In an attempt to burn off the calories from constantly grazing the street stalls and cafés, we planned today a walk in the national park (Taman Negara). But first, some breakfast noodles to fortify us for the journey.
We justified this to ourselves on the basis that there are no facilities available within the national park and we would soon be relieved of any provisions we took with us by thieving macaques.
Perusing the menu in the simple café, staffed by one lady at the wok and another waiting tables, we chose at random. "Hokkien mee?", I asked confidently. This elicited embarrassed laughter from the cook, who did not seem to be expecting that particular request this morning. I backpedalled and asked what she would recommend. The other lady listed the available dishes, which notably did not include Hokkien mee, but many other kinds of 'mee' (noodles): loh mee, jawa mee, fish head bee hoon soup. Given that the café is completely vegetarian, I was intrigued as to how they would manage a fish head curry, but was still a little queasy at the thought.
Jawa mee leapt out as one of the dishes on The List to try, so we ordered up two bowls.
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| Jawa mee |
Despit mee in the name, normally signifying wheat noodles, the soup hid a mix of these and thinner rice vermicelli, known as bee hoon. The soup was thick, made from sweet potato and tomato sauce, very like the pasembur we tried recently. Charred chunks of tofu and potato gave the dish depth and a blob of sambal (chilli sauce) livened things up when stirred through and stopped the soup from being cloyingly sweet. On leaving, the ladies implored us to come back. I have a feeling we will.
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| Penang National Park |
Having taken the local bus out to Teluk Bahang, we got off at the end of the route outside the entrance to the national park. The park has two major trails and we had to register ourselves and select our destination. We chose the shoreline walk to the lighthouse at Muka Head, the most northwesterly point of Penang. This was approximately 4.6km away, which the map estimated taking 1h45.
We wondered at the time estimate. Not wishing to rush the walk, we were sure this was an overestimation. After being lulled into a false sense of security by the well-paved flat surface of the initial path, we soon discovered just how difficult the journey would be.
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| Muka Head lighthouse |
We clambered over rocks, up and down the hilly terrain of the coast, and occasionally out into the scorching heat of an open sandy bay, such as at Monkey Beach. On the latter, not a single monkey was to be seen, but plenty of bald apes flouting the "no lewd behaviour" edict of the park with bikinis and tiny swimming shorts. After a final steep climb to our destination, we were rewarded with a stunning view and a cool breeze back along our route - which we then had to retread.
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| A well-earned view |
Back in George Town, we rewarded ourselves after a sweaty and unexpectedly exhausting walk with a coffee at Ban Heang. This relative newcomer is a purveyor of the Penang specialty tambun biscuits, also known as dragon ball biscuits or tau sar pneah. Tambun means fat, and these biscuits are little round balls of flaky pastry containing a filling of sweetened mung beans and fried onions, yielding a salty yet sweet taste. This contrast is emphasised in some of the variants available, which can include ingredients such as shrimp paste. We tried a version with a centre of salted egg.
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| Fat biscuits |
The fat biscuits were tasty and took the edge of our hunger, but it was on to Little India for the main event. At the heart of the area, on Lebuh Penang, the street reverberates to the sound of cheerful Hindi music. It is also home to many vegetarian Indian restaurants.
At Woodlands we found a vegetarian restaurant offering an overwhelming menu, full of tempting exotic dishes not often found on standard Indian restaurant menus in the UK. We found it difficult to compose a meal of sensible balance and proportion and panic ordered a selection of things.
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| Masala dosai and gobi manchurian |
While I stuck to my favourite thick mango lassi, K ordered buttermilk with chilli, mustard seeds, ginger, and coriander, declaring it her new favourite drink. For the list of ingredients, it was surprisingly refreshing.
Dosai are difficult to come by in the UK, so I always order one when it appears on the menu. This masala dosai did not disappoint, being an enormous, paper-thin lentil crepe stuffed with potato. The sambar was not too spicy and the coconut chutney cooling and creamy.
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| Bhel poori |
Bhel poori is a nice alternative to poppadoms and chutneys, as the work has been done for you. These cooling crunchy morsels are tiny puffed poppadoms that are spicy, sweet, yoghurty mouthfuls.
Chewy rich gobi manchurian (fried cauliflower) and paneer fried rice, which was smokey from charred vegetables, completed the feast and we rolled out happily. The front of the restaurant offers a selection of Indian sweets from burfi to halva, but we sadly had no room left.
Our next stop was Lebuh Armenian, which had been closed of to traffic for 'Armenian Street's Got Talent'.
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| They sure got talent |
Chinese drummers, local musicians, craft and food stalls all occupied the small street to give a flavour of the local talent. It was a fun and friendly atmosphere without being unbearably busy.
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| Khoo kongsi |
Khoo Kongsi is a clan house, which historically welcomed, housed and often found work for migrants from China sharing the same name. It had opened its doors, waiving its usual entrance fee, and was putting on a display of cultural dances.
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| Cultural performance |
Alongside cheerful dances, a sombre opera was performed, which was rich in costume and make-up but baffling in content.
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| I have no idea |
In addition, Master Li gave an acrobatic display of his mastery of gravity. Master Li tossed objects into the air, confident that he could control its precise position and bend its velocity at any moment to his will. He conjured a magnetic force to glue wooden blocks together, and, harnessing the gyroscopic force of a spinning rice bowl on a stick, he persuaded two knives connected only by the pointy tips to rotate about one another. His gravity-defying feats kept the audience in suspense and delight.
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