Penang Trip Part 2

22nd Oct – I and my roommate got a wake up call from our organizer at 7:00am. After we brushed up, we went down to the hotel lobby. It was 7:30am by then and to my surprise, nobody there except us and the receptionist (I wonder why she made up the wake up call, but no showing up before us). After handling over the keys and payment to hotel “manager”, we went to the hotel car park and take our car (Believe me, there is a hotel car park in this building). When I was waiting for the others outside of the hotel, I found an oil leakage in the right rear wheel of my car. The leakage is from the wheel bearing and I start to worry about it. I remembered that my sister took the car outstation before and it happened to be broken in the same wheel. Fortunately, there was no scratching sound coming out of it and the leakage wasn’t too bad. I suspect that the leakage happened when my car speed reached over 120kph but at lower speed, it works fine.

The first destination we went in that morning was the famous dim sum in Ipoh. It was a short distance to go there but it took us some time to actually locate the place. At the restaurant, it has a very nice dim sum environment but it was air-conditioned. As a fact, dim sum is best to served when it’s hot. Due to its small sizes, plus in an air-conditioned environment, it will easily get cold. So, it’s better to eat it fast when it was put on the table. However, a funny thing happened after we sat down. The waitresses poured all the dim sum on the table and telling us to choose which one we don’t want. At first we thought, this is not a bad idea. Nevertheless, there are flaws with this one of kind service. Dim Sums that are required to be cut was cut and put on the table (Example, Egg Tart). When we ask ourselves who ordered it, nobody answered. Of course, “cut food” cannot be returned since it has no resell value. In order to enjoy our pleasant morning Dim Sum, we absorb the unclaimed dim sum just avoid further argument. Beside that, I preferred order Dim Sum when we need more because it stays hot in the steam cooker and more service is provided to the customer.

After the Dim Sum, we went back to town to search for the Ipoh famous white coffee (I thought we just had our breakfast). It was located in an old building, near by a market street. The place is packed with people and we have to sit separately, because there’s no table big enough to fit 12 people. I had 2 of those white coffees because it really tastes nice. After that, we went back to take our car. Suddenly, I can’t crank up my car. Oh boy! After couple of try, it works again. At first, we thought the battery is dead, but I remember I just change it last month. Fist was the wheel bearing; now it’s the battery. Anyway, the journey goes on.

I thought after we had our coffee, we should be heading toward Penang. After couple of turn in the town, I found out that we’re still in Ipoh and we’re heading toward a new eating place. We stop by an old cafeteria and I was told that this place was famous of its chicken noodle (Alright, no more chicken noodle back to KL). It’s true because I saw some newspaper cutting stamped on the glass of the stall, stated about how good it was. Due to the dim sum and the coffee, I had to pass this meal because I was very full. I waited there until they have finished their meal and after that, we heading towards Penang.

We reached Penang bridge toll around 2:00PM and we take a pee break there. The first thing I do after my foot touches the ground is to check the wheel bearing condition. Luckily it didn’t leak (What a relief). Then we moved on to one of the friend’s house (She’s from Penang) to pick up her hubby before checking into our apartment. After I have leaved my bags in the apartment, I send my friend and her hubby to their hotel, in mean time; I asked them where I can find a car service shop in Penang. I dropped them at their hotel and went to find a car service in town alone. Fortunately I was able to find one before reaching the town and I got my wheel bearing fixed. However, the battery problem still exists because the service man suggested me to change the car starter but it was too expensive. The service man suggested me to look for a wiring man and make a start relay for my car, if I decided not to change the whole starter component (duh!). When the wheel bearing is fixed, our organizer called and she suggested me to eat out with the rest first before looking for the wiring man. I agreed and we went to the Gurney Drive to have our “afternoon tea”. Here I found out a Penang special drink called “Umbra” and it taste really good. It was made by a special fruit called “Umbra” and a dry sour plum in it.

After we try out some of the food there, then we head on to find a wiring man for my car starter problem. Luckily, we were able to find one and surprisingly, the wiring man said it was caused by the battery. He found the problem, fixed it up within 10 minutes and then he charged me only RM5. Comparing back to the service man where changing the whole starter component cost me about RM175, and it still won’t fix the problem (Better get a second opinion if the cost is too high).

At night, we went out from Penang Island and head straight to Tambun for the seafood. It took us some time locate the place cause the restaurant is located in side a small village. When we reached there, I can see the restaurant was build on top a river bank by woods. The scenery was nice until I checked out its toilet. The toilet was actually a hole on the wooden floor and I can see the river thru it (Hahahah. Hopefully our meal is coming from the top of the stream). Anyway, the restaurant offers some interesting food on the menu and we all enjoy ourselves there.
After the dinner, we went to a bakery shop to get some bread for tomorrow Bukit Bendera Hiking. At the same time, they also get some ice and a Ribena because one of the friends brought a bottle of Vodka. We went back to our apartment, get a shower, and everybody plays some games while enjoying the drink. Our organizer even brought a set of Mahjong but it was a short game, because most of us don’t know how to play it. I went to bed around 12:00 midnight because I think I’m getting drunk.