A Brief Account of Penang Trip to Attend Ji-Ni’s Wedding Ceremony from 07/07/2023 till 09/07/2023

My wife Soh Ai’s niece Ji-Ni (came back from Perth, Australia) and Allen Johnson (hailed from South Africa) held their wedding ceremony on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at The Raintree Garden of Shangri-la’s Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang.  

Soh Ai, Wai Yu and I drove to Penang on Friday, July 7, 2023 and picked up brother-in-law Sze Teong and his wife Kitty Wan at Queensbay Mall, Bayan Lepas, Penang as they travelled by Aeroline bus from KL. The five of us booked a double-storey 4-bedroom house known as Penang Beach Cottage @ Ferringhi at Liliton Sungai Emas, Batu Ferringhi which is only 5 minute drive to Rasa Sayang Resort.

Meanwhile, Wai Kit could not join due to his company’s annual kick-off meeting on Saturday morning while Wai Jen travelled by flight and stayed on his own on Saturday.

Day 1 (Friday, 07/07/2023)

Soh Ai and I left home at 9.15 am to fetch Wai Yu at Taman YARL, K.L. at 10.20 am.  We had our noodle and kuih breakfast at Taman OUG before departing from KL Wai Yu took the wheel all the way to Penang.

July 7 is a public holiday for Penangites in conjunction with George Town UNESCO World Heritage Day and the next day July 8 is also a public holiday for them in conjunction with Penang Governor’s Birthday.

No wonder the southward bound traffic along the North-south highway was quite heavy while the northward bound traffic was smooth.

We reached Queensbay Mall, Bayan Lepas at about 4.15 pm and picked up Teong and Kitty.

The 4-bedroom house we stayed was quite spacious, with 3 bedrooms (each with King-sized bed) upstairs and 1 smaller bedroom (with a single bed) downstairs. The split-level ground floor living room and dining room are big. This was booked by Teong via Agoda Company (Singapore) on April 22, 2023 and the cost was USD 137.68 (RM610.56) for our 2 nights’ stay.  The only complains I had were the pump of the water-heater of the bathroom was not working and the air-conditioner in our bedroom was not cold enough.

The self-service check-in of the house was done according to an instruction provided earlier for us to open the front-gate lock and the house key with a pin number. Very well explained with picture illustrations.

We left by car for Batu Ferringhi beach at 6.40 pm and reached there in 5 minutes time.  Teong took the wheel from then on throughout our stay in Penang.

The sun was very glaring then and we just took some photos of the sea and beach. At 7.40 pm, we went to Gurney Drive Hawker Centre to have our dinner, parking our car at \Gurney Plaza Mall as the roadside parking was full with cars.

I savored a plate of oyster omelette (蚝煎 RM18) and cuttlefish kangkung (鱿鱼蕹菜 RM20) while Soh Ai took her favorite curry mee and Wi Yu char kway teow or stirred-fried rice noodle. The hawker centre was very crowded and packed with tourists.

After dinner, we went to Giant Supermarket of Gurney Plaza and bought a bottle of red-wine Lindemans Caw Cabmer (RM54.89) , 9.5L Cactus mineral water (RM9.80) and 3x50s Kleenex face tissues (RM3.65 for myself) at 8.43 pm.

We visited Straits Quay seafront retail marina at Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang, Tanjong Tokong and hanged around till 9.45 pm before returning to our cottage.  

New Penang Bridge

Our accommodation at Lilitan Sungai Emas @ Batu Ferringhi

Living room

Dining room beside main entrance

Kitchen 

Backyard

2nd bedroom for Soh Ai and me

About to leave for sight-seeing and dinner

Batu Ferringhi beach

Hot and sunny late afternoon

Sze Teong taking photo of Kitty

Gurney Drive hawker centre

My oyster omelette and tang shui

Cuttlefish kangkung

Plaza Gurney Mall

Straits Quay

Short clip of Batu Ferringhi beach

Short clip of Straits Quay

Day 2 (08/07/2023)

We left our cottage at 8.55 am for our breakfast at Jalan Pasar of Pulau Tikus, situated between George Town and Tanjung Tokong.  Car parking there was quite a problem on a busy Saturday morning.

It was a pleasant surprise that we bumped into Soh Ai’s mother and her siblings (3^rd auntie Choo Siew Eng/uncle Tan Tong Suan, 5^th uncle Choo Say Eng, 4^th auntie Choo Bee Bee) also having their breakfast at Sin Hup Aun Cafe (新合安茶室) .  They all came a few days earlier to attend Ji-Ni’s wedding ceremony this evening. 6^th uncle Choo Seng Hock and his wife Stephanie drove here this morning and would join us later.

I took prawn mee at this coffee shop and walked to the adjacent market to buy 2 pieces of apom balik (RM1.30 each). I also bought a strip (10s tab for RM0.80) of Glumet Metformin (which I mistakenly brought Zylovaa instead) from Wellings Pharmacy.

At 10.40 am,.Teong took us to Taman Emas Kopitiam (金园茶餐室) at Jalan Gottlieb opposite Soh Ai’s Penang Chinese Girls’ High School (槟华女子国民型华文中学).  It is well-known for its assam laksa (湾島头叻沙).  I just one bite of the laksa as my stomach was quite full then.

We went to Burmah Road thinking of buying some local products like tambun biscuits (Tau Sar Pneah). The famous Him Heang biscuit shop (馨香饼家) was closed and we walked to the adjacent Ghee Hiang (义香饼家) at 11.20 am.  

I bought Tau Sar Pneah (S) 16 pcs (RM11.90),  Hneoh Pneah 16 pcs (RM13.90), oriental almond cookies 5 pcs (RM11.90) and sesame oil 300ml (RM16.10). Total RM53.80.

We visited Gurney Paragon Shopping Mall at 11.50 am before returning to our cottage for a rest.

Ji-Ni and Allen’s wedding ceremony programs were as follows:

Vow Exchange Ceremony from 5.00 pm (at Rain Tree Garden - outdoor)

Tea Ceremony from 6.00pm

Pre-Dinner Cocktail from 6.30 pm

Dinner Reception to follow (at Marquee Tent - indoor)

We arrived at The Garden Wing lobby at 4.30 pm and walked to the beach, well prepared with chairs and etc. for the ceremony. It was very hot then.

The vow exchange ceremony was successfully carried out starting at 5.30 pm.  By the time it was finished at about 6.00 pm, it was windy and started to drizzle.  All guests were moved to Marquee Tent and the rest of the ceremony and dinner were held indoor.

According to the groom’s speech, his relatives and friends flew here from South Africa, England and Ireland.  It was quite a big crowd of guests witnessing the matrimonial moment of the couple.

Actually this wedding reception was supposed to be held a few years ago, but it was delayed till today due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The couple already had a baby boy now who was very cute. Ji-An’s daughter Aria (one year plus) was very active during the wedding ceremony.   

The buffet food was sumptuous.  The atmosphere was jolly.

The rain was very heavy.  Going to the nearby small washrooms was also difficult. Most of the guests as they departed must have got a bit wet after the party was over as the resort did not provide enough umbrellas for everyone.

We left at about 11.10 pm and returned to our cottage in 5 minutes’ time. .   

Leaving for breakfast

Jalan Pasar

Sin Hup Aun coffee shop

Pic right: uncle Tan, Wai Yu. auntie Bee Bee, uncle Say Eng,

Sze Teong (right) chatting with uncle Tan

My prawn mee and kopi-O breakfast

Taman Emas coffee shop

Awards for assam laksa and other food

Wai Yu (right) chatting with Teong and Kitty

Assam laksa

Soh Ai's alma mater

Ghee Hiang tambun biscuit shop

Items that I bought from Ghee Hiang

Him Heang closed on public holiday

Gurney Paragon Mall

Soh Ai and Sze Teong after dressing up for attending wedding ceremony

Garden Wing of Rasa Sayang Resorts & Spa

Notice of the wedding ceremony and reception

The Rain Tree Garden

Sze Hean and family

Ji-An's daughter Aria

The groom's mother

The groom's relatives and friends

The groom carrying his baby

Ji-An and Aria as bridesmaids 

The bride and her father Chooi KH

Vow exchange ceremony about to start

Marquee Tent

Soh Ai and Ji-Ni's baby boy

Pic from right: Jia-wei, Sze Hean, Yean Li, Le-yi, Xin-yi

Tea ceremony

Taken during the Tea Ceremony with the newly-wed couple

The married couple posing group photo with the bride's cousins

Pic from left: auntie Bee Bee, my mother-in-law (Soh Ai standing behind), auntie Siew Eng, uncle Tan and uncle Say Eng

Pic from right: auntie Stephanie, uncle Seng Hock, uncle Say Eng, uncle Tan, auntie Siew Eng, my m-i-l, auntie Bee Bee

Desserts and cookies

Our table

My 1st round of food

Wai Yu (right) with Jia-wei

Ji-Ni and Allen's baby boy during the wedding reception

The groom and his friends singing "Backstreet Boys" song

Aria busy walking up and down the red carpet

Decorations at The Garden Wing lobby

About to leave the resort after wedding reception

A short clip of the couple and their parents proposing "Yum Seng" to the guests

A short clip of the dancing of the newly-wed couple

Day 3 (09/07/2023)

We checked out our cottage at about 10.00 am and went to Kedai Kopi Bobo at Bayan Lepas for noodle breakfast. I took a bowl of kway teow with mixed duck meat and intestines ( 棵杂).

After our brunch, we sent off Teong and Kitty at Queensbay Mall (their returning trip was scheduled to depart at 5.00 pm).

I wanted to stop by Ipoh and have tauge chicken rice for lunch at Onn Kee (怡保安记芽菜鸡) and preset the Waze for that destination. I drove the car initially from Penang to the mainland.

It was very strange that the Waze guided me to a small village called Karai at Kuala Kangsar and I was not alert enough not to blindly follow and turn off from the highway to Kuala Kangsar, knowing that it could not be near Ipoh.  After I found out the mistake at Karai, the Waze voice-messaged that we had arrived at the destination (with “Ipoh Ong Kee” still clearly indicated). But there were just a narrow road and some wooden houses and not a single restaurant was in sight.

I had learned a very bitter lesson not to blindly follow the Waze’s direction but should follow common sense. Maybe age has really caught up with me making me foolish at times now, sigh!

Wai Yu took the wheel from Karai and returned to the highway.  By the time we reached the busy street of Jalan Theatre, Ipoh, it was already 2.50 pm.

Anyway, we had a delicious late lunch at Restoran Tauge Ayam Onn Kee at Jalan Yau Tet Shin, comprising half a chicken (RM38), tauge or bean sprouts (RM10), 6 pcs of fish/meat balls (RM6) plus rice and drinks (RM15) totaling RM69.

After meal, I bought 6 pcs of wedding biscuits (3 red bean and 3 lotus paste, RM20) from Yee Thye Cake House & Confectionery and 4  pcs of kaya puff (RM1.50 each) and 4 pcs of chicken floss puff (RM2.80 each) from Kedai Biskut Durba Ong.

We left Ipoh at about 3.40 pm. Traffic along the highway was smooth except for a short while at a certain stretch.  Wai Yu went back to his Taman YARL condo.at bout 7.30pm and Soh Ai and I finally returned home at 8.15pm.

Bayan Lepas flat

My mixed duck meat and intestine noodle for breakfast

Ipoh town

Front door of Onn Kee's 2nd room

Main room of Onn Kee packed with customers

Price list

Chicken

Fish and meat balls

Tauge 

Jalan Theatre

Landmark of The Octagon Ipoh

Long queue at the most popular Funny Mountain Tau Foo Fah, discouraging to eat   

The wedding biscuits and puffs that I bought

Homeward bound journey