2009 was the first year Malaysian participated in this major global event to turn their light off, this year, again on March 27, 8.30pm, we pledge you to do the same to show your support.
“Earth Hour is a symbol of working together, each of us can have a positive impact in the fight against climate change, protecting our future and that of future generations.”
So it was a blistering hot afternoon in Penang while we were looking for a nice spot around town that serves desserts and cool drinks and we happened to stumble upon Kopi Cine, a new cafe which is part of a row of heritage houses in Stewart Lane, Penang, managed by Bon Ton. It has a really eclectic, pre war heritage feel to it with its mix-match of old furnishings. Like most cafes around the heritage area, it doesn’t offer air conditioning, only ceiling fans and the fun part was that each table was covered with a giant, white sheet of paper with a glass of colourful crayons to keep you occupied.
Andrea was supposed to meet up with her high school friend, Hui Shian, for afternoon tea so she called her to ask her to drop by. Kopi Cine offers breakfast, lunch and dinner with a tempting array of drinks and desserts.
The homemade gula melaka ice cream (RM8) was a hit – it has a very burnt, caramel taste which was incredibly refreshing on such a scorching day.
As the ice cream was so good, Hui Shian had to try the Gula Melaka & Almond Shake (RM16) which was made with the same home made ice cream and she aboslutely loved it.
I found my Iced Moccha (RM9) to be a bit on the lighter side, the taste wasn’t that strong but it could be personal preference.
The scones (RM12) were ok, it’s reasonably priced as you get 3 pieces, butter, cream and home made strawberry jam but they were nothing to shout about. (check out the drawing on the table)
There’re also side entrances to the Reading Room next door, it’s an open reading space housed with a mix of books (including children’s books!) and was very cosy and inviting.
The back of the Reading Room – a giant air well & the location of the loo….
So 2 weeks ago, Andrea suddenly developed a craving for char koay teow. Simple right, you might say? With Andrea being Andrea, it was darn difficult as:
- It was CNY and most of the Chinese hawkers were closed for the entire week
- She decided she would only have Anson Road char koay teow which she had heard her colleague, Jun, rave about (Jun – you are the cause of my many driving trips there just to get her char koay teow!)
Jun said the uncle has been frying char koay teow at Anson Road for the past 30 years (which is true as Andrea’s dad verified it) and starts his business from around 4pm until maybe 10pm at night.
So on Thursday, Andrea made me drive past Anson Road at 4.30pm – no sign of the stall.
On Friday, she made me drive past there the same time – fine, still no sign of the stall. She refused to give up and on the same day, forced me to drive there again at 8pm at night “just to make sure” and sure enough, he still wasn’t there.
Fast forward to the next week – on Friday, she again insisted that we drive past that spot. This time, we reached there around 5.45pm and I was so happy to finally see the uncle frying that I could have kissed him myself!
There was a really long line though and we had to wait around 40 minutes for him to cook our order. This is one of the few remaining char koay teow stalls left that still uses charcoal to fire up his wok. Based on Penang’s popularity standards, there were cars double parked waiting for him to do his stuff so we had high expectations of his char koay teow. Plus, the entire street was filled with the heavy scent of it.
When we reached home and eagerly tore open the char koay teow packet – we were a little disappointed that he didn’t take our order properly (no eggs, no cockles request still resulted in eggs + cockles).
The verdict? This is darn good char koay teow! You can taste the wok hei which always requires great cooking skills to achieve. Was it worth the 40 minute wait? Yes, without a doubt! Looks like we’ll be heading back again for this hidden gem.
Btw, i didnt took this photo, Andrea did. I was too grumpy to do anything…imagine waiting for 40~45mins….
Every year, my friends and I like to have lunch together with spouses and kids during Chinese New Year. The biggest headache however is the venue. Last year it was Thai, this year as most of the Chinese restaurants were booked out in advance – we decided to opt for banana leaf rice at Passion of Kerala, New World Park. It has air-con (a must in this kind of weather!) and has baby chairs as well as a lot of space for strollers and nappy bags. More importantly, the food is really good and not too overly expensive.
This round’s lunch was made merrier with Adele and Alex bringing their 2 year old son, Matthew, and CP bring her 8 month old son, Nathan. Everyone kept making a fuss of the 2 kids.
Matt was super duper cute because he is really shy around adults that he’s not too familiar with. He refuses to make direct eye contact and kept pouting.
Nathan brings out the mothering instinct in Jo, he is really calm around strangers and don’t mind people carrying him.
Check out the rows and rows of food. Rice and side dishes are served literally on banana leaves and these are refillable. You can order a variety of side dishes to go with your banana leaf rice, we had: deep fried bitter gourd, chicken masala, fried squid, fried chicken …
Matt looks at Andrea suspiciously as he accepts an ang pow from her.
As part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, Penang State government & the cooperation of numerous clan councils decided to throw a party at the inner city heritage enclave on the 20 Feb, starting from 3pm until midnight. Andrea & I were there to witness this mind blowing & inner city that has been turned into a giant stadium!!
