Thursday, November 11, 2010 @ 4:30 PM
Hi.Okay, so I did not "magically" disappeared according to Su Li on my tagboard. I went to Penang with my maternal grammies for six whole days! Woohoo! At least I skipped school for a reason; normally, I skip school just for the fun of it. Wanna feel what it's like to be a bad student, not an average one. ;) Many ask, "What is there in Penang?" and I'd reply, "Nothing." Yes, Penang is a small island and the only thing that I'm attracted to over there is the Gurney Plaza. It's not even huge like Mid Valley Megamall and no lift. Seven floors without lifts? Only escalators? They drive your legs crazy, man.
Long post ahead.
Day One
Morning
I brought my red luggage bag like I'm going to Hollywood. When my grammies came to get me at 8.30 am, my grandpa's eyes popped out. I said it's the smallest bag I could bring; others are ginormous! When he opened his car boot, my eyes fell out from it's socket. I didn't expect my grammies to bring so many things! Pots, hoses, bags, baskets, everything you could ever imagine! We're like shifting to Mars! O_O In the end, I placed my bag in the car, seated beside me. I was kinda suffocating behind 'cause I brought so many pillows. =X Hahaha. My grandpa drove to KL and stopped at my mother's cousin's house to wait for Wei Chien (my sorta cousin - no blood relationship kind); he's gonna drive us to Penang. What? You expect my 80-year-old grandpa to fetch us there? No way.
Afternoon
We stopped at Ipoh to have lunch. Yummy famous Ipoh shredded chicken kuey teow! =D... (The dots are saliva, BTW.) I slept throughout the whole journey to Penang like a pig until we were at the Penang Bridge. I didn't even KNOW it was the Penang Bridge, how stupid am I, right? I started suspecting it was the Penang Bridge when I saw we were sorta crossing the sea or something. At last I exclaimed like an idiot, "Oh, we're at the Penang Bridge!" when I saw the pillars. LAME. My grandpa smacked his head while my grandma stared at me. We arrived and started unpacking all the stuff into my grandpa's old house (which is my mother's childhood house) at around 4 pm. Then, we slept again.
Night
Relatives from my grandma's side wanted to invite us for dinner. It was my grandma's sister's birthday. She's 90 years old if I'm not wrong. We went to Starview Restaurant and I must say the food was so-so. The worse part of it all was my grandma's relatives. They came to a part where none of them had anything to say so the focused on me. I was the only child at the round table. They scrutinised me like a specimen being examined thoroughly by a scientist in an experiment. I felt so uncomfortable. The things they said were those stuff people say about you when they have nothing better to say. Like, "Oh, she looks like her mother!" and "What straight teeth you have! You had braces, right?" and "You have eyes like a phoenix!" which I do not. -_- I was glad it was all over when we went home.
Day Two
Morning
Had McDonald's for breakfast. My grandpa loved those Hotcakes. I had Sausage McMuffin, yum! We went back and cleaned up the house. My grandpa plans to sell it. Did I mention there were no TV or any other gadgets whatsoever? It wasn't that bad. I had ample time to shellac my pointe shoes and read my storybooks. Ballet exam's next Saturday (20th of November). *shivers*
Afternoon
My grandpa's side relatives treated us to lunch. We went to Gurney Plaza! I was so excited when I get to see g-Hotel again. LOL, I stayed there last year when I went to Penang with my family. Proof : HERE and HERE. We went to Xuan Xin Restaurant for a Chinese meal. Not too bad; all of us had soya bean drink. My grandpa's side relatives made me feel much more at ease. They're not so uptight and prim and proper. My mother's cousin (I think) brought his son, too. He's a year older than me and attends Heng Ee High School. That explains why he has a buzz cut. My grandpa told me the girls of that school are not allowed to have long hair. It's a school rule. Eww, so many mushroom heads! Later, we went to my grandpa's sister-in-law's condominium. Her whole condo was so windy as the sea breeze kept blowing in. Chun!
Night
We finally found a hawker centre we could dine in at 9 pm. I had wonton noodles. Kinda disappointed 'cause fried kuey teow had to wait. ;(
Day Three
Morning
Ate oatmeal with bananas for breakfast. Simple and healthy. =9 I helped to do the dishes. I didn't know washing plates took such a long time. Yes, I know what you're thinking and you're right. I don't wash my own dishes at home.
Afternoon
My grandpa's nephew came to visit us. Both him and his wife invited us for lunch in Old Frees' Association. The food was [em]scrumdiddlyumptious[/em]! After that we went back and my grammies took forty winks. I paint on another layer of shellac in my pointe shoe.
Night
That same nephew's brother took us to Ocean Green Restaurant for dinner. It was situated by the sea and I held back the urge to run towards the sandy shores. I especially loved the spring rolls they prepared. Yummy! We returned to the house and I texted with Su Li on my mother's spare cellphone. I was halfway through The Lovely Bones. What? I have the art of slow reading. It helps to digest the facts and meanings of words and sentences better.
Day Four
Morning
Yes, we had oatmeal first then went to McDonald's for breakfast. Again. My grandpa really loves the food! But this time, we went with Auntie Soo Eng and Wei Chien. Same old Sausage McMuffin for me and Hotcakes for grandpa. Grandma had a little of both. Auntie Soo Eng had coffee alone and Sausage McMuffin with eggs for Wei Chien. BTW, the coffee and tea is refillable. Awesome, right? After buying some fruits, my grammies and I went to visit another of my grandpa's nephew's wife. His nephew had already passed away. ='( She's a sweet old lady with a friendly daughter. Both of them are teachers. They complained about our education system. I liked listening to them talk while I sat there being silent, taking in the whole conversation quietly.
Afternoon
We visited my mother's eighth aunt. She lives in a flat with her son. I don't know where her daughter went. When we walked into the small room, the whole place was a mess. It was as if they had been robbed; everything was upside down. We chatted for a while then we're off to New World Park for lunch. I craved for fried kuey teow but three of the stalls were fully booked with orders; I didn't want to wait so I ordered tom yam noodles. So freaking spicy! I finished my cam peng (mixture of coffee and tea) in minutes! I sucked on ice as I slurped up the last noodle. My grandpa told me to stop eating 'em but I didn't wanna waste RM 5! Later, we went to visit my uncle's parents-in-law. Their house was huge! And really clean and neat. My grammies chatted with them about everything - from eye cataracts to stock brokers to uh, vitamin M's. It was very fun to hear them chatting in Hokkien and English. There were many words I couldn't understand in Hokkien, though. Lost at some point, haha. We went back for nap time.
Night
We went for dinner at a hawker centre in Genting Road. And finally, I GET TO EAT FRIED KUEY TEOW! 8D 8D 8D I saw the lady boss sitting around doing nothing and when I approached the stall, she sprang up immediately and asked, "Fried kuey teow?" I nodded my head vigorously and asked, "Need to wait?" She shook her head. HALLELUJAH! I figured the fried kuey teow wasn't that tasty as she had no one buying from her but who cares, right? As long as I finally get my plate of fried kuey teow! 8D When it was served under my nose, I knew why nobody wanted to buy it. THE SERVING WAS SO SMALL, I COULD FINISH 'EM IN MINUTES! And they charged RM 3.50 for it, WTC. Nevermind, fried kuey teow at last. =9 Before I slept, I texted with Su Li again about hot Kevin from The Amazing Race. I was at long last done with The Lovely Bones. Not too bad, but sad to say, it wasn't engaging. I started on Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven and couldn't stop. I was already around page 50 when I dozed off.
Hot Kevin aka KevJumba! 8D
Day Five
Morning
We ate oatmeal again. The thought of oats sucking out excess oil from our body makes me like them more and more. x) My grandpa wanted to close his safety deposit box in the bank and transfer his stock stuff so we went to this Hwang-DBS Group building. I don't really understand what he was doing so I just waited patiently with my grandma.
Afternoon
At last, everything was settled. My grandpa was ecstatic and over the moon! He even suggested going to Gurney Plaza for lunch. Then, it was my turn to be on cloud nine. xD I introduced them to a restaurant I once went with my mum and sister - Max Gourmet Restaurant - and we started going on the escalator. IT WAS DISASTROUS. No, not the food; we're not even there yet. Max Gourmet Restaurant was on the seventh floor - the highest level - and there were no lifts at all! We rode the escalators till our legs hurt and our heads spun. I felt guilty for leading my old grammies to pain. =( Well, at least my grammies were satisfied when they ate the deep-fried durians. Crispy on the outside and sweet and creamy on the inside! Just like custard! YUMMM! =D...
Night
After plentiful days of relatives treating us to lunch and dinner, my grandpa treated Auntie Soo Eng to dinner. We wanted to go to Pulau Tikus at first but my grandpa wanted to buy some food to give his neighbours and my mother. So, we went to Ghee Hiang on Macalister Road and bought a few boxes of Tau Sar Pneah, Hneoh Pneah and Beh Teh Saw (they're all biscuits). Suddenly, it started pouring with rain. Luckily, I brought out a big umbrella with me and I led my grandpa back to his car. We decided to go to Gurney Plaza to have our dinner instead as we could park inside. We didn't know where to eat. The Manhattan Fish Market? No. Xuan Xin Restaurant again? No. Dragon-i Restaurant? Nah. McDonald's? SICK OF IT. We went up and down escalators, walked back and forth the old wing and new wing, travelled from the basement to the highest floor and FINALLY, we settled for Taiwan food. The restaurant's interior design was marvellous! Although it was all in black and white, it had class and it was chic. My eel with stew rice meal was delicious but my grandpa said my grandma's grilled chicken rice meal sucks. Auntie Soo Eng was quite contented with her pork spare ribs with noodles. The rain stopped when we went back, phew. As I have packed my luggage, I texted with Su Li for a while (SHE SAID KEVJUMBA AND HIS DAD WAS ELIMINATED! D8) then went to sleep while my grammies packed theirs.
Day Six
Morning
We had decided to have breakfast in McDonald's for the last time in Penang. This time, I ate Sausage McMuffin with egg. ;) We didn't chat for long before we bade goodbye to Auntie Soo Eng. Wei Chien brought us home again. My sleeping marathon started once more.
Afternoon
I don't know where we were when we went to Dunkin' Donuts for lunch. It surprised me when I found out there were more food than just doughnuts. I had a tuna croissant and apple doughnut while my grandpa and grandma shared a chicken mayo croissant and raspberry doughnut. Wei Chien took a turkey croissant and blueberry doughnut. As my grandpa wasn't full yet, he bought a banana doughnut. He was quite delighted with the whole meal. x) We continued our journey and stopped at Wei Chien's house in KL. He gave us many DVDs he didn't want anymore and we gave him a box of chocolate cake. At around 3.30 pm, we arrived at my grammies' house and I helped them to unload all their stuff. My grandpa gave me three boxes of Tau Sar Pneah, Hneoh Pneah and Beh Teh Saw, one of each kind, a pomelo and a box of butter cake. Then, he fetched me home. My mother woke up from her afternoon nap and I told her EH-VER-REE-THANG. ;)
Night
N/A.
If you've read until here, congratulations and thanks. I texted every night with Su Li and on the fifth night when she told me hot Kevin and his dad was ELIMINATED from The Amazing Race, my world shattered into a million pieces. What a bummer! >8( And too bad my face is full of zits now due to all the fried food I'd gobbled down throughout the six days. == Although everyone in Penang speaks in Hokkien and I don't really understand, I enjoyed spending time with my grammies.
And lastly, this was how we slept :
Grandpa said we were like flood victims. xD
I love my grammies! ♥
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