LUST for LIFE

Visitors to Penang know where to find the island’s famous cendol … where else but along one of the lanes off Penang Road. If you find a crowd at one of the stalls, that has to be it.

The stall is not only famous for its cendol … Sydney says its ABC is better than Kek Seng’s

The owner must be making big bucks daily with the non-stop flow of patrons

Many people prefer to stand and down their cendol beside the stall … the coffeeshop owner charges 30 cents extra for sit-and-eat-in 

This stall - directly opposite the famous one - also claims to be ‘Penang Road Famous Cendol’ … but nothing beats the original

During my school days, my classmates and I frequently went to the stalls near my school - Anderson School, Ipoh - for our favourite ABC (or Ais Batu Kacang). We didn’t have the likes of Starbucks or Coffee Bean then to chill out, haha. Coffeehouses were a fad during those days … once in a blue moon for special ocassions only. We cycled to our destinations and later ‘graduated’ to the then 70cc Honda Cub … yep, those were the days!

Back to the present day … revisiting my recent sojourn to Penang. I never know my niece, Sydney, loves ABC. Read on…

Ais kacang topped with double scoops of ice cream and jelly @ Kek Seng Kopitiam, Penang Road

Poor Sydney … patiently waiting for the bloggers in the family to snap, snap, snap before she could eat her ais kacang … that’s her mom (hidden) taking photoswith her Nokia camphone

Aahaa, finally, she gets to satisfy her craving for ABC

I had Grilled Fillet O’Fish with Steak Fries and Salad for lunch today … not my regular lunch menu, of course …  went with my colleagues to Victoria Station, Damansara Heights for a special occasion … more about this next Monday.

Some - Prema, Hema, Malini, Jane, Nareish & Wei-tzee -  preferred the poultry menu like this BBQ Chicken Fillet topped with Basil Butter Garlic Sauce 

Jane & Hema had this Fruit Cocktail Sundae … Hema even spread it in between a piece of bun a la roti ice-cream

Outrageous yummy Banana Split, aha … clearly too much for Wei-tzee alone … so the other girls helped out

Wei-tzee (left) and Suet Cheng sharing a bowl of cendol. For some time, there were talks that SC was attending job interviews. It was only last week that a colleague told me that her last day at the office would be on July 3, i.e. this Friday.

Colleagues also feted Julie Tan’s  (right) to a farewell lunch. Last week our CEO announced that she’d be leaving when her contract ended on July 30. However, she turned up at the office today … she’d stay on until further notice. Heard that her department staff had given her farewell gifts. BTW that’s Susan beside her.

The irreversible onset of painful muscle cramping can bring down even the fittest marathon runners. Wonder what are the causal factors? Dehydration? Or electrolyte imbalance? 

A runner being carried on a stretcher to the medical station

Getting a cooling down and leg massage

Runners and spectators making their way home along Jalan Tun Perak … no vehicles on this normally busy road

In every direction I looked, I saw people doing it … I mean capturing the moments with either their phone cameras, digicams, DSLRs or videocams. For the pros, the KL Marathon was nothing less than a field day. Most of the time, one only sees a ‘faceless’ person behind the camera.

They mean business … the phototog was prepared for rain

Armed to the teeth … note the Canon L lenses

Runner turned cameraman 

In the thick of action … videoing on the move

He’s taking a group photo from a vantage viewpoint

Were you at the Standard Chartered Kl Marathon this morning? When I arrived at Dataran Merdeka at about 8am, many of the runners for the full marathon were back at the Start/Finish point. As the minutes went by, the place was packed with more and more people - it was reported that some 12,500 runners including foreigners signed up for the run.

Here’re some photos that I took … I’ve excluded photos of runners in action as there will be be many blogs posting such pix. For my assignment I’d decided to use only my 50mm prime lens instead of the zoom I normally use. On my Canon EOS 1.6x crop factor, the field of view of the 50mm is equivalent to 80mm. 

Hope you enjoy the selection here.

A sea of runners and spectators … taken from an elevated platform

The view at street level

A friend in need is a friend indeed

This non-runner was engrossed reading about the King of Pop aka Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

There was free ‘flow’ of energy-giving bananas for runners at the end of the race

(right) This topless guy tells it all about the gruelling run … satisfaction is about finishing

She was very sporting - posing and smiling for this photo … thanks!

She was one of the tray-holders at the prize-giving ceremony … don’t you feel nice when a stranger gives you a smile???

Penangnites swear the best durian come from Balik Pulau, on the southwest of the island. As I’d never tasted the BP durian, I fully agreed to Angie and Patrick’s suggestion to drive there for lunch, despite the hot and hazy weather. We took the Jelutong Expressway, which took us through the Bayan Lepas industrial area before hitting the scenic coastline, the offshore Pulau Jerajak and villages before reaching our destination. The town was filled with out-of-town folks - plenty of Singapore plate cars too - who were there for its hawker fare and of course, durian.

One can choose to enjoy the durian out in the open under the hot and humid condition, sweating as you salivate with each bite, or you can sit down inside a coffeeshop. In this instance, outside food (aka durian) is allowed provided you order drinks. 

Picking out the choice fruit @ RM8 each - a choice of either the bitter sweet or sweet variety

Look at the yummy golden yellow fruit

This was a common sight -a worker delivering a basket load of durian to a shop

Yesterday’s posting about the Blue Mansion would have given an inkling as to where I went recently … yep, up north to the Pearl of the Orient. It was sort of a reunion trip to meet up with my Penang sister. Drove up in 2 vehicles with my wife, sister Angie, brother Patrick, niece Sydney and nephew Spencer.

It was also a gastronomic journey since the island is a hawker food paradise. What shall we start with? How about Penang’s famed char koay teow? Where in Penang do you find the ‘best’ char koay teow? As they say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison … so I think it’s difficult to say which stall is No. 1. That said, some stalls really dish out char koay teow that tarnish Penang’s reputation as a hawker food haven. You know when you get no ooomph at all. In fact, some of the char koay teow stalls in KL/PJ can compare to the ones in Penang.

Practically had char koay teow everyday I was in Penang … can worry about the cholesterol later. Although a plate of CKT costs less than in KL and PJ but the portion will probably leave one asking for another plate to derive full satisfaction, haha.

At a restaurant in Island Glades - I think it cost RM3 per plate

At the kopitiam beside the famous cendol and ice kacang stall on Penang Road (RM3.50)

At the restaurant beside Red Rock Hotel on Macalister Road (RM3.50)

<Canon 50D with Sigma 10-20mm: ISO 125; f/5.6; 1/30 sec>

This was shot at the entrance to the so-called Blue House (or Mansion), located on Leith Street, Penang.  More popularly referred to as Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, this UNESCO Heritage site once covered an area of 56,000 sq ft including the garden, servant quarters and kitchen. The mansion, completed in 1898, has 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 windows … obviously designed and built with feng shui elements in mind for yin-yang balance.

As the name suggests, the mansion was built by Cheong Fatt Tze. At the age of 16, this penniless Hakka lad left his home in Taipu, Guandong - same village as my grandpa - in search of greener pastures in Nanyang.  He subsequently married the daughter (the first of his 8 wives and countless mistresses) of a wealthy merchant in Indonesia.  Cheong proved to be a special son-in-law with sharp business acumen and entrepreneurship. BTW Cheong’s favourite was wife No. 7 who sired his last and youngest son. 

The Blue Mansion was Cheong’s favourite residence and the base of his business empire - he also had homes in Singapore and Indonesia, not forgetting the one in China. He’d decreed that mansion was not to be sold until the death of his last son. His youngest son was 2 years old when he died at the age of 76 in 1916. It is said that Cheong was on his was his way to the USA by ship with US5 million in hand to conclude a shipping-related venture when he fell ill and died.

When his last son died in 1989, the mansion was in a terrible state. A group of conservationists bought the mansion with the intention to restore it to its grandeur. The restoration work cost a cool US$2 million. A blue compound was intentionally added to the masonry work for the front facade, apparently to attract attention of passers-by, lol.  

You can get more info into the man himself and his majestic mansion at www.cheongfatttzemansion.com, here and here. Guided tours  of the mansion are conducted daily at 11am and 3pm @ RM12 per pax and RM6 for kids 12 years and below. Photography inside the mansion is strictly forbidden; visitors would be asked to leave if found breaking this rule.