vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
vkeong
Posts by vkeong
Mengkuang Dam
Jun 12th
In [tag]Bukit Mertajam[/tag], there aren’t many places you can go. Weekends are normally spent in the [tag]Penang[/tag] island, Megamall Pinang in Perai, or Carrefour Seberang Jaya. I am eagerly waiting for the new Jusco in Bandar Perda to be ready, along with its planned water theme park. Anyway last weekend (Saturday) Siang Leng and I went to Mengkuang Dam to kill the afternoon. Embarrassingly, I don’t know the way there.
Assuming it is located along Jalan Kulim, I drove all the way past St.Anne’s church, Machang Bubok and ended up in Kedah LOL. I was quite confident we were on the correct way until the sign board “Selamat Datang ke Negeri Kedah” came up. So I made a stop on the next petrol station and called up Ah Tu and Yen Liang. Whenever I have troubles finding my way, Ah Tu will be the first person whom I will seek help with. He very clever to run here and there la, what road also know, not like me. Too bad he didn’t pick up the phone that afternoon, busy pang sai maybe 
So thanks to Ah Liang I finally got the correct direction. He was surprised I didn’t know how to go to [tag]Mengkuang Dam[/tag], “you are BM lang boh?” he said. Ya, very sia sui I know, quite ashamed to call myself a grown-in-BM boy. But hey, it was nearly 10 years ago when I last went to the dam.
A u-turn off we took, past Machang Bubok and St.Anne’s church again.. Following Ah Liang’s directions, I was 101% sure I would find it, 120% sure when I saw the road sign “Mengkuang Dam >>>” BUT… I overshot the entrance and drove all the way up the hill. The hill’s road was damn winding and narrow, so many lorries coming from the opposite direction, scary. I had an oppportunity to make turn back to the dam but I didn’t take it, stupid me. This caused us to drive in and out of the small hill, to end up in… freaking KULIM again! OMGWTFLMAO.
Anyway we did made it to the dam at 5pm sharp. A 20 minutes trip turned into 2 hours of cross-state drive -_- Mengkuang Dam, as described by Tourism Penang, is
The biggest dam in Penang with a storage capacity of 23, 639 million litres of water is located in the Mengkuang Valley north of Bukit Mertajam on the mainland. It was officially opened by the former Governor, Dr. Tun Awang Hassan in 1985.
A haven for nature lovers, the dam features a well-landscaped garden with rubber, pinang and pine trees and some wildlife. Besides using the jogging tracks and walking trails, fitness buffs also hold regular sporting and recreational activities. The dam was recently host to the [tag]Penang International Dragon Boat Festival[/tag].
Let’s see some pictures we took that day
The dam is built just one year before my birth~ We are almost as old hehe.
The carpark is really huge. Let’s play a game, it’s called “Spot vkeong’s car and win a free trip to Mengkuang Dam” The people clad in white t-shirts in the background are police cadets I think. The 2 lorries parked there were their transport. They were doing a lot of running and.. emm, more running.
The flowers were blooming~
This photo looks like one taken on the beach.
What’s considered unusual? Suspicious people trying to pollute the dam? (This was Siang Leng’s thoughts) Creatures/aliens/water ghosts lurking in the water? (My thoughts) Anyway I do see something unusual, a frog using a phone HAHA. Ok, that’s not funny.
I like these 2 photos the most. There were a lot of fish in the water, colorful ones too. If you happen to be here, bring a long some bread crumbs to feed the fish. It could be quite an experience 
When we were there we spotted an eagle too!
This is one of the long path that leads to the small jungle within the dam.
Mengkuang Dam is nice place in overall. Our visit was pleasant but it was a pity to spot rubbish in the water. Would definitely return one day to venture into the small jungle
Food @ Gurney Drive
Jun 7th
The hawkers at [tag]Gurney Drive[/tag] has been relocated to a vacant land along Jalan [tag]Tanjung Tokong[/tag] at the moment. This move is to make way for the authorities to upgrade the existing Gurney Drive [tag]hawker[/tag] centre. Among improvements being made are the lightings, flooring, landscaping and a much needed public toilet.
I still can remember when I went to Gurney Drive end of last year only to find the hawkers disappeared lol, not knowing they have relocated. I even made a phone call to Wen Fong to check with him whether the hawker centre existed before, silly me.
Actually there’s nothing special about Gurney Drive’s hawker center. It doesn’t really offer a large variety of [tag]food[/tag], but does provide a neat environment for dining. Gurney Drive is also a family and couples’ haven. Bring your loved ones here for a stroll after dining along the endless rows of restaurants, it makes good memory. Anyway look at the beautiful sky that evening, Siang Leng couldn’t resist taking a photo of it
The fried oyster we had was really good, look at the photos we took. Plenty of huge oysters hidden under the egg! It is a hit with the customers, quite a number of people lining up to take orders.
And these are some other food we had: Muar Chee, Satay and Tau Fu Fa. Avoid buying Satay from Chinese, go for the Malays instead for better ones. And also, remember to purchase the Tau Fu Fa cold lol. The one we had was warm, it’d be much nicer if chilled
Our one-day [tag]Penang[/tag] trip ended here after dinner. As usual, we boarded a ferry home. It was a great day with plenty of nice food stomached, a good movie watched and an enjoyable trip back to BM.
Looking forward to visit here again but minus the traffic
Food @ Lorong Selamat
Jun 6th
As the name implies, Lorong Selamat is a street in Penang Island that has a lot of good food to offer (although I am not very sure whether it is really that selamat or not ) I am neither familiar with Penang roads nor good at giving directions. To reach this place, just follow the road to Komtar and you will come across Macallister Road. Lorong Selamat is only 2-3 streets away from it.
The coffee shop is small but always packed with people. It has a traditional feel to it due to the tables being used. This lady clad in pink and wearing a cap shown in the photo below is very friendly with the customers
One of the must try in Lorong Selamat is their Ais Kacang. It is different from any other ABC because of its Sarsi flavored syrup and atapchi. It is very rare to see atapchi in ABC already nowadays. Anyway if you have the time, do walk accross the street to Lorong Swatow, which also features kick-ass ABC. The main difference is the amount of ingredients being served, Lorong Selamat’s ABC tends to be more stingy in this
The curry mee sold here is also good, RM2.50 a bowl. This was our lunch last Sunday before Siang Leng and I went to watch X-men 3 in Gurney Plaza.
Bukit Mertajam Duck Egg Char Koay Teow
Jun 6th
I bet many of you have heard of the famous “Sisters’ Koay Teow” from Lorong Selamat. Well, they can move aside. Being simply overrated and overpriced, RM5.00 for a plate? It is plain outrageous. It tastes like normal CKT you would buy from anywhere else, just with bigger prawns -_- Worse still, you have to QUEUE for it, self service!
If you are from BM, chances are you have already sampled the best Char Koay Teow (CKT) in Penang, and IMO the best I’ve tasted so far. Bring any of your friends to try it, they will simply agree with you that it is the best.
A good plate of CKT must fulfill the following,
- Fried using lards, plenty of them. It’s unhealthy but it makes the dish so much nicer, so who cares?
- Use charcoal instead of gas.
- Fried with duck eggs. Because fried duck eggs have a nicer feel to the bite compared to normal fried chicken eggs. They are more fragrant too.
- Include lots of cockles, and big fat prawns. Throw in a few slices of Chinese Sausage too if possible.
- And finally, serve on a piece of (clean) banana leaf, to enhance the aroma.
Photos of the CKT shown above are taken in the famous Duck Egg CKT stall in BM. This is a family business run by 3 brothers daily from 9.30pm until midnight in 3 separate locations: taxi station, train station and along Jalan Kulim. This stall is a must for me and my friends during Chinese New Year, we would have a great time eating and talking about our school lives. It is kind of like a reunion spot for us.
If possible, go to the stall along Jalan Kulim as it is the best. One of the younger brother (operating in train station) is relatively new to frying so it might not taste as good as the other two. Before this he only helped out by serving the customers and making drinks. He can be recognized very easily by his long hair.
A normal plate of CKT costs RM2.20, big ones cost RM2.70. You can opt for an extra “hor-bao” duck egg as topping for RM0.70. I didn’t know they raised the all the price by 20cents until I went last weekend. For me, RM2.20 a plate is still cheap and worth it because the boss is not stingy with the ingredients: 4-5 medium sized prawns and generous amount of cockles
