumper traffic at the Sg. Perak stretch. 20km/j -> 15km/j -> 0km/j. Resorted to the emergency lane for a bit, but that plan was abandoned after seeing over-zealous patrol cars cari makan that way.
"Slim River 20km"
(1 hour later)
"Slim River 15km"
($#@|@^%&*^&<%*:<*}?&^%)
After the tunnel, the traffic returned to normal because the highway had opened up to three lanes. I noticed something about three-lane traffic: the left lane is the new right lane. For some inexplicable reason, most people will drive on the middle lane with annoyingly moderate speeds, leaving the left lane empty and the right lane for the habitual speeders. Naturally, I turned the left into my personal right. Heh. I was quite lucky to be driving my brother-in-law's automatic Avanza, or my leg would have patah already. Had to rush back as my brother had train tickets back to Singapore on that night. He thought it was the 10:00pm train. But upon arriving home at 8:10pm and checking the ticket, he found out that it was actually for 9:10pm. He quickly showered and packed up and we were out of the house again to KL Sentral. Had to have a dinner of cream crackers on the road. Luckily he made it on time.
A truly different and fun CNY.
P.S.: Thanks for calling, Zemien. As usual, our stars didn't align. Hopefully we'll have the chance to meet up. :)
Comments
Yea your CNY is so totally fun!
And they actually put Chopper Board on the food map??? That's so early 2000's. Their nasi lemak used to be their flagship item, but it's only available in another branch. And it's not as tasty anymore.
You really have got to come again & let me take you to the real places Penangites go. Anyway, I don't recall you went for Penang Road cendol? Did you?
:)
@QueerR:
The noodles aren't that great and by the time I ate it, sudah sejuk.
@Zemien:
I shall! I expect a VIP tour. :P