Oreo Mooncakes

It's a little early for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but I'm excited! I always get excited for what is one of my favorite Asian holidays! The Mid-Autumn Festival is technically a Chinese festival, but it's celebrated here in Thailand as well to mark the changing of the seasons from Summer to Fall. This year, it's coming up in a few weeks on September 13th.

The reason I'm excited is because I love moon cakes! Every year, I like to try whatever unique, modern, or unusual moon cakes I can find. This year, I found this at the supermarket:

Oreo Moon Cakes!

Oreo brand moon cakes! I had to try it!

I have to admit though, I was a little disappointed. Not because they were bad (they were really good), but because they were small. The box was huge, but the moon cakes were just a little bigger than the diameter of a regular oreo cookie! A traditional moon cake is about three inches across. Despite the big box, the moon cakes were kind of tiny.

However, I'm pretty sure that these are the type of things that people will bring as gifts to their friends or to their office to share with colleagues. In that case, the fancy and (in my opinion) excessive packaging kind of makes sense.

it's a moon cake made by Oreo!

Still, I really liked these. The filling was made of egg custard and chocolate, which is a great combo, and the outside tasted just like an Oreo! (I'm a big fan of Oreo cookies).

the filling is egg custard and chocolate

Like I said, it's still a few weeks until the Mid-Autumn Festival (or "Mooncake Festival" as people like to call it), so this isn't my last moon cake of the season! I'm hoping to try more!

Eating Well in Penang

My Penang Food Adventures

the amazing dishes that I had during my weekend in Malaysia

Penang, Malaysia, is an island that is known for its incredible variety of delicious street food, food carts, and generations-old, family-run local restaurants. In this city of food, I had to make the most of my very short visit by trying all of the amazing dishes that make Penang so special.

Malaysia is a very diverse country. The food reflects this, with roots in Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Middle-Eastern cuisine. The diversity of the country is reflected in the food, and it's impossible to leave Malaysia hungry.

Day 1 Dinner:

On the first day, we didn't have a lot of time in Penang. My girlfriend led me to a famous street food court for dinner. Here, you sit down at any table, order a drink (Teh Tarik, or Malaysian milk tea, is one of my favorite treats), and then order dinner from any of the half-dozen or so street carts clustered around the open-air food court. Just pay at the cart, and they'll bring your dinner right to you.

We started our first evening with a big bowl of Malay-style pork noodles chock-full of peppers, onions, garlic, and spices. Delicious!

Malay noodls

Dinner was followed by dessert, ordered outside from the same food court.

a street food restaurant selling chendul

For dessert we had chendul. I had never been to Penang before, but my girlfriend had, so luckily she knew what to do! You have to be quick when you order! The line may look long, but the guys working at the famous chendul stand can throw a bowl together in about a second (and I'm not exaggerating)! As you are ordering, they are already moving at lightening speed throwing ice, sweet noodles, red beans, and coconut milk into a bowl. These guys were crazy fast, and I only wish I could have recorded the whole thing.

they threw each bowl together in about one second in order to serve all of the customers

We took our bowl of chendul, which was a sweet dessert that was something similar to what we can get in Thailand (in the words of one of our Aussie exchange teachers "bits of things floating in coconut milk"), and took it back to the food court to eat. Served over ice, it was chilly, sweet, and perfect for a muggy Malaysian evening.

chendul with red beans over crushed ice

Day 2 Breakfast:

The next morning dawned bright and early, and we started our day with a big breakfast at another food court. You can see what I'm talking about in this photo below. We sat at a table, and placed our orders at the food carts that were set up along the outside of the dining area.

a local restaurant

For breakfast, we ordered this dish made of thick rice noodles and lots and lots of seafood. The noodles were something new for me; instead of being long noodles like we are used to, the "noodle" was a big block. The cook chopped off small triangular chunks of the noodle into bite-sized pieces, then stir-fried that with a savory, smoky sauce, bean sprouts, shrimp, squid, and chili. Smoky, hearty, and filling, this was one of my favorite dishes in Malaysia!

seafood breakfast

Lunch:

Lunch was in the old town, at yet another food court.

a food court in the old town

This time, we started with an iced lemon tea (for my girlfriend) and an iced coffee (for me). We also ordered a nasi lemak, wrapped up in a big banana leaf.

lemon tea, iced coffee, and nasi lemak wrapped up in a banana leaf

Nasi lemak is the national dish of Malaysia. It's made of rice, crispy fish, tomato sauce, and a fried egg. It's really good! We snacked on that while waiting for our meals.

nasi lemak, the national dish of Malaysia

My girlfriend ordered this Malay dish made of noodles, sweet pork, fish, and lots of veggies. We shared, of course! We both wanted to try as many amazing dishes of the famous Penang street food as we could.

noodles

I ordered a Chinese-Malay pork rib noodle soup. Filling, sweet, and salty! The meat just fell off the bones and melted away in my mouth as I ate.

pork rip noodles

Snack:

Later on, after a full day of walking around the old town, we were feeling hungry. It was a little too early for dinner, so we stopped in for a snack. This dish is called ro jak. Ro jak is made of fruit, specifically pinapple, apple, roseapple, and papaya, tossed in a sweet and savory sauce with crispy fried dough and topped with chopped peanuts. It's sweet, salty, and savory. It may sound odd, but this "fruit salad" is really delicious. It's a filling snack after spending the whole day walking around town.

rojak

Dinner:

For dinner we had barbecued duck. While not particularly local to Penang, this is one of my favorite dishes. You don't get duck very often in the US, but it's really popular in Asia. I like it more than chicken, and eat it every chance I get!

barbecue duck on rice

Second Dinner:

We were full, but as we were walking back to the guest house, an amazing smell hit our nose. We just had to stop in at this local Indian restaurant. We told the chef working there that the smells of his amazing food had lured us in for a second dinner (even though we were stuffed), and he seemed very proud of that! He loaded up a huge plate with a little bit of every one of his dishes for us to try. What a nice guy!

the smells from this restaurant were so good that we had to stop in for second dinner

His specialty was "ketchup chicken", which isn't at all what it sounds like. It's an Indian dish, a little similar to butter chicken, but spicier. He also served us sauteed cabbage, steamed vegetables, and an egg boiled in a sweet and savory sauce. My mouth is watering while I'm writing this post! Even though we were already full, we ate the entire dish! It was amazing.

ketchup chicken with spicy sauce, vegetables, and a boiled egg

Day 3 Lunch:

Sadly, we only had one full day in Malaysia this time.

On the way home, a banner in the Penang airport caught our eye:

intriguing

If you follow my "only in..." series, you know that I like going to McDonald's, KFC, and other international fast food chains in other countries. It's fun because the menu is different wherever you go.

In Malaysia this time, they were promoting this "green chili crunch" chicken at KFC Malaysia. We just had to try it on our way home!

The chicken was green. Really, really green. I mean, it was even greener than I expected it to be.

green chili crunch

But, you know what? It was good! The chili was really mild, and there was a very fresh sort of lime flavor underneath. The chicken really had a Malaysian flavor, and tasted a bit... I don't know, tropical? Not to spicy, just a little spicy (like having lots of spices, not "hot" spicy) and very crispy. I really liked it! 

Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi Clanhouse

Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi (known as Cheah Kongsi for short) is one of the grandest and most impressive of the Chinese clanhouses in Penang. When mercantile families from southern China began immigrating to Penang in the 17th and 18th centuries, they organized into clans that provided both protection and financial support.

a Chinese clanhouse in Penang

Today the clans still exist as loose family organizations that maintain family temples and shrines, organize social events, and provide scholarships. To be honest, I don't know much about how the Penang clans work, but it was very interesting to visit one of the coolest and most historic clanhouses on the island.

a mural outside of the clanhouse

After paying the entrance fee for a ticket, we got to explore the historic mansion. The bottom floor held the old family rooms, now converted into a museum displaying artifacts of life from the past. One room held items from the colonial period, another held statues to the family guardians.

a room representing the colonial days in Penang

a room with two of the family guardians

One room, the ancestral hall, was a memorial to those from the family who have passed. Every family member for the past seven hundred years is memorialized there. In Taoism and traditional Chinese religion, ancestor worship is a big deal.

the ancestral hall

Part of the clanhouse served as a sort of bank, and had long counters for doing deals and exchanging money. The clanhouse was also part financial institution, and issued loans to its members in order to further their business dealings in their new country.

Other rooms were for recreation and relaxation, like this game room, complete with majhong and chess sets, and a record player.

a mahjong set

The most impressive area, and the most important as well, was the family temple. The entire second floor of the clanhouse was a beautiful Chinese-style temple.

the interior of the family temple

Kuan Yin Floating Temple

clan jetties in Penang

On the eastern coast of Penang, just outside of the Old Town, are the famous "clan jetties". The six long jetties are the traditional relics of the Chinese merchant family settlements on Penang island. A rickety boardwalk twists around dozens of houses, temples, shrines, and shops, all of which are built up on stilts above the water.

a small local Chinese shrine

We were on our way through the maze that is the clan jetties of Penang to the famous Guan Yin Temple, which is also built on stilts. Guan Yin is one of the most beloved goddesses in the Chinese pantheon. She is the goddess of mercy, and is revered as both a Taoist immortal and a Buddhist Bodhisattva. There were numerous small family temples and shrines on the jetties, but we were on our way to the big temple.

walking down the clan jetties

In the past, there used to be seven clan jetties, but the seventh burnt down in a terrible fire. Today, the six remaining jetties are historical sites along the Penang Heritage Trail, and are popular places for photography.

Hean Boo Thean Temple

When I say that the jetties were a maze, I really do mean it! We spent probably a quarter of an hour winding through the twisting stilt pathways on the way to the temple. Fortunately, the way was clearly market. Eventually, though, we were at the waterfront, and the famous old temple to the goddess Guan Yin was in front of us.

in the temple hall

The temple is built in a Chinese style, very much like those temples that we saw when we were in Vietnam last year. Inside, statues to dozens of Chinese immortals and deities were enshrined. Guan Yin is also a goddess of the sea, so this temple has always been very popular with the shipping and merchant families who made their fortunes as traders from China.

the temple is Chinese-style, and reminds me of what we saw in Vietnam

It was quiet at the temple. A small group of Chinese-Malay men were sitting in a corner playing checkers, and a (possibly Thai?) tourist was photographing his (also possibly Thai?) girlfriend as she posed in front of the classical Chinese architecture.

lotuses at the temple

As we explored the temple, the wind picked up and the air began growing heavy. It was going to storm! My girlfriend began rushing me; you don't want to be caught outside in the rain during the monsoon season. It's not fun!

the temple is built out over the water

The temple was sprawling, clean, and beautiful. Malaysia is a very interesting country in its diversity. There are large Malay, Chinese, and Indian populations, all practicing their own cultures and religions. The Buddhist temples in Malaysia are vastly different from those found in Thailand, despite Penang being just barely across the border. The temples are definitively Chinese.

the temple is dedicated to Guanyin, but there are shrines to many Chinese deities

The Chinese community is very historic and influential in Penang. Like in Bangkok and southern Thailand, Chinese merchants were responsible for establishing many of the social clubs, financial institutions, and mercantile organizations in the city.

various statues in the shrine hall

While the temple is nominally Buddhist, to me it seemed to be much more heavily influenced by Taoism. Like many of the temples that we saw when we were staying in Hanoi, Vietnam, this temple's prayer hall enshrined dozens of statues and religious images.

offerings

There's a bigger, more famous temple in Penang, but I didn't have time to visit it. Maybe next time. This one, while still famous, is more off the beaten track. Visiting it gave me a good look at a little bit of the customs and traditions of the Chinese merchant clans who have built their lives on the jetties.

The Temple of the Goddess of the Southern Seas

The main deity here was Guanyin, though. Even outside of the temple, a dozen or so statues to the Goddess of Mercy (also the Goddess of the Sea, hence her importance to the sailors and merchants in Penang) looked out from the coast of Penang.

Guanyin is the Chinese Goddess of Mercy 

The sky was growing darker, but I was having too much fun exploring the jetty and the temple to head back yet!

looking back over Penang

Fortunately, we were able to make it back to the guest house before the rain started to fall. I guess we just got lucky!

a storm was coming in

Asia Camera Museum

the Asia Camera Museum in Penang, Malaysia is right up my alley 

One of my big hobbies is photography, especially film photography on classic analog cameras. When we were in Penang, Malaysia, my girlfriend took me to the Asia Camera Museum, which was right up my alley!

up the stairs to a historic photo studio

The museum is located on the second floor of a shop house, in an old historic photo studio which still has its original darkroom. When we arrived, another small group was just leaving. We rang the bell at the counter, and waited for the museum's manager to come out from the back room to greet us. We were the only visitors at the time, and the manager took time to give us a private tour around the small museum.

exhibits in the museum 

The exhibits were incredible, and I was completely thrilled to be there! The museum had everything from 100 year-old tintype cameras to those funky digital cameras from the early 90s that used floppy disks instead of memory cards. They had old movie cameras, Brownies, medium-format cameras, and all sorts of cool stuff. The collection was huge and impressive.

hundreds of classic and antique cameras

One of my favorites was this fantastic old portrait camera. It's the type where the photographer has to cover their head with the dark blanket while taking the picture.

this old camera still works!

They also had a small darkroom, a relic from when the building used to be a photo studio. They don't develop film there anymore (fortunately, it's still easy to get film developed in Bangkok!), but instead have turned the dark room into part of the museum. Other exhibits showed the thousands of tiny parts that make a camera work.

it takes thousands of tiny moving parts to make a camera work

It was so nice to have the free tour. The manager even let us hold several of the antique cameras, and let us look around for as long as we wanted. It was a great experience, and not necessarily one that's in the major guide books when talking about Penang!

the museum