Deadline is Over

Few words: When we joke about not watching the previous movie of some film series, we usually take Spiderman, Pirates of Caribbean or maybe Harry Potter as an example. But I met someone telling me he missed Fantasic Three and he doesn’t seem like joking :(


Penang is truly a fascinating place.

For the past few days, I had been travelling back and forth from Perak to Perlis, well, that’s about 1,600 km journey. And just to kill some boredom out of this hellish 1.6k long ride, I decided to stop a day or two in Penang. Nevertheless due to limited budget, the only options left is either to spend my night at some petrol station or rang a friend of mine for a stay. Of course, I opt for the second choice; I don’t want some agua knocking on my car window pleading they can help me rest better.

Furthermore, I might as well consider this Penang stop as my celebration trip, since I’m officially free after my final presentation in Perlis. That is something to celebrate about right? No more deadlines or whatsoever.

There are many things in Penang that are truly fascinating. But among all these many things, the followings are beyond doubt worth blogging of:


1. Fascinating Frap


Frappucino or in short, frap is some famous ice blended beverage from Starbucks. To be frank, I was never a fan of Starbucks; most of the time, I went there just to leech their wifi. But recently, their half-priced frap promo is enough to start a propaganda, everyone urging me to get a cup.

Alright, since the last time I had my Starbucks is years ago, I might as well get a cup in Penang. The promo has just ended nonetheless; FML. Yet due to my strong curiosity and well, the girl at the counter is worth to stay a while for. Why not? I went in and ordered a full priced-no-promo frap. FML X2. But, what I don’t like in every Starbucks is their waitress has too many question to ask “Do you want this, sir? Do you want that, sir?” They even asked for your name.

I WANT EVERYTHING, JUST HAND ME THE FREAKING FRAP LA!!

I wanted to try it so much, once the waitress hand me over my cup of frap; I immediately take a big sips....to be real frank, the frap is good..

..without looking at the price though. But 18 MYR for a cup of ice blended coffee, that’s a bit overprice not? The formula is simple; 5 MYR for raw coffee and another 5 MYR for the milk, caramel, mocha chip, etc; which equivalent to another 8 MYR just for their branded plastic cup. Now I know why there is only one Starbucks in Ipoh. In the city of cheap coffee, Starbucks doesn’t even stand a chance.


2. Fascinating Foods

Debatable. When it comes to foods, people normally compare Penang foods with Ipoh foods. But since I’m eating good Ipoh foods for 23 years, it won’t hurt to praise Penang foods once in a while. Among all the foods, those that are really worth recalling are their duck meat kueh teow and fried oyster. Screw old school chicken kueh teow, I'm done and over with it, it’s time for duck meat kueh teow. Another real good Penang food is their fried oyster. The fried oyster is really something to shout about, although my friend claimed that there is better fried oyster stall in Penang; but that particular stall is enough for me to brag for three days three nights non-stop.

The foods there is surprisingly cheap too, I start to wonder how those hawkers manage to buy a house in Penang.


3. Freaking Expensive Houses

Call me a kampong boy, but the price of a house there is sohigh that only sohigh people will buy. The salary in Penang is a few hundred bucks more than in Ipoh, but the house there is few times more expensive than in Ipoh as well. Meaning you have to work double hard…no, you have to work double jobs to buy a smaller house. (Flame extinguisher: what I said is merely based on nothing but my simple mind; it's a joke)

But you can always cover back the expenses, because the foods there are amazingly cheap.


4. Fascinating Penang-lang

Although the people there speak in a different dialect, Hokkien but they are extremely friendly; is like there is a stamping on their forehead “Please talk to me, I will prove I’m friendly” because they talk alot once you greet them; even to strangers. After four years mixing with Penang-lang, they have built a stereotype of Penang-lang to me; simply speaking, they’re sibeh friendly and funny. During my visit to 1st avenue, I saw a prayer tree made especially for the Japan earthquake victims. Proven! Penang-lang is very friendly.

Randomly, I take a peek at their prayer. Again, proven! Penang-lang sibeh funny one.

P/S: Thanks mister loan shark and mister polobun for their hospitality throughout my two days stay in Penang. I had a great time during these two days. Thank you.