Finally I found time to write down my ideas about a food tour in Penang. In my cooking classes I got several requests if such a tour is possible, heck even exists. Until now, there wasn't a Penang Food Tour.
The food tour we are going to do is a mix of exploring the Penang Food and the Penang Heritage. Why combining them? Simple, you can't really distinguish one from the other. Food and heritage are so closely related that a mix of the two with an emphasize on food is logical. Thus, here I present the Penang Food Tour! Penang Food Tour
Cheong Fatt Sze or Cheong Fatt Tze was a remarkable story of rags to riches. From a humble teenager who had nothing other than the clothes on his back, he sailed from China to Nanyang (South East Asia) to seek his fortune. He succeeded, rising to become one of the most influential men in the East and West.
His most visible legacy in Penang was probably the Blue Mansion.
When visitors come to Penang, food always becomes the main topic for conversation.
One of those little gems are Nyonya kuihs, which are very similar to Kuih Melayu but in terms of colors and ingredients used.
These cakes are quite challenging to make, as new cooks can testify.
I am happy to announce that I am organizing another Nyonya cooking class but instead of kuih, we are going to make otak-otak and two types of laksa instead. All ingredients will be prepared from scratch. Get ready to get smelly and dirty hands, and having a full belly afterwards ;-)
Today, members of PHT had the honor of having Jenny Lo, who is a member of National Trust in Britain to enlighten us about the scope of being volunteers for charity causes.
One of the things that struck my mind was how heritage houses are categorized in the UK. Not all of them fall under Old Heritage, rather a vernacular sample of architecture for certain time period can also be listed as a heritage building.
Some examples of such buildings are the house where John Lennon grew up in Liverpool and also a modernist house built by Goldfinger, a famous architect. He also lived there until his demise. Both were fine specimens of houses built at their times.
(Picture above shows the house where Beatrix Potter used to live).
Next week, another intensive workshop will be held at the PHT's office. Please register early in order to get involved in this workshop.
As part of my business activities, I design and maintain web sites for individuals and organizations to promote their products or services. I have been tinkering with the package by Sitesell Inc. for the four years now.
My latest project is for Sentuhan. It is a shop at no. 90, Armenian Street, in the Heritage Enclave of George Town. Single mothers and challenged women put their efforts together to run it.
It is a good learning experience building their web site for me because this time, I learn to code using css.
Before, I was only using html and ready-made css coding by Sitesell.
Please have a look. Comments are most welcome. Thank you.
It is not too late to wish you guys a lot of happiness and prosperity for the New Year 2010! Happy New Year!
As you probably know, Little Penang Street Market has been in existence since 2006. Over three years later, this monthly event is going from strength to strength.
Many vendors, performers and also artists display their wares, services and talent here. It has become one of the highlights of things to do in Penang, every last Sunday of the month.
Yesterday, for the first time, people who are involved in this market got together to make it an official organization. Before, it is under the management of Penang Arts Council. Being a society meaning, it is now a registered organization. Little Penang Society will have its own bank account, its members, and a board of committee.
Attendees unanimously voted Khoo Salma as the President, as she was one of the first ten people who came up with the ideas of this street market. Eight other members were elected to make up the rest of the board.
As a registered society, Little Penang can move forward efficiently with a goal to make is as a one stop event to showcase Penang Heritage and also culture and arts to the max!
World Heritage Office took an initiative to organize a forum by inviting officials from Warisan HQ to come over and give explanations about what constitute a heritage and to explain about National Heritage Act and what kind of benefits of stakeholders get when their sites are listed.
We were invited to KOMTAR, on a Sunday morning to allow more people who were interested to come over and listen to this discussion.
I put up some of the main points here on this Akta Warisan Negara page.
YB Lim Guan Eng, our Chief Minister came over to give his thoughts too, and kept reminding us that Penang still had not got its RM20 million allocation fund as promised by the previous Prime Minister.
Now is the time for you to learn how to cook like a real Nyonya. Nyonya Tan Bee Lee is coming especially for a cooking session at Tropical Spice Garden. Don't miss out this opportunity. It will be held on 17th December 2009. Sign up early to book your seat!
Penang as a food haven needs no introduction. One cuisine in particular is Nyonya food. Usage of local herbs and spices as above is abundant. Recipes are guarded jealously. The Nyonyas fight during family get-together who can make the best dish during a cook-out.
Whatever it is, this cuisine is really popular despite its dying culture. Read more here at my heritage site about Nyonya food. Also, you can learn how to make a Nyonya lunch with a real Penang Nyonya on 17th Dec 09. She will come as my guest cook at Tropical Spice Garden. Contact me for more details.
Last week I was invited to join SEGI college tour guide students on an educational tour to Melaka. We also went to Kuala Kangsar, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
These students were prepped so that they could practice talking in a tourist bus. They also needed to know hard facts and fun stories related to the places they visit.
I had fun in Melaka. Three hours walking tour definitely was not enough.
This page illustrates some of the things I learned.
7-8 November 09 were designated as Tourism Day by Tourism Malaysia. On these two days, the event was held at New World Park.. this place used to be vibrant in the 60's and 70's but now it has been given new life. New food court and event area were built. Also, Tune Hotel also made its mark by building its Penang branch next to this place.
Other organizations also participated by setting up their booths there. Most of them were from the tourism industry: hotels, places of attractions, services.
I am happy and proud to be invited as one of the guest chefs to this event. (I am not a chef, I don't wear tall hat), but it was a big honor.
My two sessions were 30 minutes each. In the first session, I mainly talked about Malay spices, its usage, methods of storage and grinding. I also mentioned quite a bit the usage of spices in traditional medicine, modern cosmetics and also ancient rituals. This was capped by a short demonstration how to process coconut to get fresh coconut milk.
Even the locals were surprised to see how much coconut milk could be squeezed manually using my technique.
On the second session, I talked about fresh local herbs, and showing each ingredient, I described their properties. I made a simple kerabu (Malay style salad) that was very delicious even though a tad spicy. Here is the some of the action captured on video:
If you would like more tips, visit my food web site or contact me to sign up for my cooking class at Tropical Spice Garden.
Vigan City is a case study presented during the last heritage conference in George Town. Participants were given a thumb drive with all Power Point presentation files so we could all go home and study. I did my study and came up with this page.
China and India lead in the number UNESCO of World Heritage Sites they have in their countries. There are 899 sites in total and the number is increasing. A lot of cities are submitting dossiers so that they can qualify. They have to fulfill at least 2 out of 4 criteria set aside by UNESCO. Especially OUV (Outstanding Universal Values).
Cities with heritage sites at their disposals can expect significant growth in revenue in terms of inflated real estate values, as well as becoming a major tourist attraction.
However,after obtaining the title, it is up to the people themselves to make or break this commodity. They have to upkeep their standards because UNESCO officials will come visit again after three years. The title can be taken away if the criteria is lost or not met at this time.
That is why the debate is still going on. How much development can we allow?
The clan jetties are part of Penang Heritage Trail even though they are not being advertised that much. if you want to see how fishermen in urban area live in Penang, this is where you should go. The people make do with what resources they have. This community thrive even though a lot of younger people are moving away from here.
Still post-conference topic even though in a less serious tone.. here it is, the tour at Loke Mansion. See also China Tiger, a handiwork of the current tenant of the mansion too.
Suffolk House played host to the closure of the two day heritage conference. The event was nicely concluded with the award presentation by the representative of UNESCO to Penang Chief Minister.
Guests were treated to a dinner reception and for the first time had the opportunity to roam around the massive building.
The two day conference entitled: The Economics of Heritage Revitalisation, organized in collaboration of the state government and several NGOs in Penang was a huge success. We got to learn a lot from other countries' case studies how their own World Heritage Sites were being managed and developed. The keynote speaker was Dr. Tim Curtis, the head of culture unit of UNESCO in Bangkok.
Besides the speeches and the talks, participants were treated to site visits as well as lavish dinner banquets at Pinang Peranakan Mansion and also the newly restored Suffolk House.
For me, it was a very educational experience and I will write an extensive report in due time.
The UNESCO award presentation to Suffolk House was the perfect ending to the conference. Everyone involved left with a sense of accomplishment and pride. I believe for the next conference, George Town should be able to present its success story but we need first to work very hard to come up with a way to measure our progress in a more systematic manner.
I was asked by several people if I got paid for blogging or if I get monetary compensation for putting people together through my web sites. The answer is YES and NO.
For example, Equatorial Hotel Penang put up an Islamic Art exhibition last month in collaboration with USM's Tuanku Fauziah Museum and Gallery because their F&B Director, Mr. Abdul Rahman Ahmad, came across my report on Iqra' The Garden of Wisdom Exhibition held at Queensbay Mall last year.
I am very delighted today to find in my mailbox a very nice Thank You card from Mr Hasnol J. Saidon who is the Director of the Museum. Mr. Abdul Rahman, on the other hand, handed out a complimentary Ramadhan buffet for me and my children. We were also sent home by the hotel limo when I was expecting an ordinary taxi. THAT experience is beyond any monetary value, I suppose.
I find that the education level in this country is sadly lacking. Lecturers and teachers are more interested to make extra money elsewhere than concentrating on their teaching profession. As a result, students with money to burn with extra tuition classes are the ones who become tops of the class.
The museum, tries to fill the gap by holding free exhibitions at rural schools. This effort is very much to my liking.
Back to the question, by consistently writing this heritage web site also, people who are Who's Who, active in heritage issues are taking notice of my work. I am being appreciated by getting a complimentary seat to attend an international conference this week regarding sustainable tourism practices. Can that too, be measured in monetary value?
A mother of two who cycles, runs traditional cooking class and maintains a couple of web sites. I am eco-friendly to the world, leaving minimal carbon footprints.
