Archives for 2009

what’s in a name?

December 10, 2009 By Suanie 16 Comments

One of the absolutely worst things about me is that I have difficulty remembering names. It’s a horrible place to be, especially if you are at a social function and you somewhat know you’ve met him or her before, yet you can’t recall his or her name to save your life (or face).

I know all the theoretical tricks of memorising names. There was a part about this in one of Dale Carnegie’s books where a dude endeared himself by remembering EVERYONE’s names. He did that by muttering the other person’s name to himself a few times, and/or write down the name followed by an association, e.g. interested in fishing. I’m so terrible at this that I can’t even remember who the dude was.

Trust me, I’ve tried. Unfortunately it’s a bit difficult because sometimes I don’t see the person until a few months later, or even a year or two after our first meeting. By then my memory capacity would have already been loaded and reloaded hundreds of times. See lah, all those vitamin and memory enhancement stuff that you are supposed to eat before your exams in school that your mothers force you to swallow down even though they may taste like the foulest things on earth? My mother never gave me any of that so I’m putting all the blame on her. Makes life easier 😀

So mom, it’s really all your fault that I can’t remember people’s names. Me being overweight? Your fault too! Bwahahahahaha!

Seriously (as if I’m anything but), it takes a few times of meeting up and talking in real life for me to get your name right. I know it’s a disrespectful thing not to know your name and I’m really sorry about it. I’m trying, I’m trying…

Sometimes I try the old trick of trying to get the other person to say his or her name first so I would appear as if I know who they are. It goes like this…

Person A: Hey Suanie how are you?
Me: Hey!! Nice meeting you again!
Person A: Yah bla bla bla yadda yadda…
Me: Oh.. erm, hey have you met So-and-So?
Person A: Hello So-and-So, I am This-and-That.
Me: Yeah I met This-and-That at [insert function name here].

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t especially if Person A does not take the initiative to reveal his or her own name first! Then what do you do? Act dumb la. Don’t tsk me, I’m sure you all have done it before!

I am still reeling from the embarrassment of an incident that happened a couple of months ago. I was at a play and was hanging out with the cast afterwards. One of the cast members came to me and said hi. I know I’ve met her before, I just can’t remember her name! Terrible kan, especially seeing her on stage earlier.

So I tried to zig-zag a bit until she caught me…

Her: You don’t remember me ah Suanie?? I met you with so-and-so at this-and-that! I am [insert her name here].
Me: [red-faced in embarrassment] I know who you are!! Great job with the play!
Her: -_^

Die.

16 Comments Filed Under: Assorted Blah

7 things i learned from original bootcamp malaysia

November 5, 2009 By Suanie 30 Comments

So this is my 4th month into Original BootCamp Malaysia. Needless to say but I still need to say it, I learned quite a bit about OBC culture — immersed myself in it even. Since I get tonnes of e-mails asking me about Bootcamp, what it’s like etc, I’d like to share some of the things I learned along the way.

Bear in mind that these are my personal observations as a Bootcamp recruit, not endorsed by the instructors yadda yadda yadda, maybe some recruits don’t share the same sentiments. Whatever lah, what’s the use of a personal blog if you can’t use and abuse it, right? So here goes, in no particular order…

1. If you are late, make a run for it.

If you don’t already know by now, the entire platoon gets punished for absentees/ AWOL (without informing the instructors earlier) and late-comers. Usually the punishment consist of burpees, an exercise that I cannot show you in real life outside of Bootcamp because I absolutely and thoroughly hate it. You’ll have to take my word for it that burpees suck the living breath out of you, insert Harry Potter reference here.

In the beginning, I used to focus my anger at those who cause us burpees. Nowadays I just get down and get on with it because ~~I’m a forgiving person by nature~~ there are some things in life that you just cannot predict. I know, I’ve been there myself. So suck it up and finish off those burpees lah. In a way, it builds team rapport which is essential because that is what OBC is about — teamwork, team mates, team building.

However late-comers have to seng mok a bit lah. If you are late by a few minutes and you see the rest of your platoon already doing their warm-ups, make a run for the training ground. Doing a slow catwalk when you’re already late doesn’t endear you to the rest of the platoon. It’s confirmed that the platoon would be punished, so run your heart out and look damn apologetic. In short, look like you’d give your whole fortune to them. Do unto others, right?

2. Cheating is bad. Being stupid at cheating is worse.

Often the intensity of Bootcamp sessions is overwhelming. The recruits understand that, everyone have been and will go through it. Everyone’s fitness level is different, so it doesn’t mean that older recruits will breeze through the sessions just because they’ve been doing it for a couple of months. Come on, 10 minutes of warm ups and warm downs and 50 minutes of hardcore workout with less than 5 minutes breaks in between — it’s tough.

But that’s Bootcamp for you. It’s not easy but it works. The instructors often say that it’s okay to do the exercises slowly as long as you do them correctly. Even that can be hard, so sometimes you sneak in a couple seconds of self-recovery, which means taking long deep breaths during that couple seconds. Then you get back to whatever you are doing and try to complete it.

This one also have to be smart about it lah. Of course I do not endorse cheating lah (ahem), but if you have to take those couple of seconds, please try not to do it when the instructors are all around you. In short, it’s faster for them to add on time to the workout than you trying to breathlessly explain that you need those seconds. You know, to live.

Unless you’re already seeing stars and having images of black sheep charging at you or something, then it’s a different story. But I doubt that lah. The sheep, that is.

3. Do not take things personally.

I don’t know about you but for me, everyone is a monster during the entire hour of a Bootcamp session. That includes instructors, fellow recruits and myself. People will yell, scream and shout but not in a negative way because that is how recruits motivate each other. If you slow down, we will shout at you to keep up. If you fall behind, some of us may run back to where you are and run with you, shouting words of encouragement so you may feel motivated to go on. If the instructors add on time to the workouts because you paused for 10 seconds too long, that one no need to say lah, fellow recruits WILL shout.

Because we are in the same platoon mah. We do things together-gether one. There’s no self in a team. Everyone wants to get better and fitter. You sign up for Bootcamp, well you just signed up to do it the harder way. This is not a fancy gym. This is a outdoor, MILITARY-INSPIRED workout group where you get grass, mud, puddles of dirty water, frogs, earthworms, sand flies everywhere. Everyone gets dirty, sweaty and irritated. Everyone is the same.

Personally I’ve been yelled at many times by fellow recruits. I’ve learned not to take it personally because it is not personal. Lest I frighten you with visions of training ala Full Metal Jacket, I can assure you that it’s not humiliating and derogatory at all. Shouting and yelling is not necessarily negative and you learn to take it in stride. Over time you improve and you make new, good friends. That is how it works. I can’t tell you how appreciative and grateful I am to have fellow recruits encouraging me from across the field. How very wonderful it is when someone fitter bounces back and runs along with you, whether or not he or she has to do it.

And that is how we work out.

4. Maybe you don’t really need that water break after all.

We get 30 secs, 45 secs or 1 min 30 secs of water breaks in between our session. 2 mins if Sergeant’s in a good mood 😉 After the 1st week into the new month, the breaks become shorter. Over time you learn that some water breaks are not really water breaks; they are just very short breaks. As per awesome illustration above, you get 30 secs of water break. If you are very near to where the water bottles are, you can just run down and have a gulp of water then run back. If you are in the middle of the training ground, please feel free to have your water if you are a sprinter. If you are at the furthest end of the training ground, you don’t have time to run down, drink your water and run back. Just make use of that 30 secs to take deep breaths, calm yourself down. The water’s not worth it, the burpees for punishment when recruits don’t make it back to their stations on time are lagi not worth it.

You may think that it’s not fair that some recruits get their water and you don’t. Well life is not fair. Sorry to say but suck it up. From experience, there may be longer water breaks after a short one so you will eventually get to drink some. I’ve seen a few recruits who complete Bootcamp sessions without a single drop of water during the fasting month. They are still alive and well 🙂

5. Do. Not. Drop. Anything.

I know you hate the equipment used during sessions. I hate them too. But I hate burpees as punishment more so I take extra care not to drop anything that I’m carrying. It’s okay if you don’t get it the first couple of sessions. After so many additional burpees as punishment, I’m sure you will get it as well.

6. Do not talk when the instructors are talking.

Actually this is the first thing they tell you when you go for your first session. Then you’ll receive an e-mail from Selva reminding you of the same. Paiseh to say but I learned this the hard way. Kena from Corporal Dharmen kau kau 😛 So if you do not understand the instructions, try asking the instructors instead of fellow recruits. Most likely they will repeat the instructions another time. Or you look at what people in front of you are doing, and learn along the way lor. Not that hard what.

7. We are a team.

Kim says that it’s as if I belong to a cult. No lah. It’s just that it may be difficult for people who have not gone through a Bootcamp session to understand it. Then she doesn’t want to wake up early in the morning and/or sacrifice her Saturdays during Bring-A-Friend sessions, what to do lah 😛 HINT HINT!

As I may have mentioned before, only a fellow recruit knows what you are going through and what you have gone through during Bootcamp sessions. Sure, it is physically-challenging, but it’s more in the mind than anything else. I used to say that it’s difficult lah I’m not fit lah I no stamina lah this lah that lah… then over time I come to realise that it’s more mentally than physically taxing.

The instructors understand this all too well, that’s why they push us as hard as they do. Motivation and encouragement from fellow recruits also help a lot because they too go through everything that you are going through. Hence I believe it’s important to have an open mind and heart when you are at Bootcamp. Might just help to push yourself to try harder.

You also make lovely new friends such as myself, bwahahahahaha!

— — —

I’m sure I’ve learned more than 7 things from Original BootCamp, but this is already a damn ass long blog post. Besides my limited artistic ability somehow translates to being arsed to draw out only 7 of the illustrations. So there.

30 Comments Filed Under: Assorted Blah Tagged With: Original BootCamp Malaysia

original bootcamp malaysia: s03e01

October 6, 2009 By Suanie 13 Comments

Assessment days never get easier. This is my 3rd month of Original BootCamp Malaysia which means my 3rd assessment. Still feels like shit, especially the 1-mile run after everything we had to do.

First month I clocked in at 26 minutes. I suspect that it’s a combination of 27+ years of non-exercise plus the previous weekend’s hike to Kemensah Falls. Second month I clocked in at 14m 35s. I like to tell this to the newbies because it gives them some sort of hope, heh 😉 This morning, my time for the 1.2km run + 45 push ups on knees + 30 grunts + 45 sit ups was … jeng jeng jeng… 13m 44s! Mai hiam si beh pai lah. For the 1-mile (1.6km) run after that, I clocked in at 14m 58s, two seconds before the cut off time. Don’t really care about this one because it’s a miracle I’m still alive.

Lots of newcomers this morning. You can always tell the newbies from the oldies, because the oldies never sprint during the 1st round, heh. So it is true that wisdom comes with experience! But apparently there are a few marathon runners new to BootCamp, and I’m sure they will kick my arse the next session.

It’s okay. This is not a competition with anyone but yourself. When I keep telling people that I’m doing it at my own pace, it’s not just the laziness talking. Well, a bit lah but for the most part it’s important to just do what you can. I am doubtful that my jogging/ running will get any better, so I don’t expect a better time for next month’s assessment.

That said, much thanks to Kevin for running the final 200m with me even though he’d completed his run. It did help me to go on, so much appreciated! 😀

Last Saturday evening, we had our graduation dinner and drinks at the Borneo Rainforest Cafe. Horng asked me why I am graduating again. I just told him I like lah, I can graduate every month because it’s a monthly programme 😛 Also my fellow BootCampers are cool people and it’s nice to hang out with them.

Back row L-R: EanMei, Vanessa, Derek, Kevin, Ruk, Su-Ann, Sharon, Mi Lin.
Front row L-R: Melanie, me, Sean, Pamela. Photo by EanMei

After dinner and chilling out for a while, some of us went to the Borneo Rainforest pub/bar where we had a jolly good time dancing et al. Photos are on my Facebook so if you are not a friend, too bad 😛 Here’s another group photo with some of our instructors. Which ones are the instructors? If you see anyone with hints of a 6-pack, then confirm it’s them lah.

Back row L-R: Tricia, Melanie, me, Sharon, Ruk, Sean, Vanessa, Mi Lin, Pamela, EanMei, Su-Ann, Jason. Front row L-R: Darmin, Faizal, Sim, Sayshan, Jon, Daniel. Photo by EanMei

Some mateys won’t be joining us for the next or next couple of months. Come back soon Jaime, Megaa and anyone else who has to go away for a bit! Hooyah!

13 Comments Filed Under: Assorted Blah Tagged With: Original BootCamp Malaysia

original bootcamp malaysia: s02e08

September 24, 2009 By Suanie 21 Comments

Ever since I joined Original Bootcamp Malaysia, I’ve not been able to breathe in deeply without feeling it at my mid-riff section. I always tell people that the amount of weight/fat I have to lose is the thickness between where I touch my mid-riff and where the muscles actually hurt. I might not have conveyed this very well in words, but if I ever see you in real life and you really want to know, tell me and I’ll demonstrate.

That said, I could hardly believe that this morning was the 8th session for this month. Time flies, especially when it’s 3 times a week, no reprieve for holidays and festivities (unless you apply for leaves yourself lah). For unknown reasons, I find myself struggling in my 2nd month. I feel more tired and everything seems to be more difficult. I think my inherent lazy nature is setting in and it’s a mental battlefield to keep myself going.

So I was thinking to myself today, maybe I should not be so opposed to the idea of doing more. For example, we have 4 stations this morning — we do one exercise (3x for Rangers, 5x for Seals) then either do a bear/ back/ gorilla crawl to the next station where we have to do another exercise, then sprint (or try to run 😉 )to the next station, rinse and repeat. The exercises are a mix of military push-ups, shoulder push-ups, sit-ups, squats, lunges etc.

I hate running. I hate shoulder push-ups. I hate mountain climbers. I hate grunts. I hate thrusters. I ESPECIALLY HATE BEAR/ BACK CRAWLS! I can’t tell you how much I hate bear and back crawls but I’ll try. I hate them as much as I hate watered-down beer. I hate them as much as I hate Gmail fucking up. I hate them as much as I hate Twitter’s Fail Whale. I hate them as much as I hate that stupid Chinese shop who refused to give me extra chilli because I already asked for a lot. Hello, some people consume a lot of chilli okay! It’s my problem lah if I want to fuck up my internal organs from overdosing on chilli, just give me the damn chilli!

~~I also hate it when the instructors happen to see that I’m not giving my all then yell at me to stop procrastinating 😛~~

Actually it’s a frustrating process when you cannot do more. Sergeant Sim once said that it’s ALL mental, and I retorted that it’s not, it’s a lot of physical as well! But come to think of it, he was right. That last push to the final station, can I make an all-out run for it or do I wait around for the instructor to yell “STEADY!” for half a minute of water break? Kicking my legs, swooshing my thunder thighs in the air… fuwah damn pain okay! Hmmm how do I cheat, even so slightly? Heh.

So yes, it’s all in the mind and I suppose I’ll just have to suck it up. I guess it doesn’t hurt to chant to myself, “I love grunts, I love bear crawls, I love mountain climbers (but I don’t), I definitely love tyres!” Will see how that works out.

You may be wondering, if I’ve so much internal struggle within me about this bootcamp business, why the hell do I keep going? Almost everyone I’ve talked to about it commented that it’s paying good money for someone to torture you.

I’ll tell you why. It feels like shit during, but it feels great after. I love my PJ platoon. My fellow bootcampers have been so encouraging, the community is amazing. There’s nothing like a mamak outing after a gruelling session to bitch about the various exercises that we had to do that day, and it’s something only your fellow bootcampers can understand the whats, whys and hows you are feeling. The instructors have been brilliant (though strict) and my techniques have improved thanks to them (which makes a lot of the exercises slightly easier). I don’t look half-dead all the time, most people commented that I look more alive 😛

The best part is, I’ve went down one size! Heheheh… well I was doing some shopping yesterday and decided to try on a pair of jeans that is one size smaller than what I usually wear. It fits GREAT! I won’t tell you the size, let’s just say that it used to be super massive. Now it’s just massive 😉

Also a lot of people have invested in my bootcamp participation. My eldest sister paid for my 1st month of bootcamp as my birthday gift. My second sister sometimes help to wash my t-shirts and such, and filled out my water bottles so my lazy arse didn’t have to. She also bought me a pair of Nike Free 3.0 yesterday which costs quite a bit. It feels damn good on my feet and I a bit sayang to wear them to the field, so I guess I’ll wear them when I eventually exercise on my own outside of bootcamp.

Not to mention 2.5 months of bootcamp fees from these people…

Top L-R: Jaime, Oy Cheng, Joanne, Jessie, Mi Lin, Mark, Kevin, Derek, Carol, Horng, ShaolinTiger.
Bottom L-R: Wuan, Peter, Megaa, me, KY, Rachel, Kim

Jaime organised a surprise birthday party for me on Tuesday at WIP in Bangsar Shopping Centre. Apparently e-mails were flying around about a week before my birthday, I heard that there were some questions if I would be back from Ipoh/ Penang on time! There were also some fake tweets by Kerol, KY and ShaolinTiger to cover line. All very nicely done my friends 😉

Well it was a very lovely surprise and I was most happy to see my dearest and closest friends there. Apparently Jaime had told them that if they wanted to give me something but didn’t know what to get, they could contribute to a fund for my bootcamp sessions. So they did and it came in a water tumbler, stuffed with lots of money, a Starbucks voucher and a card. Like I said, it’s worth 2.5 months of bootcamp sessions, so I guess they really do want to see me there… heh.

I’m well touched. If I could cry, I would have 😛 Since I’m not the overly-emotional type THESE DAYS, I can only tell you lot that I appreciate it very much. It’s more than just the money, it’s the whole spirit behind it that is overwhelming. To my closest friends, you know how much I love you people. To my bootcamp buddies, you are the best platoon ever! Thanks for putting up with me 🙂

Also much thanks to everyone who sent me birthday text messages as well as well wishes on Facebook, Twitter and the like.

So, Bring A Friend for Original Bootcamp Malaysia is this Saturday, 26th September 2009. My session is from 7-8 a.m. Any takers? 😉

21 Comments Filed Under: Assorted Blah Tagged With: me wants to be a lean machine, Original BootCamp Malaysia

the great penang getaway: august ’09: day 03 & 04

September 17, 2009 By Suanie 11 Comments

We woke up rather early in the morning (by our standards) for breakfast. Parkroyal Penang’s breakfast buffet spread was quite decent. The only item that really stood out was the porridge where you can add your own condiments. I am not sure if it’s really that good or we just really like porridge.

Went back to our room to wait for Hot Chick and Aaron as they were coming by to swim in the pool a bit. Had time on our hands, what to do, camwhore lah.

After about an hour of frolicking in the pool, Horng and Putri came by to check out our suite. Then checked out of the hotel, then went for lunch at… you guessed it, Lorong Selamat’s char kuey teow. Sorry but I just love it okay. The auntie selling drinks at the shop recognised us again, and the ‘bak hu’ auntie came around and sang more songs for us. We also ordered a plate of oh-chien there and I think it’s better than the one we had at New Lane the evening before.

For our 3rd night in Penang, I’d booked a standard room in Cititel because I thought it would be convenient for our friends who were ferrying us around the island. Worst. Mistake. Ever. It’s not TOTALLY horrendous but almost there lor. For the RM 250 that I paid for our room at Cititel, I could have booked 2 rooms and 2 dorm beds at Hutton Lodge and made it my palace. The whole situation was just miserable and depressing lah. You go look at the photos, I don’t want to talk about it any more.

Rested for a while before getting ready to go to Peter and Wuan’s wedding dinner. Taxi driver was a bit blur with the venue, but we managed to get to the restaurant just fine. Then found out that the groom was late, hah! 😛 I’d told Peter that we could help him at the dinner, so we duly sat down at the reception table to do our jobs 😉 The funniest thing was when the auntie selling drinks at Lorong Selamat char kuey teow was one of the guests, and she got a shock when she saw me, again. Heh.

I don’t know why, but even the food at the wedding dinner was delicious. Is it the Penang water or what?? Anyway it was quite a fun wedding dinner with plenty of hilarious moments. It was great seeing Peter and Wuan tie the knot… well, the Chinese way. They are lovely people and a wonderful couple, and I am so glad and happy that things worked out the way they did 🙂

Group photo of us below: Me, Shirley, Horng, Putri, Angeline, Cheng Leong, Dale, Erna, Wuan, Peter, Bryan and Angeline.

I’d told some of them not to gorge themselves too much as I’d planned for us to go to Kapitan’s after the dinner. So we did, Hot Chick and Aaron joined us for a while before they had to go elsewhere. I think we wiped out Kapitan’s supply of tandoori chicken for that night, heh. It was a great night out indeed.

Nothing much to report on the 4th day in Penang. Woke up, checked out, walked to Transfer Road for roti canai and beef curry (yummy!), walked to Lorong Selamat for char kuey teow (again) then got into a taxi and went to Hot Chick’s place. Hung out for a while before she sent us to the airport.

It was a short flight back to KL. Unfortunately I’d drank too much water and by the time the plane landed at KLIA, I was almost bursting out. As everyone got their luggage down from the compartments, I squeezed my way through (it was a full flight), asked the MAS stewardess if she could let me go out first to save my kidneys. She kindly did and I must have shocked the business class passengers 😛 One of them giggled at me, obviously comprehending my situation. Bleh to you too.

84 photos at my Flickr set for Penang, August 2009 here.

*Note: This trip was partly sponsored by Malaysia Airlines. Go check out the best fares at www.malaysiaairlines.com

11 Comments Filed Under: Travel + Trips Tagged With: batu ferringhi, cititel, georgetown, parkroyal, penang, pulau pinang

the great penang getaway: august ’09: day two

September 16, 2009 By Suanie 13 Comments

We woke up at 9 something in the morning, started packing our stuff then checked out of Hutton Lodge. Left our bags with the friendly receptionist then ventured out for noms. I’d love to say that we wanted to eat everything Penang has to offer and our food itinerary is jam-packed with different places to go to. Unfortunately that was not the case and I only had Lorong Selamat’s char kuey teow on my mind. Shirley was more than accomodating, so we set out to walk to Lorong Selamat.

As we both were so brilliant that we didn’t have/ bring a printed-out map (no matter, I can’t read one anyway),we relied on my Nokia Maps on my N82. Of course it works, unfortunately I didn’t understand how it works. Took a couple of wrong turns, and I spotted a blue wall with a stall selling roti canai next to a mosque. I turned to Shirley and said, “Eh I think this is famous lah. Supposed to be good. I saw a photo of it on someone’s blog.”

Shirley said to give it a try, so we got a place and sat down. Got ourselves a roti kosong each with curry chicken, a teh tarik and a set of roti bakar. The roti bakar came with half-boiled eggs on top. It was the first time I’d seen it served this way, though Horng later told me that it’s common in Penang.

The roti canai was not bad lah. The difference was the curry chicken, very tasty! I don’t remember how much we paid for our breakfast but it wasn’t expensive. I asked a guy sitting at the next table for the name of the stall. He said, it’s just known as kedai roti canai along Transfer Road, and everybody should know it. GPS coordinates: 5.4201, 100.3302.

We walked towards the wrong end of Transfer Road to get to Lorong Selamat. Finally asked a couple of people for directions. Everyone was very surprised that we were going to WALK anywhere. “Wah, very far you know!!” was the common expression whenever we ask for directions. True, I would not walk in KL/ PJ/ Batu Pahat, but it’s normal to walk when you are a tourist. When you come to think of it, the locations are not very far away. Penang is so small what! It’s the heat and humidity that’s killing.

Anyway we got our directions, walked towards the correct end of Transfer Road, got on Burmah Road and walked all the way to Lorong Selamat for…

Hooray! I got a normal order this time, instead of the extra-spicy I ate yesterday. Could really taste the charcoal fumes, which made it more delicious! 😉 The people working at the shop recognised us, heh. As it was somewhat early and there were few customers, Shirley decided to try to converse with the auntie cooking the char kuey teow. As she passed by our table…

“Auntie, ni de kuo tiao hen hao chi!” (Auntie, your kuey teow is delicious!)
“Hao chi ar? Hmmm.” (Delicious? *Acknowledgement* Hmm.)

So brave, hahah.

On the way back to Hutton Lodge, I couldn’t take the heat any more and bought an umbrella at 7-11. When we reached Hutton Lodge, there was a taxi at the courtyard. We asked if he could help get us a taxi to Parkroyal at Batu Ferringhi. Sure, for RM30! Well, taxis in Penang are not cheap, so suck it up lah. About 5 minutes later, his friend reached Hutton Lodge and off we went to our second accommodation.

Parkroyal Penang! First time I was there was with Jaime and Janice, and it was cost-free 😉 . I’d wanted to return ever since, unfortunately neither me nor anything I own is made of gold. Since this trip was partly sponsored by MAS, I decided to take the plunge and book a grand deluxe sea-facing room at Parkroyal for one night. Also we were lucky to be someone’s corporate guests, hence we had a good corporate rate!

We got to the hotel earlier than the check-in time, at about 1.40 p.m. Our room was not ready and the receptionist asked if we would like a deluxe sea-facing room instead for a lower price. I thought about it for 3 seconds, then said no, it’s okay we can wait. I already waited a few years to stay there again, I think I can wait a few minutes more 😉

So we walked around the hotel for a bit then plonked our arses down at the lounge. A waiter came to us with welcome drinks. Decided to check out the St Gregory Spa, then the receptionist called the spa to let us know that our room was ready. As we received our room key, the receptionist apologised for the wait (which was not their fault, we arrived early) and nonchalantly added, “By the way, we upgraded you to a suite.”

Holey mada of all… WE GOT LUCKY OR WHAT?!? 😀 Parkroyal’s Ocean Palm suite has a separate lounge area, a king-size bed, two LCD TVs, bla bla bla, go read the details here. Two balconies, attached to a private garden with sun deck chairs for the suites and deluxe rooms. RM600 (after corporate rate and upgraded to suite), awesome or not??

As guests at the hotel, we were entitled to a discount at the attached St Gregory spa. Shirley made an appointment for the two of us. After unpacking for a bit, we decided to head to the pool for a quick dip before our (expensive) massages. Of course always got time for a quick beer and ice-cream!

We got a Balinese full body massage which was packaged with a facial, RM250 each. Thanks Shirley! 😛 The masseurs were very good though it got rather painful at times because my body is quite tensed up. So relaxing that we fell asleep for a bit. Woke up when cold stuff was splattered on our faces for the facial. For the final touch, they served us very nice ginger tea. I like! No wonder they are so expensive 😛

Then we walked back to the beach just to take in the evening sun (though there was no sun) and look see people for a bit.

Back at our room, Shirley saw that the staff had laid out a fruit platter for us. After a quick shower, we decided to chill out at the balcony with the fruits, some tea and coffee and bak hu from yesterday. This is the life, I tell ya.

Decided to go back to Georgetown for dinner. Called up Bryan for strategies on locations and he suggested that we go to New Lane before anywhere else, as the hawker stalls may not be open till late. Off we went to New Lane, GPS coordinates: 5.415, 100.3271.

What’s the #1 food attraction at New Lane? Pig’s intestine porridge, of course!

Sorry, tidak ditanggung halal. We also got an order of oh-chien (fried egg + starch + oysters) and it was yummy. By the way I would like to state that we ordered one bowl of porridge to be shared — stomachs are not THAT bottomless pits ok. But yes, you must try the pig’s intestines porridge if you are at New Lane, if you haven’t already. There’s only one stall displaying all the innards, can’t miss it.

We asked the customers sitting nearby for directions to Chulia Street. They were aghast that we were planning to walk all the way there from New Lane. Like I said, Penang folks don’t walk one mah 😛 But they gave us good directions and off we went searching for Chulia Street. It was quite a bit to walk but not bad lah. Got lost a couple of times, asked more people for directions, passed by a mosque with banners demanding for Jeff Ooi’s resignation. Interesting…

Anyway there’s a good reason why we wanted to go to Chulia Street, and that’s…

Wantan mee! Still delicious as ever, the noodles were springy and had bits of lard. The auntie at the stall had a lot of noodles for sale and it was half gone by the time we finished our bowl of wantan mee. Not bad eh? Except that the dining environment is not altogether appealing, but that’s Malaysian hawker places for you. I saw a damn cute Fluffy by the drain, asked Shirley to see but she refused 😛 GPS coordinates: 5.4182, 100.3365.

Next stop: Kapitan’s at Chulia Street.

By this point, we were a bit stuffed. But Kapitan’s was nearby and it would be a waste to skip their awesomely delicious claypot beryani! Actually I ordered a tandoori chicken on the side, but I think they didn’t hear the order or they sengaja ignored me. It’s okay, I think I was being too ambitious and greedy at that time, heh. GPS coordinates: 5.4162, 100.3386.

Chilled out for a while before hailing a taxi to G Hotel to catch Hot Chick. She was meeting some friends, asked us to join but we were too tired and decided to go back to our hotel. Before getting another cab, we stopped by at Gurney Drive food stalls to buy…

Sotong bakar! Or grilled cuttlefish for those who don’t understand half of what I’ve been typing. Jaime introduced it to me years ago and since then, I’ve never failed to revisit the stall for delicious sotong bakar whenever I’m in Penang. The dark prawn paste just makes it better!

Got back to the hotel (another expensive taxi ride, but what to do), chilled out in front of the TV with our sotong bakar and assorted snacks with a B-grade movie on telly. Nice.

Third day: Cititel and Peter’s wedding dinner. More photos at my Flickr set for Penang, August 2009 here.

*Note: This trip was partly sponsored by Malaysia Airlines. Go check out the best fares at www.malaysiaairlines.com

13 Comments Filed Under: Travel + Trips Tagged With: batu ferringhi, beach, berya, chulia street, gurney drive, kapitan, malaysia airlines, mas, nasi beryani, new lane, parkroyal, penang, pulau pinang, roti canai, transfer road, wantan mee

the great penang getaway: august ’09: day one

September 15, 2009 By Suanie 21 Comments

*Note: This trip was partly sponsored by Malaysia Airlines. Go check out the best fares at www.malaysiaairlines.com

I was in Penang last month for a short holiday + attend Peter Tan‘s wedding dinner. I asked my dear Shirley to come along with me because we were in Penang the same time last year and it could be an annual thing! Provided she doesn’t do something like migrate to somewhere really far away lah. Who knows, women… hearts very far away one 😛

My flight to Penang was at 10 something in the morning. As usual I took my own sweet time getting ready. Sis sent me to a nearby LRT station, I stopped at KL Sentral and went on the KLIA Express to get to the airport. The line at the MAS counter was pretty long and I panicked for a bit. Out of time mah. Then I heard an announcement for my flight’s final call which led me to an empty desk, and wahey! I made it on time! Go me 😛

(But okay, next time I’ll start getting ready earlier.)

I’ve not been on a MAS aircraft for a while. So when I stepped into the plane, I was a bit surprised by the colourful seat covers. Quite nice lah, makes the atmosphere happier. My sister went to Bangkok not long ago and she also commented on the covers. She also took a photo of herself camwhoring with the seats but I don’t have her permission to post it here. If you ask her nicely, maybe she’d show you. Just maybe.

It was a short flight, drinks were served, reached Penang International Airport in less than an hour. Waited around for Shirley’s flight from Singapore to arrive. Called Hot Chick to let her know I’m in her state, and the woman swung her car around (she was nearby the area) to pick us up. That was so nice and generous, thank you so much!

Called Cheesie who was in Penang that day with Taka, but leaving for KL in the afternoon. Still had time for one last meal, so we went to Padang Kota Lama for…

Mee sotong!!! Oh man, Hameed’s mee sotong at Padang Kota Lama was the first thing Shirley and I craved for when we returned to our respective homes last year. Took us one whole year to be able to eat it again, and it still tasted GREAT! Slightly spicy with a generous serving of cuttlefish. Super delicious, RM3.50 a plate. Goes down well with our coconut shake from the drinks stall nearby.

Padang Kota Lama’s food court is just next to Fort Cornwallis. The place looks a little run-down, but then that’s where you get the most yummy food! 😉 GPS coordinates: 5.4206, 100.3429.

After our (first) lunch, Hot Chick dropped Cheesie and Taka off somewhere because they needed to catch their flight home. We then went to Jalan Hutton because I’d booked a room at Hutton Lodge for the night. Why? Because I rely a lot on Trip Advisor, that’s why. A restored heritage building in the middle of Hutton Road, Hutton Lodge is clean, minimalistic and inexpensive. A twin room with an attached bathroom costs RM90 and dorm beds go for RM28 a night. Cheap or what? GPS coordinates: 5.4196, 100.3308.

While Hot Chick was finishing up some work, Shirley and I walked along Hutton Road to check out the neighbourhood. By the way, I can safely say that Hutton Lodge is pretty much in the middle of town and it’s a good place to stay, location-wise.

Bought some drinking water at a 7-11 and spotted loaves of Gardenia Butterscotch bread. Shirley never had it before and wanted to try, so we got a loaf. Don’t think she was all too impressed, heh.

After Hot Chick was done with her work, she took us to Lorong Selamat for… what else? Penang char kuey teow lah!

The famous unfriendly auntie was still there, now operating next to an open car park. Apparently she is less unfriendly now (note the difference between friendlier and less unfriendly) because it’s her own shop and she can’t go around offending people, can she?? RM8 per plate, I think it’s worth it for a tourist like me. I know many Penang-nites would shake their head and refuse to pay that kind of price, but we don’t have the luxury of living in Penang okay! Of course the char kuey teow was super delicious! But I suppose most of you who have been to Penang have eaten there. GPS coordinates: 5.4171, 100.3247.

Hot Chick ordered a bowl of laksa lemak from the opposite stall, a mix of assam laksa and curry mee. It was superb! The gravy was super addictive and they were generous with the fish. RM4.50 per bowl, very worth it! Of course cannot eat this everyday lah, it’s akin to inviting a heart attack.

An auntie came around our table to sell her goods, pork floss. She was really funny: went into songs and rhymes of how delicious her pork floss is, how you would be beautiful and wonderful after eating her ‘bak hu’, that she went to school and didn’t study so cannot be ‘cikgu’ (teacher) hence have to sell ‘bak hu’… It was quite delicious so we bought some from her. Of course her charms and saleswomanship were the more influencing factors, heh. She also readily posed for photos and told us to catch her on TV.

More food? Yes please. Shirley wanted some fehmes Penang cendol, so Hot Chick took us to Penang Road for THE famous cendol. GPS coordinates: 5.4171, 100.3306.

It was nice, but I prefer Melaka-style cendol along Jonker’s Street. If you’d notice, they have a photo of Gurmit Singh as Phua Chu Kang eating a bowl of cendul at their stall. Think Shirley took a photo of that to show her dad.

Went back to Hutton Lodge for a short rest before dinner. I think we were knocked out for a bit. A couple of hours later, Hot Chick and Aaron came to pick us up for MORE food. We went to Zealand Seafood restaurant along Gurney Drive, which is owned by a friend of Aaron’s. Next door was also a restaurant with a stage for people to display their… uh, limited vocal abilities. Surprisingly they got a lot of customers that way. Anyway, check out our dinner!

Balitong, mantis prawns, kum heong lala, frog’s legs (which I didn’t touch), vermicelli, drunken prawns and grilled crabs. Fresh, delicious and inexpensive, though I suspect our bill was discounted because of Aaron. Check out the sign at the female toilet!

Bloody bottomless pits for stomachs we have, right? Here’s dessert! 😉

We walked down Gurney Drive to The Crepe Cottage, kononnya want to walk off dinner so we’d have space for dessert. Don’t think it worked very well, but we downed everything at The Crepe Cottage because it was very yummy! Also had a lot of fun photographing the resident fat cat.