Penang

Occupy Lebuh Pantai (Occupy Beach Street) is a fun street fair for families that happens every Sunday.   It is a street fair filled with games, arts and crafts, introductions of different cultural practices, cooking demonstrations and many other fun things to do. Fancy for a cleaver massage?

Since George Town was declared as one of the world's heritage sites, cycling has became a popular activity on the island. Bikes can be rent easily and more and more tourists can be seen cycling around the island.

This is just one of the many wall arts  scattered around George Town. This was done by a local cartoonist Reggie Lee.

One of the many popular childhood memories. "Fighting Fish". They are kept in individual glass jar because they fight if put together, thus the name. There are many varieties out there and each variety is unique and beautiful. Some called it Siamese Fighting Fish and some are referred as the Japanese Fighting Fish, but they are also known as Betta Fish.

Ah, and food, glorious Penang food. Asam Laksa - noodle with tamarind fish soup. Even Anthony Bourdain loves it.

Fried oysters with eggs. Sweet and succulent oysters, but not the type that is commonly eaten raw.

One of the popular cafes in town that serves foam art coffee. Coffee not so great but the foam art is cute! 

Bali

We decided to end year 2013 with a trip to Bali. Since we've been to Bali many times, we decided to go easy on this trip. We spent our days leisurely in the hotel, swimming in the ocean, napping, eating, taking walks and biking along the beach. We had a good deal on the hotel, we booked many months ahead of time and managed to get an upgrade! It was a really nice suite with a beautiful view!

 

Stunning view from the balcony every morning.

 

The pleasure of eating hard boiled egg with some sambal (chili paste) over steamed rice for breakfast! *heaven*

And of course non stop eating. One of our favorites is the Rijsttafel, we ordered it whenever we can because we really liked the multiple dishes that came with the order. It's all about sampling as many things as we can while we can.

One of a must try when one is in Bali is their duck dishes. Roasted, deep fried, baked, pulled, etc.  There was a restaurant that was famous for its duck right next to our hotel, after much contemplation we decided to try (also because they had options such as fish and vegetarian dishes). Not being a big fan of eating duck meat, I must say it was pretty yummy. Meat was lean, tender, well fried and juicy. Not fat at all. They also served one of the best avocado smoothie we've had throughout the entire trip!

We even checked out the local fruit market, the mango - Harum Manis (Fragrant and Sweet) is a must try. So sweet and succulent. Passion fruit, dragon fruit, mangosteen, snake fruit (because its skin looks like snake's skin) and many more.

It was really nice to bike along the beach in the mornings. 

Or just hanging out at the beach, reading, napping or swimming in the ocean.

 

On the days that we were out, we visited temples, and nearby towns. Goa Gajah a.k.a. Elephant Cave is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

 

Mount Batur, and active volcano on the island.

Tanah Lot, one of the famous shrine in Bali for worshipping sea gods. During high tide seasons, the pathway towards the shrine will be flooded making it looking like it's situated on a small island surrounded by vicious waves.

Bali o Bali how we love thee. My family's happy memories are filled with you. Hopefully we will revisit this place again and again in the future.

The King of Fruits

 

Durian. Either you love it or you hate it, well that is for most people. For me, I don't love it nor I hate it. I like it when it is just right. The key is to eat it when it had just ripen and still fresh. If it's overly riped, it tastes watery, mushy and emits a strong odor. There are myriads of durian out there, we've always been curious with how different each variety tastes like. So this was our chance to eat and compare. Question is, how does one open a thorny fruit?

Step 1: Get a strong knife, find a stance that gives you the best balance because you'll be needing some hand muscles. When the fruit is ripe enough, there will be a hair line crack at the bottom of the fruit. With one hand firmly holding the fruit (mind it's thorns), the other hand uses the knife to pry open the hair line crack at the bottom.

Step 2: Once the crack is big enough, with all your might peel the skin open.

Step 3: With more strength, split the fruit into half.

Finally, serve as if and enjoy. 

From Portland to Seattle

Every year we go somewhere new (for me that is) for Thanksgiving. I've never been to Seattle and I was dying to visit the lovely place via Portland. Unfortunately, I had a mild food poisoning on my first night in Portland. I was unable to feast on the uber delicious local flavors but I was able to capture some of my favorite spots.

   

How quaint.

Little Bird, my first lunch in Portland. This meal is so affordable, a prefix menu is only at $25 and the portion is good for 2. It was so yummy, I had soup of the day, a daily special and some desserts. They change their menu often, and I can't remember what I had. It's crazy that it came up to only $53 with all the food that we had and tax free!

Andina, beautiful ambience, beautiful live music and yummy peruvian food. The scallop was amazingly yummy, I was very inspired to learn to cook my own scallops. (*Note to self: Must learn to cook scallop.)

Voodoo Donut, another spot that made famous by Food Network. There was a line even at 9pm but the  service was fast and they're relatively cheap considering, even the most expensive item is not more than $3. Our box of 3 items came up to around $5.

The next day, we drove to Seattle and ventured into Pike's Place and the public market.

The wall is filled with graffiti and gums!

I love the public market at Pike's place, there are so many things to see. Apparently the food was also very yummy, but all I could digest was only graham crackers and bananas :(

The public market was deserted because it was Thanksgiving day.

The next day, it was all business again. Cheap seafood! 

Oh beautiful flowers like this starts at only $10!

These are slightly more expensive, almost $20 a bunch.

More fresh seafood!

Of course, not to be missed clam chowder and seafood chowder. 

I love the colors and the fresh produce at this public market.

One of the many pig bronze statues scattered around the public market.

And of course, not to be missed, the very first Starbucks.

I can't wait to visit Seattle again!