Fabulous Week

A couple of weekends ago, I had the priviledge of playing host to a fellow CYT (cute young thing) aka chiku blogger from KL, along with zai2 and Tonnchita aka Dennis. Our dear Cookiedonut aka Jason is having a four month vacation *deeply envious* and one of his travel destinations involve the land of abundant delish and affordable food, PENANG! He was supposed to be on a trip with his college mates, but decided to arrive in Penang alone for the weekend before they arrived this evening. Dennis and I had actually met him in KL early this month when we were in Cheras for our leadership seminar, so Jason booked us for this weekend to have fun and food beforehand ^^.

Dennis picked him up from the airport early Saturday afternoon and checked him into Tune hotels smack in the middle of town. Seriously, if you're planning on dropping by Penang on a budget and limited transport or knowledge on how to move around while hungering for Penang food, stay in Tune hotel! You can get A LOT of Penang's best foods within walking distance at any time.

Without delay, Dennis brought Jason to Him Heang (on my recommendation coz he should not miss it) for their oh-so-famous Tau Sar Pneah, or Dao Sar Peng as Jason called it. This was followed by a nom-noming session at New World Park. Char Koay Teow (CKT), fried oyster, ais kacang, curry mee and I forgot what else they had, but they basically stuffed their faces XD. I could only meet up with them at night as I had a private function to attend that afternoon. For a slightly late dinner, I took them to have something 'light' at Esplanade. The food court in Esplanade houses one of the most HEAVENLY fruit rojaks in Penang (one of my ultimate fave rojak haunt is here), and so I ordered a heaping large plate worth RM12. We also have a famous Pasembur stall here so we ordered a pretty big plate too. We had two sausages, two eggs, one large fried prawn fritter, one fried beancurd (I think we call it that ><) and a potato as the main ingredients. All this is topped with lots of shredded turnip and cucumber, poured over with a divine sauce and a sprinkle of crushed peanuts. Both were so delish!~

After dinner, it was time to strip Jason of his BBC (Boom Boom Chambre) virginity. We got there early at about 11pm coz we wanted to secure a place to sit. 30 minutes later, the place was almost fully packed. I also noticed a new club opened right opposite BBC. It is the same mansion building occupied by the late MOMO club, and after being empty for almost a year, a new club called VOODOO has opened. A friend of mine took a few of us in for free to have a look. We even got ourselves stamped so we are recognized as paid patrons =P. VOODOO looks SUPER FABULOUS. Ok, jotting that place down for clubbing next.

Back to BBC, we had a blast there. I haven't been there in about 4 months (or more). The 'hostess' for the evening was Jada, and Brendan was right, she's absolutely hilarious! Laughed our asses off every time she spoke on stage. Freda was the usual 'hostess' and Jada only came to perform occasionally, so we were luckily that night. The dance shows as usual were great and well-choreographed with really jaw-dropping costumes. Loved the dance with the feather fans, so fabulous! For BBC virgins out there, BBC usually has stage shows every Wednesday and Saturday. On Saturday, there would be two shows, both featuring performances by the dance group and 'hostess', at 12am and 1.30am. The music at BBC improved a little from the last time I was there, which felt like a MJ or 80s nite at the time, seriously disappointing for clubbing music. And the DJ was still the same middle-aged fella who would gyrate of music only HE enjoyed, while the rest of the crowd stood still.

Last Saturday wasn't too bad, music was good enough that we could dance and enjoy it, although some of the Lady Gaga remixes were in bad taste. As the night progressed, the music spiraled back to disappointment. I think that's why the crowd usually leaves after the last show. Zai2 and I didn't drink, but Dennis and Jason did. And Jason drinks pretty fast too. Hehe, drunk CYTs can be fun to play with, especially during clubbing. Somemore, my little devil is around, so...habislah Jason, lost like 50% of his 'kesucian' XD. After all that dancing, shaking,
molestingand good laughs, we called it a night at around 2am since I had an Indian wedding to attend on Sunday morning.

On Sunday, Dennis again played host during the day. I was too pooped coz I slept at 4am+ and woke up early in the morning for the wedding. Zai2 and I picked them up for dinner and we headed for New Lane hawker food. We had sotong kangkung (heavenly sauce!), chee cheong fun with thick prawn paste, belacan chicken and beancurd, wet popiah, wantan mee and fried prawns(in place of oysters). Mmm...food was really good =P. After that, I suggested we went for lok-lok at Pulau Tikus, which elicited a high-pitch screech of excitement from Jason. That boy really loves lok-lok, or anything in a form of a stick, dunno which XD.

Lok-Lok at Pulau Tikus was average for me, didn't eat much of it. They were out of cockles (si hum!), which was Jason's fave. However, they did have skewered mantis prawn, first time seeing it at a lok-lok place. After that, I wanted to surprise Jason with a really luscious dessert place along Gurney Drive called Crepe Cottage. Turns out Dennis has already brought him there (potong stim), but we still headed there anyway. This is a place NOT to be missed when you're here. It's kinda difficult to detect although it's just by the side of the road since it doesn't stand out.

Crepe Cottage is a very affordable, quaint little gem of a place that serves both savoury and sweet crepes and desserts. It's run by a widow and her family (I think). Since we were rather stuffed, we only ordered two things. The expresso crepe came with a large thin slice of dark coffee-infused crepe, a side of large scoop of fresh almond-vanilla ice-cream and dollops of fresh cream and had a drizzle of caramel sauce throughout the dish. We didn't manage to take a pic coz it landed into our tummies pretty fast.

The HIGHLIGHT was the Mango Cup that came after. All four of us were astounded when it arrived. If the room was dark, we could've lit it up with the light from our eyes. Mango cup came with a thin, crispy crepe shaped like a bowl filled with generous slices of sweet mango, topped with two LARGE scoops of heavenly mango ice-cream and a couple dollops of fresh cream. And there was more cream on the side. A really BIG portion for only RM11, really worth it! Mmm...and it tasted as divine as it looks *DROOL*. Again, thanks a lot to Brendan for recommending this. With dessert, we also brought the house down with our intense laughter, especially Dennis. Laugh until wanna kena sawan babi liddat! Thanks to me of course XD

We went there again last night for Jason's last supper in Penang (his third visit there in a week XD). This time Shawn tagged along. Ordered a few of their savoury items and they did NOT disappoint. Crepe Cottage is very generous with their servings, despite the low price. Jason had the seafood pasta that was loaded with large slices of fish and prawns. Zai2 had the Chicken Cheese Pocket (I think that's what it's called) that was filled with lots of cheese and minced, herb-ed chicken topped with generous lemon cream sauce. One bite and you were in heaven, unless of course if you're lactose intolerant =P. I had the Cheese-crumbled Chicken. A butterflied, deep-fried chicken breast breaded with cheesy bread crumbs topped with a citrus sauce and came with a side of stir-fried vegetables and a crepe. After we finished our dinner, rain began to drizzle but we decided to continue sitting outside and held two umbrellas to shield ourselves, much to the amusement of the staff. We immediately moved inside when we saw a few people leaving and found a table enough for four and got ready to order dessert. Just as we're settling down at the table, THIS came to our table.

And it was on the house! Apparently the lady owner came and told us it was free for us since we stayed outside despite the rain and didn't leave. What a lovely gesture! Of course, we HAD to order the Mango Cup again. Seriously, love Crepe Cottage to bits. Awesome food, very affordable prices (the most expensive item on the menu is only RM20) and really generous with the ingredients. On top of that, NO service charge!

After having all the yummies in our tummies, camwhoring ensued.

Jason boarded a plane back to KL on Friday morning. We'll miss
molestingextending our Penang hospitality to you back here. Also, go back to gym to burn off everything you ate XD

PS: William Ng aka Suneo, bila datang Penang? BBC and food waiting for you!~