Penang, Malaysia Day 5: Aug 10-Drains, Lanes, Canes, and Surprisingly No Rains

**A couple pictures are up! More to come. Click on 'older posts' to see posts with picture, or click on the items on the sidebar on the right.**

One of the key parts I have left out is the weather! Nights have been twirled with thunderstorms and lightning while days contain rains mostly, but today there were surprisingly no rains. Having finally caught up on the blog, from now on, each thing i write is current to the day I write it. Hurray. Thanks for reading.

Waking up late as usual, my dad and I had to take my grandmother shopping at famous Campbell Street. Kind of the Pike Place Market of Seattle, Orchard Road of Singapore. Just a bit dirtier. Drains line the small lanes. These lanes are not your average drains though, these are giant sometimes 5 feet deep drains. Hold on to your kids.

Anyway, lunch for me before had been Kentucky Fried Chicken, a good old American fast food chain serving unhealthy stuff around the world. The one and only note about this KFC, was the staff was some of the best I've seen at a fast food restaurant. Since my fish burger took a bit longer, we all got complimentary small cups of coke, and each customer was greeted with a couple lines of unique conversation. Impressive.

For fruit, although there are plenty places to get it at Penang, I highly recommend the fruit shack/stall one street after Campbell Street, driving northwest. The guy is very friendly and fruit is at a cheap price for good fruit. Steamed corn is a bit plain, but very healthy and good.

After hanging around at relative's houses a bit, it was time for dinner. Queensbay Mall, along the eastern coast of Penang, just a touch south of the Penang Bridge, is stereotyped as being expensive and 'no good la'. Well, let's see.

As in most places around Penang, with the hot and humid weather, trotting into an air conditioned blasted room really puts one in a good mood. However, as the night wore on, the air conditioned got colder and colder and really uncomfortable. Picky? Yes. But seriously, Malaysians seem to either hate air conditioning or love it with an obssessive burning passion.

Paddington House of Pancakes is located in the South Zone on the first floor. Business seemed poor, but the colors of the menu are not poor. Never ever, have I seen such a menu. It seems to be more in place at a Borders across the hallway. A giant hardcover book thuds onto your table. I flip a page, flip, flip, flip, and flip some more. If reading the word 'flip' gives you a headache, well then you probably shouldn't go to this restaurant. Dishes can be called out in a 'chicken sausage with salami with egg with potatoes with american pancakes with tomatoes' in a blur, or a simple '406'. (406 is what I ordered and is actually what i stated there.)

Now the exchange rate between the Malaysian Ringgit and US dollar is decent, mind you, but people who live on Penang are stingy, so I am told. In that case, then Paddington's House of Pancakes is a big rip off for Penang standards. Dishes with fish cost 30-40 RM, while specials cost around 20 RM.

Even though the menu can give you a headache, it serves an abundant amount of choices. I never knew pancakes could be flipped so many ways so to speak. Crepes with sugar, crepes with salt, pancakes with salt, pancakes with sugar, buckwheat (?) (Russian Pancakes), Dutch pancakes, French Pancakes, Moroccan style crepes, Chicago styled pancake burgers. What a thrill. Reading the menu is a feast enough for me, as large portrait pictures entice you with larger than real life sparkling reflective entrees. I would buy one of these menus if I could; they are a masterpiece. However since they are soo big, some occasionally zoom in by sugar or salt, chicken or pork...or beef or fish or salmon or tuna or lamb or (fill in your country's meat). Thus zooming in encounters a slight problem.

One has the right to be slightly dissappointed when the food comes, as the pictures as usual look better. And bigger, as my aunt loves to point out. Have nothing to fear, just take one bite and instantly your mind will immediately try to justify the prices. Chicken sausage was the only bad thing, slightly undercooked for my taste, still a bit runny, but potatoes, salami, and pancakes were flawless topped off with a rich gravy. Dessert platters also look enticing, and a special on the menu is suitable for up to 10 people. 10 scoops of ice cream, with mini pancakes, with more pancakes and of course the complimentary scoop of syrup. Overall a great place, if you are willing to foot the bill.

One last thing is during the afternoon we looked for a cane for my relative. We went to a store close to Gurney Drive called PMS (yea), standing for Penang Medical Supplies. People were rather unfriendly and quite rude actually. Wouldn't recommend it.

Getting pretty tired now, so I shall sign off now. Gotta wake up early to meet someone at 11. Grr. Waking up early is hard. 'Night