Penang Where Not To Eat Facebook

Just want to inform all loyal followers of this facebook page that its detractors have finally managed to shut it down.

Yes the truth hurts so much,thus they still don't want you to know.
In the beginning when I theorized that many Penang run blogs and facebook pages were sneakily directed by bloggers with intent to ramp up their revenue on their sites with hyped up figures of massive readership,
facebook pages such as George Town(103,000 plus Likes)
and Penang Lang(67,000 plus Likes) censored me.
Queensbay Mall (50,000 plus Likes)went as far as to block me.
They got my Honest Food Critic (64 Likes)  facebook blocked a total of two times before this latest attempt to silence me.

Therefore please know that I didn't delete the page or whatever.
Many things that I have divulged to you,must be so spot on,so right on the nail,that even though my Penang Where Not To Eat facebook page shows just 293 Likes at last count,some have considered my writings such a threat that they just want to shut my little tiny voice the hell up.

I won't...... because I really do believe that others need to know if I have been conned or a certain restaurant is hype or a food reviewer is lying.

Thanks to all 293 of you and all the silent ones reading on the wings.
Your support as well as those who are against my ramblings, has driven me to start this revenue free public service blog of which I have not been earning a cent from all this while.
And I won't cow down to these bullies.

Fake Po Chai Pills

I used to have this within reach.Then I started avoiding it at all cost.

After a non stop lau sai episode at one of the shops listed here,I took it and got Mount Erskine crematorium raffle ticket number 3,ending up with both ends of my orifices busy discharging crap.
That simply shows that the fake products are still floating about in Penang shops waiting for some unsuspecting victim to succumb to the grim reapers sickle.
There is no way to know for sure if the hologram sticker is genuine,as evident in the recent police report lodged by the Malaysian Pristin Fish Oil supplement agent,with regards to their discovering fake Pristin hologram stickers.
Also no one in their right mind will take Poh Chai pills for fun.You only pop it in when you are ill,not when you are well.Therefore,the only time you will discover that it is a fake is when you are down with something.

Why am I posting up an article that is almost a year old?
Well,some parents might think that their kids are over reacting,but if this happens to your little ones,please take it seriously.They are not faking it and neither will they be getting better.
Forcing them to swallow this will take a toll on their small bodies.

Some make their kids take this with warm water to stop vomiting.If the vomiting takes a turn for the worse please stop immediately and throw the medicine away.Encourage them to take lots of water to flush it out of their system.No juice,no assam,no hot drinks,no milo.Just water.

I myself had ailment no.3.My stomach rejected it and that caused me to throw everything up.Which was strange since that had never happened before. I am glad my body's mechanism countered whatever poison was present and retched it up completely.

If your body reacts in the following ways after consuming it,that could mean that you have probably just bought a fake version of this medicinal wonder...

1. gastric pain
2. nausea
3. vomiting
4. peptic ulcer
5. bleeding

will all come complimentary courtesy of fake Po Chai manufacturers.

Nowadays I let my tummy run its course.
There is no more Po Chai in my home or my purse.
I get an M.C.,stay home and sit atop my toilet throne.

Article taken from The Sun

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Beware of Fake Po Chai pills
28.6.2011

The Health Ministry has warned the public to beware of fake Po Chai pills which are suspected to contain diclofenac poison.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican, in a statement released on Friday, advised the public to ensure that they purchase the original product (which is used to relieve fever, flu, diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach ache) and not the fake pills, following a warning that was issued by the Hongkong Health Department last Tuesday.
The department warned the public not to buy or use the ‘Po Chai’ pills from the 21214 group, which was declared "fake".
"The pills from this group are found to be different in the aspect of packaging and the colour of the pills that are darker compared to the original product," Mohd Ismail said.
He said the Malaysian Drugs Control Authority has registered a product manufactured by Li Chung Shing Tong, Hongkong under the name ‘Poh Chai’ pills (reg no. MAL19988034T).
"The sole manufacturer of Poh Chai pills in Malaysia, Po Chai Herbal Technology (M) Sdn Bhd has assured that the group 21214 product, which contains diclonefac is not manufactured by the Hongkong manufacturer and that it is a fake product," Mohd Ismail said.
Diclonefac is a painkiller which causes side-effects like gastro-intestinal disorder, including gastric pain, nausea, vomiting, peptic ulcer and bleeding.
"It is a poison listed in the First Table of the Poison Act 1952 and only can be given by a doctor or pharmacist," he said.
Mohd Ismail said the registered traditional products in Malaysia are evaluated in terms of quality and security and have a hologram sticker

Brucellosis Danger in Unsterilized Goat's Milk

Can't believe that a local newspaper has today featured an article urging people to try goat's milk that has been freshly expressed at a farm here on the island.
Honestly hope that the farm operators do not serve unsterilized milk to visitors.

Why am I kicking up another fuss over milk?

Well just to jog your memory,if you have been a regular visitor to the Botanical Gardens you would have noticed some entreprising young men hawking fresh goat's milk from the back of a pick up.
On other days they would ply the tourist belt,selling the same item.
This went on for approximately a year plus if I am not mistaken until some people started falling ill.
They disappeared soon after but I have seen their truck and banners occasionally in the vicinity of Pulau Tikus.


Drinking unsterilized goat's milk is risky because there is a chance you may contract brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that induces inconstant  fevers, sweating, weakness, anaemia, headaches, depression and muscular and bodily pain.
The symptoms are like those associated with many other febrile diseases, but with emphasis on muscular pain and sweating.
The duration of the disease can vary from a few weeks to many months or even years.
Which is exactly why you should take it seriously and ensure that milk is boiled before consumption.

Am attaching an article from July 2010 for the benefit of those of us who forget so easily.

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98 Goats Culled After Boy Drinks Infected Milk
23 Jul 2010

GEORGE TOWN: Penang is conducting checks on goat milk suppliers and has culled 98 of the animals after a seven-year-old boy became the first person to be infected with brucellosis.
Brucellosis is caused by the Brucella bacteria and is a disease mainly found in cattle, swine, goats and sheep.
The boy fell sick after drinking raw goat’s milk. He was admitted to a private hospital after coming down with fever on April 24, said state exco member Phee Boon Poh.
He was transferred to the Penang Hospital several days later after failing to respond to the antibiotics given.
Also called Bang’s disease, or undulant fever, brucellosis is a highly contagious disease caused by ingestion of unsterilised milk or meat from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions.
It causes flu-like symptoms, muscle pain and swollen glands, and can result in complications like bone and joint lesions, encephalitis, meningitis and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Phee said that following the incident, the state Veterinary Services Department began conducting checks on milk suppliers.
“We hope suppliers from Kulim, Kuala Ketil and Lunas will heed the department’s advice to prevent the spread of the disease,” he said.
Phee said the department had so far tested 3,243 serum samples of goats from 11 farms in the state.
“Ninety-eight of the goats were culled after the test results came in positive,” he said.
He said the owners of the culled goats were paid compensation of RM5.60 per kilo.
Phee advised the public to boil milk before drinking. He also urged those selling mutton, including for the coming fasting month, to ensure the meat was free from the disease.
“An awareness campaign will be held on July 27 by the various government departments and the municipal councils,” he said.

Potassium Iodide(Iodine Pills) and Iodized Salt

Now that the US has actually started banning certain food imports from Japan,thus accelerating the panic and mania,do read up on this excerpt taken off allvoices.com before popping salt or iodine pills into your mouth.
The article goes on to recommend red wine as a better alternative.Frankly speaking,if you know the brahoha over fake red wine(where they put bovine blood in to colour it instead) you wouldn't try it either unless you were able to purchase it from a reputable winery off the estate itself.
I personally do not take our importers word for it.Neither am I going to take red wine just cos some claimed it will help stave off radiation.
Fiddlesticks.
The only thing red wine will help with is in increasing blood circulation and an excuse for drunken sprees.

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Radiation Fears : Who Should Consume Potassium Iodide?

The nuclear scare following the Fukushima accident last week made people all over the world alarmed over the possible health risks it may bring to themselves especially the young ones and pregnant women.
It is understandable to be concerned about the situation but it is important to be equipped with the accurate information to make sound judgment and know the proper action to take if the need arises.
Sudden or long-term health problems may occur following exposure from radiation particles after nuclear plant blasts.
Risk factors to health hazards depend on many factors such as the extent of exposure and distance from the nuclear source among others. Therefore, nuclear plant workers are at the highest risk of exposure. Residents living near the area are at increased risk that is why they were evacuated 30 kilometers away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant.
The Japanese authorities have screened hundreds of people for possible radiation exposure and have so far not reported any illnesses.
The Philippine Department of Health Website says that acute radiation poisoning or syndrome manifests as nausea, vomiting, fever or diarrhea. More serious symptoms such as hair loss and presence of blood in feces and vomitus may happen in more severe cases.
People who are exposed should be decontaminated, which means removing all clothes and shoes and showering. To prevent organ damage, treatment is necessary.
The treatment is Potassium Iodide (KI). But before considering taking in KI, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Website advises that
You should only take KI on the advice of emergency management officials, public health officials, or your doctor. There are associated risks with KI intake.
KI is the medicine form of iodine. Iodine is also present in most foods that we eat such as cow's milk, eggs, mozzarella cheese, yogurt and strawberries.
The iodized table salt is a good source of the mineral under normal conditions but its iodine content is not high enough to counter the radioactive iodine in the thyroid gland once internal contamination has commenced. Therefore, CDC said "You should not use table salt as a substitute for KI."
Located in the lower part of the neck, the thyroid gland makes and stores hormones that regulate bodily functions like body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate among other things. Thyroid hormones help kids grow and develop.
KI acts by blocking the radioactive iodine from going in to the thyroid gland.
Once the stable form of iodine is inside the thyroid it fills the gland.
The thyroid cannot take anymore iodine for the next 24 hours.
It is also important to know that KI may not give full protection against harmful radioactive materials. KI's ability to block depends on how fast KI is absorbed in the bloodstream, the time lag between contamination and KI intake and the total amount of radioactive iodine a person is exposed.
The following people need to take KI following the advice of the authorities and doctors in their particular locality: infants (including breast-fed babies), children up to 18 years of age, young adults (18 to 40 years old) and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Adults (over 40) need not take KI unless otherwise advised by local authorities.
KI is available in liquid and tablet forms. It is taken in by mouth.
I have no idea what made some people consider the use of Betadine (povidone iodine) antiseptic as prophylaxis for radiation syndrome.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have found that red wine can protect against the damages brought about by radiation.
In a report by UK's The Telegraph, researchers found that the anti-oxidant resveratrol in red wines can protect the cells of mice in their experiments. Now, you don't have to drink Cabernet because you feel down from exposure to radiation. You will drink it to become healthy.
To highlight the importance of treatment from exposure to harmful radioactive materials, if you live far from the area, there is no reason to panic. Consult your physician and public health officials before considering to take potassium iodide.

747 Restaurant @ YMCA

I'll try to be kind since they are relocating soon.
Rumour has it that when their landlord increased the rental to RM12k,they asked them to go 'whack their aeroplane'.

First thing you will notice is that the restaurant is very dated.The curtains have faced the onslaught of the hot sun so many times,it is no better than hanging out a curtain of old knickers.
Stickers of a Boeing 747 are pasted on their walls thus I guess that explains why their restaurant is named such.

Once the waiters and waitresses step into the aisles to instruct you to put your seat belt on ladies and gentlemen,they will hurriedly chuck,yea chuck(these are very uncivil people with no sense of courtesy,so Air Asia style),chuck the menu on the table,cos they anticipate some air turbulence to rock the restaurant soon.Plus,each table is limited to ONE battered menu.Doesn't matter if you have ten in your group,you are expected to know what you want FAST cos they will be landing soon.
Because they like to wear blue or yellow Hawaiian shirts you begin to wonder if these were ex hippies from the swinging sixties who think they are surfing against the tide of modernity.
update:
(oh wait a minute,okay now I get it....there was a tv show long long time ago,where a hawaiian shirt wearing midget yelled "The Plane!The Plane!" excitedly.Maybe the show inspired their costumes.
I would like to say I don't care but this is really bugging me.Brrrrr.....)

Should you get the short big headed,big nosed fella that looks like a grouchy smurf as your steward for the evening,he goes about his task as if he were having a permanent stiff neck cos he cannot seem to lift his head up to look at you.
He only lifts his eyes upwards in your direction as if he were selling some contraband stuff.

You let your eyes wander off to the well endowed old broad and you wonder if perhaps they were going at each other every night like a bunch of newly weds cos she somehow resembles Yut Kees fish lips daughter in law,only not so over the top and mostly has her eyes reminiscing of last night on top of smurfy.
Now if you get her as your stewardess,she's much better cos her appetite has been fully satiated and she WILL get some more tonight.
Have seen her fussing over a young neighbourhood customer pandering to his every whim and running the entire menu over with him,ticking it off one by one ever so patiently,till he finally settled his spoilt brat head on what he wanted to order.It made her look like the Penang Mother Theresa of Food.

But sky forbid if ,you get the chinese dracula hantu eyebrowed,pony tailed cowgirl kangkang walking flight attendant from hell.She is so curt and so rude cos she is in a great,great hurry to offload her duties and hurry back to the cockpit for some 'me' time.
Miss Adams Family likes to cut in before you can finish your order,therefore your order will go something like this .....
"fried ri_ _ "
"kang _ _ _ _"
"ome _ _ _ _ _"
"enche _ _ _ _ _"
$%#@#$%$^&%$#@# $$#@%^*&^*
When she brings you,your rice,which is scooped out from a big metal container into a more petite looking white melamine bowl,she will proceed to spill it all over the table cloth.Me thinks this is cos she really need spectacles but she no wanna wear cos she no wanna look ugly.
Honey...frankly it makes no difference.
Perhaps she behaves this way because of the sexually charged atmosphere in the cabin between those 2 old swingers.This possibly gives rise to the term frustrasi.Those of you who keep your single pet caged would know what I mean.Somebody's got clipped wings.

So anyway,we now come to the food.
This is perhaps one of the last bastions of the oily frontier when cooking oil,electric steamboat and rice cooker advertisements first seduced our grandmothers.They use it with much aplomb here.
That propells rich old timer fans inwards,who with their grandkids in tow,chew their food at the speed of a dragging spluttering Cessna.

Somehow I don't get too adventurous here with the food.Mostly limit myself to their spicy dishes cos it has an exciting spice level inserted with a generous amount of har mai that takes my mind of the milf aura under wraps waiting to explode,emenating from the other side,always parking herself near the too hot to handle rice bin.
Quite impossible to fully concentrate on the food and give a thorough account under such distracting circumstances.

Again,as in most hainanese type joints this one too has resorted to using stickers to signal the rise in food prices instead of reprinting their menu.

If viagra doesn't work on you anymore,take a trip here and let your imagination run wild.Which leads me to wonder if that is the reason why they wash the curtains so often.Which still does not explain why my partially demented logic thinks that this is why old folks that look so absolutely bored with life,make a beeline here even if they have to drag themselves in on walking aids.

There are no innocent angels left on this cloud this much I can tell you.

Clenbuterol Piglets and Pork From Henan,China

1. Limb Tremors
2. Nausea
3. Headaches
4. Involuntary twitching like you were a goth in a My Chemical Romance video
5. Over thirstiness

are symptoms that you should be on the lookout for to pinpoint exactly when you may have consumed or bought pork fed with this substance.
Clenbuterol was originally designed to combat asthma.
It later turned into a performance enhancing drug that some kiasu Olympic athletes use.
Now pig farmers love it.

To feed it to the pigs means you get a mutant muscular Mr.Universe porkzenegger.
A very good thing for butchers who have silly customers who insist on lean pork.
Come on man,pigs were supposed to be fat and obese.
Not some Marie France slimming advertisement with King Kong muscles that can squash a bull like a mosquito in the blink of an eye.

For us sedantary humans to eat porkzeneggers,is like drinking 100plus isotonic drinks when all you do is exercise your eyes in front of the tv.
Meaning it is not going to be burned off effectively.
Anyway you put it,it screws up your system.
That is why it is banned for the sake of the kiasis and the kiasus.

I mean we're talking about steroids ok?Some will argue that clenbuterol is not a steroid.Others will insist it is a miracle diet pill.
Steroids was what some suspected to have driven a Canadian pro wrestler to slaughter his entire family.

To find out the full extent of its purpose and effects,since I am a mere laywoman and a certified doctor quack,don't just take my word for it,refer to wikipedia.

Meanwhile I will address this issue,by relating my personal experiences to you.

There was a time when the doctor misdiagnosed my accelerated heart rate,tremors,breathlessness followed by an outbreak of cold sweat and attributed my suffering to causes ranging from panic attacks to nervous disorders that he said could be partly due to stress,late nights and my irregular eating hours.
He said he could give me some pills to calm me down if I wanted.
I was aghast and adamant that he did not cos I did not want to get dependant on a couple of pills every now and then.
Then with a sinister tone he advised me to go for a thorough check up to identify if I could be having an underlying undetected heart condition or some medical condition which I most probably inherited and did not know about.
I asked Doctor Wang Besar,Wang Besar to go fly kite under my breathe.

When I related my problem to a non-smoking colleague,he swore that it could be due to the fact that I sometimes cavorted in smoky conditions that could have set off an allergic reaction to the chemicals entering my pores and messing up my system.Okay,more reasonable than the doc.

Because I was determined to put a stop to it and get to the bottom of the matter,I started eliminating the causes myself.
I ensured I ate on time and went to extreme lengths to avoid smokers to the point of almost loosing my job.I slept earlier than usual.
Tried every angle yet was still having the darned attacks.

At one point the frequency and intensity of the attacks became so great (every week,one attack)that I toyed with the idea that perhaps I was going nuts and perhaps Wang Besar was right.
Maybe I should go for a check up.
Maybe I do have a heart condition.
Maybe somebody in the family didn't tell me something about our medical history.

Until I read in the newspapers that our bodily tremors could be due to consuming pork fed with fat busting steroids.
Piglets were out of the question for me as I cannot stomach nor find any gastronomic delight in eating baby animals.For that same reason I do not consume veal.

On a last ditch effort I tried this 'theory' out.
If I had consumed a pork dish from one place I would not eat pork after that for 2 days.
It was then that my symptoms miraculously stopped.
I had found the root cause of my problem.
Pork!
If I had developed any heart condition,this was the cause of it.

I never buy pork from the moustached butcher in the Tanjong Bungah market anymore.
I fnd that I had this problem because I used to consume pork meat that he supplied to certain stall owners in the area.
Also,I never eat at a famous western near Jamal Tariq,one that just recently relocated anymore too,cos the last time I ate there,the tremors and attacks started again.
Just in case I was wrong,I gave it a second and third go.
2nd time I ordered just their chicken grill and the 3rd the all day breakfast set.
Yet still I 'kena' cos I suppose the grilling pan would also have this substance all over it to cross over and contaminate all other meats.
Lastly I tried a new choo char place near BHPetrol Air Itam and am swearing off that too.

Nowadays,I prefer to cook pork myself and I get my supply from 3 places ONLY....
an obese trading family at a corner shoplot outside Chowrasta market,a stall nearest to the chicken seller on seventh road market and a lean husband and wife's stall in Tanjong Bungah market.

So far,I still do eat pork outside cos I am an absolute flop at stewed pork trotters.
I find I have no problem with the pork leg in Loke Yuen nor Teik Senn.
There are other places too.Will list them down when I find the time to do so.

To date,no Malaysian has ever been admitted into hospital for Clenbuterol poisoning not even me but that doesn't mean it is not happening.
At least my body responded accordingly to warn me.
But our society is such that when we have a headache,some will blame it on accumulation of wind(angin),then when we are suddenly thirsty,aji will be the usual suspect.
When the doctor cannot find out anything wrong,some will blame it on black magic for goodness sakes.
Not once does pork come under the radar for causing the above.

The report below came out today.
Below it is another one taken from a fitness blog dated as far back as 2003 when many chinese were hospitalised.
The 2003 incident if I am not mistaken,was not reported here in Malaysia.

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Stricter Checks On Pork,Piglets From China
(The Sun-21.3.2011)

Health Minister Datuk Sei Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry will raise the inspection level on all pork and piglets imported from China following the detection of a banned substance in pork in the chinese province of Henan.
It had been reported that pigs in central Henan were fed an illegal additive believed to speed up muscle growth and burn fat resulting in leaner pork.
The banned additive clenbuterol,is considered hazardous to people and can cause nausea,headaches,limb tremors and cancer,the chinese media reported.
Authorities said they were investigating more than 1,300 pig farms.The police have detained more than 14 people and at least 6 government officials or employees have been suspended or fired,according to media reports on Friday.
Liow told Nanyang Siang Pau that Malaysia imports pork and piglets from China and there is a need to tighten inspection on these products following the incident on Henan.
He said the nspection will also include Chinese pork being sold in the market.
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From Correspondents In Beijing
10-24-2003

(AFP) -- Pork contaminated with a fat-burning chemical popular among body-builders has poisoned 39 people in northeast China's Liaoyang city, state media said today.
Of those poisoned, 29 had to be hospitalized with symptoms ranging from involuntary twitching to acute thirstiness, the China Daily reported.
It turned out they had all eaten pork containing clenbuterol hydrochloride, a chemical developed to fight asthma which has grown popular among body-builders because it also burns fat.

For much the same reasons, pig farmers like the product as it helps them produce leaner meat.

It is not the first time that this particular chemical has sent pork eaters to hospital in China. In 2001, it poisoned 484 residents of south China's Heyuan city, the paper said.

Officials complained to the paper that despite random checks, it is hard to stop farmers from using the chemical, because of its easy availability.

Food poisoning cases happen frequently in China, and are mainly due to insufficient government monitoring of the food service industry and poor hygiene practices, although crime is also sometimes involved.

Thieving Customers

You know how many times we joked about ta pauing some delicious sauces from our favourite shops?
Or when we are at a function and there is so much leftover food,we wish we had brought a tiffin or tupperware?
Mc D's would be the place where most of us honed our art of taking straws and condiments F.O.C.when we were mere tweenagers.

Since most people can't consume more of what they want on the spot,it gets the better of them.
They start to take,squirrel and siphon small amounts before they get bolder and take more.

Well one couple can never step back into this outlet again,for the owner got so pissed off,he plastered their photos up on the walls.
If you want to argue,you can't exactly say that it is stealing.
Cos they did pour the sauce into a container inside a bag and not take the entire bottle itself.
I would think that they could sue him for embarassing them but I don't think that they will be that stupid two times in a row.

So all you closet 'thieves' out there,business owners have a limit to their patience too.
We really won't symphatise with you,cos most times,those itchy fingered ones are quiet well off.

Since we are one the subject of the well off and their obsessive compulsive stealing habits I shall now tell you a true story.
This fella,a former headmaster is worth millions.
Very lowkey,dresses so badly and shabbily you would never know he was worth that much.
Anyway,one day he decided that he wanted to landscape his new home,
one that housed the TWO sisters he married.
Hell yea,he really did that and those two old ahmoi's didn't care a damn about that icky feeling of sharing your hubby with sis.oh yucks.

So okay,he wanted to landscape his new castle.
Any guesses what he did?
He commanded his workers to drive a truck to an area that had been newly planted and lined with palm trees and other nice little plants by the municipal council.
They stripped the area of prized red palms,flowering shrubs and took it all back to his Royal Thieveness.
Just so you know,this former HM is NOT from Penang but also stays in a beach side community.

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China Press reported that the operator of noodle shop famous for its chilli pan mee,displayed photos of a couple who he said he stolen chilli sauce from his shop.
The operator said the photos were taken from a closed-circuit television camera which captured the couple in the act in December last year in Kuala Lumpur.
The operator said the couple poured a bottle of chilli sauce into a bag before leaving his shop.

Mobile Van Hawkers @ Persiaran Bayan Indah (opp. Queensbay Mall)

Queensbay Mall opened for business on Dec 2006.
The grassy seaside promenade first attracted just 3 mobile hawkers before it turned into an 18 trader problem today.
These hawkers now refuse to move and claim that they have been operating there for the past six years,not 4 years and 4 months.

They are now feigning innocence but I do remember that there was one year(when those Gerakan puppets were still in power) where enforcement units were stationed there with the whole intention to prevent them from operating.A similar operasi was also carried out in Gurney Drive.
During that period,hawkers in both places played a cat and mouse game with the officers,opening only after they had left.
Question is,if they weren't guilty then,why hide like DVD pirates and drug pushers?

Expect the hawkers at Persiaran Bayan Indah to play the race card again,and scream to the whole world that they are marginalised.

Do bear in mind that no other race except for them,run mobile businesses here, because long.long ago,The Others were chased away by council officers during that Big Nosed Greedy Yes Man Puppet's time in office.
Even today at the Esplanade,only one other mobile hawker of another race sells fruits in a spot farthest from the crowd.
Since the Earth Princes have minimal presence in Gurney Drive and Batu Feringghi,I suppose they want to create trouble because that works to their advantage,knowing full well that the underinformed highly flammable Ultra groups will gladly take their 'cause'under their wings.

No.I am just making an excuse for them.
This has nothing to do with race.
The only race that these Mobile Vultures belong to is the RACE FOR CASH.

The reason why they act in such a loutish manner is clear for all to see
*They are motivated by Tax Free Earnings.
*They are aroused by the word COMPENSATION,for shifting their illegal squatting asses to a site that they will accept,rent to others,then move on to another illegal site for the next compensation venture.

Since they are unable to obtain licences to operate in desirable trading spots,they will GRAB the spot first.

This is TO PREVENT THEIR OWN BROTHERS from laying claim on it.
Then instead of running away they cry wolf..... Buli Bangsa,
so that they can dictate to the authorities THEIR terms,with utter disrespect and disregard for law and order on Malaysian soil.

These Traders are National Traitors who won't hesitate to sell their illegal spot to a foreigner and even provide 'protection' when the price is right.

If you buy ketam bola or a soya bean drink from them Today,
Tomorrow.....your kids will loose the freedom to explore and sit on the grassy turf,irrelevant of what colour you belong to,
cos THAT is THEIR trading spot and YOU have NO BUSINESS to be there unless you purchase something from them.

They are all the same,from here to Gurney Drive,Batu Feringghi to the Esplanade,only difference is that this is a relatively 'young' problem where concrete action should be administered before the infestation is too late to be exterminated.

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Traders Up In Arms
(The Star-17.3.2011)

GEORGE TOWN: Hawkers trading from vans parked along Persiaran Bayan Indah’s seaside promenade near Queensbay Mall here are crying foul over alleged mistreatment from the state govern-ment.
The traders claimed that officers from the Penang Municipal Council’s enforcement unit had seized items such as generators, cooking gas, umbrellas and tables on Friday besides drawing yellow lines on the side of the road and erecting signboards which said ‘Dilarang menjaja’ (No hawkers allowed) in the area.
A representative of the traders, Amirul Mukmin Ibrahim claimed enforcement officers had been monitoring them for three weeks.
“Then on Monday, we were told to shut down our business and were directed to meet Abdul Malik Abul Kassim (State Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs and Religious Affairs Committee chairman) and Pantai Jerejak PKR assemblyman Sim Tze Tzin at the council office in Padang Kota Lama on Tuesday.
“We went there and waited for three hours but nobody was there to entertain us,” he said yesterday when the traders put on a show of defiance by carrying on their business as usual.
Amirul added that the 18 traders have been operating their businesses there for the past six years.
“Why is the state government and council doing this to us only now? If we are not allowed to do business here, they should give us an alternative as we have to earn a living to feed our families,” he said.
A commotion broke out when a council officer arrived to take photographs of the vans at around 3.45pm yesterday.
A group of traders had ambushed him and demanded an explanation as to why they were not issued any notices from the council.
At a press conference in Komtar later, Abdul Malik however said that no items had been seized from the van traders.
“The enforcement officers were only stationed there to ensure law and order in the area as it’s the school holidays now and there are many people frequenting the place. It’s never their intention to seize any items. It’s all a blatant lie,” he said.
He added that he had not arranged to meet with the traders in Padang Kota Lama on Tuesday.
“But we have scheduled to hold a meeting with them within the next few days to discuss ways to resolve their problem.
“It’s not difficult to reach me. They can walk into our office to relay their problems to us,” he said.

Polycarbonate No.7

Update :

27.3.2011

Out of curiosity I checked the bottom of an old CNY cookie container,horror of horrors it had the number 3 on it.

17.3.2011

Many parents have been spotted at department stores grabbing baby feeding bottles with the sticker No BPA.
Water bottles that suspiciously look exactly like the old BPA ones now sport No BPA tags.

Stickers and tags are so easy to attach.
I have my doubts as to the authenticity of the manufacturers claims.
These items seem to have popped up overnight out of the blue,on our shelves less than 2 days after the Health Ministry's announcement of the ban a year from now.

Please do your google searches with your respective smart phones on the spot and double check before buying.
Try not to trust their claim until you do the triangle number check.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Post
16.3.2011

A big thank you to the authorities for taking this long to act against a material linked to

1. hormone disruption
2. miscarriages
3. birth defects
4. certain cancers
5. type 2 diabetes

When you get to the end of this post,you may need to check your hung upside down,office water dispenser and see if it bears the number 7 inside the triangular recycling logo.
If yes,DO NOT consume cos you will never know how many times your water supplier has recycled the bottle.

Close to a decade ago,a foreign owned pharmaceutical chain,was the forerunner in promoting these beautiful looking bottles.
Soon the market was awash with these products from Perlis to Sabah,misleading AN ENTIRE GENERATION into consuming water leached with BPA.
So safe did they say it was that they even encouraged us to store and consume HOT WATER from it.
DAMN THEM!

Now,manufacturers and traders have been given a grace period of ONE YEAR to get rid of their stock(i.e.sell it cheaply to kampung folks and simpletons).

Recycling logos have different numbers embossed into the triangular symbol.In some cases,we have to strip away the plastic packaging because for some baffling reason,it is not printed on the bottom as per international standards.

Let's learn the meaning of these numbers.
Pay close attention to 1,3,6 and 7.
In the meantime,learn to trust our instincts and reject false claims thought out by hoodlum businessmen and their advertising agencies.

Extracts taken from Pacebutler.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.PET or PETE (Polyethylene Terephalate Ethylene)


PET poses low risk of “leaching” breakdown products but experts caution against any repeated usage.

Found In: Soft drink, water, juice, and beer bottles; mouthwash bottles; peanut butter containers; salad dressing and vegetable oil containers; ovenable food trays.

2.HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

HDPE is believed to pose a low risk of contaminating contents with breakdown products.

Found In: Milk jugs, juice bottles; bleach, detergent and household cleaner bottles; shampoo bottles; some trash and shopping bags; motor oil bottles; butter and yogurt containers; cereal box liners, bleach bottles.

3.PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)


Rarely recycled, this plastic is considered to be dangerous in relation to food preparation and should not be allowed to come into contact with food when cooking. It contains chlorine and will release toxins to the environment if burned.

Found In: Window cleaner and detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, cooking oil bottles, clear food packaging, wire jacketing, medical equipment, siding, windows, piping. Also used for peanut butter jars and water jugs, wire and cable jacketing.

4.LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene )


Found In: Plastic bags and grocery sacks, dry cleaning bags and flexible film packaging, Squeezable bottles; bread, frozen food, dry cleaning and shopping bags; tote bags; clothing; furniture; carpet

5.PP (Polypropylene)


It is widely used in containers designed for hot liquids.

Found in: Yogurt containers, syrup bottles, ketchup bottles, caps, straws, medicine bottles, straws and film packaging.

6.PS (Polystyrene)


PS is characterized by its low melting point and is a good material for insulation.
It can be manufactured into rigid foam products like the trademark Styrofoam.
This material has long been on the watch list of environmentalists because of its widespread use and difficulty in recycling. Current evidence suggest that Polystyrene can leach toxins into food.

Found in: Disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons, carry-out containers, aspirin bottles, compact disc cases

7.Other (Polycarbonate)


The category “Other” includes material not categorized under any of the resin classifications above or combinations of any of those.

Found in:

1. Three and five gallon water bottles
2. certain food product bottles
3. ‘bullet-proof’ materials
4. sunglasses
5. DVDs
6. iPod and computer cases
7. signs and displays
8. certain food containers
9. nylon
10. outdoor and camping bottles
11. gym bottles
12. baby bottles

In recent years,it was found out that many no.7 plastics are made with Polycarbonate plastic which, under scientific experiments, were discovered to leach Bisphenol A.
This is a type of chemical known to be a hormonal disruptor causing miscarriages and birth defects. According to a study conducted by Case Western Reserve scientists,synthetic xenoestrogens one of which is Bisphenol A or BPA are linked to breast cancer and uterine cancer in women,decreased testosterone levels in men,are particularly devastating to babies and young children and has even been linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes

Japanese Restaurants' Claims

Update (17.3.2011)

A Certificate of Radioactivity issued by the Japanese Competent Authority for foodstuff imported from Japan will be imposed only from APRIL 15TH .
From now till the 15th of April,SAMPLES of fruits,veges,fish,fish products,meats from entry points will undergo Level 5 testings by the Malaysian Nuclear Commision.
That gives unscrupulous merchants a window of one month to pull tricks out of their sleeves.
Meaning they will quickly stock up,quietly print new labels,encase them in totally new packagings,erase and change expiry dates,put misleading information up with intention to deceive us customers etc etc etc

If you really want to donate directly to the Japanese people,Isaribi Tei's owner,Yasuyuki Kayashima is collecting donations from his customers.
His restaurant is located next to Jemputree,opposite Hotel 1926 and Kochabi at Burmah Road.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Original post
16.3.2011

When we eat in,Japanese restaurants will brag to us that their products are fresh and air flown in every week from Japan.
When they encounter a problematic situation such as the current radioactive fears,they backtrack and tell us what we want to hear.
If they said their steak is Kobe beef,all of a sudden they will tell you that they got their stocks from New Zealand and blah blah so on so forth.Don't worry,it is safe.
Why should we take their word for it?

One thing I DO know is that Sushi King uses A LOT of locally sourced produce such as the Jasmine rice brand instead of japanese grains.
Take heed that if some outlets expect their stocks to last for a month,then in the months to come we should really pay attention to where the heck they get their supplies from.

Now you even have one chain that dares to tell the newspapers that their stocks arrived months ago.
Wow.Awesome....
HELLO?
Read on and keep the highlighted paragraph in mind,oh readers staying in KL/Selangor.
------------------------------------------------------------
No Disruption In Food Supply

(The Star 16.3.2011)

PUTRAJAYA: The supply of meat and fish in Malaysia will not be affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar.
Food supply in the country remained steady despite the twin disasters in Japan as most of the meat is imported from Australia, New Zealand and India,” he said.
His ministry and the Health Ministry will work together to monitor food imported from Japan for signs of radiation contamination.
“All food products entering Malaysia have to be safe for consumption under the Food Act,” he said after launching the National Dual Training System course for farmers here yesterday.
Meanwhile, industry players said all Japanese food products in supermarkets and restaurants are safe for consumption.
Japanese restaurant Rakuzen manager Wendy Chan said its food stock arrived several months before the earthquake in Japan.
“Our stock comes from Hokkaido and so far there is no shortage.”
Sushi Kin Sdn Bhd executive director Law Hwee Ching said that their stock had come early this month.
“We do not expect any impact from the crisis as our supplies will last for one to two months,” she said, adding that the company mostly imported non-perishable items like noodles and seasoning.

Shojikiya Sdn Bhd, which has Japanese product speciality stores, said their stock will last a month.
“We’re working with our suppliers to ensure all products are radiation- free,” said administration manager Lee Yit Siew.
Village Grocer manager Foo Eng Keat said he anticipated a worldwide stock shortage after the natural disasters.

Golden City Cafe @ next to New World Park

Chinese mee rebus,mee goreng,fried rice,ice kacang with ice cream and Maria's wantan mee are the main items sold here.
Their regulars used to slowly filter in here for a truly laidback meal at snail's pace.
Food here was palatable,not exactly so great,you couldn't live without.
When New World Park and Tune Hotel opened,the spillover of customers saw a change in their fortune.
Business picked up.

The aunty occupying the front of the shop, used to fry a dry ajinomoto laden version of fried rice and added chicken meat plus a topping of crunchy iceberg lettuce on top,a version which I found to my liking cos I am an aji fan.
You can forget about it now.She now precooks the chicken,marinating it in some spicy sauce and deep frying it,so it can be tucked away for longer in the fridge.Also the iceberg lettuce has gone off radar.
Last time,her hubby sometimes took over the reins from her when she couldn't cope.I remember him being so bad,I swore never to order from him if he was behind the counter again.
The entry of her bespectacled son whom she clearly dotes upon, into the cooking sphere has practically screwed up her recipes.
His presence signalled the arrival of bad cooking,oily recipes,and sloppy half hearted attention to order taking.
I thought perhaps that only he was bad,that I decided to make another trip back just to make sure once and for all if I had to insist on her cooking and not him.
Wrong.
This lady loves her messy sweaty looking son so much,she now cooks exactly like him.
Sheesh.

M.A.C. Cosmetics Wonder Woman Campaign

This has to do with a worldwide cosmetic range launch.
How did the madcap cam-pain come to feature on this unglamorous page?
Well let's just say we were trudging to dinner when we came across a perplexingly unvoluptous being,so world's apart from Marvel's poster pin up Wonder Woman and her unashamed to be large posteriored self.

On this side of the world too,can one get models who starve themselves halfway to death or purge their insides with the help of should-be-banned Kelantanese herbs or jamu,Chinese steroids charading as herbal concoctions and doctor prescribed meant for the obese medication.

Unless the said model is earning megabuckaroos like Amber Chia,to stuff a lady with the front described as an aeroplane's landing strip,without breast enhancement intervention,into a loosely spandex like material,that fully covers yet totally enhances her skeletal frame,would make just about anyone loose their appetite.

Just where exactly did I spot this horrifying and ghastly creature?
In Gurney Plaza,dressed in a tiara,gold turtle necked bodysuit,red full length tights and matching big knickers,with hair frozen like a limestone waterfall,strutting around in scarlet boots.
Gaaahhh....I could barely look for I was developing cataract on the spot!

'She' looked like Michael Jackson in his Egyptian video,dressed in shimmery drag with two Ghee Hiang tau sar pneah biscuits(yea those were her real tits) sticking out from under her skinny golden chest,rising from atop her Chingay toothpick pole legs.

One kid stood rooted to the spot for an entire minute before bursting out in tears,some passing young men were 'pointing' out her 'lack' of feminine assets.
A twosome of Mac fans feigned disinterest,other horrified ones stayed away.
The SHE-woman finally got so fed-up,she turned her back on us giggling zoo loving baffoons.

Whose big tutup aurat idea was this?come on....pure horror personified!

Plainly it was an aneroxic scarefest skinsuit with thick halloween Mac-up on.
Nothing to be admired,every reason to mock an insane diet.

If you wanna google the pictures,bear in mind that you might find some bustier on top ang moh ones at the KL event.The attire however remains the same.
This is where your imagination comes into play.
Try imagining our Asian airport runway dolls poured into these ridiculous costumes.
If anyone had their mouths wide open it was due to shock,gaping at their bones,not wonder-ing about the products.

Shivers aside I have to admit, two nagging questions swam around in my head,during the moment I was frozen in time......

 I WONDER if she was a WOMAN? 

 I WONDER if those were real tau sar pneahs? 

Fresh Japanese/Korean/China/Taiwanese Foods @ Penang

At time of tapping my thoughts into this blog the fourth reactor at Fukushima has exploded.

It makes sense to avoid these food items for the time being.
Do be aware that some foods from China are imported into and reexported from Japan,thus I guess it will take the other route,vice versa,now that this has happened.
Seafoods and seaweeds should be on the top of your list of what to avoid knowing how lax our authorities are at screening.
Custom officers only stop people on a hunch,that it makes smuggling quite a breeze.
Just see how many Iranians got in,for so many years before customs were alerted to their dark side.

In other words if you know that this has happened only YOU can stop yourself and your family from consuming contaminated foods.
Frankly it is a tall order and a true nightmare since radiation stays in the ground for years on end.Worst of all,we Malaysians forget so easily,evident in the fried dace and luncheon meats gracing our shelves again.

Which brings me to wonder why Mahathir bothered to pen a memoir that still doesn't reveal which part of Perak is the dumping ground for the toxic waste from a well publicised case many,many years ago?
Why take the secret to the grave with you,you media mad devious devil tyrant old man?

Do not mean to sound insensitive to the Japanese people staying in Penang.
It is a catastrophe that no one deserves to go through.
I bear no grudge against them.I will not submit to the indoctrination pumped into our heads by our mother tongue schools because I do not believe in prolonging hatred or hatching revenge.

When I visited the country at the peak of some mighty inflammatory China demonstrations a few years back,they protected our group so tightly so no other Japanese would even have the chance to retaliate or vent their anger upon us and showed us the meaning of respect,love and restraint in that trying period.

Let the past be the past and help them in their time of need.
Stop bringing up the ghosts of wars long gone.

If you have ever been in a room together with a Jew and a German,you would know what I mean.

The young Jews still hold such fervent deep set anger towards the current generation of Germans,wherever they travel,all corners of the world,that they go all out to make life hell for them,depriving them of sleep,making their life a sheer misery.

Why should we chinese diaspora follow that vile path too?

The Japanese womenfolk are some of the kindest souls,always charitable,helpful and hospitable.

Do help return the favour without prejudice nor intent to punish the younger innocent generation.

You can make donations through various agencies or send letters of support to their shell shocked embassies.

In the meantime a checklist for authorities to consider and monitor

1. That port authorities do not forget that they should be screening fishing vessels for radiation.There are plenty of Taiwanese trawlers combing our shores.It should be cause for concern bearing the proximity of the two nations.
2. The wildlife department too should keep track of migratory birds.
3. Once again, our government needs to mull and study whether they should fly back our citizens.HELLO? France has already issued a travel advisory to its citizens to get out of Tokyo since radiation clouds only require a few hours to reach the city!Come on,it is a few hundered people and you give $100,000 in trusts to ONE Datuk Lee Chong Wei????Where is your priority?
4. The person that looks mighty displeased and combative over this whole tragedy is that Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.How distasteful!! He really should take stock of himself or send someone to represent his fat face on national telly and stop worrying about how he is going to make billions because we really are AGAINST a nuclear facility being set up in Malaysia.
5. Another source of contention is our HUMAN TRAFFICKING AGENTS aka travel agencies who have issued an ultimate for customers to fly THERE within two weeks or face forfeiture of paid monies.
6. Again there is no travel advisory issued by Wisma Putra cos they need more time to study how to milk more $$$ out of an evacuation exercise.

There aren't many words of comfort that one can offer since we cannot fathom the destruction stemming from a tsunami of this scale.

Perhaps prayer will help.

First and foremost a prayer for our Malaysian citizens stuck in Japan.Let's hope that they will remain safe and our stupid embassy gets the green light and greenback to fly them back.
Please stop telling us about how many times the 67 SMART TEAM members flight INTO JAPAN has been deferred when you don't even care two hoots about our own citizens!

Lastly a prayer for the Japanese people.

That positive energy emenating from each and everyone of us in their time of need,hopefully will help heal and leave their indomitable spirit intact.

May they stay strong and hope no more tragedy befalls their beautiful nation

Curry Mee (Yellow Signboard,Pushcart Stall) @ New Lane (Night)

Last time got the fatty running the stall but today got 2 foreign workers left in charge of the whole show.
They never learn,this is the fastest way to kill their business.
The scourge of Penang Street Food.
These workers should only be employed to just deliver food,NOT cook,nor prepare the cooking station without a sniff of the owners holographic transprojection.
They can be from Myanmar,China,Nepal,Bangladesh,the answer should be a big NO.
See,reason being that they do not understand the concept of first in,first out.
Cos they don't see any crime in mixing the freshest cockles opened at 10pm with the earliest cockles still mingling at the bottom of the bloodied bowl from 5pm.

If you don't belif me go ahead and eat the cockles.
If you think Pamela n Kid Rock were a cool couple then you'll love contracting Hepatitis from A to Z .
Rempah good but so little ....Y?,
Otherwise,got lots of firm unspoilt (yea this is getting to be a major issue)prawns,with the $4 minimum order, but is too sweet for me,with no oomph, zero X factor.

Curry Mee @ Lebuh Chulia (Night) 2011

Have deleted my earlier post and converged it with a new one cos there have been changes since then

Earlier Posting
--------------
The food here is actually good.ingredients super damn fresh

HOWEVER beware of the scheming lady boss who never likes to return your change until you remind her about it and then she'll pretend and even apologise profusely after that.

I have eaten here more than 20 times and all those more than 20 times she has repeated this act without fail.I wan give her Oscar

2011 Posting
-------------
The curry mee here has changed tremendously.The kick from the rempah is still there.However you need to get an extra scoop of rempah from the seller if you like yours as hot as mine.
The cheat lady boss is no longer to be found.The 60 something male owner now has three younger male helpers,one with dyed hair.All surrounding the stall in a half moon circle as if they are waiting for the pot of boiling kuah to go into a trance and reveal some misty empat ekor numbers to these Knights of the Chulia Street Stable.
The curry mee nows comes with globs of foamy oily little things floating on top,gross as the contents of drains around Cecil Street,the stall chaotic as ever.
Couldn't find any pig's blood nor prawns this time around.
But no complains about the cuttlefish,cockles n taupok.No complains that is about freshness in particular.Presentation wise the taupok looks like a facial cotton soaked in toner.Must add that they now have fishballs overboiled till they are transformed into golf ball sized testicles.
You need a few spoons before your tastebuds get accustomed to this saltier version of curry mee so unlike the majority that are sweet.

As for the wantan mee just next to the curry mee,you can smell the boric acid from miles away.This I have not touched for years.

Last time I forgot to add that,the adjoining fruit juice stall is still churning out probably the most value for money fruit juice in the whole of Penang like an asylum.
The juices(most popular being watermelon) compliments the curry mee so well since they really give you a lot of fruit inside and it really helps douse the fire like a hydrant.
The people that run this stall live on high tension wires.Constant squabbles about who got the order wrong are the order of the day.Just wear mufflers and ignore them cos they do treat customers better than themselves.

Anyway,this street bar is so cheap that stingy backpackers will allow themselves this dirty drain clogging little 'luxury' out of their pathetic travellers budget and make a beeline for this stall.

So cheap that some Starbucks like wannabes clutching Kelly style handbags at the area above the elbow(you know?those that charge into MNG sales?)will park their butt here so long,YOU actually age like Rumpelstiltskin by the time they leave.
Couple that with the porcelained skinned ones that come here for a cheap antioxidant while slooshing up on the cholestorol busting curry mee means that some of these beauties have an attitude to match Snow White's Stepmother.

Out of all,I think I saw the worst one today.
There was this trio of mismatched family members,one thin as a satay stick,the other a short midget and a podgier aunty Ah Lian, hovering behind this particular couples table waiting for them to finish and go.
You see,people here in Malaysia only do that when you are on the last teethers of your final scoop of soup and sip of drink.This is perfectly acceptable.
Those that were fine schooled in this street food etiquette,before the advent arrival of those blasted US kopitiams, know exactly how to respond.
They quickly finish up and leave,sometimes flashing you a kind smile and patting down the chair next to them with their hand and a nod of their heads,as an indication,urging you to sit before they even finish.

But just what did the Overweight Lady Gaga customer do?
Plain uneducated,typical double degree holder,rude.
To the chagrin of the fruit juice stall owner who was trying her best to get them a seating space,the Wicked Witch missing a mirror,lifted up one badly self manicured fingernail like a magic wand and haughtily ordered another cup of juice because she didn't want to give up the best seat on the roadside.
Hmmm...if it were me I would have tipped something on top of her fattiness and her ugly boyfriends pockmarked face.

Yes beware of haughty,very fair skinned,young,middle class,callously uncaring local female diners in your midst on the streets of Chulia.
These Donkey Damsels won't shift an inch,even if you are about to give birth cos they honed the 'kutu'* attitude sharing ONE drink amongst 6 BFFS (got no shame,even dare to give interview to newspaper some more) at an american coffee joint.

The male version of this strange chair and table hogging species don't score so high in the looks department.They mostly get up to their tricks in mid range and family restaurants especially during special discount days or occasions where there is a huge influx of desperate table seeking diners.
Oh,and these Adhesive attached to their buttocks Asses misbehave like this only in same sexed pairs.
To be fair to my own kind,I shall share the men's equivalent story with you.

One Valentine's,two men were enjoying a moment together at Chili's Gurney.
Ignoring the long waiting line(this outlet does not take reservations),where the sweating but trying to keep a cool face ushers, had a hard time coping,
they sat there so long from the time we stood in line for an hour,till after we had finished our meal and left,they were still warming their seats like a pair of father hens,
I am sure they both laid a human ovum and fertilised dinosaur egg to take home as a momento to hatch slowly at their own pace, each.

*kutu-a deragatory term,that means parasite,coined by the f&b industry directed at young male customers below the age of 30,that sit too long,never topping up their one single drink order,always asking the waiter for more ice to turn into water,because most times they have very little money to spare.

But in Penang it means a middle class to rich parasite,below the age of 40,that stubbornly sits there the whole time,trying to look like they are having a great time,taking great glee in causing distress in making one less seating space available,always eyeing people's reactions from the corner of their eyes.
They probably take the Rapid bus,drive an Alphard,Hyundai Startex,BMW,Honda Civic,Camry,second hand Cooper or a beat up Kenari.
These Penang Kutus won't bat an eyelid at the various hints dropped(from cleared tables to the bill presented,nothing shakes them),because they think they are entitled to squeeze whatever timeframe they think is worth the monies they paid to make up for whatever miniscule amount they spent on their meal/drink.
They will only leave when there are no more customers waiting to get in cos there is no more fun in it left for them then.

How To Spot A Hyped Up Write Up

1. The glowing review has no writers name attached for us to put the blame on if the food is Borhochiak
2. Refer to Borhochiak Awards page and weed out the names listed.If it is there,high are the chances.
3. The reviewer boasts about and puffs up the Chef's credentials,so called repertoire and experience
4. Other than that you can't.

Writers in general,are so bent on twisting facts,sugar coating the bad and the bland,filtering out boring facts,prone to reporting half truths or leaving out the most crucial facts,that even the Royal Family in Britain has had enough of them and set up their own facebook account to set the facts right straight from the horses mouth.

I on the other hand am prone to hallucinating,day dreaming and taking a trip to Never Never Land,especially so,when the food that I so anticipate to be at least decently consumable,dissapoints the heck out of me.That's just my way of coping.These writings of mine are just a manic extension of  my teeth grinding encounters.
I mean after all pent up rage isn't constructive.
Have been tempted a few times to march to the kitchen, grab the apron from the chef ,order him out and let me show him how its done.
However,if he's one in need of temper management,like most cooks,at least let me show him what are yardstick measurements of great cooking.

What on earth are Hospitality,Culinary Schools and traditional Sifus churning out ?

Taking a cue from the latest casualty that barely survived 5 months of opening,no amount of fengshui,banners,promos,joint ties ups and cheap offers could bait them customers.
Not even this mouthwatering write up below.
Am featuring it as an example and point of reference for the future.

Basically...what did they leave out?
That spooky feeling when you just do not want to venture inside at all.
Did you see that weird looking golden mermaid statue near the stage area or the strange lighting?Brrrrrrr.......
Also this spot has borne witness to so many fallen businesses that most bloggers wisely kept their distance from this fella with the stubborn exception of this The Star reviewer

------------------------------------------------------------

Guaranteed Fresh Seafood

The Star ,29oct 2010
Food reviewer-this writer has sixth sense,he/she decided to remain anonymous

FANCY feasting on a variety of fresh seafood in a comfortable ambience with gorgeous views of the seafront? Then the GQ Seafood @ 104 Gurney Drive fits the bill perfectly.

Recently refurbished and opened in early October, the airy and casual eatery along Penang’s most famous promenade allows di-ners to pick their catch fresh from the many tanks housing a plethora of sea creatures.
These are then cooked in a multitude of styles, predominantly Cantonese, but also encompassing all Chinese cuisines. Though the menu lists around 150 dishes, the variety of cooking styles and sauce pairings means there is much more than that to look forward to.
The restaurant’s opening promotion features one of the most sought after seafood items — crabs — at just RM2 for the first piece, weighing approximately 300 grams. Sub-sequent crabs are then charged according to weight.
Valid for both lunch and dinner, the crustaceans are the stars in executive chef Alex Lee’s signature Sour Sweet Crabs dish. With the sauce made from a blend of lime, milk, sugar, oyster sauce, onions and chilli padi, it has a little of everything, and is bound to appeal to local taste buds.
With over three decades of experience working in various kitchens spanning the breadth of the nation, Lee is a master of his craft with an innate understanding of flavours and tastes.
Doing away with fast food-like offerings which are common nowadays, Lee prefers to go back to traditional cooking methods which require lots of time and tender loving care (TLC), leaving no stone unturned in his quest for flavour-packed dishes.
One such example is the Double Boiled Superior Sharks Fin Soup with Crab Claw and Fish Maw. Its stock is left to simmer for up to eight hours, with ingredients like old chicken, Chinese ham, lean pork, duck ribs and dry scallops imparting their flavours.
It is then strained and ladled over the sharks fin, making for balanced flavours minus the fishy smell.
Another specialty, the Chef’s Signature Organic Fried Bean Curd, uses a rather different ingredient than what most people are used to having. Instead of the normal soya beans, a black variety is used instead, giving it a char-grilled look.
Other items to look out for include the Sliced Abalone with Ginseng and Prawn Roe, as well as Wok-fried Salt and Pepper Mantis Prawns with Chilli Powder and Dried Shrimp.
Though seafood is their specialty, GQ also serves up a variety of poultry, meat and vegetable dishes.
Capable of accommodating in excess of 500 people, the restaurant is ideal for big functions. It also has three VIP rooms with capacity for 10 to 20 persons each. There is also a bar and lounge area where diners can indulge in some concoctions after a satisfying meal.
The restaurant is open daily from noon to 3pm for lunch, and from 6pm to 10pm for dinner. For reservations, call 04-2278090.

Giant Ban Chang Kuih @ Tg Bungah Pasar Malam (Tuesdays)

This is unlike the small sized variety of crispy Malay sweet till your teeth decay Apom,nor the moist floppy like suffering from some manhood issues Chinese Apom Balik,or UFO jellyfish head Indian version.

I am talking about the large pizza sized one that they cut into smaller portions to sell to us suckers.
The one that is bloated by yeast,and is as sticky and thick as two moist kitchen sink sponges pasted together.
Alkaline water/Kan/Lye sui, is used here to give it a fake yellowish caramelised sheen that requires less of other ingredients like oil and sugar to achieve the effect.

It has no sweetcorn,just sugar and peanuts.That's it.

One triangular shaped piece dissected from the fluffy pizza costs 80sen.
What burns me is that its not even a triangle,they listened too much to Lillian Too and cut off the sharp end to minimise the damaging effects of poison arrow Shar Chi.

It is bitterish cos of the overdose of alkaline water.

Is also dry cos the owners prefer to maximise effect of kansui while minimising costing to if possible,nothing.

There is no oil.They don't even have the cow sense to cloud our judgement with a smattering of margarine at the base to make it fragrant.

It is not sweet enough cos they use a suspicious looking brownish powder like concoction (dare to display out the open some more)that does not even look like brown sugar.
It looks like dust clouds William Hung,Banged up in all his appearances around carpetted world venues,that his tiger mother diligently picked up with a DIY toolkit from CSI,blended with a fraction of Aspartame or Saccharide,and sold for peanuts to this Malaysian couple.

Worst of all their peanuts are not fragrant and have masuk angin (lost ALL their crunchiness)

Young couple is so stingy with the ingredients,that they proudly present you their small,small BCK as the prelude to them making big big profit to buy huge huge units of OSK.
Therefore they give us Dry Alkaline Sponge Blob that even ants will avoid cos of the Kansui Kayu Guard looking after the preciously useless 'goodies' sandwiched inside.

Eat this like you were trying to eat a mini Subway version of Muar Chee with Gone Case peanuts(won't be surprised if they took time out to sandpaper the sharp edges of the peanuts too)

Putu Piring @ Tg Tokong Pasar Malam (Saturdays)

First they did away with Gula Melaka,substituting it with brown sugar.Then they jacked their prices.
Last year it was 3 Putu for RM$1.
This year it is 2 Piring for RM$1.

For those that do not know what this thing is,if you walk into a night market and you spot a little contraption spewing steam via miniature cloth covered chimneys atop a steamer,that is Putu Piring.
The most fascinating part was watching the seller gingerly lift the finger scorching delight out of the tiny chambers with a little spade like utensil,before you excitedly opened up the freshly cooked,nicely packed pieces,and popped the irresistible little piping hot morsels into your mouth,while spilling a trail of moist shaved coconut mixed together with crumbs of gula melaka (and oh no! a tiny piece of the putu piring,that the corner of your lips could not save in time)onto the road.
Back then,our purchase would hardly survive the journey home,unless you were sent out on an errand under strict orders to leave it alone.
Last time traders used to take time out to prepare cute banana leaves as the lapik,now it is encased within plastic sheets.
Also nowadays there is no showmanship involved just like our dissapearing flying roti canai men,cos they wanna make more bucks in as little time as possible.
Therefore they would have prepacked enmass many packets that you pick off the makeshift table.
Morgue cold putu piring is what you get.

Anyway back to what I was narrating....
 if it is nice,I won't be complaining here.But no.
The flour now tastes like someone had reused the cardboard biodegradeble so called 'foodgrade' lunch boxes that most takeaway customers reject for the awful taste it imparts onto economy rice.
Most prefer the clear plastic looking version.
Yea,plastic looking one,you heard right.That they charge us extra 20sen for.
We'd gladly PAY than have to eat from the cardboard ones.
The traders learn fast.
They know exactly when we are defeated.
So clever of them to introduce us to the worst ones first.

Anyway this Putu, feels like one had mish mashed piles of the rejected lunch boxes and squeezed it of moisture.
Turned it into flour,added a touch of chlorox and a pinch of boric acid to increase the volume and then present it to us in putu piring form.
When you take a bite,it is so dry,it sucks up all the saliva,plague,enamel coating in your mouth.
Impossible to swallow unless you take it with a drink.Unless of course you enjoy challenging your own tongue to a Libyan desert commando wrestling match.
Even then when it lands in your tummy,you might hear a splash,like how very hard human discharge lands in the toilet bowl.Slossshhh!
If you force it down your throat without some kopi janda or kopi jantan,you might need a toilet pump to push it down.

This used to be nice snack has degenerated to such a level that it should come with a "Under Adult Supervision Only" cos no child should be allowed to eat this on their own.
Buy,store and use when you need to carry out a mercy killing.
Ini P.P ah.....terrible,terrible,terrible.

*in case you think this is my first time with Putu Piring,I have been enjoying this choke free(oh thank god I was born before 2011)since my childhood days.The little temptation is dry but not THIS arid Sahara downright weird kinda dry.

Kedai Kopi Sin Hwa (CKT) @ opposite Pulau Tikus police station

Do not confuse Sin Hwa with Sin Wah,the ckt sellers are related,but just like singers,some can sing and some shouldn't.
People listen to Mariah Carey,not Mariah Kachooi.
Nowadays both Sins belong to the Shouldn't category.
Therefore I'm gonna make up a story in this CKT's honour(I've already made a dedication to Sin Wah in an earlier post)

Once upon a time,on a Rodent Island within Penang island,stood a kopitiam that didn't attract any tourists.
These baa-baa-blind-sheep tourists,all flocked to the left and they all flocked to the right but most Penangites all kept this one hush-hush cos they wanna eat and sweat it out oh so peacefully.

However this kopitiam was like a no frills cave pressure cooker with no ventilation,that customers would find extremely suffocating(remember the useless rickety fan?) yet willing to risk brain damage caused by lack of oxygen flow.
Yea for some kiamsap reason,some Penang kopitiams are this bad.

All was forgiven because it had a Veteran Princess Leia,Defender of The Great CKT in our Penang universe.
Boy could she cook.Sotong conceeded to her,it was so springy yet unforgettably delish.Duck eggs swirled their way around the noodles taking our tastebuds on a 'trip' out of this galaxy.
Everything tasted good,no tourists char siau us and we lived happily ever after.

Then one day she adopted a partime Four Eyed Luke Skywalker aka fulltime human grasshopper,to assist her since her earlier indian nga helper finally succumbed to the scourge of oxygen deficiency.
Eventually,he took on the reins fulltime cos Miss Permed Hair Veteran wanna retire from this ardous intergalactic patrol duty.
Actually I think she gave up cos she so fed up day in day out seeing him Rocking the Ladle.
He held his ladle like he were duelling a Humungosaur with a Light Saber.

Four Eyed Luke Skywalker was afraid of 3 things.
The Wok,The Fire,The Heat.
Customers were not amused to see him panicking like he was about to scream for help while holding the wok like it was a comet on fire.
Business eventually was reduced to a whimper.

It was about this time that this place began to get coverage by some famous bloggers.Bloggers that are NOT Penangites.
Obviously,cos the place now Borhochiak,their Penang 'friends' decided it was safe to let them 'know' about this 'secret eating place'.
Business did thrive albeit the Alienized locals.
The blogosphere helped transform the Hopeless Cookey into a Profit Alley
It thrived so well,that they successfully conquered and took over a next door premise.

Someone eventually fired Skywalker.
Maybe Simon Cowell had an Alien Idol try out and Lukey got ambitious and auditioned.
Or maybe Veteran Princess Leia dropped in for a spot check.
Anyhow,if you miss him,you can find him at night assisting Sin Wah CKT Galactic Warship drop off point,still flashing his creepy 4 eyed grasshopper trompah clanking grin at all and sundry.

Currently they have a Lee Chong Wei lookalike smashing the wok.
Wow first in Penang.
BAD-MINtak-TOloNg mutilated CKT.
Where you get Shuttlecockles and other ingredients whose combination is Out..
He stares at the wok so hard cos he hopes to give it an extra injection of Lasik surgery wok hei.
The stare is so intense you are afraid if his eyes will pop out.
That time you get telur mata lembu CKT special.

I know that underneath that SKII fair skin lies a Darth Vader disciple in disguise.
Why label him that?
Cos after you eat the CKT,you wanna wear a Darth mask so you won't have to eat here again.
Also, the CKT is so bad,so tasteless,so paper,so putui,so bungkui,
you will defintely talk and breathe like Darth Vader after this kissmyasstronomical experience.

Mixed Cooking Oil Hazard

First incident
-------------
As far as 5 years back,when the snoop in me starting emerging,I took a walk in the Jelutong morning wet market,venturing all the way past the old market building, till I came to a dead end where a row of shophouses,occasionally stocked mattresses for warehouse sales.

What I saw then,shocked me to the core and has not been uncovered by any reporter to this day.

Two men gave me a cheesy,scared looked cos they were openly transferring via a big plastic funnel, cooking oil from an unbranded tin canister into the popular branded ones,namely Kn**e that at that time were more expensive than Labour and the like.
They were standing in front of a lorry filled with the contraband product destined for grocers,restaurants and unsuspecting retailers.
Giving me a once over,looking me straight in the eye,I quickly turned the other way and that relieved them to such an extent,they carried on nochalantly with their business of mixing.

Now you know why your favourite hawker proudly displays the branded oil on their counter.
Don't let them fool you.Let your tastebuds be the judge.If the CKT ain't good,the problem could most likely lie in the 'oil'.It's probably not original and the hawker whether unintentionally or not,we shall never know,bought it thinking he got a good price.

Second One
------------

Being at one time hypnotized by the UDA flats nasi melayu,I also misventured into the area between the chinese kampung and the last row of flats.
Yea,at that time I suddenly liked exploring nooks and corners,but this last incident sort of put a stop to it.
Nowadays I prefer to fly to another country,than see something I don't wanna discover in my own backyard.
Anyway after seeing what I saw next,I would ensure I got my supply of cooking oil from reputed retailers.

Row after row of used,blackened,broken down,beyond salvage cooking oil was deposited in the front of a chinese village house,I suppose to be supplied to this rascal in Jelutong.

Damn the bugger.
Just in case you want to do some snooping yourself,I have not been to both places since then,therefore I can't tell you if they are still there or not.

Finally
-------
After the last cooking oil undersupply mania leading up to this years CNY,I was relieved to get my K***e from a hypermart in a certain Square.
The label was funny looking,in fact it looked like it was old,frazzled or second hand.
Strange for a new arrival right?

Anyhow,I kept the oil aside not opening it till now.

But today reading this article from the NST,I think I shall chuck it out once and for all.

Yea,they may have seized packets of oil,but I think I shall rely on my womanly instincts that tell me something is not right with the unopened bottle of oil sitting under the kitchen sink.
Bear in the mind,the article below again involves Klang,but this here is a living eyewitness that the same if not worse happens here too.

The only way for this activity to end,is when biodiesel fuel derived from these oils become a reality.
In the meantime,they should make the sale of used cooking oil illegal.

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NST 6.3.2011

Mixed Cooking Oil Seized In Raid (V.Shankar Ganesh)

KLANG: Klang Valley consumers may have unknowingly bought recycled cooking oil that had been filtered and repacked as new.

The concern follows the discovery of an illegal factory processing used cooking oil and mixing it with new oil in Pandamaran.

The factory was exposed by a Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry raiding enforcement team on Friday.

The "Ops Goreng" raiding party seized 40 tonnes of such "mixed cooking oil" valued at about RM200,000.

Ministry enforcement officer Hashim Daud, who led the raid, said two workers, a lorry driver and a guard, were arrested at the factory.

He said investigations revealed the syndicate collected used cooking oil from restaurants and hotels in the Klang Valley before mixing it with new oil.
"The mixture is then repacked as new.
"Consumers will not be able to differentiate it from the original products in the market.

"This is a very well organised syndicate.

"We believe they have been operating for about two years, reaping huge profits."

Hashim said the lorry driver sped off when the team arrived at the factory but he was nabbed after an eight-kilometre chase.

He said the raid was the result of intelligence gathering and a two-week surveillance of the syndicate's activities.

"The oil seized can be packed into 40,000 one-kilogramme packets.

"You can imagine the profits," he said, adding the ministry was also trying to locate suppliers and traders selling the "mixed cooking oil".

Ops Goreng is being carried out to stop the abuse of controlled items by traders and suppliers.

Individuals found violating the Supply Act 1961 can be fined up to RM100,000 while companies can be fined up to RM250,000 or three years jail or both.