Bridge Dream Come True

Fireworks light up the sky as the Premier officially opens the bridge.

THOUSANDS converged on Batu Maung town on Penang island to witness a historical moment — the opening of the iconic second Penang bridge.

The crowd cheered as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the bridge had been named Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge.

Fireworks lit up the island-bound side of the bridge all the way to its mid-span for a good five minutes after Najib conducted the launching.

He then boarded an open-top double-decker bus with his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the rest of his entourage and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to embark on a ‘historical journey’ to Batu Kawan on the mainland and back to the island.

Joining them were former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his wife Tun Jeanne Abdullah and former chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

The bridge was supposed to be opened to the public by 12.01am on Saturday but was delayed for an hour due to the cleaning up of fireworks debris.

Newly married couple Stanley Goh and Jann Kaw, both 29, from Nibong Tebal arrived at 8pm at the tollbooth.

“We were born in the year 1985 when the first bridge was built and as such we want to make sure we are the early birds to cross the second bridge and receive the certificate,” said Goh.

Dr G. P. Doraisamy, 58, a lawyer, and his wife Dr K. Sithra Devi, 53, both arrived at the tollbooth at about 10pm.

“We are really excited about the bridge being the longest in South-East Asia and wanted to cross on the first day itself after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak opens it.”

He said the second bridge opening was appropriate as it co-incided with Visit Malaysia Year 2014 and could attract more tourists to Penang.

“This is going to bring revenue to Penang and also Malaysia to further improve our nation’s economy,” added Doraisamy.

A Jom Riuh carnival took place in Batu Maung near the bridge from 10am earlier in the day to mark the significant milestone. It was officially opened in the afternoon by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.

The crowd began to swell in the evening with many visiting the booths set up at the site and watching the stage performances.

The 24km bridge, which spans 16.9km over the sea, is the longest bridge in South-East Asia. The bridge, which links Batu Kawan on the mainland to Batu Maung on the island, has two car lanes and a designated motorcycle lane on each side.

It will take about 30 minutes to cross the bridge at a speed of 80kph.

It was previously reported that the bridge can cater to 100,000 vehicles per hour and is expected to reduce traffic congestion on the current Penang Bridge by 25% to 30%. It is 10.5km longer than the first bridge.

The Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge is also an achiever of many firsts and accolades in the country.

It is the first bridge in Malaysia to conduct a load test and the first bridge to be installed with rubber absorbers. It was also presented the Green Apple Award in June 2013 and appointed Green World Ambassador by The Green Organisation, UK, for its green efforts.

Its 28-booth PLUS toll plaza in Bandar Cassia, the largest in the country, received the gold certification from the Green Building Index while the PB2X Toll Plaza complex in Batu Kawan has earned the platinum Green Building Index certification, being the first building in Penang to obtain the platinum certification.

Apart from using the Industrialised Building Systems, the building incorporates passive architecture to reduce energy requirements, a rain water harvesting system for internal use, application of renewable energy source such as the wind turbines and solar panels on top of its building to generate electricity.

Source: The Star

Grand Opening of Penang Second Bridge

Fireworks lighting up the night sky in Batu Maung

GEORGE TOWN: The second Penang bridge has been named Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Bridge after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made the announcement during the official opening of the bridge in Batu Maung on Saturday.

He said the bridge would be free of charge for a month from midnight.

The 24-km long link, which spans over 16.9km over the sea, is the longest bridge in South-East Asia.
It took six years to be completed.

The bridge has a capacity of 100,000 vehicles per day with its two car lanes and a motorcycle lane, linking Batu Kawan on the mainland to Batu Maung on the island.

It is 10.5km longer than the Penang Bridge.

Travelling time on the bridge is estimated to take about 30 minutes at 80kph.

Source: The Star

Lonely Planet picks Penang as top spot for foodies in 2014

Hawker stalls in Gurney Drive, Penang.

PETALING JAYA: Renowned travel guide publisher Lonely Planet has listed Penang as the top culinary spot for 2014, British dailyThe Independent reported.

The Pearl of Orient beat other top culinary spots like Victoria in Australia, North West Spain, the deep south in United States, Lake District in United Kingdom, Puglia in Italy, Georgia and Oaxaca in Mexico to bag the number one spot.

Lonely Planet's commissioning editor Robin Barton said Penang was known for its hawker fare and the "must tries" were char kway teow, Hokkien mee, and asam laksa, according to the report.

"Malaysian hawker food has spread worldwide via food trucks and pop-ups but nothing compares to hitting Penang.

Asam Laksa

"Its food reflects the intermingling of the many cultures that arrived after it was set up as a trading port in 1786, from Malays to Indians, Acehnese to Chinese, Burmese to Thais. The state capital Georgetown is its culinary epicentre," said Barton.

He encouraged foodies to explore the Esplanade Food Centre, where hawker food combined favourably with the seafront location. Barton also encouraged foodies to check out some of the night markets in Penang.

"A pasar malam is an open-air night market and in Penang, you can go to Jelutong on a Friday and Macallum Street market on a Monday.

Char Kway Teow

"The highlight is always the food. At 2am, a different world of stalls serves peppery pork-rib soups, skewered fish balls and sweets such as cendol," said Barton.

Barton also recommended air bandung, which goes well with Malay food.

He ended his review by asking readers to use these words Sudah makan? (Have you eaten yet?) when going to culinary spots.

Penang is home to many of Malaysia's earliest English newspapers

PENANGITES are known to be outspoken, fiercely independent-minded, and highly liberal. It comes as no surprise that the state was where many non-governmental organisations had their origins, long before civil society became the fashionable political term it is today.

Penang is also where the country’s earliest newspapers were founded and has produced some of the most prominent activists and writers. As one of the earliest British settlements in the region, Penang has the distinction of producing the first English newspaper in the country.

According to historian Geoff Wade, the Prince of Wales Island Government Gazette published its first issue in 1806 and was published continually until the early 1830s.

“The period over which the newspaper was produced saw great change in Penang and more broadly in the peninsula, and The Gazette was one of the few public records of these changes. By providing a public medium for the exchange of information and ideas, the newspaper also brought new knowledge systems and new ways of knowing to a range of people within the society, albeit an elite, and thus must be seen as a major element in the introduction of modernity to the peninsula.

First issue: The Star launched its first issue on Sept 9, 1971.

“The contents of this journal, and the interests and concerns expressed, provide us with a valuable source for examining various phenomena of early 19th century Malaya and particularly the important entrepôt that was Penang.

“These range from the concerns of the East India Company administrators as seen through their public announcements and orders, the economic bases of the society observed through shipping news, price current lists and auctions of the revenue farms, and social clashes noted through the crime reports,” he wrote.

According to Boon Raymond, the Gazette was not a government publication but a private initiative led by one Andrew Burchet Bone or A.B. Bone.

“Mr Bone had been a printer in India and brought his skills to Penang where he began to utilise his Indian experience. Mr Bone was also engaged in a business partnership with a Mr Court, and their firm “Court and Bone” was one of the major auctioneers in Penang in the first decades of the 19th century, frequently advertising on the front page of the Prince of Wales Island Government Gazette, the name which the newspaper adopted on 7 June 1806.

“This title was subsequently shortened to Prince of Wales Island Gazette (PWIG) in October 1807.”

There were also other firsts – the state’s first independent English newspaper, The Pinang Argus, was published from 1867 to 1873. According to Khoo Su Nin’s Streets of Georgetown, it was at Argus House located at Argus Lane that the newspaper came into being, hence its name.

First editor: Choong was the founding editor of The Star when it opened its doors in 1971.

This was where the state’s earliest Eurasian Catholic settlement was set up.

Despite its historical significance, there are no indications of the building today.

Argus Lane is located off Love Lane near where the 160-year-old Cathedral of the Assumption, which is the oldest church in Penang, is located.

As a student of St Xavier’s Institution, I had spent much time in the area and would go often to the church to pray for divine intervention as I faced the many examinations which still give me the occasional nightmares in my adult life until now. Some of my Eurasian friends and school mates also lived at Argus Lane. Penang is truly the place where the printer’s ink flowed freely.

From 1806, when the Gazette came into being, right up to the 1970s, there were 27 English newspapers published, according to Boon.

They included the Pinang Register and Miscellany, Government Gazette of Prince of Wales’s Island, Singapore and Malacca, The Pinang Gazette, Daily Bulletin, Indo-Chinese Patriot, Eastern Courier, Malayan Ceylonese Chronicle and the Straits Echo.

First English paper: The Prince of Wales Island Gazette was first published in a house somewhere along Argus Lane in 1807.

Within walking distance from Argus Lane is 120, Armenian Street – the birthplace of the world’s oldest surviving Chinese newspaper, the Kwong Wah Yit Poh, since 1910.

The daily was founded on Dec 20, 1910 and masthead in use today was a calligraphy personally written by Dr Sun.

It was during his exile in Penang, as a Penang tourism website rightly puts it, “that history was shaped here – right in the humble rooms of this double-storey shop house where China’s first elected provisional president, Dr Sun Yat Sen held important meetings that helped change the face of China’s political and social structure.

“It was here — the Nanyang headquarters of the South-East Asia T’ung Meng Hui (a revolutionary party led by Dr Sun before China became a republic) that the great leader of the Chinese nationalist revolution held the momentous “Penang Meeting”.

“Held on the 12th day of the 10th lunar month in 1910, the meeting saw members of the T’ung Meng Hui planned the Canton Uprising in 1911 that eventually led to China becoming a republic in 1912.”

Any article on Penang newspapers would be incomplete without the mention of The Straits Echo, which was one of the oldest newspapers in Malaysia.

The Echo, which began in 1903, had a most illustrious history until it officially closed down in 1986.

First office: Members of a chingay team demonstrating their skill with the Star flag outside the newspaper’s offices in Weld Quay, Penang where the newspaper was launched in 1971.

Some of my colleagues actually cut their teeth in journalism at this newspaper, which was renamed The National Echo when it became a tabloid and went national in the early 1980s.

Even after going national, the fight between The Echo and The Star was in Penang, with both championing their Penang roots. There was no love lost between the two newspapers and one of the most interesting battles was to bring out their street editions first.

The early history of the newspapers in Penang has been well-documented by two of The Echo’s editors – Manocasothy Saravanamuttu in The Sara Saga and by George Bilainkin in Hail Penang! Both books are published by Areca Books. In her review, Kirsty Walker wrote that: “The Sara Saga and Hail Penang! are autobiographical accounts written by journalists who both served, at different times, as editor of the Penang-based newspaper – Straits Echo – during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

“Through witty anecdotes, Manicasothy Saravanamuttu and George Bilainkin related their experiences and encounters in early 20th century Penang.

“As journalists, they were able to observe many of the key moments that shaped Malaysia’s history. Through their eyes, the reader gains access to the intimate workings of Penang’s interwar colonial society, the horrors of the Japanese occupation, and later, the rapid changes brought about by Malaysian independence.”

And of course, we have The Star, which was founded in Penang by KS Choong, which hit the streets on Sept 9, 1971, from its original seafront office in Weld Quay, it moved on to Pitt Street or Jalan Kapitan Keling where it grew from strength to strength to what it is today — the country’s biggest English daily.

According to a news report quoting then news editor K. Sugumaran, Sept 9 was the birthday of the founding editor Choong. Some of the biggest and best journalists in Malaysia who started in that tiny office in Weld Quay included Sugu, M. Menon, Khoo Kay Peng and Charles Chan.

Interestingly enough, Choong later went over to The Echo when it switched from broadsheet to tabloid to fight the paper he founded.

As a student of history and a history buff, I am glad that I am in a profession where I have a ringside seat to witness and record history as it happens. These are magical moments indeed.

- The Star

Penang's 4 Mega Projects

GEORGE TOWN: Despite facing severe criticisms over four mega projects totalling RM6.3bil, the Penang Government is pushing forward with the signing of an agreement. 

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said that the agreement would be signed tomorrow with the related companies here.

It is learnt that the Environmental Impact Assessment would be carried out after the agreement is signed.

“The state executive council has approved the agreement for the projects,” he said at a press conference at Komtar yesterday.

The agreement will be signed with Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd, which is made up of a joint venture among several companies – Zenith Construction and China Railway Construction Corp Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Group, Sri Tinggi Sdn Bhd and Juteras Sdn Bhd.

The controversial projects consist of a 6.5km seabed tunnel connecting Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam, a 12km dual carriageway between Tanjung Bungah and Teluk Bahang, a 4.2km bypass connecting Gurney Drive to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and a 4.6km bypass connecting the same expressway to Bandar Baru Air Itam.

- The Star

Penang's Heritage And History

A trishaw parked in Penang. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

FOR years it was known as the Pearl of the Orient. Then Penang lost its lustre, at least to the outside world as its importance on the globe's trade routes lessened. But now, thanks to its unique architecture, fabulous cuisine and heady mix of tourist attractions, the famed city is bouncing back big time.

Penang's charm is that it effortlessly combines most things you could possibly want in a holiday, no matter what experience you are seeking. No wonder its lustre is again burning so brightly.

Penang is an island in Malaysia's north, not far from the Thailand border. Its population is diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and religion. And nowhere is this rich diversity on such display than in Penang's historical gem, colonial George Town.

Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007, George Town is officially recognised as having unique architectural and cultural townscapes without parallel anywhere in East and South-East Asia.

A fascinating fusion of East and West, George Town's remarkable heritage is testimony to its more than a century and a half of British rule, merged with its Malay, Chinese and Indian traditions.

But don't think for a minute this is some dull, rundown historical museum. It's a thriving, living city.

While it may have been out of the spotlight for more than a century, the local population has been getting on with the job. Penang's beauty is that its history is not preserved behind walls where you have to pay to appreciate it, it's a pulsating city where the architecture is alive and the shophouses are still both shops and homes. The moment you step out of your hotel, you are literally living, breathing and smelling its unique culture and history.

Where else in the world can you enjoy a cold beer on a hot day under the veranda of an old Chinese bar while you watch a multitude ofcolourful trishaws pull into a local garage to have their tyres pumped or chains serviced by a local mechanic who obviously has one of the most important jobs on the island.

A Chinese doorway in Penang. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

These three-wheeled human-powered bikes are one of the best ways to enjoy a pleasant city tour. One can stop at any point to take a photograph or buy souvenirs. Many trishaw riders are also excellent ''tour guides''. Negotiate the fare first before getting on a trishaw; it is advisable to hire them by the hour for extended sightseeing. Buses and taxis are also cheap and plentiful.

Then there is the food. Even Malaysians acknowledge that the cuisine found in Penang is as good as it gets. It is known as the food capital of Malaysia. From Chinese, to Nyonya, to Malay, to Indian hawker food, Penang will surprise and delight food lovers!

Many of Penang's streets, busy thoroughfares during the day, miraculously morph into huge outdoor eating areas as the sun sets. Cars and buses give way to hawker carts and chefs that serve up some of the cheapest and most delicious food you will find on the planet.

Tourists and locals sit side by side at impromptu dining tables out in the open watching as their meal is prepared before their eyes. If you still have room for dessert, a leisurely wander to the other side of the street is usually all it takes to find what you are looking for.

The architecture is just as impressive. Throughout the streets of George Town there is a rich collection of historic buildings in a variety of styles, including Chinese clan houses, mosques, churches, Chinese and Indian temples and manymany grand colonial buildings in varying state of repair - the legacy of Penang's British rule.

Fortunately, as tourists rediscover the delights of Penang, many of the fabulous buildings, particularly the old Chinese houses, are being restored to offer both flashpacker and luxury accommodation options. Where George Town and, in particular, the Love Lane area, were once the domain of the backpacker, now there are plenty of upmarket hotels that provide the very best modern accommodation within the most stunning and authentic historical settings.

But Penang is even more. It also features brilliant white beaches with accompanying Western- style resorts on the north of the island, so you can combine the traditional tropical South-East Asian holiday with the authentic local experience. It also has some of the best shopping in Malaysia, either on the street, at night markets or in modern, air-conditioned shopping centres such as Gurney Plaza.

Before tourists rediscovered Penang, it was the artists who initially saw its huge potential. A thriving arts scene has developed in George Town and is now one of its most alluring features. Artists have made their mark and their legacy is obvious, either on the many street murals that dot the landscape or in the many, many galleries that are found in the backstreets and alleyways of this fascinating city.

Art, architecture, adventure, beaches, resorts, food, shopping, culture, temples and night-life, Penang really does have it all and its future is as bright now as it was 150 years ago. The Pearl of the Orient is being polished anew and is shining brighter than ever.

GO2 - PENANG

Getting there

Air Asia, Malaysia Air and Singapore Airlines all fly to Penang, via Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Ph Flight Centre on 133 133 or see flightcentre.com.au

Where to stay

Seven Terraces

Seven Terraces is a newly opened small private hotel of only 18 suites designed by the award-winning hoteliers Karl Steinberg and Christopher Ong. (Winners of the 2007 UNESCO Award of Distinction for heritage conservation).

They have converted a grand row of seven 19th Century Anglo-Chinese terraces, in one of Penang's finest and most intact heritage streets, into a romantic, beautiful and timeless retreat, positioned in the very heart of the World Heritage Site, next door to the 1810 Goddess of Mercy Temple and just a few minutes walk from all the major icons.

It successfully captures and celebrates the spirit of this world heritage town and its culture.

With a generous lap pool, Asian fusion dining room, full bar and exquisitely furnished reception and public areas, the hotel offers the perfect spoil and sanctuary but still all within a skip of the living culture and hawker food for which Penang is so famous.

Bookings at info@seventerraces.com

Muntri Mews

Muntri Mews is affordable luxury accommodation for today's flashpacker in the heart of George Town. It is within easy walking distance to the key heritage landmarks in the city and a 20-minute drive from the beautiful Batu Feringghi beaches on the island's north.

The hotel is in Muntri Street which has perhaps the best preserved rows of 19th Straits Chinese architecture in Malaysia, equivalent to Singapore's Emerald Hill.

The grade 2 listed building was formerly the stables and carriageworks of the street's grandest terraces.

It features lush tropical gardens and a fabulous restaurant.

Bookings at info@muntrimews.com

The Eastern and Oriental Hotel

The Eastern & Oriental Hotel is the embodiment of both a special time and a special place. For more than a century, this remarkable hotel - known simply as "The E&O'' to generations of travellers - has stood as a testament to the grand elegance. Take a step back and capture the majesty of the British colonial era.

A laksa hawker stall in Penang. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Hard Rock Penang

The Hard Rock Hotel boasts exceptional bars, restaurants with the best pizza outside Italy, live entertainment and this giant mosaic mural of the Beatles in the foyer. Ann Rickard

“HOW can I rock your world?” came the voice on the end of the telephone.

The standard greeting at the Hard Rock Hotel in Penang when you make a call from your room to anywhere in the hotel holds promise.

“You can rock my world by tickling my toes,” I answered, getting into the spirit of things. I was booking a pedicure at the spa and the girl on the end of the phone knew exactly what I wanted without my having to explain any further.

“Ten o’clock, pedicure, see you then. Have a rocking day,” she answered cheerfully. A rocking day? You have to love that.

And you have to love the atmosphere at Penang’s Hard Rock Hotel too. Although I am old enough to relate to all the old Beatles and Elvis photos extensively spread throughout the property, this is not a hotel just for old rockers, it’s very much a family or singles’ place.

There are stylish bars and restaurants and live entertainment from afternoon until late into the night, all a discreet distance from the luxurious rooms so a good night’s sleep is never disturbed.

We were in a deluxe pool room which meant our room led right into the pool; we could open the sliding doors and jump off our private veranda straight into the free-form swimming pool, the largest on the island.

This exciting pool access became such a highlight we spent a lot of time leaping into the pool, swimming along to our friends down the other end of the hotel and gate-crashing their pool-front veranda. It was all friendly, especially at cocktail time. Swimming along with a bottle of vodka in hand and a can of tonic between the teeth might not be a good look but we like to BYO when we gate crash.

The Hard Rock Hotel is not only a glam hotel with all the facilities you expect (spa, gym, five restaurants, meeting room, presidential suite, conference centre and gorgeous beachfront location on the famous beaches of Batu Ferringni), it is a museum of all things rock ‘n roll.

Over 500 pieces of rock memorabilia are displayed throughout the property: a leather jacket worn by Bon Jovi; one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitars; a riotous scarlet suit worn by (who else?) Elton John; a revealing Borat-like spandex suit worn by Paul Stanley (Kiss) and a floor length velvet gown by Stevie Nicks. And that’s just a few of the items I jotted down.

You could spend days standing in front of the cabinets on every level of the hotel just admiring the displays. The rock theme is evident everywhere – from the giant mural of the Beatles at the hotel entrance to the silver guitar door handles leading into the dining room.

The Hard Rock Company has 73,000 pieces of rock memorabilia stored in a warehouse in Orlando which are rotated at their hotels and cafes throughout the world every five or so years. A team of spotters seek pieces through world-wide auctions and sales.

Dining choices throughout the property are varied and all excellent: giant hamburgers, enormous brownies and big cocktails in the Hard Rock Café; Asian international cuisine in Starz dining room (the laksa and mee goreng are worth going to Penang for alone) and the best pasta and pizzas outside Italy at the beachfront Pizzeria (watching chef twirl and throw the pizza dough into the air is part of the experience.)

The Rock Spa, situated right on the beach is a haven of fragrant air in tranquil treatment rooms, or with sea breezes in the tented cabanas facing the sea. You’ll want more than one spa visit to this temple of indulgence. Rock Spa was named Harper’s Bazaar Top 30 Spas in Malaysia (2010) for “Most Relaxing Ritual”.

The spa is popular with everyone, and is one of the few spas on the island offering specialised kids and teenage treatments.

“Since we implemented spa services for children, we’ve seen many families encouraging and indulging their offspring in various treatments to help them unwind and relax, or even use the time to bond,” general manager John Primmer said.

“This is especially evident with mothers and daughters.”

Although the Hard Rock Hotel is a one stop holiday place and you don’t need to leave this oasis for a Malaysian holiday experience, you might like to wander down the road to the night markets for the shopping where the bargains are irresistible.

We flew with air Asia from the Gold Coast to KL and then on to Penang.

Ann Rickard was a guest at the Hard Rock Hotel.

IF YOU’RE GOING...

Hard Rock Hotel - http://www.penanghardrockhotels.net

Air Asia - http://www.airasia.com

AirAsia, the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, services the most extensive network with over 132 routes covering over 70 destinations in the UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China (including Macau), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar, Iran, South Korea, India and Singapore. The airline services some of the world’s most popular holiday destinations including Bali, Phuket and Hong Kong.

As a “no frills” budget carrier, AirAsia X does not serve complimentary food or drinks. Instead, food and beverages can be purchased.

- MyDailyNews

Crocodile In Penang

The Star/Asia News Network

Sunday, Dec 01, 2013

GEORGE TOWN - The sighting of a crocodile in Penang waters has sparked frenzy on social media.

A Facebook user took a picture of the crocodile near the Penang Port and shared it with others. It is believed that a fisherman near Pulau Rimau first sighted the crocodile at about noon on Thursday.

District officer of the Civil Defence Department Lt Zainudin Abdullah said the crocodile was trapped in the fisherman's net but managed to escape.

"No report was lodged. We will, however, work closely with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and fishermen to locate the crocodile," he said.

Wildlife expert Mohamed Hifni Baharuddin, a senior lecturer of the School of Biological Sciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said it was rare for crocodiles to be out in the open.

Asked if crocodiles posed a threat to the public, he said that it was unlikely unless it was their breeding season.

"The public have nothing to worry about as there have been no record of attacks. They only attack people during the breeding season when they think that you are a threat to them or when you encroach (into) their nesting grounds," he said.

He said the peninsula was not like Sabah and Sarawak where the crocodile population is relatively higher, adding that the higher the population, the more likely it was for attacks to take place.

Crocodiles are omnivorous and can be present in fresh water and salt water.

Their diet include fish, plant material and shellfish.

Monster Fish With Horns

PENANG: Rosli Mohd Saad is excited of his recent catch - a strange-looking sea creature with horns which he caught while fishing in the coastal waters off Sungai Pinang here recently.

The avid angler said he casted  the fishing net to catch fish fries as baits in the sea near Penang Bridge and was surprised the find the live fish.

 

He said it looked like a cross between a toad, a puffer fish and a sea horse.

 

About the size of ping-pong ball, it is greenish-yellow in colour and has a grandular and scaly body like a toad, and a snout-like mouth resembling a sea horse.

 

The most oustanding feature of the creature was the spikes or horns, like in a puffer fish, on its head and tail. They are sharp and about one-centimeter long. 

 

Rosli said it was a fish since it has gills on both sides of the face.

 

"This is the first time I have ever caught a strange creature from the sea.

 

"I want to bring it to the Fisheries Department to identify the creature. Until then, I want to keep and feed it in a special aquarium," he said.

Rosli Mohd Saad shows this unique fish with horns which he caught in the coastal waters off Sungai Pinang in Penang. NSTP/Muhammad Mikail Ong IKAN-3

- NST

Fly In For Penang Food Trail

A day-long fly-drive package from KL to Penang has its heritage and food draws, writes Andrew Drummond Law

USUALLY I just drive to Penang. From central Kuala Lumpur, it’s a relaxing four to five-hour drive along the 350- kilometre section of the North-South Expressway, a couple of food and toilet stops along the way included. With heavy rain or during a public holiday, it can take longer as the increased traffic levels jam up at both ends of the busy route.

This time around, I decided to try a fly-drive from Subang Airport in Kuala Lumpur to Penang.

It’s a great opportunity for an action-packed day of heritage exploration, fuelling up along the way with some of Penang’s delicious food. It can get very tiring and hectic, but still fun.

EARLY BIRDS

We wake up at 6.30am, have coffee, shower and wait for our 7am taxi pick-up from Bangsar. Forty minutes later we are already checking in at Firefly’s counter.

The last time I used Subang Airport was nearly eight years ago, when I flew to Koh Samui in Thailand. Then it was a huge and half empty terminal and you wondered if there were enough passengers to fill up one plane. And there were very limited food and drink options. This time I am met with a shiny, bustling international airport used by three airlines.

There are loads of places to eat and drink for every budget, serving fast food, local and international dishes.

Subang is more KLIA than LCCT, and relatively stress-free for an airport. Check-in is quick, friendly and efficient. And we are very pleased we don’t have to check in our four-month-old daughter’s stroller, until actually boarding the aircraft. That means we could walk around, have a cup of coffee, eat some curry puffs, and she could sleep a little longer in her comfortable baby seat.

At 8.30am we are called to the waiting lounge and we start boarding 15 minutes later. There are no sky bridges, so we have a short uncovered walk across the tarmac to the parked aircraft. Luckily there are bright orange Firefly umbrellas for when it rains.

Firefly’s ATR turboprop aircraft is single-aisle, with two seats on either side. The very front row has the most legroom, but as we have a young infant we couldn’t sit there for flight safety reasons. Although the seating is cosy, there’s just enough space for my 1.83-m, 105kg frame. It’s only an hour-long flight, so no major worries.

We take off at 9.06am, four minutes ahead of our scheduled departure time.

Once we reach cruising altitude and unbuckle our seatbelts, the flight crew serve beverages and a light snack of biscuits and muffins.

ARRIVAL IN PENANG

Forty-five minutes later we land in Penang. After a quick baggage pickup and nappy change, we are at the yellow Hertz counter by 10.15am.

When signing for the car, make sure you pay the RM25 extra for better insurance coverage. Otherwise you will be stuck with a very high RM2,000 insurance deductible. It’s a high excess, given the probability of a minor scrape when driving or parking anywhere in Georgetown. The double-parked cars and Penang’s narrow streets can be challenging at the best of times.

After checking the vehicle all over for existing minor marks and scratches, it is time to... change another nappy!

AND SHE’S OFF!

Finally at 10.52am we pull out of the airport terminal and head north towards Georgetown. The 17-km drive to Jalan Magazine takes only 28 minutes.

If you’ve ever driven around Georgetown before, you’ll know that the one-way system combined with poorly signposted roads makes finding some of the smaller side roads quite difficult. Luckily I have a secret weapon in the car — a Penangite for a wife. Her patience, lightning-fast reactions, eagle eyes and defensive driving skills are fit for purpose. She leaves other drivers in her wake, ...no mercy shown.

We switch seats, she belts up (the seat belt) and revs the engine. We are in safe hands. She knows the terrain like the back of her hand, and off we go.

Our first stop is to have our second, albeit a very late breakfast, of the day. We head towards Jalan Transfer to find the Famous Roti Canai stall. It’s a no-frills outdoor food stall, and it is already beginning to get very hot and steamy on a beautiful, blue, and cloudless day.

My wife stays in the car looking after our daughter with the aircon up high, while I chat to the cooks. I sample some delicious chicken curry with roti telur and roti canai — my favourites. All washed down with a mug of milo ais.

Sitting on the bench chowing down, I notice that directly opposite is my next destination. The Roti Benggali Maliia Bakery. I order another roti canai with chicken curry for my wife, and settle my bill.

There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning. I pack half a dozen butter and kaya sandwiches to keep us going for the rest of the morning. But it smells so good, we wolf it down within minutes back in the car.

Now feeling very full and anxious to explore some local heritage sites, we head towards The Blue Mansion.

LOCAL HERITAGE

The close-by Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was the recipient of the year 2000 Unesco Heritage Conservation award. It’s less than a kilometre’s drive away, and parking spots are at a premium during the lunchtime rush hour.

So if you already have a good parking spot, keep it, and walk 15 minutes to the northern end of Leith Street. You can’t miss the indigo-blue outer wall of the main building from the roadside. Built at the end of the 19th century by Cheong Fatt Tze, a very famous local merchant, it has 38 rooms, five courtyards and seven staircases.

Currently it’s being used as a boutique guesthouse with 16 themed bedrooms, although you may go on a guided tour of the parts not used by the guests.

Your guide will regularly remind you that you are prohibited from taking any photographs inside of the house — only the exterior. Mark an hour in your itinerary for a trip here.

The building’s distinctive bright blue colour is from mixing lime with natural blue indigo dye. The dye was imported by the British during colonial times from India.

The building itself is a masterful mix of feng shui-friendly Southern Chinese architectural styles and materials imported from the UK. It’s a great opportunity for some photographs of the unique exterior.

The next stop is to cool down somewhere quiet and shaded, so off I head to Western Cemetery, a strange and somewhat spooky place to cool down, you may think, but one with a difference. En route I leave my wife and daughter at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel to do a nappy pit stop and freshen up. Overlooking the water off Farquhar Street, the hotel is a very pleasant place for a soothing cup of tea.

Back in the cemetery, off Jalan Sultam Ahmad Shah, with the help of the cemetery’s map you’ll eventually come across the burial place of Captain Francis Light. He was the founder of Penang as the British settlement, known then as the Pearl of the Orient. His tomb stands tall and well maintained.

If you have the time, head eastward to Fort Cornwallis, where Captain Light first landed on August 11, 1786. When exploring the star-shaped fort you’ll find its magazine houses, small chapel building and old cannons.

We’re all starving by now, so we head off to Bangkok Lane in search of the famous spicy mee goreng found at the Seng Lee mamak coffee shop. We’ve heard great things about it, and also wanted to try its mee rebus dish. But from there it all starts to go seriously pear-shaped.

A crying, hungry and overheated baby in the back, two already very tired and hungry adults in the front, and no parking spots to be found anywhere. And the traffic.

POTLUCK AT PLAN B

So we drive up to Fettes Park in Tanjong Bungah to explore other food options there. It’s a good 4-km drive away, and it takes us 15-minutes to get to. We try potluck, and get lucky.

Delicious Hokkien mee, mee goreng, Penang laksa and of course, char koay teow. Even the selection of economy rice dishes was delicious.

We’ve missed Pulau Tikus for lunch, where so many tasty local dishes can be found, but we’ve found another place to park, relax and eat a very late lunch, and away from the scorching midday heat.

Our final stop is the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, also known as the Green Mansion. It may not be a Unesco heritage site, but we can take photos inside and explore all of its different furnished rooms.

A huge dining room with stained glass window, extravagant staircases, a kitchen and a huge and very eclectic medicine cabinet. But it’s the odds-and-ends that I enjoy looking at the most. My favourites are the huge antique camera, and the old metal ice-shaving machine. An hour is long enough to enjoy this museum.

By now it’s late afternoon and we have a choice. Either avoid the jam and head for the airport. Or wait and head back later in the evening.

Get your timing wrong and it can be as long as a 90-minute journey, especially when raining, and you hit that traffic bottleneck by the bridge.

Luckily I have cheated. Rather than return to KL after a very long and tiring day, I’m spending the next three days in Penang. It seems a shame to visit Penang just for a day when you can spend the whole weekend enjoying its food and heritage.

Most importantly, no visit to Penang is complete without having nasi kandar for a late dinner. A visit to Butterworth to Malaysia’s first Nasi Kandar Pelita outlet in Taman Chai Leng is next.

But as always, be prepared for the traffic jam crossing the bridge. Is it worth the jam? Too right.

- NST