Adrian Cheah loves Penang. He brings you an interesting insights on the UNESCO heritage city of George Town where he calls home.
If you are dining at the Java Tree of the E&O Hotel, I would recommend that you arrive an hour earlier to enjoy classic cocktails and good wine at the Farquhar's Bar. This was exactly what my friends and I did. It provided us the opportunity to catch up on recent happenings and engage in meaningful conversations.
I am happy that my birthday which falls on the 2nd of January every year offers me the opportunity to start off each new year with a celebration. Turning 52 this year, I headed to The View at Hotel Equatorial for a delightful evening.
With a stellar scene of Penang outside its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, The View at Equatorial Hotel is an exquisite fine dining restaurant wonderfully suited to mark any memorable occasion.
How much are you willing to pay for a great dining experience? If the sky is the limit, then Le Venue is just the place for you. With a brilliant flare of culinary magic, Chef Petr Fehér is able to transform top quality ingredients from the four corners of the world into sumptuous delights. His ultimate artistic presentation is a visual feast and the ingenious combination of flavours is simply astounding.
Appetisers are delicate petit morsels which tantalise our taste buds to increase our appetite. A well-planned menu would select appetisers that would coordinate and lead up to the flavours of the main dishes in a meal. In short, appetisers should give you an idea about the main course. Great appetisers put you in the mood; they get you excited about what else lies in store for you. We started our dinner at La Vie with an alluring march of four appetisers – crispy unagi, prawn salad, crab meat croquettes and clams in Thai-style sauce. Such an incredible quartet that kept us clamouring for more.
Renowned as one of the most established fine dining restaurants in Penang, the View offered an ideal setting for the Le Altanza Wine Dinner held on Saturday, 20 July 2019. Its panoramic views from the restaurant, impeccable service and cozy ambience set the perfect stage for a memorable evening.
I love criss-crossing Penang on my motorcycle because it avoids two major headaches – traffic jams and parking problems. Thus, it is easy for me the head down to Que Huong Toi Enterprise which is located a stone's throw away from my office to slurp up a bowl of delicious phở bò (Vietnamese beef koay teow soup).
One country that truly elevates food to an art form is Japan. When dining at Miraku you would be able encounter such an art form as soon as you are served, so much so that you are compelled to feast with your eyes first. Here, food preparation is such a delicate craft that it is pursued with passion and executed to perfect artistry.
My family and I love to explore Penang's rich culinary tapestry and for dinner we headed to Au Jardin located in an old quaint warehouse within the compound of the historical Hin Bus Depot. The restaurant (according to their website) offers modern European fare. Chef Kim Hock and his team create dishes that celebrate fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Halab, tucked in a bungalow along the bustling Chulia Street in the heart of George Town offers authentic Middle-eastern cuisine. It is no surprise that the Syrian and Arab communities in George Town frequent Halab, forming their base clientele alongside Penangites and tourist visiting the island.
For two consecutive years, my daughter has requested for the same birthday gift – a weekend at PARKROYAL Penang Resort. The Resort has been one of her favourite places to kick back and lose herself in a tropical paradise.
Living in Penang, we are indeed fortunate that we can just take a 35-minute drive from home to Batu Ferringhi sans the arduous plane and taxi rides (e.g., my cousin from Toronto took some whooping 23 hours to reach Penang).
Clove Hall is a privately-owned Edwardian Anglo-Malay bungalow set in an oasis of tropical gardens. It is just ten minutes by trishaw from the vibrant living culture of the world heritage enclave of George Town. To venture further, rent a motorcycle or hire a taxi and explore Penang's exotic sights, sounds and taste.
The distinctive rock and roll themed décor of the hotel is plastered with memorabilia, a white statue of Michael Jackson sitting on a throne, a mosaic wall of the Beatles as well as autographed platinum records. Throughout the hotel, one would also come across display cabinets exhibiting outfits worn by famous music legends including a black leather jacket, jeans and scarf by Bon Jovi and even red robot shoes by Elton John.
Golden Sands Resort by Shangri-La in Malaysia, Penang is the epitome of premier resort getaway for families, groups and individual travellers. Opened in 1979, the Golden Sands Resort was the fourth hotel in the Shangri-La chain and is one of the first hotels along the famed tourist enclave of Batu Feringgi beach in Penang.
Centuries-old rain trees rise up above us. Majestic and lush, the foliage reaches for the ground, like falling rain suspended in the form of vibrant green leaves. The natural beauty accentuate the grandeur that surrounded us at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa, Penang.
Celebrating six decades of contribution and achievements in the music industry
On 13 August 2017, Ahmad Nawab shared his musical journey in a dialogue session with Gareth Richards at the Penang House of Music. In a career spanning six decades Ahmad has composed more than 2,000 songs and almost 70 singers from all over the region have recorded his songs. Many have become standards. Besides ‘Bintang Malam’ (subsequently recorded by Zaharah Agus and Uji Rashid), other songs include ‘Kau Kunci Cintaku Dalam Hatimu’, ‘Setulus Hati Mu’, ‘Sabar Menanti’, ‘Tiada Maaf Bagi Mu’, ‘Antara Matamu dan Mataku’ and ‘Wajah Kesayanganmu’.
Sylvia Lee Goh embarked on a journey of discovery of identity and self-worth. It was a long road, but with a lot of encouragement and moral support.
In the mid-eighties Sylvia was a member of the Arts and Craft Guild, holding a committee member position for two years. This Guild was under the umbrella of the American Association.
"In portrait painting, likeness is crucial"
Under the guidance of his father, Abdul Rashid Abdul Razak honed his artistic skills at a very young age. He was just nine years old when he earned his first commission – a portrait in oil which he sold for RM80.
The Digital Age and today’s globalised world has been a boon for the spread of Popular Culture. Popular culture – Western or American, is slowly but surely seeping into our way of life. Predictably, even Asian youths are dressing and gesturing like their hip hop or boy band idols from MTV. Even the way we speak is being MTV-nised and you will find certain youths who are more at home going “Yo, dude” or "Whassup” than greet you in their native tongues.
An appreciation of a local legend
One does not run the risk of overstatement when describing Chuah Thean Teng as the pioneer of batik painting. He is after all, recognized internationally as the master of an exquisite and delicate art - one which requires skill, draftness, patience and meticulousness. In the fickle, fidgety and evolving world of art, his oeuvre has carved a permanent niche in the rare pantheon reserved for timeless and sublime works of beauty.
Every genius has his roots. Each marvel springs from a source.
In 1925, a young sailor from Lho' Seumawe in Acheh by the name of Teuku Nyak Puteh settled in Penang to marry a quiet lass from Butterworth, Che Mah Hussein.
As the modest couple began a new life in a village, it is unlikely they could in their wildest dreams have imagined that they would have a son who would some day become a legend.