Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

Continuation from Chapter 3 – From Phuket to Krabi …

This chapter is all about the Krabi night market in Krabi town, situated about 30 minutes away from Ao Nang beach. To get from Ao Nang area to Krabi town, we took the ‘bus’ (more like a songthaew, or mini truck/tuk-tuk) for 50 baht /RM5 /USD1.40 per person. The bus plies the route all around Ao Nang; the main roads, at least. So you can board the bus almost anywhere if you’re walking parallel to the shores of Ao Nang beach. Take note that after 6pm (Thailand time), the rate increases to 60 baht/RM6/USD1.70 per person automatically.

When the tide is low, you can literally walk on waters …..

The ride was smooth, albeit the journey rather long on the bumpy mini-truck that we were sitting on. But the cooling breeze was all too welcoming, caressing our faces at the speed the bus was zipping past the other vehicles. And at that moment, I knew that This …. Is My Vacation.

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After a few months of some serious honeymoon-ing, finally Motormouth got back to action. It’s been quite some time since ze butt got off from ze daily routine of sticking to ze office chair. (But of course, there are exceptions). If it’s your first time here, probably you’re not used to the onslaught of food posts from the other towns and states, no thanks to the immense frequency of travelling owing to the nature of my job. But if you’re a regular, then that most dreaded feeling of ‘Uh-Oh … here he goes again …. >_<” might be all too familiar.

And to kick things off,  here’s a short recap of the whirlwind ‘tour’ around the mainland of Penang – Seberang Jaya and Butterworth.

Hello Kitty Leng Chee Kang. How SWEET, huh? Another one in the book of ‘Names That Got Stuck to One’s Mind’

Thanks to CK Lam (she’s like ze walking directory of Penang food), my stay at Chai Leng Park of Butterworth, Penang got lifted with a short detour to Wai Sei Kai (Food Street) of Butterworth, Penang. Not one who’s accustomed to food-hunting on the mainland of Penang, I was a lost sheep. We were required to stay somewhere on the mainland, instead of on the glutton’s paradise (read : Penang island).

Like only Penang could. The northern intepretation of Leng Chee Kang; with EVERYTHING thrown in for good measure!

This was my first visit to Chai Leng Park of Butterworth, and a Google search for food in and around the vicinity will reveal the name Wai Sei Kai (Food Street in Chinese) more often than not. Situated near to the Market Square of Chai Leng Park in Butterworth (was a little confused, since I never knew Seberang Jaya and Chai Leng Park share the same perimeters).

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Continuation from Krabi/Phuket 2010 (Part Two) – Patong Beach, Red Light District & Thai Seafood in Phuket

The previous day’s endeavours had us sleeping in rather late, relinquishing every single minute of the morning, drawn to the comfort of our beds at Loveli Boutique Guesthouse. This was our last morning in Phuket, by the way.

A far cry from the congested, with bodies laid bare (literally) on the tanning beds the day before …. The world wakes up at 11am-ish in Patong of Phuket, it seemed.

A stroll around town revealed that even the locals in Patong do not practise an early to bed, early to rise concept. Completely understandable, given the rather ‘notorious’ moniker accredited to Patong as THE epitome of nightlife in Phuket. It was already about 10am (Thailand time, 11am Malaysian time) and yet the beach boys manning the stretch of beach beds and the masseurs plying the same route were barely up and running, judging from the pace they were setting up their respective businesses.

Breakfast of freshly grilled cuts of pork belly, and the evergreen Thai breakfast classic of noodle soup with chicken/pork

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Have I lost it? Come on …… 24 days had soldiered past, and I’m still doing Top 10 Eats of 2009?!  Yeah, blame it on procrastination, blame it on utter laziness. But the sands of time wait for no one, and in a flash January is almost coming to a closure! Work is starting to pick up steam, many new changes in the office, yet I’m still the same old Motormouth From Ipoh. Though that scary period of abstinence (from FOOD okay …. don’t think otherwise!) had me seriously considering should I continue my almighty bulldozing, devouring & Motormouthin’ eating habits? Hmm ……

Here goes, in NO particular order, my TOP 10 PICKS OF 2009. Enjoy.

10. DIRTY DUCK DINER (BEBEK BENGIL) @ UBUD, BALI, INDONESIA

Back in October of 2009, the ten of us (yeah, TEN!!) went on a week’s worth of vacation in Bali. Out of the many, many meals we had on the island, the dinner at Bebek Bengil in Ubud stood out in particular. The charming ambience resembling a cluster of wooden huts with an open paddy field setting  (wait, there WAS a vast paddy field at the back portion of the restaurant) coupled with the beautifully smoked duck, and deep-fried crispy duck, rendered the dining experience one of our most memorable.

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Continuation from Krabi/Phuket 2010 – Part One …

When the beach is over-populated by the sheer number of beach beds, more than the people out for a tan, and over-shadowing the soft, fine sands …… you know commercialization has taken over.

The simple Thai breakfast at Tonsai off the main road running parallel to Patong beach fueled us with sufficient energy to hop over to the beach, which was starting to see a hive of activities – from the ones strolling along casually to the ones jogging on the soft, sandy stretch of sands, to those lying down on the beach beds (about 80-100 baht / RM8-10 / USD2.30-2.90 per bed, NOT FOC) for a tan and joyful souls splashing in the shallow end of the emerald waters.

As crowded as Patong Beach might get, the beach was still well-kept, unlike the ones here in Malaysia with rubbishes strewn all over the place, and the waters so murky you wouldn’t wanna touch with a 10-foot pole.

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For the benefit of those who felt tormented by the incessant ramblings, long-winded nonsense (ever so common if you’re here often), and millions of words jumbled into one single post, fret not.

I’ve decided to limit the relentless ramblings for this Krabi-Phuket 2010 in review, preferably in less than 5 posts.

Which of course, may NOT be possible.

Krabi  Bus Station is situated at a most rural of location, not too obvious from the main roads, and reminded me of those bus stopovers in smaller towns, like Gopeng in Perak, for example.

The two-way flight from Kuala Lumpur-Krabi-Kuala Lumpur cost RM140 / USD40 per person, courtesy of Air Asia. Yeah, book early for such promotions, and erm… as cliche as this may sound; Everyone REALLY Can Fly. For your information, a bus/minivan from Penang to Krabi which takes about 9 hours will cost you about RM70 / USD20 for ONE-way. And our flight took us a mere ONE hour. Go do the Maths, then come back.

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