Honey4Boyz

Revisiting Penang after many years, with my family and my mom, my auntie, my brother and his son as well as my cousin from George Town. It's mainly a makan trip to taste the street food in Penang as well as to see the rapid changes in George Town, now a heritage city and a must-see for tourists. With such a big group, it's hard to visit many places. But it's a good experience to travel with families and spend time together. It's also the first time that my mom had seen the Penang Bridge, the last time she stepped on the island was 50 years ago!  Pokemon Go craze sweeps Penang malls! A stay at Lost Paradise Resort. It's not one of those 5-star luxury resorts, it's a hidden gem, quite strategic in between Tanjung Bungah and the famed Batu Feringhhi. The only downside is.. there's no beach. But it has a beautiful seafront and the whole place was designed uniquely - with colourful, wacky Balinese and Minangkabau architecture. We also enjoyed strolling ...

Nibong Tebal is a small town beside the Kerian River, which is about 40km from Penang. Most people will bypass this town and head straight to Penang island. We spent a day in this small town because we had heard much about the firefly cruise along the Kerian River. The best time to watch is between 8 to 11 pm. Before the firefly watching, we left at about 5pm for a cruise to a fish farm at the sea.  Nipah palms and their fruits (photo inset) were common sight along the Kerian River. The fruits made very refreshing drink in this hot weather. Mangrove trees of the species Berembang lined the riverbank of Kerian River. Fireflies are attracted to these Berembang trees. They are found in clumps between the Nipah palms. A pleasant journey with cool breeze. White egrets - friends of the river Finally we saw the  cage fish breeding   farms dotting the sea, about 3km from shore.  According to our guide, Nibong Tebal has the largest fish farms i...

During our recent trip to Penang, we spotted a soya sauce home-based factory in Nibong Tebal, about 40km from Penang. This was one of the few remaining soya sauce factories making the soya sauce in a traditional way.  The soya sauce factory was run by Mr Loh, the trade which was started by his father. Unfortunately, this is a dying and fast disappearing trade...  This factory produces the "Flower" brand soya sauce. But there's hardly any information of the brand in the internet. The Loh family does not distribute their products to the wholesalers but depend on their long-time and regular customers, who are familiar with their products, to purchase them directly from their factory. Besides soya sauce, they also produce chilli and tomato sauce, thick soya sauce and alkaline water for commercial use. Jin walking by vats of fermenting soya made in a traditional method in the large courtyard. The soya beans were fermented in large vats under the sun and covere...

We planned a last minute trip to Penang during the school holidays. I guessed every other family was planning to go somewhere, that's why traffic was very heavy. We started the journey at 12.30pm and arrived at our destination at 8.30pm, with about 2-hour stopover.  Stopover for the local delicacy - fresh steamed baby octopus at Nibong Tebal. It was chewy and could be quite addictive after the first bite. The boys were wary at first but thumbs up to them for giving it a try!! Weather in Malaysia has been extremely hot - intense heat especially in the afternoon. It's much better to enjoy the beach in the evening when the weather is cooler.  Football siesta at the beach! More local people streaming in to the Tanjung Bunga beach after sunset to enjoy the breeze. Beach acrobat Looking for crabs and clams on a moonlit beach The boys have so much fun on the beach with their cousin. Highlight for the night - a beach campfire!! This was really a...