Balik Pulau weekend

somehow the stars and moon were aligned for us. Carol was down for the weekend from KL, it was the durian season, we wanted to go food hunting, have a sleepover AND have a housewarming party at Maureens.... and we did it all in one weekend! changgih or not? lol

the place? Balik Pulau. yes, the OTHER part of penang, where when u get there, u'd think u are AWAY from penang, cause u don't really feel that u are in penang, hence we felt like it was a lil getaway/holiday for us. now of course, penang is famous for food, be it in georgetown or in Balik Pulau. so, when one is IN balik pulau, one MUST at least try 2-3 balik pulau specialities....

1st stop was supposedly hokkien mee and laksa at a serene outdoor/house place where durians and rambutans were sold as well...

the girls wanted hokkien mee, but it seems it was not sold here (looks like we went to the wrong "house", and since we were there, we tried the laksa instead.... not to my liking actually, it had chilly paste and tasted chilly-ey and not the assam fish soup that it's supposed to be in. we even tried the durians, cause we saw the other tables all enjoying it, but unfortunately, we only had a few good seeds, the rest were hard.... (i guess the ppl from the other tables were NOT penangites? hahahaha)

carol loved the plants and "sink"

... because we were not satisfied with our 1st trip, Maureen managed to find the other "house" that actually sells better hokkien mee, and it's at Jalan Baru, Balik Pulau. now if u can manage to find that jalan in your GPS or map, and able to find that road, then lucky you! u'll sure to find the house that has a stall outside selling hokkien mee and nearer to the road, another house selling lor bak...

the verdict? it was sooo much better than the 1st one we had. i'm not really a hokkien mee fan but i did do some tasting, the girls were better testers and they'd prefer this one, Jalan Baru, than the 1st place we went. now lets see what do they think of the hokkien mee at the market... hmm....

so after sunset mass, we were all looking forward for the housewarming makan, homecooked food potluck dinner. we had mutton curry (OMG to die for), chicken curry kapitan (YUMMY!), fried veg beehoon, briyani rice (both were lovely) and deserts!!! apple crumble and mango pudding.. imagine how stuffed we were tht night!

mutton curry.... yum meh!!

dinner was lovely, and the company was great too, we got to know Maureen's family a lil better and the kids were sweet too. when her family went back, as u can predict, the drinks came out! thanks to Irene, our "bartender-ess" (what do u call a female bartender?). but somehow we were too tired to get wasted after all that walking, driving around balik pulau in the hot sun. so after some chit chat and games... one by one were knocking off to lala land.. hahaah

the next day, we were supposed to get up in the morning to continue with our durian hunt. we somehow got up late (surprise surprise...) anyhow, we still went hunting whether we were late for our appointments or not... :P

so there we went to the (new) market, where the laksa (both asam and lemak), best hokkien mee, passumbur (only in evening), nutmeg juice...etc were located. now i don't know if the girls were hungry or not, but they said the hokkien me there at the market was the best, AND for me, the laksa lemak was.... mmmm....... they knew not to disturb me when i have a GOOOOOD meal infront of me.. lol

that's not all... after "breakfast", we headed back to pack and then went for the FINAL stop, the smelliest yet the best stop! DURIAN!!!! there was a durian fair at the look out point halfway through the journey to/fro balik pulau. and boy, that place was packed!! packed with families, packed with car clubs, packed with ppl like us.... u could see ppl with their big a$$ cameras as well! taking pics of the king of fruits :D

and we were NOT dissapointed this time, we had good grades and "cheaper" grades and even so, they were all great. it's not a durian buffet fare though, but i believe the prices were affordable as well. what i can say is that i think i got my money's worth. :D

so next time if you see a fare such as this, organised by the goverment or not, don't underestimate it. u'll find good deals at these fairs i tell u. i'm glad we managed to catch the fairs before it ended, with my girls! lovely... just lovely!