Penang Durian Trip Day 2

Day 2 (June 27) in Penang started with us going for local delicacies for breakfast, then a visit to Snake Temple... It's about 5km away from our house but I haven't been there for over 10 years.. LOL..

We couldn't find many snakes, mostly the same type which look like the one in this picture.. They have bigger ones like Python for photo-taking...

It was recently renovated.. a temple right in the middle of an industrial area...

We then went over to Durian Cap Kaki in Balik Pulau for.. MORE DURIANS! You will get loads of durians here including the varieties of Lipan and D14..

D14 is the winner in 2008... D14 has small seeds but lots of flesh, which can be quite filling too.. Lipan is slightly more expensive but tastes much better too!

Then, we went over to Kek Lok Si Temple.. we missed the turning and went all the way up to the dam...

The temple has been revamped but my last visit was a decade ago... LOL..

The construction of the temple began in 1890 and was inspired by the chief monk of the Goddess of Mercy Temple at Pitt Street. In 2002, a 30.2 m bronze statue of the Kuan Yin was completed and opened to public. It replaced the previous white plaster Kuan Yin statue which was damaged due to a fire a few years earlier.

My mom taking picture with her Chinese Animal sign...

The temple is still growing. Generous donations from the affluent Chinese community allow the construction of additional buildings. The current focus is to create an ornate shelter for the Kuan Yin statue. 16 carved dragon pillars are being built, the concentric roof will be inspired by classical Ming architecture, reminiscent of the roof of Prayer Hall for Good Harvest in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

After that, we went over to Air Itam for Laksa and Tomato Rice before returning to KL :)

Penang Durian Trip Day 1

On June 26, I brought Simon, his mom, his brother (Ricky) and his gf (Crystal), his cousin (Vincent) and his wife (Lina) to Penang for Durian Festival (May to July 2010)...

We went to Bao Sheng Durian Farm... located at 150 Mk.2, Sungai Pinang, 11010 Balik Pulau...

If you can't get enough of durian + mother nature,  you can probably stay over at Bao Sheng Durian Farm for RM180 per night...

Simon and his mom waiting for durian :)

We were supposed to make reservation earlier but we could only confirm the number of guests a day before our trip.. We couldn't get branded durians like Ang Heh (Red Prawn)... The Award Winner of the 1989 Penang Durian Competition. This durian has orange reddish coloured flesh, has very little fiber and is fairly sticky with a bitter-sweet taste. Usually it costs about RM25 per fruit.

10 of us started digging in... We tried other durians... Eat-all-you-can at RM20 per person since we arrived quite late (about 6:00pm).. Unfortunately, the durians were not very good.. Well, because we didn't book early! Arggh.. I was told we should call up at least 3 to 4 days ahead!

The view is spectacular.. very relaxing as well...

But the road leading to Bao Sheng Durian Farm is very windy.. and not to mention steep!

Still, although we didn't manage to try all the branded durians... we still managed to wallop quite many durians...

My dad really wanted to try Ang Heh... but I was told we should have eaten at the beginning of the durian season, not towards the end when almost all were sold out...

After durian, we rested at home and then went over to Sungai Pinang Food Court for supper...

They have a variety of local delicacies at night (less stalls are open during day time).. Their char koay teow, grilled stingray with curry powder, curry noodles, rojak (mixed fruit with special sauce) are much sought after.. :)