Friday, April 28, 2006

Penangites in Melbourne...檳城人在墨爾本...ペナン人インメルボルン

Thai-style sour fish...
one of my favourite Thai dishes, pandan chicken....

Went out with two Penang friends last night for dinner....two of us initially had planned to go to this Chinese restaurant on Smith St apparently famous for its duck with my mother's friend (and also her mother's friend also) but she cancelled and so we decided to go ourselves with another Penang friend....however, when we arrived we realised it was fully booked and u needed to book seats....there are like two sessions 6pm and 8pm and so i decided to come again next time, i mean if the place is packed, u need bookings and there are eating sessions, i reckon the place must be good....and then we went around walking from Smith St to Brunswick St going thru 8 restaurants or so before we FINALLY decided on this place everybody agreed on. Before, we had changed from Chinese, Korean, to Japanese, to Western to Indian....somehow either someone didn't like the place or it was too expensive....i was so damn hungry by then i just wanted to eat at the very next restaurant we came across..we ended up having Thai at this place in Brunswick St called 'Thai Thani'......

the food was nice....and our conversation was of cos very Penang based as we were all from Penang....abit of Hokkien also lor..penang lang mar...but not alot as we weren't hokkien speakers in general...one friend was from Penang Chinese Girl's School 檳華 and the other from Chung Ling Boys High 鐘靈 , both the top schools in Penang and also both Chinese schools...so the two of them were talking about the subjects they took and their highschool days...we also talked about how Penang was like before we left during our high school days with 'One-stop' being the 'in' place to be at one time, Island plaza and its go-kart and cineplex (both gone now), the old cinemas in Penang before the muliplex era such as Cathay, Odeon, Rex,etc with their upper and lower sections and the kacang putih they would sell...how times have changed since then..

and of cos we talked about Penang food also lor...my friend is really weird, he once ordered Or Qian 蠔煎 (oyster pancake) without the Or 蠔 ,' uncle, or qian ji pua, mai or' (oyster pancake one plate without the oyster) i mean how can it still be Or Qian without the Or???!

Will probably go to the duck place on smith st next time, maybe i'll ask my two friends to bring along their two friends who are also from Penang as well(both i've met and nice ppl), then it will really be a 'little penang gathering' in Melbourne....sounds fun!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

All this talk about penang food is making me yearn for Penang asam laksa or penang fried noodles. ...YUMMY. Oh well..maybe we can meet up and eat all the original penang food at gurney drive once u get your cute ass back here to Penang in July.......

hcpen said...

anon: guess u r from penang and currently in penang, well u can easily go eat out and eat correct? about meeting me...eeerrrrr..who r u?

lawboycool said...

“or qian ji pua, mai or” heheh that is FUNNY. Maybe next time he should order “gei bui ji pua,mai gei” ( chicken rice without chicken), “ca mi ji pua, mai mi” ( fried noodle without noodle)

hcpen said...

lawboycool: hahaha! yah, that is funny! I thought he was funny ordering like that...so u speak Hokkien? How come?

joshua said...

i never visited an old-school cinema sans my parents. rekindling memories of the smoke, super huge compound and two levels uh?

all the old cinemas went out of business once i started receiving pocketmoney. haha that was way way back.

gurney drive has good food meh? overrated place. nows its relocated to a plot right in front of the hokkien cemetery. Haha

Island Plaza still happening le. Erm, sorta. Cos I go there almost everyday for gym. As I am a chic fella, everywhere I go counts as being HIP!

remember what ppl used to make fun of PCGHS and CLHS ppl? thank god i was never put thru the torture of either institution.

and you ah, better be a food critique. reading ur blog at wee hours in the morn is bad for weight management

Mr RM said...

Ooi.... Penang Lang only talk about FOOD FOOD FOOD all the time lar...

I really like Penang history and it is so wonderful that it was once the melting pot of British Malaya.... aaahhhhh

hcpen said...

joshua: You never visited any of the old cinemas in Penang before? My friend who is like 20 has been when he was really young so u must have been too!

About gurney drive, i don't think its overrated..i love the place...

Island Plaza is no longer hip lah...it used to be really really popular but not anymore...although metrojaya there has helped business alittle i guess....

Also what did ppl say about the schools?? I think students there are really smart lor..its not like anyone can get in...its difficult to enter in the first place..

yeah, i like to share food pics cos i know it attracts my readers attention, y u so worried about weight? u go to gym often right? I am sure u have a fit,taut and sexy body by now...why so worried about weight? enjoy the world's delicacies, thats what life is all about...

u make me feel so old lar when u say u haven't been to those old cinemas b4, like i come from another generation when we only have a few yrs age difference..hahaha...

hcpen said...

the searcher: yes i think Penang is a wonderful place too! Sad that its lost much of its sparkle...

lawboycool said...

yes, i speak hokkien, i am a hokkien myself.i can even talk filthy in Hokkien :P

hcpen said...

lawboycool: ok..so a KL hokkien lang...hahaha...talk dirty in Hokkien? Hehehe..sounds sexy! just JOKING!

Alex said...

Sounds like you guys were having a nice time.... You're from Penang?

hcpen said...

alex: yep, we had a nice time...and i am from Penang...

executorlouis said...

Well, nothing beats real Penang food. But the next best thing isn't always so bad after all. Penang prawn mee rules!!! =P

hcpen said...

executorlouis: well, i just learnt this weekend from a KL friend that KL people call it 'prawn mee' but in Penang, we call it 'Hokkien Mee' so if i was to order 'hokkien mee', apparently, i would get the dry fried type! and yeh, i guess the next best thing is always nice..but i can always wait till i am bck in Penang:)

Xavier said...

o chien! o chien! my fav!

Anonymous said...

xavier: i like it too...in fact this is both a taiwanese AND a malaysian delicacy indicating its hokkien roots..in fact the name is hokkien too so i think its a hokkien dish...just a little history from a history buff..hehe

Anonymous said...

haha..." or jian" issues let me recalled back an incident of mine. " bang! bagi teh limau ais tapi tak mau ais arrr"in one of the mamak stall in KL, and u know what the mamak stall asst replied me? Ah moi... u nak i BUAT macam mana???

hcpen said...

xavier: sorry the comment about or jian being taiwanese and a hokkien food is from me, i forgot to log in so it came out as anonymous..

anon: thanks for visiting and leaving a comment! i am glad u r a girl I have alot of male readers so its nice to have comments from female readers too!

Anonymous said...

I am the first anonymous who left you yr first post. U ask me who I am? DUDE....Who in the world knows that you are coming back to penang in JUly,besides me??????

hcpen said...

anon: yes i know who u r now, the post u left just made me think u were from penanglah...glad the mystery person has been unveiled...anyways about Penang, actually nothing has been confirmed yet...