China House, Penang

This will be the last installment for my Penang trip. This post has been sitting in my draft for almost a month and I want to clear my draft to wrap up my 2014. Anyway, back to my day 3 in Penang. Our last stop before heading to the airport is China House.

Parked our bikes outside the cafe. Feeling super retro now that I look back at our bikes.

The cafe itself is nestled among the old school shop lots. Apparently it is quite popular among tourists and it was full house when we arrived. 

When the bff said China House will be our last stop for our cycling tour, I merely just replied "okay".

Truth is I have no idea what to expect. Plus, I'm way more excited about cycling la because I haven't been on a bicycle for more than 10 years. I never own a bicycle when I was a kid :( 

The sight that greeted us when we walked in. Rows and rows of cakes. I have never see so much cakes in a cafe before and this is just half of it.

Sorry for the blur photo. I was walking and snapping away because the alley is narrow and packed with patrons and waitresses walking.

The cafe is narrow as seen above and stretches long to the back. It is as if I'm walking in an alley and entering different places along the way. The cafe is an assorted of open air/ recreation area/music cafe/garden and so on.

Yup, a functioning table tennis in middle of the cafe. The bff even played a few games of table tennis there.

Posing in front of the washroom and next to the trash bin wtf. I couldn't believe I chose to pose for photo here.

We walked further to the back and entered a  garden like below.

Since most Malaysian hate to be under the sun, naturally the whole garden was deserted.

It will be perfect for an evening tea but too bad we came in the sunny hot afternoon.

We walked pass the garden and came to an art section of the cafe where they sell handmade accessories and sometimes they have live music or live band playing I think. This one I'm not too sure of. I just saw the sign of performance and music scattered in the area. Or maybe they just use it as decors.

The sign said "Someone told us that we live in a dishonest world, so we are here to prove them wrong"

True enough, the accessories were on display without observation. So if you see anything that you like, you just pick it up and walk away. hahahha kidding guys!

You pay accordingly to the price list and put you Ringgit in tin provided. They provide wrappers too, so you wrap your own accessories la okay.

This is the very last section of the cafe, Not quite sure if they have another entrance here or not because it is quite isolated and private, only a table of patrons there at that time, so we did  not explore further.

Somemore, we were thirsty.

I'm completing the Chines character "Fu" which means happiness. Let's hope my 2015 starts off with lots of "fu"

Another eccentric decor at the garden.

I was right! They do have music performance at night. Too bad I couldn't check it out, next time then.

They have second story too but I didn't check it out.

I had the best salted caramel cake there. So yummy. I have tuna bruschetta too and I quite like it.

Since it was a short visit, I didn't try much of the food. So I can't say much about it. But overall, I would love to visit again and this time take my time to enjoy the ambiance and the food. 

If you love to drop by, here's the address:

China House Penang

Address: 153, Lebuh Pantai, Georgetown, 10300 Georgetown, Pulau Pinang

My 2014 Christmas

A quick post before I retreat to bed. It is raining since 6pm till now (10.23pm) and my bed and comfy blanket is calling for me. This will be a short recap of my Christmas 2014. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year simply because it makes me happy. Everyone is extra mushy and the weather is perfect because it rains most of the days and I just feel thankful for everything as I tend to reflect my year on the December especially when the new year is drawing near.

My Christmas tree is up on the third week of December. It is the same tree from the previous year with the same ornaments. Next year I'm gonna upgrade the tree and get a bigger one and get a theme for my ornaments. 

If I have a family of my own one day, I'm gonna instill the spirit of Christmas in them. We'll exchange gifts, write letters to Santa, open advent calender, have Christmas dinner, wear Christmas pjs and appreciate the togetherness of everyone.

If you're wondering why I don't start now instead of waiting for my own family to start the tradition, it is because not everyone in the family share the same love of Christmas with me. So, it will better to instill the spirit since young.

Steamboat on a rainy day for a friend's birthday. You can tell that we are all growing old up by the way we celebrate birthdays. Last time it was all about party and club but now it is a nice meal with loved ones. 

I hope this is not a sign that we are growing old and another step closer to be a boring person. T_T

Kompia for afternoon tea break on Christmas Day. So not Christmassy, I know.

My Bak Kut Teh lunch last week since I'm sharing about food here. You know the economy is bad when the price is marked up but the ingredients are cut down. Sucks :(

Walking my furry boy when it is not raining. Sorry you get VIP view to his asshole lolololol

The next day after Christmas I flew to Miri to join my family for a wedding dinner. It was a very last minute decision because I actually planned to stay in Sibu since I got something up here. But I haven't see my cousins in such a long time as we used to spend Christmas/new year together when I was still a student.

Attempting red lip and I quite like it. The lipstick is from Sephora and the color is ermm Red hahahaha. Good job on being straightforward with name Sephora.

Le cousin plus siblings.

With my brother that I flown in to surprise my dad. My parents were sure surprised to find him knocking on their hotel room in the morning. #successkid.jpg

The complete siblings set. From the eldest to youngest (from left to right)

Our whole family.

With le cousins <3 p="">

Posted this in my Dayre and it forced me to crop out my face, so repost here again. My dad now is such a Starbucks convert. He is the ones that always suggest for Starbucks every time we're in Miri or Kuching.

My dad birthday is on the last day of the year, so we throw a little early surprise for him since everyone are in town. We really nailed the surprise this year because he saw none of it coming or he is just really good at hiding it hahahha

This sums up my Christmas week and now I'm back to my daily grind. I'm really excited about the new year because it means a clean slate to start all over again for me. I've already starting to clear out documents at work to welcome the new year. 

Every year I set new year resolutions for myself and every year I've failed. Besides, my resolutions have not change for the past 3 years. It is always : 1) Save more money, control my spending 2) Get back to healthy lifestyle 3) Travel often.

Well, this time I'm gonna do it differently and I'll write another post for that.

#nolancharaforever

Two weeks ago, I witnessed one of my geng munyit saying goodbye to her single hood and married to the love of her life. It was a beautiful reception cum reunion for us because we haven't see each other for more than a year.

3 out of 5 of geng munyit. Omg, all of us look a little chubby. I guess it comes with the age hehehe

With the hot mama to be.

It feels like just awhile ago we went to class together and laughed at other people (our favorite past time) and now everybody has embarked on their career and start a family. Cliché as it may sound, time really flies and now we're all in our mid 20's. Man, I'm feeling all nostalgic writing this right now.

Move on the wedding reception.

One thing never change. We still love posing for camera hahhaa

Playing around with all the props at the photobooth corner.

Very apt.

The bride and the groom for their grand entrance. Her wedding dress is so beautiful, as elegant as she is.

The newlyweds in Bidayuh traditional costume.

Isn't she gorgeous? When the couple had their first dance to "Lady in Red", I couldn't help to beam and tear a little bit. It was such a romantic and beautiful moment.

With the bride. Missing one of our geng munyit here.

To Bern and Jon, I wish you both eternal happiness in your journey together building family. Seeing my friend happily settling down makes me feel so happy. :)

Penang Day 3: Street Art & Cycling

Note: Photos heavy post below

Day 3 of my Penang trip. Our plan for the day is just to sight seeing before catching our flight back to KL in the evening. 

But first, we hunt for breakfast. My friend found an old school cafe that serves old school breakfast. Think half boiled eggs/ charcoal toast and kaya.

It was just a few blocks from our hostel. 

Here we are

Toh Soon Cafe located at Campbell St Mall

It was super packed with tourists and senior citizens so we shared table with an uncle.

Why my camera chose to focus on my ice Milo? ='=

Love my floral frame sun glass which I got at the airport specifically for this trip

My ice Milo and kaya toast. So old school yet so tasty

Our whole spread

We had planned to rent a bike for sight seeing and hunting for street art. After all, that's what Penang is popular for aside from its food. I had not been on a bicycle for more than 10 years and was so happy to ride on an actual road with traffic. wtf

My bike, cute or not? Got basket and bell some more.

Thank God Penang road is good and the tarmac is even and they have bicycle lanes.

The only downside was that I wish I had brought along hat with me. The sun was shining bright and it was super hot. I made bad choices by wearing black top and forgot my sunblock. Oh, I forgot to bring water too. FML

First art spotted just a few blocks away

Most of the arts are scattered around Armenian Street. Every corners that you turn to, you bound to find some art/mural on the wall.

Even the shop owner also got creative

This is actually one of my favorite. It says "Kah lu kong Hokkien" means teach you speak Hokkien.

This is the popular one, kids on the bicycle.

It's obvious that these mural are getting old because some of the paint peeled and faded already.

Back alley that we cycled through

No water never mind, I got my watermelon.

Cold watermelon on super hot day was such a bliss.

A Chinese minion lolol

We cycled to the jetty and hang out there for awhile.

Asam popsicle for the hot day

Never thought that this mural is so secluded among the cafes. One could easily miss this spot amidst the chaos cafes. 

Eeeee

Our final stop on the cycling adventure is a cafe called China House which deserves a post on its own. I've covered most of the street arts in Penang but too bad I can't say the same of its food. Definitely will come back again in the future.