1st Wedding Anniversary trip to Malihom, Penang.

Our first wedding anniversary fell on 27 October 2013. We decided to go on a quick getaway to celebrate a week later.

I had looked around for a couple of weeks for the perfect place to go – we wanted somewhere not too far, secluded, comfortable and peaceful. We wanted to do absolutely nothing.

A few places appeared on our list and after more research, we decided to go with Malihom in Balik Pulau, Penang.

We left KL around 3pm and reached the foothill of Malihom at about 7.30pm. We forgot about the Deepavalli and Awal Muharram long weekend when we booked the place, so traffic into Penang Island was pretty heavy.

Malihom is truly a secluded place, if you don’t have GPS or Waze you might have trouble finding it, especially at night. The drive up the hill might also be quite challenging for some as the private road was only wide enough for one car. Malihom does have a proprietary traffic control system though, where you press a button at the top or the bottom of the hill which would turn on a light to warn oncoming cars. And I believe they provide transportation service for a nominal price.

We arrived at Malihom about 8pm and greeted by a few smiling staff. We were immediately served fruit juices and then whisked off to dinner. They had already set up a table on a top deck, our view was the faraway cityline and the Penang bridge.

I was really expecting food to be mediocre at Malihom as meals were included in the rates. How wrong was I! We looked forward to every meal!

# – Prawn salad, pumpkin soup and salmon with tomatoes. Dessert was lime cake, made daily by Malihom’s owner.

Soon enough, we noticed we’re the only guests at Malihom.

We retreated to our room, which was really a re-purposed traditional Thai rice barn. Our barn’s name was Sripartum or Source of Knowledge in english. We went to the library and picked up a few DVDs. There were plenty of books too but we had our Nooks with us.

Then we got serious….we switched our phones to airplane mode!!!!

# – Our bed. The balcony opens up to an unobstructed view of the sea.

Woke up early the next day. We were excited to check out the rest of Malihom as it was too dark to see anything the night before.

# – The view that greeted us in the morning. Missing it already!

# – The view to the right from our balcony.

# – Our barn…the Sripartum. It’s a split level villa with a bathroom below and the bed upstairs.

# – Breakfast was fresh fruits and egg in the hole for me.

After breakfast, we basically relaxed around Malihom.

# – Hubs enjoying the fish pond.

# – On one of the cool viewing platforms.

# – A beautiful path.

# – The viewing deck.

# – Chilling with my legs.

# – The resident sleepy cats.

# – The infinity pool.

We went swimming of course. We had the pool all to ourselves as the other guests wouldn’t check in until late afternoon.

# – My sweet husband helping me fix my bikini. The string had slid out.

# – My hilariously unappetising swimming face.

# – Hubs’ swimming face.

# – Have made this my Facebook cover photo.

After the swim, we went for lunch.

# – Fresh fruits, fried mushrooms and smoked duck.

After lunch, I drew a bath and had a long relaxing soak :)

# – Our tub with a view.

# – After a bath, I relaxed on our balcony.

We had the balcony doors and main door opened, creating a nice draft in the room. There was no need for aircon or fan. Hubs drifted into a nice nap while I read my book – OJ Simpson’s If I Did It, hehehehhehe.

# – My husband sleeps.

# – Woke him up in time for sunset.

And then it was dinner time. We were served amazing Burmese food! Most of the staff at Malihom are Burmese and after chatting with them, I found out that while they have a dedicated chef for other cuisines, for Burmese cuisines, they all contribute to the dishes.

# – Started with nutmeg soup (my first time – very nice) and an array of chicken and fish curries, salads and vegetables. Dessert was sweet sago.

And then it was time to sleep. We snuck in a few episodes of CSI (our choice of tv and books were unintentionally grim considering the context of the holiday :P) and dozed off to dreamland.

We woke up to Burmese breakfast called Mohinga – a traditional Burmese dish of noodles in fish broth. So, so, so delicious!

# – Mohinga with a fresh passionfruit and passionfruit juice. Passionfruits were available throughout the resort, the plants grow amazingly well at Malihom.

After breakie, we went for a swim again.

# – We made it 1 year! Decades more to come :)
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We had lunch after the swim, our final meal at Malihom.

# – Deep-fried okra, cracked black pepper salmon, chicken schnitzel and homemade lime cake.

While having lunch, it rained really heavily. So we sat at the deck for a couple of hours sipping tea and coffee waiting it out.

And then it was time to leave. Our initial plan was to have a food jaunt around Georgetown after we’ve checked out but because we were so relaxed, we decided to head home straight, avoiding the hustle & bustle. It was a good decision. We were in Penang but it didn’t feel like it. We felt like we were in a different country entirely – that’s how wonderful being at Malihom was.

# – The only thing Penang about our whole trip.

We’re definitely going back.

In Penang. Again!

Was so happy when the boyfriend suggested we head up to Penang for a getaway in conjunction with his mom’s visit to Malaysia. Penang is my favourite state hands down. Love the food, the architectures, the food….teeheehee.

It’s 1.30am now and I’m blogging in our hotel room in the dark because I’m such a dedicated blogger, right? Nope….the truth is my stomach is just too full for me to fall asleep :P

# – It’s been many times, but yet I still feel excited at the sight of Penang Bridge suspension hehe.

As soon as we crossed Penang Bridge, we headed towards Tanjung Bungah for the famous banana fritters and deep fried ninkou. They’re so good it’s not unusual to see Singaporeans buying 50 pieces at one go at this place!

# – 10 pieces each of both banana fritters & fried ninkous. As I regretfully discovered, was simply too much for 3 people :P

By the time we roused from the sugar induced coma it was time for dinner at New Lane. Sadly, the awesome stall selling pork intestine porridge was closed but I made it up with 2 plates of charkuewteow, a bowl of laksa and 3 pairs of kickass grilled chicken wings. For the record, I shared.

# – How to tell which chicken wing was eaten by a white person and which by a chinese? Chinese gnaws it down to the bones!

Before I knew it, supper greeted me in the form of hokkien mee (or prawn mee as we KLites call it) from Old Green House. This has got to be the most sumptuous version of Penang Hokkien Mee with the addition of roast pork, extra prawns, pork balls and other goodies. A little pricey but totally worth it!

# – Remember to order your Old Green House hokkien mee with Cintan noodles. By the way, the puny plate of lobak in this picture cost us RM9. Quite nice but whether it’s worth RM9 or not…I don’t think so.

The next day, while on the way to Kek Lok Si temple, we stopped at Kopitiam Taman Emas opposite Penang Girl’s School for its unique Penang laksa served with deep fried spring rolls. In all honesty, I’m not particularly taken by the noodles (though I must clarify that they’re still WAY better than the average stuff you get in KL), but my gawd the spring rolls? After dipped in the laksa soup, they’re capable of bringing joy & happiness even to the most cynical of mouths.

# – Who knew spring rolls and laksa could make such a killer combo?

Glad I had lunch because it was a challenge climbing up the pagoda at Kek Lok Si. Though I’ve been to Kek Lok Si several times, it was my first time up the pagoda. Everytime I thought I had reached the top, I was greeted by a new set of staircase. It was mindboggling…

# – View from like 2nd floor I think though I honestly thought this was top floor. By the time I actually reached the top floor I was too delirious to take a decent picture of the view -_-

I know, I need to work on my fitness :P

Before I end the blog post, here’s an obligatory camho picture from the grounds of Kek Lok Si…

# – Me and my zodiac sign, the rat.

Seriously, the rat statue kind of crept me out cause it looked so menacing. C’mon it’s more scary looking than the tiger okay? I wish they had made a cuter version!

Have a great week, peeps!

Penang Chee Cheung FUN.

Thanks to Kerol and Horng, both consummate foodies and Penangites for introducing this dish to me because it changed my entire perception of chee cheung fun!

No, it changed my life!!!!

“Chee cheung fun” is literally translated into pork intestine noodles. However, the only thing pork related about it is its name. It is just plain rice rolls but got its name due to its resemblance to pork intestines. When Kerol raved about this chee cheung fun with sweet sauce and chilli, honestly I was not very keen on trying it.

All because of my preconceptions of the innocent rice rolls. I particularly dislike the ones in KL because the sauces are almost always gloopy & nasty and the rice rolls too dry & dense. If I were to eat chee cheung fun, I only ever eat the Hong Kong style ones or just plain with sesame oil and light soya sauce. So really, how much better can this chee cheung fun be??

Well, it’s SO MUCH OMG BETTER!!!!

# – The stall.

The coffeeshop called Genting Cafe was packed to the brim when we reached there. There were other famous foods there too which we tried but lets focus on the rice rolls for now.

# – Kerol and Me with the most awesome chee cheung fun in the world.

So how did it taste like? It was literally the first time that I had ever tasted sweet sauce with hints of prawn paste and peanuts. It was genius! The prawn paste totally takes the sweet sauce to a whole new level. The silky rice rolls, slathered with the delicious sweet sauce and spicy chilli sauce, makes a hell of an ADDICTIVE dish!

# – ST was loving it!

This is definitely one of my favourite Penang food. Forget charkuehteow forget laksa, give me some chee cheung FUN!

# – ARGH NEED SOME NOW!

Anyone from Penang who can tarpao for me pretty please?????

Kedai Kopi Genting Cafe
Lorong Delima 3,
Island Glades, Penang.