The Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival or "Phor Tor" happens around the 7th month of the Chinese Calendar and this is when the gates of Hell opens and the ghosts get a month long holiday to roam around. The peak day happens on the 14th day of the Ghost Festival month. If you go around the neighbourhoods, you will Chinese families praying by the roadside or just outside their house gates. By praying, they usually offer food and joss sticks to feed and appease the hungry ghosts passing by and in a way asking them to not disturb the occupants of their house.
I went on a crazy weekend with a few friends to Penang in August for the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival. It was a 2 day 1 night excursion and the reason being that Penang being a small island and more Chinese-fied is more focused on the dying Chinese arts of celebrating the Hungry Ghost Festival. They have schedules of traditional Chinese operas and puppet shows. The shows in KL and PJ mostly show scantily clad babes performing to appease the more modern ghosts and horny human males.
We stopped at Ipoh's Foh San for brunch but I really have to admit that the dimsum standard has gone downhill. This was my favourite...the Chives Prawn Steamed Dumpling.
We reached Penang just in time for lunch and our guide cum driver took us to Penang Street to have the famous Cendol, Assam Laksa, Prawn Mee (Penang Mee) and Char Kuay Teow. I was pleasantly surprised at how they serve the Prawn Mee. Unlike the reddish broth I get in KL/PJ, this was came in a very tasty clear prawn broth. It was so delicious that we ordered another bowl.
1st Bowl....
2nd bowl
Then we tried the Char Kuay Teow....it was yummy also...
Lastly, we finished off with the Asam Laksa which was served in a clear broth as well...it was very delicious as it was just the right tangy sweet salty taste. What I didn't like was the fish was all minced at the top, I would have prefered some bite-able fish pieces as well.
I can't remember how much exactly they cost but they were expensive for the small servings.
After that, we checked in to Tune Hotel. My recommendation is not to stay there. Although they are clean but their walls are so thin and not soundproof at all. We could hear our next door neighbours talking, the people outside walking on the corridors...u get the idea? Being a no-frills hotel and after all our add-ons, I could just paid an extra RM50 more to enjoy more comfort and privacy at Berjaya Penang Hotel instead.
We rested for a while before meeting some Penang photographers for dinner. They took us to Macallister Lane for delicious Kuay Chap. What is Kuay Chap? They are actually internal spare parts of pig and in this case, duck as well cooked in a broth and served with flat rice noodles...."Kuay" is the flat rice noodle simmilar to Kuay Teow...and "Chap" means mixture of stewed organs or spare parts.
It was like tasting heaven...!!! So delicious and well prepared. You must go around 6.45pm to enjoy this dish and they are usually sold out by 8pm!
Please keep an eye out for this stall and his loads of innards....very delicious...
Such a huge bowl of stewed pork intestines...well cleaned too...
A huge bowl of pig ears and snout....yummy.....
My bowl of kuay chap with duck meat and coagulated duck blood....next time i will just call for chap....I was also suprised that the broth was liquid and not starchy like the ones I ate in Singapore. You cannot find Kuay Chap in KL or PJ...or maybe is because I don't know where to look....
My most favourite dish....a plate of sliced pig ears...non fatty and full of collagen
After such a wonderful dinner, we set off to look for some opera sights. It was my 1st time watching an opera close-up and I was so surprised that it was in Cantonese. Usually, the operas in Penang are in Mandarin or Hokkien. The title of the opera was Golden Phoenix, The Lady Bandit. In short, it tells of a righteous lady bandit who steals from the rich and helps the poor. She meets the incognito Emperor of China who has lost power temporary due to his evil relative. The script was very funny as the performers have inserted modern terms into the script as well.
Here are some scenes from the opera...
We didn't stay for the entire show as we were tired. It was an eye opener experience for most of us.
Next day, we had dimsum in Penang but it was only so-so and cannot be as tasty as Foh San in Ipoh. Here are some of the stuff that was offered from the dimsum trolley.
After Breakfast, we went to Khoo Kongsi. It was a meaningful visit. The Khoo clan house praying place was very meaningful. Each decoration on its wall depicts a moral value story. The paintings of deities on the walls are at least a century old. There were also secret compartments on the staircase for luck and fortune. Too bad I don't own a wide angle lens...it was truly a beautiful sight and I hope to visit there once again.
If you looked properly, there are also Gurkha statues within the walls and surroundings of the clan house. This is because back in those days, they already believe the power of Gurkhas in providing safety to their clan house. There are also carvings of many animals admist the clan house with each character giving a different meaning of luck, prosperity, strength and other good values.
Notice anything different of the picture? There are actually swallow heads embedded in the chinese character
This window has the literal meaning of "Wishing You" .... or in cantonese, "Chuk" - Bamboo; "Fook" - Bat
and next to this window was this carving...which carries the meaning of "Peng Onn" or Peace/Safe Life. "Peng" is depicted by the flower vase and "Onn" means stuck on the wall. So the whole meaning is "Wishing you a safe and peaceful life".
After seeing Bee Yong and Fiance off, we went to Spice Garden and Teluk I-forgot-the-name. After that, we left Penang at 4pm...on the way back, we were hungry and stopped by one of Ipoh's oldest restaurant - Hoong Tho for dinner. The deep fried fish wantans were spectacular as usual and we ate heartily.
Freshwater Prawns Yee Mee. The Yee Mee was delicious as it was deep fried in fresh oil and didn't have that aftertaste of rancid oil. The Prawns were fresh and succulent.
Hoong Tho's signature fish paste dumpilings. Light and crisp and bouncy freshwater fish paste was used.
After dinner, we headed back to PJ. It was a nice trip but if I were to do it again, I would opt for at least 3 days 2 nights trip instead of weekend trip.
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