Gong Xi Fa Chai

It's been a whirlwind of activities leading up to Chinese New Year this time around and we didn't have a lot of time to do the usual decorations. 

I went with a mini festive table utilising what I could scavenge around our home. Yay to Daiso for the cute chick pot to welcome in the year of the rooster.

And because I now have a slight obsession with bonsai, my dad's friend showed me his collection, some of which are more than 30 years old. The gnarled branches curled around rocks, the tiny, lush green leaves and the soft, springy bed of moss were all amazing. Even Hubs, whose eyes usually glaze over at the mention of plants, found them fascinating and trailed his finger along some of the stems.

I'm thankful that both my family and in laws are in Penang so reunion dinner each time is a breeze. Hubs, Bubs and I spent lunch at my parents' and dinner at his parents' place. Mum broke with tradition this time around and made chilli crabs, one of my favourite dishes.

During Chinese New Year, we got all decked out in new clothes. The black assymetrical skirt was a gift from Aussie Godma and is one of my favourite, plus versatile pieces. 

Bubs very helpfully pointed out a day before that his feet grew too big to fit into all of his shoes. Thankfully he had some hand me downs still in great condition from his cousin so Bubs was more than happy with this bright orange pair of kicks.

On the second day, we visited Kelly's place for the annual lion dance that her folks usually host. Happy Chinese New Year, folks!

Fika Cafe, Penang

Fika Cafe, a beautifully restored prewar heritage house located in Lorong Toh Aka, offers traditional Swedish treats and a chic environment to just relax and watch the world go by from its tiny windows. Be warned that it's hard to find parking around this literally tiny lane so you might want to consider parking at Beach Street or better yet, rent a bicycle and explore this charming part of Penang.

It's easy to spot Fika Cafe with its Swedish flag displayed outside and gold painted moose at the top. Pots of fresh mint adorn the curb and are used as garnishes for the cafe's drinks and desserts.

Be still my beating heart. I loved everything about the cafe, from its raw concrete side benches skirting along the entire wall to the hand painted sky blue dresser that functions as a handy cutlery and fresh water holder. You've got to love a place that doesn't charge for plain water!

Bubs was more than enamored with the tiny play area. There were chalkboards, Swedish picture books, crayons and paper to keep little ones occupied while you enjoy your cuppa or outfit of the day post ;)

There's also a cute outdoor area where you can sit and chill.

The menu is entirely in Swedish so the owner was kind enough to recommend some cakes for us. This is a chocolate ball - which she assured us that is popular with children - and a tall glass of chocolate banana milkshake. Both Hubs and Bubs loved these.

I fell in love with the utterly decadent caramel pie heaped with sinful, thick cream and studded with fresh strawberries and slices of banana. It does get a bit rich after a while so I'd strongly recommend sharing this with a friend that has a sweet tooth.

While Bubs had fun sketching to his little heart's content and Hubs was quietly enjoying his drink, I took a quick walk down Lorong Toh Aka which has to be 1 of Penang's tiniest one way street. It was choc a bloc full of restored Nonya houses.

This is hands down my favourite with its sleek coat of black paint.

I wish I'd time to explore this tiny art gallery.

 

There were new street art pieces around Lorong Toh Aka and Beach Street.

Fika Cafe

20, Lorong Toh Aka, 10100, Georgetown, Penang.

Business Hours: Thursday to Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone: 6014- 940 4825

Canteen at Moh Teng Pheow, the Nonya Kuih Factory

Moh Teng Pheow, a nonya kuih factory right in the heart of Georgetown, has been churning out colourful little bites of delectable kuih for more than half a century. It recently opened up a space at the back of its space to serve foodies with tasty treats such as assam laksa, nasi ulam and mini pizzas.

There is limited parking around the area and it's controlled by a jaga kereta. Look out for the distinct red building. Do note that it's old school, so there isn't air conditioning but the place is well ventilated with ceiling fans.

The front part is still being used to make nonya kuih and we were lucky enough to spot some workers churning the giant vats. This is a tray of freshly baked kuih bengka with its distinct charred brown top.

The back is termed as the "canteen" where it's chockful of nostalgic bric a brac. Bubs was fascinated with the trishaw.

Hubs has a tough choice narrowing down his nonya kuih selection.

I love that the tables are re-purposed from discarded bits of old houses. This striking yellow and green trimmed table used to part of an old door! The must haves: a mini assortment of kuih (50 cents each): from clockwise: pulut tai tai, kuih talam and sri muka in addition to spring rolls (RM1.50 each).

We've heard so much about the assam laksa (RM5) so there was there was a build up of anticipation when we took our first mouth. The rich, fishy flavours were strong, well balanced but be warned, the spices was extremely fiery! This is something that you will need a tall, cold glass to wash the heat away.

Nasi ulam (RM7) is a bit of an acquired taste. If you like your greens, this is something you will fall in love with. It's a healthy dish loaded with lots of fresh herbs and sliced onions. I thought that this dish could have benefited from a tad of fried salted fish just to add some oomph to the flavours. The gu leng peng (milk with bandung/rose syrup - RM2.50) was something new to Bubs and me. It's Hub's staple during his high school days so that makes it a really old school drink ;) I liked the light, sweet taste flavouring the creamy milk, almost like a liquid version of ais kacang.

Moh Teng Pheow
Address: Jalan Masjid (Off Chulia Street), 10200, Georgetown, Penang.

Opening Hours: 10am to 5pm. Closed Mondays.

Telephone: 6012- 415 2677

New & Old Shoes

There comes a certain point in life where I have to bid adieu to sky high heels and start welcoming heels of a more sensible height. The issue, however, is that it is almost impossible to find shoes that have a decent height amidst a sea of gravity defying stilettos. 

Look and ye shall find ;) The beautiful shade of mint attracted me at the Nose sale and the soft fabric was so comfy. Can't wait to wear these as a pop of colour to a neutral outfit.

Aussie Godma shares my love of shoes and lace (preferably both together) and got me these lovely, black lace Aldo peep toes as an early Xmas present.

Given my passion for vintage and all things Nonya, my Grandma found these pair of manik (beaded) slippers still in immaculate condition. Apparently, the beads were hand sewn by my Great Grandma who passed away before I was born.

I was taken away at how intricate the design was and the tiny, tiny beads. It must have taken Great Grandma ages to complete sewing them! For now, I'm keeping them stashed away for a special occasion but can't wait for the day where I can wear them complete with a pretty kebaya.

Mum's Birthday at Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery

Last weekend was my Mum's birthday and since we've been wanting to try this new Nonya restaurant so we figured it was the perfect occasion to go.

I wore this maxi frock from Dorothy Perkins and I love how swishy the skirt feels plus the pretty floral print, which my Mum said reminds her of Vietnam.

You know how people always talk about what a small world is it? It turned out that Auntie Gaik Lean's husband is my Mum's long lost friend that she hadn't seen since the 70s. They didn't have whatsapp/Facebook/e-mail back in the dark ages so they were pretty excited to catch up :) Guess that was a pretty good birthday present for her. For those of you familiar with Penang back in the good ol' days, the shop lots used to belong to BP de Silvia jewelers and you'll be pleased to see that a lot of the original fixtures are kept.

A round up of the more interesting drinks we had that night (left to right) nutmeg punch, ang thng chooi (rose syrup) with chia seeds and check this out: an old school Sprite glass bottle! I asked if we could bring the bottle back but unfortunately, they have to return it back to the distributors. Anyone knows where can I find another one of these? Bubs was mystified with the floating chia seeds (or are they basil seeds?) in the rose drink and kept asking what were they. I told him they were frogspawn and soon, little tadpoles and froggies would swim about in his tummy ;)

We ordered quite a number to sample. There was kerabu rice and kerabu beehoon (my absolute favourites, whenever in doubt at a Nonya restaurant, I always go for these!), we'd a variety of fried and spiced goodies, from inche kabin (marinated fried chicken), otak otak (steamed spicy fish cakes), joo hu char (shredded turnip and cuttlefish stir fry) to a simple onion omelette for Bubs. The food was good, a bit on the pricey side but made up with the fab environment.

 

For birthday cakes, you can never go wrong with Mon Delice. This time around, we tried their Earl Grey cake and to make it look more celebratory, I plonked a Lego minifig on top of it. This lil Mexican guy is from the Lego Movie (which we brought Bubs to go watch) and Bubs promptly claimed it for himself.

Happy Birthday, Mum!

Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery
No.1, Bishop Street
Penang, Malaysia
Phone: +6042638121 / 0124492121

Food and Fun with Aussie Godma

Bubs was a very lucky little kid with back to back visits from both Godmas. This round, Aussie Godma was back from Sydney and we managed to squeeze in a quick visit. Hubs was an absolute God sent for babysitting Bubs for a couple of hours while Aussie Godma and I did what we do best: girly shopping and catching up on gossip ;)

Aussie Godma rocking in electric blue jeans, stripes and her identical Zara sequin clutch. I laughed when I saw her because I was wearing a striped dress too. When we were shopping, we both picked out similar clothing and once, we showed each other exactly the same dress but in different colours. We're fashion twins, I tell you!

She has a thing for Pandora bracelets. Bubs gave her a gift box Pandora bead (in lieu of the real thing wrapped up in a blue box and a white bow) for her birthday this year.

Aussie Godma had a craving for all food local and we were too lazy to walk out to the food court at Gurney so we went to the next best place: Old Town Kopitiam. The drinks we had were sooo yummy: fizzy rose and rose bandung cincau (milky rose drink with grass jelly).

I am in lurrrve with this Topshop peplum dress. The dark navy blue material is slightly thicker than their earlier range of peplum scuba dresses and the peplum at the waist hid my full tummy and added a very generous curve. The only reason why we both didn't walk away with a piece each was the zip :( The thicker material meant that the zip got stuck at the peplum each time we tried to zip/unzip it. We checked out the other sizes on the rack and the sales assistant told us that it was a complaint with everyone that tried it on, the online review also mentioned this. Topshop - fix the zipper and I guarantee you, it will fly off the shelves!

Hubs and Bubs then met up with us at Straits Quay since Aussie Godma hasn't been there before. The balloon stall at the weekend flea market was a huge hit with most of the kids we saw holding on to a large inflated angry bird.

Dinner was at Nonya Breeze which served a really good range of authentic Nonya dishes - tasted almost like the ones my Mum makes, especially the perut ikan. I highly recommend the kerabu bee hoon as well. The waitresses were all decked in Nonya kebayas and sarongs too!

Aussie Godma and Bubs looking at the yachts - eying which one they could steal to sail around the world. Bubs was showing us how he could slide his head between the rails and I was so scared it'd get stuck there.

Aussie Godma came prepared with a huge haul of goodies for Bubs and I. Since she couldn't find the gold sequined Zara clutch that we both wanted, she got me this fabulous metallic gold threaded clutch instead. Can't wait to style it up!