Protecting the environment - Penang's way

I had a big shock on my first night in Penang last week. I went to Queenbay Mall for dinner, and then to the hypermarket to get some fresh fruits and drinks ...my stock of foods while staying 4 nights at a nearby hotel hehehe ..anyway, when i paid for the stuffs at the counter, I was told that it is their "no plastic day" ..meaning, no plastic bags being given to carry my things ..luckily I had a bag with me, so i stuff most of the things inside it - my 6-pack of Milo, 3 cans of Nescafe Mocha ...but my Innershine pack and my bunch of grapes cannot fit it! I had to carry them just like that ....

It was then I saw the signs saying that it is a "no plastic day" every monday, tues and weds there ...i think it is great! I mean it may have inconvenienced unwary tourists like myself, but in the long run, it would help to protect our environment ...less plastic bag to throw away ...less pollution and so on ...

What more can I say? WAY TO GO PENANG!!!!!

Dinner at Batu Feringgi, Penang

My sister and I went to Batu Feringgi to meet up with my friend, Fendu & his rombongan Cik Kiah. Since we arrived a bit earlier than scheduled, we just walked along the Batu Feringgi Night (sidewalks) Bazaar ...just looking around and playing tourist. Lots of people there and it was a tad too crowded for me ...decided to have dinner there, and just went in to one of the sidewalk cafe ...i cant really remembered the name ...it has the word "sunset" in it :-)

Anyway, we ordered light meals only as we had something  earlier while touring round Little India (see posting in my other blog).I ordered tandoori chicken set - it comes with nan bread & fries ...it was ok. I likes it ...

and my sister ordered Kashmiri Nan, with a dash of honey ...a tad too sweet for her taste (her words!) ...

but our biggest mistake & regret was ordering mango lassi ....it did not have any mango taste at all ...both of us didn't finish ours! I really regretted ordering that one ...it tasted like milk and i kept remembering the fresh cow milk that I saw being sold at Little India earlier ..and felt like throwing up!


and after dinner, we met up with Fendi & the gang ...

had fun catching up, but it was too short ...just like a meet & greet session, and then everyone went their own way ...especially us - having to go back to the hotel to pack coz we were leaving the very next morning ....

Hawkers at Gurney Drive, Penang

My sister and I went to explore the hawkers' area at Gurney Drive last thursday nite ..it was pure food heaven! the smell is absolutely awesome ...lots of food that we were actually spoilt for choice ...there are two separate section: the Chinese area and the Malay area ...we went to both just to savour the aromas and explored to see what was on offer ....

see, how happy my sister was???  she was looking for her favourite stall ....we stopped and bought some apom as well ...this one has banana filling!

The place was very crowded ...with both locals and the tourists ...everyone seems to be happy with their food..and tables were laden with lots of different foods ...my sister and I are not exception ...that night we had asam laksa, pasembor, satay ...and some apom and some seafood ...and that is just for two people!!!

the pasembor was nice ...we had to ask the guy to wrap it up as takeaway coz we couldnt finish it all ...we had it for supper that night ...heavenly!!! below are some pictures taken there as well ...really an awesome place...especially for food lovers ...

Got the photo!!!

Continuation from the last posting. The very next day, I spoke again to Prof. Terry ...and i got Dr Wong to take our picture! hehehehe ....at least I have a photo with him.

He is a very kind and considerate gentlemen. Gave me very good advice and some ideas for my future research. all in all, makes me a very happy person at the Conference LOL.

meeting my idol ...

I have been reading this guy's books or ages ..he is the expert in the field and obviously had published lots of books and journal articles ...and guess what, yesterday I met him in person ...AWESOME!!! I didn't take any photos as I don't want to embarrass myself :-)

Terry McGee (on the far left in the above picture) is a renowned expert in the field of human geography, and he has been doing extensive research on urbanisation in Malaysia and South East Asia ...and to have the opportunity to sit and listen to his key note address and roundtable discussion is really great ...it is the highlight of this Conference for me ...although when I first sending in abstract for the Conference, I did not know that he is to be one of the key note speaker ...and I am glad that I am attending this conference ...

Conference in Penang - the sessions

Yes, the main reason that I am in Penang right this moment is because of a conference. It is a 3-day event, officially commencing yesterday at the Conference Halls in USM ...these are some of the photos during the official opening ceremony yesterday ....

and my paper was presented straight after the opening ceremony ....no pictures I'm afraid coz I was sitting up front and I forgot to ask someone to take my photo ...the presentation was a success, I think...i got lots of feedbacks which I found very illuminating and definitely will be used to improve my paper ...

Unfortunately, I was unwell yesterday ..so, after the presentation and meeting a few people - that's the whole point of a conference - sharing ideas and networking - I went back to the hotel. My head was throbbing and I think it was due to the late night (preparing for presentation slides), no breakfast (the queue for taxi was rather long so I choose to queue instead of having breakfast) and the very hot & humid weather in penang ...all these were making me quite ill yesterday ...spent the rest of the afternoon in bed ....

But today is a new day ..i made sure I had enough sleep the night before and having breakfast at the hotel before I went to USM ....and I fared much better than yesterday ...although the heat and humidity is still the same! Heard and attended some insprising lectures and keynote addresses today ....and one of them is from Prof Banton - he is in his late 70s by the way but still very agile and sharp! I hope to be like that when I am older ...growing old gracefully and all that ....and some photos of today's session ...

So, tomorrow is the last day of the Conference ...and after that I'll be meeting my sister ...and having a day off on Friday to enjoy Penang ...we are planning to visit the reclining Buddha, the Kek Lok Si Temple and, of course, savouring other mouthwatering foods of Penang! Looking forward to that :-)

Penang Foods ...

I just love it ...the food are awesome ...mouthwatering...and yummy. After two days in a row of having my dinner at Queensbay Mall's food court (having mee ekor tikus and cendol), my colleague and I decided to try another food court at the Mall ...it is on the 3rd floor and known as the Queen's ....lots of choices there, ranging from claypot dishes to curries ...noodles and so on ...

i had Laksa Penang tonight ...and it is only RM4.50, compared to the RM9.00 ++ at Old Town Kopitiam ..sucks isn't it?

and my colleague had a serving of Hokkien Mee....i never had this before - so, perhaps I will try it before I leave Penang ...

and I also tried Choon Piah (which turns out to be a popiah!) ..this one is also quite tasty ...crunchy on the outside, and full of fillings on the inside - fillings of chicken meat, carrots and sengkuang...

As a result, I am stuffed! But really had a great time ...eating and shopping ...it is relaxing after spending the whole day at the Conference Centre! See how tired I am ... I had a hectic day today ...but tomorrow is going to be the last day - so i can't complain too much LOL