Gastronomic adventure up North

I was up in the northern state for a 3 day trip. Of course any trip would not be complete without a food hunt. Feature here some of the food that I sampled on my short trip:

Cucuq udang & tauhu goreng - marvellous!

Proprietor of the cucuq udang stall next to Chowrasta. The stall is located in the bazaar right next to Chowrasta Penang

Interesting signage for food stall branding. Unfortunately, I did not manage to sample the Nasi Kandar due to time constrain

Highly recommended by Ms Fantaghiro. This stall in located in Padang Kota Lama foodcourt next to Fort Cornwallis

Mee sotong goreng. Basically mee mamak fried with sambal sotong. In my opinion, this taste like mee rebus. If you like mee rebus, than you will definitely like mee sotong.

Next to Hamid Pata stall, is the drinks stall selling fresh cocnut drink at RM2 for a tall glass. Good match with mee sotong.

Yummy coconut drink with fresh coconut flesh

A bit detour from Penang, this was found in Kuala Kangsar town near the river. We were looking for laksa but found this interesting looking apam manis instead

Cost RM2 per pair and was advised by the makcik who sold this to eat it with shredded coconut flesh and sugar for added taste

Bersantai di Salak Denai

Pertama kali saya ke chalet Salak Denai adalah pada 2006. Chalet ini terletaknya di bandar Yan Besar dan dibawah kaki Gunung Jerai. Konsep chalet adalah setiap chalet mempunyai kolam mandi sedalam lebih kurang 4 kaki. Setiap kolam ini akan dipenuhi dengan air dari kaki gunung dan apabila pengunjung telah puas bermandi, air kolam itu akan dilepaskan dan dipenuhi semula untuk pengunjung yang seterusnya. Harga chalet beserta kolam amat berpatutan dan tak mengikut kepala (seperti hotel) asalkan dapat tidur didalam chalet tersebut.Sila lawati lama blog Salak Denai untuk tempahan dan info lain di sini. 

 

Pandangan hadapan kolam

Setiap kolam disediakan gelongsor, sesuai untuk kanak2 dan dewasa!

Pancutan air untuk melicinkan pengelongsoran turun dan memaksimumkan keseronokan

!

Tempat barbeku disediakan

Ruang tamu dengan pakej Astro

Sampel salah satu bilik tidur

Dapur dilengkapi dengan tempat memasak, periuk nasi, peti sejuk, etc

Bilik air dan bilik mandi yang bersih dan kemas

Verdict: Chalet Salak Denai amat sesuai untuk percutian keluarga terutamanya bagi kaum Muslimah untuk enjoy mandi sungai tanpa risaukan kehadiran orang lain kerana chalet tersebut amat private. Bagi saya, keseronokan mandi air sungai yang sejuk dan nyaman ini ditambah pula dengan rasa selamat kerana tiada batu-batu yang licin yang boleh menyebabkan kaki luka atau tergelincir mahupun haiwan yang tidak diingini di sepertimana mandi di sungai yang biasa. Sangat disarankan untuk percutian keluarga dan pastikan tempahan dibuat awal, terutamanya musim cuti sekolah kerana chalet in biasanya penuh. Saya dikhabarkan ada pengunjung yang booking satu tahun in advance untuk pastikan mereka dapat mengunjungi tempat ini.

More Cats Pics

My interests in cats hasn't waned but now am content in observing them from far. Below are a collection of cat pics that I captured in various places - KL, Kedah, Rompin

In KL: This one here is called "Boifren" coz he's the only male cat around my apartment. He knows that I called him Boifren coz he would get closer to me but would never let me touch him. Feisty one, this is.

In Rompin: Three generations of cats sleeping together, the aunty cat called Belang is smothering the little one, but he doesn't mind, whilst the mothercat "Kelabu" doesn't care what happens to her kitten

Closer look at how Belang is smothering the littel one (he is nameless at the momemt coz we don't know if he would survive or not since his two siblings died weeks before)

Kelabu - Sleep with one eye open

Playing with its mother

I called him "Si Gemuk" coz he's fat like a cow and eats a lot - needs supervision during mealtime coz he hogs the catfood

Belang sniffing around

The little one in action

In Kedah: I met these two in Sg Petani when we were checking out houses there. They looked starved so I gave them some catfood

These two fatties were around the turkey cage at my uncle's house in Sg Petani. Not very friendly though and obviously about to burst with kitties.

Biskut Mazola

Biskut kacang courtesy of Hanim

Whenever it’s Hari Raya and its our turn to go back to Yan, Kedah, I would look forward to eating biskut Mazola - a slightly salty peanut cookie that is so simple but decadent at the same time. My aunty who lives in Yan make the best biskut Mazola that I’d ever tasted. The peanut cookies are so good and none came close to hers. Sometimes I’d buy the readymade peanut cookies (as pictured above) but it never tasted as delicious like the ones she used to make.

Biskut Mazola also reminded me so much of my kampong in Yan. The big old family house in Yan, where everyone gathered for raya, was a fond memory in my mind. Our family, which always arrived last would have to sleep on the upper portion of the house. During the day, the place where we slept was like a veranda, always so airy and cool when all the French windows were opened. There were lime green carpeting on the wooden floor, which I always thought were cheery and refreshing to an otherwise ordinary kampong house. There was also a flight of stairs connecting outside to the veranda, and us kids always used that way for shortcut into the second floor when we played. 

For me, its not just the biskut but its the kampong life and being a youth at that time and playing around with my cousins (whom we only meet once a year since we lived so far awat) that I always associate with whenever I eat a piece of biskut Mazola.

Udang Galah in Rompin

Fresh Udang Galah in Rompin. A Grade B size of udang galah will set you back about RM60 per kilo plus cooking it. Featured here is udang galah cooked in chinese style sweet sambal with egg in it. This was about half a kilo of udang galah (about 16 pieces).

Look for the udang galah sign by the roadside and you'll know where to stop...

Road side restaurant along the road in Lanjut

If you have any doubts about the restaurant just look for the signage on the door that says "udang galah sold here"

Entrance to Lanjut, the udang galah restaurants are dotted on the opposite side of the road.

Strawberry Farm in Genting

Strawberry Farm in Genting - entrance is FOC, parking is easy

Craving for strawberries? Wanna see how strawberries are grown without having to go to Cameron Highlands? Then just drive up to Gohtong Jaya, halfway up to Genting and visit the Taman Santai Strawberi Genting. Apart from just a strawberry farm, this leisure farm concept is all encompassing area for family fun such as shopping, cafe, mini animal park (bee museum, parrots, albino python), mushroom farm, fresh fruits, vegies and flowers & shopping area. This place is good for a family fun afternoon.

Luscious strawberries in a bunch...tp rasa dia masam lah...

Cacat strawberry

Strawberries in various phase - ripe, green & flowering

The strawberry fruit comes out of the flower

Strawberries systematically planted in a pot, row after row. Visitors can pluck their own strawberries from the pots

Fancy strawberries dipped in chocolate?

The gang having a bit of refreshment with fresh strawberry blended, strawberry milkshake and strawberry tea

Tired of strawberries? Have some fried mushroom instead.

Passion fruits hanging low around the shops

Faris and the giant strawberry

There's also a mushroom farm. Loved the mushrooms there as it is fresh and there are certain species only found in highland

Loh Sang

We had a surprise last week from one of our partners, who brought in  the yee sang dish for our team to do loh sang, which is the act of mixing together the yee sang. Yee sang is basically like a salad dish with different ingredients such as raw fish, shredded veggies, jellyfish and in Malaysia they added crunchy keropok and mix it all together with plum sauce. The dish is suppose to bring greater abundance, so when we mix it together we are suppose to make a wish or wishes on the year to come. Most of us wished for bonus!

The Yee Sangdish set up

Consists of ginger, jellyfish, salmon, keropok, pomelo, coriander, sesame seed

Chef adding plum sauce to the yee sang before we do loh sang

Everyone in position with chopsticks in hand ready to loh sang the yee sang

The dish is mixed up

The aftermath