Who Will Take Over Penang's Famous Siam Road Char Koay Teow ?

The Legendary Siam Road Char Koay Teow
In 2017, Penang's Siam Road Char Koay Teow was ranked 14th globally in the 2017 World Street Food Congress list. Many local Penangites know this CKT well because they were babies when they had their first bite of this amazing CKT to the point where their own babies also went through this rite of passage.

Mr Tan, who has been dishing Siam Road's CKT is probably about 73 years old. The question is - who will take over ? His male heir / apprentice will most likely be the one. Thank God for this arrangement between father and son.

I reckon the magic in Siam Road's CKT lies in his ever faithful wok ,

The Wok Of Goodness and Happiness
totally coated with remnants of charcoal for 40 years. His son/apprentice is always by his side observing and copying every flick of the oil , every wrist movement of the frying spatula , every scoop of koay teow and most important, every annoyed expression when the customer repeatedly ask when will his/her CKT be ready.

Charcoal Charcoal Charcoal - the cornerstone of every great CKT

The intensity of the fire which is fueled by selected charcoals. 40 years of knowing which shape of charcoals to put in, the quantities of charcoal and when to chuck in these charcoals to produce a gastronomical wonder

He used a manual fan for 40 years (see above photo). In 2019, he changed to an electric fan (2nd photo). Technology and development

The CKT of Siam Road

Finito Bella

Diba Titiu Falls , Kg Kiau, Sabah, Borneo

DIBA TITIU FALLLS
What's the best way to get to the starting point of this hike? First, contact the Diba Titiu person in charge. Ask for the price, group configurations (I went solo becuase je n'aime pas groups), distance, etc.

Second, rent a car, use Waze and arrive there by dawn. I love driving that part of the Crocker Range at the break of dawn. No cars, mist all around and the sun rays peeking out from lush valleys. Head to Kampung Kiau and drive all the way to the end of the road where you will find a settlement. Kg Kiau is at the foothill of Mount Kinabalu. This area is always cold. I have a colleague, JY from Kg Kiau. She says that sometimes, she does not bathe for 3 days because of the cold climate. Such an awesome place. But no matter how awesome this place is, there's rubbish everywhere.

I met with this elderly Dusun who will be my guide. I was told to sign my name and off we went. I wasn't able to see the view because we were at a dead end surrounded by bamboo houses and structures. The start of the hike was at the back of a house and within 10 minutes, I saw this magnificent view

What A View

Crocker Range Valley

One important thing. Get there early because you get to feast your eyes on the majestic Mount Kinabalu in all her glory. By 9am, she will be covered by clouds all the way until 6pm.

REMEMBER, START HIKING BEFORE 9AM

We hiked and hiked. No small talk. Maybe a few words like - If I wanna live by the river with no interaction from anyone , can I ? He just shrugged at my abnormal murmurs. I try to avoid asking the same questions he was probably subjected to by Mickey Mouse hikers ..like "How long does it take to get there ? and " Got leeches ? " I think I did the guide a favor by not asking him those mundane questions nor had any conversation with him. He was grateful, I could tell from his eyes.

MY GUIDE - YODA

As we walked deeper and deeper, the forest became thicker. The canopy gave us a respite from the blistering heat.

TRAIL - CENTURIES OLD

HE WALKED THIS TRAIL EVER SINCE HE WAS YOUNG

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY BRIDGE

SMALL STREAM BUT WILL TURN INTO A RAGING RIVER IF THERE'S HEAVY RAINFALL UPSTREAM
After a few hours, we finally reached Diba Titiu Falls. According to the guide, the waterfall was previously blocked giant trees and boulders until a recent earthquake in 2015 cleared the way for a sight to behold.

EXCELLENT WATERFALL

ENCHANTING

LOCATED AT THE SIDE OF THE FINAL DESTINATION. TOO COLD TO SWIM. BRRRRR
We started our journey back and by 3PM or so, I reached near the start of our hike and the view of Mt Kinabalu has vanished.

WHERE ART THOU

Salient Points
a) It takes 3 1/2 hours if it's just the guide and you. No meaningless chit chats, just go go go. The guide will appreciate it. He gets to go home faster.

b) Leeches galore

c) Skip the lunch provided by the tour guide. No offence but I prefer the Sinalau Barkas you can find along the route to Kg Kiau or head back to Kota Kinabalu for some splendid seafood. Lobsters for RM15.00 !!!

SINALAU BARKAS-WILD BOAR

GLORIOUS SEAFOOD

Kok Nasi Kandar, Puchong - Phenomenal Chinese Nasi Kandar

Hidden in Puchong there lies a hawker style Nasi Kandar that can rival the 100 year old Nasi Kandar Hameediyah - based in Penang , birthplace of Nasi Kandar.

Kok Nasi Kandar's Chinese chef is from Penang. I spoke to him in Penang Hokkien and he reciprocated in Penang Hokkien. That's when I knew, his Nasi Kandar will be the same God-like level as Anne-Sophie Pic (3 star Michelin French chef). If only Penang chefs were recognized internationally.

What's missing here is the Michelin Man x 2
Kok Nasi Kandar's fried chicken, fluffy egg and curries are what attracts foodies to his humble little stall. Long lines are formed by 1230PM and he only has 3 -4 helpers. It's worth the crazy wait though.

Two kinds of fried chickens - Large sized drumstick ones and the other parts (wing, breast, etc) See upper right corner

Rice drenched in mixed curries

Mr Kok (I presume) knows exactly how much curry should be in the ladle.The flick of his wrist is akin to Salt BAE's flicking technique

The best way to eat this Nasi Kandar is to take away because all the curries, fried chicken batter crumbs, vegetables, oil, etc will be soaked into the rice.The first mouthful is like a brilliant white light that fills your mouth with an angel in armour standing at the tip of your tongue. That's how dramatic the first taste will be I kid you not.
Location : Use Waze

Tall Tall Tall Langganan Falls in Ranau, Sabah

You don't need a group to go to this magnificent waterfall in Poring, Ranau. Do this alone like I did. With Israeli's Waze navigational wunderbar, you can practically find any damn location you want except for the location where they keep the Jimmy Hoffa's body.

Once you reach the gates of the park, inform the ranger on duty. The entrance is RM3.00.

Ranger's hut at the entrance
Don't ask for a guide because the path leading to the waterfall is wide and so so so visible and clear. If you do ask for a guide, get ready to see the ranger roll his eyes in disappointment over how soft you've turn out to be in your life.

Path so wide and clear

Leeches alert!!

At the start of the trail

I forgot to mention that the park also houses a natural hot spring retreat.Every family in Sabah will be there on weekends.E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E

One of the tribituaries
Start early and take a slow stroll. Enjoy the flora. Look up at the canopy. Sabah has some of the best rainforest canopies in the world.

Rainforest canopy
As for wildlife, there are no wild orang utans in this district. Only in the interiors like Tawau, Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan.
Maybe you can see gibbons.
The first 45 minutes can be quite tough. Uphill is always challenging. You will have to cross a stream in front of a small sized waterfall.

Small sized waterfall.Take a break.Remove leeches.Refill your bottle with this safe-to-drink river water

Sign to Langganan Falls
After that, just follow the path for another hour or so and you will reach Langganan Falls. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

It's quite impossible to take the full length of this waterfall alone. I used a tripod and place the tripod at a lower terrain, press the timer and went through 43 trial and errors until I got the perfect photo

Magnificent View of Mt Kinabalu At Kg Sangkir, Kota Belud, Sabah

Background of Mt Kinabalu

There is a place in Kota Belud, Sabah called Kampung Sangkir. The entire area is cultivated with padi fields and therefore, you can have an unobstructed view of Mount Kinabalu which can only be visible in the morning.

By 9am until 4pm, clouds would have covered the majestic mountain.

Not knowing the place well, I arrived at 4PM and drove around the padi fields to scout for a place to pitch my tent. I need some alone time. On my own with beatific and insidious thoughts.

Alone

I pitched a tent overnight and little did I know, Kampung Sangkir is also another place for star gazing. Trillion of stars for your eyes to feast on.
There is literally no one in this area except for one or two villagers who will fish at one of the many canals.
Whatever you do, don't swim or take a bath at the canal. It looks inviting but according to one villager I met, he said that rashes will develop all over your body if you submerge yourself into the canal water.

Having a cuppa

Nice right?

You can pitch your tent on the road

Canned sardines and coffee at the break of dawn

Thresher Sharks in Malapascua Island, Philippines

Mention Malapascua Island and two words come to mind - Thresher Shark. This is the only place where divers are able to consistently spot thresher sharks with a 99.7 percentage. That's pretty high considering sharks actually swim and the ocean is a huge ass place. Monad Shoal is the dive site to be in to view these magnificent creatures.

It's quite a bitch to travel to Malapascua from Kuala Lumpur. Thank God for the newly opened Air Asia 3 hour direct flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Cebu. Three hours to fly to Cebu.

Cebu Island Have someone from the Malapascua Island dive centre pick you up from Cebu International Airport and drive you back to the island. This land journey is exactly 4 hours through 2 lane roads , construction and pesky lorries complete with jeepneys.Do tell your driver stop at a petrol kiosk convinience store and buy snacks because it's a long road ahead

San Mig. The scenery along the way is meh.

By the time you arrive at the pier (sunset), you need to take another 30 minute bangka boatride to Malapascua Island. If the timing is right, a nice sunset hue will emerge as the bangka sails along the open sea.

Ride towards Malapascua Island

Before I continue on, the worst job anyone can have is probably the van driver from the pier. He's got to travel back and forth on a daily basis. How crazy is that???


Anyway, we arrived at had dinner. Generally, Pinoy food ain't the most delicious food on the planet. Be it their local or Westernized food - it's bad.

Bad to the bone

There are many dive centres on Malapascua Island. We chose a locally based Dive Centre. While the main highlight are thresher sharks, there are a good amount of critters found here as well especially the one and only rare psychedelic frogfish.

Apparently, there are a lot of frogfish species here. You must not miss diving at Gato Island.2 hours away from Malapascua and the diving there is quite good especially the swim throughs and encountering sharks.

Gato Island cliff jumping spot

It's freaking high. At least a 5 second freefall duration.

Wear clothes while jumping off the cliff because you'll be stung by jellyfishes

Pee on my arm !!!
Here's a video of the magnificent thresher shark :