tesss

 I knew that pastries are Penang's forte but having gone with the big brands before, I wanted to steer clear of those and hopefully stumble upon lesser known ones -all the more if they still make them by hand and have them paper wrapped. Who was I kidding anyway. Thanks to Air Itam Penang Laksa and Ah Chui, we managed to locate Seng Seng Heang nearby. Home grown, only two outlets to their name and they promise that their products are made, baked and sold on the spot. I was clearly drawn to this. Peering through the looking glass brought me to these baked char siew buns. And I bought one almost instantly to try. To be honest I don't even fancy siew bao and this hit all the notes. So yummy! Not forgetting yet another weakness for sweet and savoury paus, this pandan and floss one was delicious too! These Beh Teh Saws are my weakness. I used to get these pre packed ones from those souvenir shops en route to Malacca or KL and until I tried the freshly made ones, it's a road of n...

I love street food for breakfast and I was pointed in the direction of this food court with all the food gems from all over. The first visit was a bummer when it was closed for cleaning - two days! Anyhow I had the luck to be around when they finally opened their doors and I was greeted with a bustling food court. I decided to pig out even after having a full hotel buffet breakfast. Right at the entrance is a boiling wok of oil and this tudong clad lady was busy kneading dough and frying. Talk about some serious multi tasking going on. These over ripened jackfruits were sitting so prettily on the counter and then I spied jackfruit fritters. Have a good guess if we made to trying these. You bet. A bag of these to boot. It is a no brainer by now that the Malays do such awesome possom fried food and these fritters are no exception. Crispy, fragrant and who'd ever think of frying jackfruits even. Hands down most sinful eaten this trip but so worth every calorie! These banana leaf packe...

Eastern and Oriental has been on my list of to stay hotels in Penang and I am sure part of it has to do with the fact it does resemble Raffles Hotel from the façade and the fact that the overall architecture has not changed much since the day it was built. History would have it that both Eastern and Oriental and Raffles Hotel would be established by the same Sarkies Brothers. There are two different drop off points, depending where your room is booked. Ours was booked at the Heritage Wing and the car park is at least 10 minutes away. Different drop offs, different lobbies and well this is the same lobby that Crazy Rich Asians was filmed. Having stayed here slightly before the movie was premiered meant I knew immediately this was Eastern and Oriental's! It is sprawling, very spacious and does bear some hint about its former heydays. My room's sea view that really a pretty sight. A pity that the jetty was off bounds guests, otherwise that would make a pretty picture....