The Cube

One of my favourite countries to visit and this marked that I've been to Japan in all 4 seasons (almost - because I was in Hokkaido in early September so technically it is autumn if we based on actual month categorisation) but still no luck with cherry blossoms.

I am very happy to have made a trip to Kyushu finally and really enjoyed my holidays. I flew in to Fukuoka International Airport with China Airlines via a short transit in Taipei. Many asked if I had plans to extend my transit, I didn't because 8 days (excluding travel) in Kyushu isn't enough. As you can see I've only done parts of northern Kyushu despite there are many places that I want to see. This was my first time to Kyushu, also my first time on China Airlines. Before this I thought China Airlines is a China flight company, not knowing that it is the national carrier of Taiwan.

My flight from Melbourne to Taipei was really good. The seat was comfortable and came with separate adjustable leg rest. The leg rest is separated from the chair, so one didn't need to straighten the back of the chair to lower the leg rest and vice versa. I noticed that the chairs in the middle rows don't come with leg rests. Usual flight food. Service was great too, ensuring that we didn't miss our connecting flight albeit the 1 hour only transiting time.

A decent selection of movies (especially when I don't watch a lot on regular days) including Asian movies in their inflight entertainment unit as it is an Asian carrier - I managed to caught up with Code Blue The Movie, Green Book, The Negotiation, A Star is Born and Intimate Strangers over 6 flights. The carrier also came with individual inflight entertainment for the 3 hour flight between Taipei and Fukuoka. I also noticed it had the last Detective Conan movie - Zero the Enforcer. Would've also watched that if I haven't already twice.

Flight price was reasonable from Australia especially considering that it was close to Good Friday - Easter long weekend. I was travelling by myself so it was all public transports and walking this round as well.

N: night, M: morning, A: afternoon, E: evening

13/04, Day 00 - On flight
14/04, Day 01 - Arrived in Fukuoka after transit in Taipei, straight to Nagasaki* (HafH Nagasaki - SAI)
15/04, Day 02 - Train to Kumamoto* (Dyeing and Hostel Nakashimaya)
16/04, Day 03 - Day trip to Takachiho, then back to Kumamoto*
17/04, Day 04 - Aso, then Kurokawa Onsen* (Ryokan Ichinoi)
18/04, Day 05 - Bus to Yufuin* (Yufuin Sonata)
19/04, Day 06 - Yufuin no Mori train to Beppu, then to Fukuoka* (Hostel TOKI)
20/04, Day 07 - Fukuoka*
21/04, Day 08 - Fukuoka, night flight back to Melbourne after transit in Taipei
*referring to overnight city


Side note: Can't wait to watch Avengers Endgame!

It was a quite a last minute trip. My colleague and I were told to book our flights on a Friday before the next Tuesday trip for a planning day. Planning day was a full day affair, starting from 9am all the way to 6pm. To ensure that we were not late, we flew in the evening before, after work.

As it was a late booking, we didn't get Swissotel but instead this round we stayed in Grace Hotel. After checking in and dropping my bag, I walked out to get dinner. Priority.

I decided on Malaysian food so I headed back to Ho Jiak in Haymarket. There are a few dishes that I wanted to try but it was a late dinner and would definitely be the case where I have eyes bigger than my stomach if I ordered them all. So I settled with just a plate of char kway teow and cendol. Definitely on the pricier end but they are good.

CKT + king prawns $25

Ais cendol $9

Breakfast next day was at a random choice of cafe nearby. I actually forgot which cafe I ended up in until I googled just now - it was The York Street Eatery. It was ok, nothing to shout about. I ordered a ricotta french toast with seasonal fruits and maple syrup.


And that was it. Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea were organised as part of the planning day as well. So we were at the venue till we left for the airport!


Side note: Lest we forget

This was actually taken when flight took off from Singapore

I had about 2 weeks holidays just before Christmas to a week after new year - one of those mandatory leave. I started off with Luang Prabang, then KL followed with short stops in Alor Setar and Penang. Singapore was my last stop before I fly back to Melbourne. One of the main reasons was because there isn't many direct flights to and out of KL. Malaysia Airlines was too expensive, Air Asia wasn't cheap either plus they have now move to Avalon Airport which I am trying to avoid. Expensive and far isn't a tempting choice. I departed Singapore on Scoot and have some time to visit my friends in Singapore, which means food!


Dian Xiao Er
I landed in Singapore just in time for dinner on a Thursday night. To save time my friend travelled closer to the airport and we had dinner at Tampines One. For some reason I read Tampines as Tam-pines but it is actually Tam-pi-nes (the pi is not pronounced as π).

Herbal roast duck

Sambal squid and petai

Baby kailan

I think this is house made tofu

If memory doesn't fail me this is likely tian ji

Killiney Kopitiam
This time Moo moo cow brought me to the first Killiney Kopitiam on 67 Killiney Road, Singapore. The shop front existed since 1919 but the koptiam was only named as Killiney in 1993. The shop setting in this shop is still very traditional feel with hanging fans, wooden stool and white tiles wall.

Kaya toast with soft boiled egg. Curry chicken and roti canai at the back

French toast!

Crave
Lunch was at Crave to have some Malay style nasi lemak. Umm... I prefer Malaysian's nasi lemak, maybe my taste bud is trained so...


I had the kuning fish set and moo moo cow had the chicken wing set. Add on squid and spicy thai otah to try.


Heytea
Bubble tea is taking the world by storm. This one is from China and popular for their cheese tea. We shared the grapefruit boom tea.



Fishball noodles at neighbourhood food court
This was my breakfast... hahaha. No photos of dinner the night before but it was zichar at another neighbourhood food court. Hehe.



I am truly blessed with amazing friends. They took made an effort to spent time with me, not only that they paid for my meals too.


Side note: Please remember to carry your passport if you are shopping for tourist tax refund! ... I forgot :(

This is me being a little lazy but it summaries some of the food I had in Malaysia. Most of it you can get them all over Malaysia, after all good food must be shared but some I don't see in other states.

For example laksa. There are so many different types of laksa depending where you are from. In Sarawak, you have Laksa Sarawak. In Penang or the northern states, when we say laksa, we mean asam laksa but in KL laksa usually refers to curry noodles. They are not the same dish. If you want asam laksa, you need to be specify that it is asam laksa that you are looking for. The one I like and have in Alor Setar is a mix of asam and lemak laksa. Or you can get Laksa Teluk Kechai.

Or Hokkien mee is actually prawn noodles in the northern states but in KL, they are stir fry dark brown thick noodles. It is a different version in Singapore. Another version commonly found in the northern states of Kedah or Penang is hokkien lor which is a mixture of prawn noodles and lor mien (hokkien braised noodles) broth.


Side note: I'm still trying to "condition" my tongue and taste bud to accept Malaysian food in Melbourne...

Kids on Bicycle

Probably the most famous street art in Penang. It has been many years but I've finally managed to get myself to Lebuh Armenian to see it for myself. At least it is still there. I should probably make it clear that despite I travelled to Penang as a tourist but I have been to Penang a few times in the past and I just wanted to have a relaxing holiday, eat some good food and catch up with my friends.


Getting to Penang from Alor Setar
I tried out the train option this time. Tickets can be bought on the spot, just before getting on the train. Trains run hourly. Here's the link to the train schedule from Alor Setar train station. Train fare is RM7.10 and it takes just passed an hour to get to Butterworth. My friend sent me to the station at Anak Bukit (one station before Alor Setar) for higher chances to get a seat as it could get a bit busy at Alor Setar train station.
Note: I also took a train from KL to Alor Setar so you could take the train from KL to Butterworth.

Signs on the train

Get off at Butterworth station and walk towards the jetty to get on a ferry towards the island. Ferry ticket cost RM1.20 and it is only chargeable when one travels from Butterworth to Penang. It is free of charge if you travel from the island. The ride is only 15-20 minutes. It is a very fuss-free ferry that transports human on the upper level and vehicles on the lower.




Staying at Vintage House, Georgetown
I booked 2 nights stay at Vintage House on Lebuh Victoria. I booked a room with shared bath but never had to wait for my turn to use the bathroom. The place was clean and comfortable with great location. The host, Cheah was friendly and hospitable, she even sent me recommended food places on whatsapp.




Street Art in Georgetown
Dotted across town, you'll see welded iron wall caricatures and street art. The iron caricatures tell historical facts in comic form. The street art, though, was started by Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian-born artist who stayed temporarily in Penang. In addition, I think there are more street art by other artists around town. Of note is 101 Lost Kittens project by a group of artists to create awareness of finding homes for stray animals.

Here's the link to the street art brochure. I got a hard copy map from the guesthouse.

Property

I noticed there were more on the map I was given compared to the one on the brochure though, but some are found on my random walks and not on the map.

Boy on Chair

Old motorcycle

Chew Jetty
Chew Jetty is a clan jetty and consists of 75 elevated houses, several Chinese temples and many tourist facilities linked by elevated wooden walkways.





Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera)
Penang Hill is a hill resort of a group of Peaks (online brochure link here). This is away from Georgetown but in the suburb of Air Itam. In English it is more commonly referred to as Penang Hill but in Malay language, it is known as Bukit Bendera which refers to Flagstaff Hill, the most developed peak. In Mandarin, it is 升旗山 (Shēngqí Shān), which is also the Flagstaff Hill.

I was informed by Cheah from the guesthouse that there is a bus to Penang Hill but was very lucky because my friends drove me there. On my second day in Penang, I caught up with 2 of my friends. After lunch they drove me around and to Penang Hill.

Funicular ticket, return, adult: RM30 for non MyKad holder. We went at some random time (I think was +/-4pm, so it was no queue at all but it was packed on our way down though. There are many things to do in Penang Hill and one of my friend previously did Owl Museum. We decided to do The Habitat as none of us has been. The Habitat consisted of a collection of rails and walkway to see our preserved rainforest. We got the standard entrance ticket (RM53) and would need to leave by 7pm as there is a more expensive sunset ticket (RM74.20) which allows one to stay till 8pm.






After we were ushered out of The Habitat, we had a little snack at Cliff Cafe then went to the Skydeck (east) for night view.



Penang Avatar Secret Garden
This is a project by MBI which turns a small park into a neon fantasy aka Avatar. It is found behind Thai Pak Koong Temple Tanjong Tokong. Entrance is fee but someone will approach you for parking fee collection. In front of the parking area is a beach area which is filled up with some statues of Chinese under the sea legend.




Eat Penang Hokkien food - Restoran Hock Chuan Heong
Penang is famous for yummy local food and there are lists all over the internet so I won't add to it. Besides I didn't specifically hunt down those. What I want to introduce is this place that my friend brought me to. It is a restaurant serving good Hokkien dishes, I quote what my friend said, "authentic Penang Hokkien food." The shop name is Restoran Hock Chuan Heong 福泉香饭店 (Hock Chuan Heong restaurant). Address: (Gat Lebuh Cecil), 344-G-5, Pengkalan Weld, 10300 Penang.

I didn't have any photos as we were starving and they are not into taking pictures before eating. I'm going to put a link to a Penang food blog that shows food pictures. We ordered the same thing except tau kua suan na (beancurd and leeks). All the other tables pretty much ordered similar dishes actually. The dishes to try are or chien (fried oyster omelette), fried tanghoon (fried cellophane noodles), or mee (oyster noodles), hei kean (deep fried prawn fritters), bak kee tng (fried pork pieces soup). Not only I don't have photos of the food I don't even remember how much it cost as my friends paid for it upfront and we split the bill after. Sorry!


Merry Me Ice-cream
If you want ice-cream with local flavours you can try Merry Me Ice-cream. In terms of ice-cream they are ok (but I think it is expensive). If I want to eat ice-cream, by all means they are a good try. I also applaud them to be creative. If you want to eat tau sar piah, just go and eat the real thing. I'm old school in that sense. Single scoop RM7.90, double scoop 12.90 + RM1 for salted egg cookies. They are on the sweeter side of spectrum.

When you are glutton, you had 2 ice-cream by yourself - salted egg cookies & cream and kacang tumbuk

Side note: I'm really enjoying this travel show - 周遊東京 (Think you know Tokyo?). Wonder why I didn't try watching before lol.