Have Perut Will Travel...: Penang Day 4 (Tawfid Pawanchi, Gurney Plaza, Nasi Kandar Pelita, Mohabath Pasembur)

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Thursday 29 December 2022

Penang Day 4 (Tawfid Pawanchi, Gurney Plaza, Nasi Kandar Pelita, Mohabath Pasembur)

Penang Day 4!

Feeling a lot better after yesterday's chiropractic treatment and rest, today we were up reasonably early and left the hotel at about nine in the morning.

We walked to the bus stop at the 7-Eleven along Jalan Penang and caught the free Rapid Penang CAT bus to KOMTAR. Here we had breakfast of Nasi Lemak and Fried Vermicelli at the Tawfid Pawanchi coffee shop. Along with a round of drinks our breakfast came to only RM6.80 (approximately USD1.50/EUR1.40).

We then caught the Rapid Penang 103 bus. For a fare of RM1.40 (approximately USD/EUR0.30) the bus took us to Gurney Plaza in search of an ice pack as suggested by Dr Chuah the Chiropractor. We managed to find an ice pack at Watson's here!

We then walked across to Foto President. Dr Chuah observed that I tend to slant to one side which is due to the rather heavy sling bag that I used for our camera gear. Alas a suitable back pack was not found.

We then walked out of Gurney Plaza and made our way across the street to the bus stop. We waited for more than half an hour before the Rapid Penang 103 bus arrived. Again for a fare of RM1.40 (approximately USD/EUR0.30) the bus would have taken us back to KOMTAR, but we decided to disembark along Jalan Macalister to have lunch at Nasi Kandar Pelita.

After four days in Penang this was to be our first Nasi Kandar experience, shame on us. I had the Mutton Curry while Cat tried the Onion Fried Chicken with Rice, and together with a round of drinks our lunch came to a respectable RM31.65 (approximately USD/EUR7).

We then caught a Rapid Penang 101 bus outshop Pelita and for a fare of RM1.40 (approximately USD/EUR0.30) the bus took us back to our hotel.

We got down and tried several sundry shops before finally ice cubes at Toon Leong Coffee Shop to fill up the ice pack. We then walked back to the hotel and spent the afternoon tending to our respective chores, while I found much joy and comfort with the newly acquired ice pack.

We emerged from the hotel after dusk and hailed a Grab car since we wanted to take things easy. For a fare of RM6.00 (approximately USD/EUR1.30) the Grab car drove us to Padang Brown, wherein is situated a food court. Within the food court is a cuisine that we have not tried before: Pasembur. It is described as an Indian Muslim Rojak consisting of cucumber, potatoes, beancurd, turnip, bean sprouts, prawn fritters, spicy fried crab, fried squid or other seafoods and served with a sauce or dressing made with sweet potatoes and spices.

We went to the only stall serving Pasembur, Mohabath, chose ourselves a plate of various fritters and waited while it was deep fried. Once ready it was served to us with a thick red gravy that we initially mistook for chilli paste. The plate of various fritters cost us RM21.00 and together with a round of Iced Tea for RM2.00 each the dinner came to RM25.00 (approximately USD6/EUR5).

Our verdict? While quite similar to the Chinese Lor Bak the red gravy was the defining difference, something we could recommend to everyone.

After dinner we checked the Moovit app and found a bus stop nearby that we could catch a bus back to the hotel. We then walked to the Padang Brown bus stop and after a while realised that we were at the wrong place. We then walked to the 'other' Padang Brown and soon enough caught a Rapid Penang 201 bus. Again, for a fare of RM1.40 (approximately USD/EUR0.30) the bus took us back to our hotel.

The pain at my lower back is getting better, and we will still err on the side of caution but if all goes well we hope to visit a morning market tomorrow!