The biggest festival in Penang - Thaipusam - starts tomorrow, February 6, 2012. Here again is a look at Thaipusam from last year...
Penang's Spice Gardens - Then & Now
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| Penang's Tropical Spice Garden |
In my right hand, I squeezed the orange, plastic chopsticks and lifted the koay teow noodles into my mouth. Mark slurped up the last drops of his fresh nutmeg juice and raised his eyes to my drink. I kept my other hand tightly around the glass. It was automatic when I heard that sound.
“Can I just have a sip?”
“Nop.”
“Just a little.”
I shook my head and slid the glass of nutmeg juice closer to me. I had heard that line before. Of course, I wasn’t the first Southeast Asian in history to hear it. White guys have been following the Spice Route to this part of the world for 500 years trying to steal nutmeg.
Street Scene: Raining Desserts
We are well into rainy season in Penang, and while I previously wrote about how to escape the rain on the island, sometimes it's best to get your feet wet and wait in line with the locals at Lebuh Keng Kwee for a dessert of the colorful sweet ais kacang, or the famous cendol - a mix of white (coconut milk), brown (gula melaka - palm sugar) and green (pandan flavored rice flour in a jelly form).
Don't forget to bring your umbrella...or your red hat...
Zee Avi in Penang
From singing in her room in Malaysian Borneo, straight to signing with a major music label in the US - that's the power of YouTube.
After a few years of making records and successful tours around the US, my favorite Malaysian singer, Zee Avi, is finally coming home. She will be performing this Friday night at Straits Quay. See you there!
You can buy tickets online or at the AirAsia office on Chulia Street.
One cup of herbal tea a day, keeps the doctor at bay 凉茶一杯
Chinese in Penang drink herbal tea when they have sore throat, fever, indigestion, and whatever else ails them. We can’t prove the healing powers of drinking herbal tea, but we are certain you will feel better when you stand in the middle of an historic George Town street, late at night, next to a Chinese auntie and a tea cart, watching yourself in a giant mirror gulping down a refreshing drink.
Our favorite? Chrysanthemum tea mixed with something slightly bitter, which is cleverly called bitter tea - 苦茶.
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