Cell Feeding Frenzy

One fine, sunny, clear-skied, hot, humid, wonderfully amazing Tuesday which was on the 28th of December last year, saw our cell members went out on an all feeding frenzy, ripping through chunks of meat, breaking every bone and tendon, gulping down tonnes of water, burrowing into their plates of food with noodles dangling from their mouths like shriveled earthworms (the laksa noodles look like fattened maggots). In case the descriptions were deemed unholy, let me rephrase them in a saintly manner: And BEHOLD the children of God, went out into the sun to seek for scrumptious authentic dishes of the land of Penang, where people of all nations flock to just to get a taste. The children of God were richly blessed for the Lord laid before them a wide array of dishes. They graciously ate their meals like dainty damsels, savouring every taste bit by bit and sipping at their tea little by little. It was a dear sight to behold (holy enough?).

I don't know whose idea it was, but I suppose it was Sui Jing's (a.k.a. Alyssa, in case you were wondering how I know hahaha, blame it on the Firecamp handbook, and I'm just observant, not stalking) idea. She was like a disciplinarian professional coordinator who had everything all planned out and a second mother to all who was constantly looking out for her kids (Praise the Lord for that). A role model for you people out there.

Penang Christian Centre.

The early birds. Cool pose, Yvonne. Go girl! Photo by Esther Lau.

We were supposed to gather in the church at 7.30 in the morning. But some of us were late... Yea... But God still loves you, don't worry. At around 8 a.m., 2 van loads of people departed from Penang Christian Centre and were headed towards Siang Hai Dim Sum, just behind Red Rock Hotel. The food was ok/good (you choose). I mean it's dim sum what... hakkao, siew mai, char siew pao, law bak kou, siew long bao, chinese tea. It was good enough for me, but don't you go asking the judges of Iron Chef to give a taste, they'll probably regurgitate their food. They complain at just about anything, God bless their souls. I must say, we were fortunate to get ourselves 3 tables and empty seats.
  

At Siang Hai Dim Sum. Photo by Esther Lau.

Having our breakfast. Photo by Esther Lau.

Then it was gel back in church. Gel as in ice-breaking. Yup, we played some decent and clean games (in case you were wondering WHAT games we were playing, ahemm.). I can't really recall how the games were carried out, but it was fun, exciting and for Hong Ee (Yvonne, yes, from Firecamp handbook too), it was mind-boggling, mind-blowing and mind-blurring.

Gel back in church.

Gel back in church. Photo by Joshua Wong.

And then it was lunch time! We had our lunch at Sri Ananda Bahwan in Tanjung Bunga. When we arrived, it was packed with customers. And when the workers saw 23 of us came pouring in, they weren't that cheerful. So, we were forced to sit under the scorching sun to wait for vacant seats inside the cafe itself. Sure enough, the Lord blessed us with 4 tables to sit at. Some of us had a typical mamak meal, tandoori and naan, while others had fried noodles and fried rice. Shih Ping (Daniel Jr., handbook) and I shared a plate of fried bitter gourd which was awesome mannn.... (I mean the bitter gourd, not us sharing, that would sound wrong in a way). The Milo milkshake or whatever shake it was, was also superb.

Sri Ananda Bahwan.

Couldn't wait to escape the hot sun. Photo by Esther Lau.

Tandoori and Naan, RM10. Photo by Esther Lau.

The bitter gourd that I was talking about.

After lunch, we went to Miami Beach. Yea, we took a flight from Penang International Airport to KLIA and then took a 747 to Dubai. Made our transit and took another plane to Florida. It was really an amazing experience! We had no idea our food tour would bring us to Miami =). NO! Silly. Of course we did not go to Florida. It's the Miami Beach in Penang, the fake one. Braced the sun to play a game which I had no idea what it is called (lazy to describe it also). Basically we just stopped by to admire mother nature, you know, like looking at the sea, the waves, the trees, the sand... Occasionally, we would stumble upon discarded underwear, cool right? By the way, underwear is not of mother nature, more like freak of nature or something.

The game we played at Miami Beach.

So after this fuss about mother nature and underwears, we took a ride to Penang Tropical Fruit Farm. Sat upon hilly terrain, Penang Tropical Fruit Farm is often breezy. According to the website http://www.tropicalfruitfarm.com.my/, the fruit farm claims to be a 25-acre fruit farm, which have more than 250 types of tropical and sub-tropical fruits. Some of which will tantalise your taste buds. Not only are they delectable, they are also rich in natural vitamins, minerals and fibres too. But I tell you, you should make a trip to the toilet, it will surely tantalise your taste BUTT. Some of us had fresh (that's what they say) fruit juice, while some of us had fruit ice. OMG, the fruit ice was amazing!

Penang Tropical Fruit Farm.

Fruit Ice. Photo by Esther Lau.

Enjoying our fuits. Photo by Esther Lau.

The toilet that I mentioned earlier.

Group photo. Photo by Uncle Melvin using Joshua Wong's camera (detailed or not my description? :P).

Ok, so after a group photo, we carried on with our journey to seek out the best laksa! Yes, noodles that look like big fat maggots served in soup which looks like water from Sg. Pinang. So we ended up in Air Itam, as it seems to serve the best laksa in the whole wide world (www.). We came to a stall by the roadside, where there was also another stall serving sugarcane drink. The drink was awesome, at least for me la. I'm not really a laksa fan, but I suppose it was good la, cause I don't usually eat laksa. Very packed place. So if you wanna head down to Air Itam for some laksa, be sure to book a seat if they allow you to.

Air Itam Laksa.

Our next and final stop of our food tour was a food court along Perak Road. It seems that they serve the best pohpiah. We had all sorts of food there, char koay teow, ais kacang, pohpiah, Hokkien mee, you name it! Pheng Sheng (Aaron T., yes, handbook) and I shared a plate of roti babi. The roti babi was fantastic, it's really something you need to try, that is if you take pork. We took up 5 tables. There is a playground nearby and some us who were still young at heart, did crazy antics.

Our last stop for food. Photo by Joshua Wong.

Kindergarten at heart.

After finishing our meal, so was the feeding frenzy concluded. We headed back to church and from there we said our goodbyes and left for home. It was really a fun and exciting day for all of us (Shih Ping, Chin Ern, Nigel Lee, Joo Huei, Lawrence Ng, Markus Ng, Tyeson, Guan Yu, Pheng Sheng Lim, Pheng Sheng Teng, Cung Ming, Aaron Chua, Yanmin, Cher Yin, Shi Yeen, Sui Jing, Tek Yong, Ing Khieh, Shih Meng and Yujin, find out who's who, hahahaha.). Special thanks to Uncle Melvin and Auntie June for joining us. Thanks to Leslie also for fetching us round in the van. Well, I'm off to hit the sack now. Nights!

-eugenelim-