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Malaysia Found - Malaysia2007

Children of the Night

June 7th 2011 14:44
: Dining out with Children
When people back home in the US go out for a dinner among friends they expect a quiet dining experience. Couples leave their children at home with a babysitter, either a neighbor or a relative, so they can enjoy a quiet romantic dinner alone. When groups of adults go out for dinner they leave the kids at home and enjoy their night out together. There are no screaming and misbehaving childred to contend with. They are at home and usually in bed by 7 or 8 PM, depending on the age. If a family wants to take their children out with them for dinner there are plenty of "family friendly" restaurants to go to, where kids can be kids. People who don't want to eat with a bunch of crying, screaming kids around know not to go to such places for dinner. People are usually responsible and thoughtful enough not to bring their young children where the atmosphere is quiet and reserved - in other words for adults only. Diners who bring noisy children to these restaurants would be more than likely be asked to leave.


It is different though in Asia. The majority of Asians don't cook at home, but go out to eat for dinner. They also eat dinner at a much later hour than people do in the US and the West. Asians don't think twice about bringing their children to dinner with them, whether it be at a food court or the highest class 5 star restaurants. I think Westerners are somewhat tolerant of children eating at food courts and places like KFC and McDonald's, but definitley not at higher end restaurants. There is nothing like going to an expensive retaurant, ordering an costly meal and bottle of wine and having to contend with children screaming and running around the tables, while their parents pay no attention to them. I have seen, however, parents with young children who behave like young ladies and gentlemen. It is actually a pleasure for me to see them. I commend their parents for raising their children properly



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PENANG FOOD BLOGS

May 31st 2011 14:52
: Penang Restaurant Recommendations
If you are reading this post and are expecting me to recommend some blogs on Penang food, forget it. I am not going to discuss particular food blogs. I am going to talk about food blogs in general. You may find a couple of sites about food elsewhere in my posts, but these are from people I know and trust.

If you search the internet for certain restaurants in Penang, or just search for Penang food, you are bound to see a large number of food blogs. There are beautiful photos and delicious sounding desriptions on all of the blogs. What you don't find are honest reviews, like you can find in Food Sections of major newspapers or on online food critic websites originating in the west. Most of the reviews on the Malaysian food blogs are written by people who are actually paid by the restaurant to blog their food. You won't find a review containing any negative comments about the food. I think the bloggers are afraid of hurting someones feelings or getting sued


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Dinner at Stella's

May 27th 2011 15:17
: Pork chops al fresco
Tonight Kevin and I went to one of our favorite places to eat dinner. We both love pork and the best pork chops around Penang can be found at Stella's, located in the Hillside area of Tanjung Bunga. Stella's is not your normal restaurant. There is no sign or restaurant building. Stella is a woman from eastern Europe who is married to a local chinese gentleman and she loves to cook. In her back yard she has a grape vine covered patio with a small kitchen and a few tables and chairs. There are a few other tables and chairs located in the small garden area that have no protection from the skies. The tables are unique because they are actually old sewing machines with a marble table top.

Stella has a small menu, but her signature dish is pork chops. These are not your usual pork chops. They are 2 or 3 inches thick and very tender, juicy and meaty. We always request pork with no fat. Along with the pork Stella serves a salad of diced tomatoes, garlic and olive oil and a side of delicious potato wedges. When you leave Stella's you feel as though you've had a hearty home cooked meal


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TELUK BAHANG SEAFOOD

May 22nd 2011 15:01
: PENANG SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
About a half hour's drive from our home in the Tanjung Tokong section of Penang, in the northern part of the island, lies a small fishing village called Teluk Bahang. Right on the seaside there is a seafood restaurant called the "Fishing Village Seafood Restaurant". It is one of Kevin's and my favorite restaurants. It is not a fancy restaurant, like most local eating establishments. It is basically open air dining, with a roof, in case of rain. Usually on Friday and Saturday evening it is extremely crowded and the wait is long. We usually go on Sunday night and we go early. This evening seven of us went, including our next door neighbors.

Usually we each pick a favorite dish from the rather extensive menu. This evening we had schezuan soup, deep fried whole fish, black peppered crispy fried squid, fresh oysters as appetizers, Vietnamese style chicken, spicey stir fried kankung (vegetable), salted egg yolk prawns and asparagus sambal and of course steamed rice


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Condo Overload

May 19th 2011 14:52
: Luxury Condominium Development
Seven years ago when I researched my first visit to the island of Penang I learned that it was called the Pearl of the Orient. I guess I expected a "small" island. When I arrived here I saw a large island with many large hills lush with rainforest growth and populated with monkeys, I walked along Gurney Drive, with luxury hotels, condo, foodcourts and hawker stands lining one side of the road and the ocean splashing upon the beach on the other side. Traveling around the island I do remember seeing numerous high end condos intermixed with low cost housing developments. I really fell in love with the island and it;s scenery.

Now things have changed. A large luxury housing development, including a very high end shopping center with extremely expensive condos above and a marina, has been built on reclaimed land. It is my understanding that reclaimed land should not be built upon for at least 15 years, but the time elapsed for this development was less than 5 years. Because of this development walking along Gurney Drive is akin to walking beside a mud flat. One can only see mud and washed up garbage and trash. Nature and beauty for all destroyed for the benefit of a wealthy few


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GOOD FOOD and GOOD NEIGHBORS

May 18th 2011 15:21
: CONDO AL FRESCO DINING
An activity that I really missed from my old neighborhood in Roslindale, MA (part of Boston) was getting together with neighbors for an impromptu cookout or party. In the summer months these were quite frequent. Once a year in the summer we would have a block party where the street was closed to traffic and everyone contributed a dish. I had neighbors of Irish, Italian, Chinese, Hatian, Panamanian and Columbian heritage. So the food was excellent. A lot of good food, wine, beer and a lot of fun.

When I moved to Penang I thought I would never see anything like this again. Amazingly I was wrong. I was fortunate to live next door to a wonderful Chinese couple, Linda and Cheah. One very warm evening Kevin and I cooked something and invited the two of them to join us at a small table in the corridor outside our apartment.It was a simple meal of pasta and some wine. That was the start of a new tradition.We enjoyed it so much that we got a bigger table and took turns cooking various dishes


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