The one item that I have miss from Taiping is the Char Koey Teow.  For more than 10 years since I have not lived in this sleepy town, so much have changed.  Tesco, Starbucks, Taiping Central and 24hrs Mc Donalds now rule the city.  There were once 3 main source of Char Koey Teow that we frequent.  The one that we loved most was across the Lido Cinema.  We always call that the Lido Char Koay Teow.  We always had to que to get our fix and it was never dull.  I like it even more when it was kept in the refrigerator over night.  I could not find any memory of the stall closing nor I knew what happen to the stall.  All I know is that the stall was not there anymore and there goes the great Char Koey Teow of Taiping.

There was another stall that I enjoyed much in my childhood, it was located across from the Taiping Boys Home and was only open in the evening.  The grandfather house was used to be in the city and this stall was just a short walk away.  My parents would spend many evenings polishing the Mahjong with family members and I would feed the mosquitoes there.  Once a while, I would walk over to the stall and buy myself a RM1.20 Char Koey Teow.  Those were the days one would say, and my child hood are just filled with such memories.  Similar to the Lido Char Koay Teow, I have no memory of what happen to this stall.  No idea where they moved to, if they are still frying today.  About 100m away from this location is now where the famous Dolly Koay Teow Basah is.

I could recall the days when I visit the market below Larut Matang Supermarket.  This is where the unique Char Koay Teow stalls are located.  Charcoal fried, and the uniqueness is height of the stall.  There used to be a few stalls, and I remembered it slowly shrink to one or two stalls.  The guy would sit on a stool that is half a foot tall and fry the Char Koay Teow and they were good.  I remembered the stall was taken over by the son and I don’t know what happen to them now.  The market is still there, and some of the old stalls are still there, but not the Char Koay Teow that sits on a stool.

Taiping was where I grew up and where my love for Char Koay Teow grew.  Having Char Koay Teow from all over Malaysia, Penang, KL, Melacca and even Singapore.  None of them beats Taiping Char Keoy Teow, well, none brings me back to my child hood days.  This is how unique Taiping Char Koay Teow is.  So, what’s so special about Taiping Char Koay Teow one may ask.  Its the Carbon, all the great fryers use charcoal and the Char Koay Teow is dry and the carbon taste is strong.  This is how I grew up with and my love for Char Koay Teow.

Maybe there is still hope, a few weeks back I heard of this famous Char Koay Teow in Simpang that had a line of people everyday.  I got to seek this stall out.  Hopeful, in the near future. Till then, Gone are the Good Taiping Char Koay Teow.

Khunthai received raved reviews and was very popular among Penang folks.  You just need to Google for Khuntai and will find loads of review and almost all ends with praise.  We decided to try out this restaurant for lunch today and made our way over.  We navigated through the busy Raja Uda road and arrived at the fame restaurant almost an hour after leaving Penang Island.  There were not that many people, in fact when we arrived, there were only 3 tables occupied.  But when we left the restaurant was running close to 40% occupancy.  The restaurant had a high ceiling and fans at every table.  The cooling environment was very relaxing and couple with Thai pop music, the mood was lively.

We ordered our favourite Coconuts and went through the menu.  The menu was extensive, though was Thai based, I could not help to observe the vast Chinese influence in the dishes.  Its also a Seafood restaurant with tanks of fishes and edible Sea Creatures.  We ordered Seafood Tom Yum, Deep Fried Kang Kong, Deep Fried Prawn Balls and White Rice.  We did not had to wait long for the food, looking at the lack of patrons, it would be un-natural otherwise.

Tom Yum was the first dish that came.  The sour taste was overpowering and was not spicy.  After a few sip, it grew on us and we enjoyed it much.  It was not the best we had, it was ok.  The Seafood was fresh and the ingredients was abundant.  The soup was also thick and was not water down.  The little burning charcoal kept the soup warm through out our gastronomical adventure.

Next came the deep fried kang kong and the deep fried prawn balls.  Yes, they do not look like balls, infact, they were actually strip prawns covered with flour to shape like a full prawn and deep fried.  The deep fried kang kong was quite oily and taste of oil after a few mouth full.  We left the dish 3/4 full when we paid the bill.  We finish the prawn, but we dig out the prawn meat as after a few pieces, the flour was over powering.

All in all, the Tom Yum was the only dish we enjoyed.  The dishes did not taste that authentic to us as suggested by the logo, in fact, it was more of a Chinese Thai rather than Thai Thai, if you know what I mean.  Also, the Chinese characters on the logo is already a strong indication.  Khunthai is a lively Thai-Chinese Seafood restaurant.  Unfortunate for us, we did not enjoyed the food that much and did not feel that the dishes were Authentic Thai.

The restaurant received 2 star out of 5 from us.

Photos taken with iPhone 3GS.

I have been fascinated by History for a long time, and being a Chinese, I am also intrigue of the Chinese History and Culture.  I was browsing through the Wikipedia on Chinese History and came across this page, Timeline of Chinese History, it has a chronology on the History of China since the Peking Man, a 200k-750k years old remains found near today Beijing.  In the Chinese History Chronology, it started with Peking Man, dated some 400k years back.  Then at 7600BC, Archaeological evidence suggested domestication of pig for the first time.  At 7500BC, Analysis of Chinese rice residues show that rice had been domesticated by this time.  It seams to me that the Chinese has been eating pork 100 years before eating rice.  Isn’t it interesting, the rice, a staple food of the Chinese culture were preceded by the pork.  I guess we have been eating pork for so long that some of us has pig brains. 

Our surprise/disappointment turn excitement when we saw the map to the new Foh San restaurant plastered on the side.  After a couple of wrong turns, we came to this grand restaurant that we did not expect of.  Foh San has turn from a corner kopi tiam to a double storey 5 shops wide restaurant.  It was massive and great, you can witness it in the pictures below. It was already the third day of opening, and the restaurant was still buzzing with patrons as if opening day.  We had to wait for a good 10-15 minutes before we get a seat, and after that another 5-10 minutes before the table were served and our tea was ordered.

After successfully settling down, we just accept the offer of the first cart that came by, some kind of cheong fun with pork and prawn.  It was much better than the regular prawn cheong fun that they served.  We ordered a few more fried and steam stuff before picking up our tab and left.  The food was cold and the service was horrible.  But we understand as there are just too many people.  I don’t think any restaurant can give proper service and food quality in such capacity…

[Show as slideshow]

Tiananmen Square, 20 years ago, students revolt against the China Communist Government.   I was too small to remember anything, but one picture that has always stuck in my head or associated with Tiananmen Square 1989 protest were the ‘Tank Man’.  One guy standing in front of the tank fearlessly.  I’ve learnt today that this guy’s identity is unknown and till today, no one know what happen to him nor what he is doing now.  I have thought the photo of the Man vs Machine to be somewhat inspirational.  At one part, the machine holds enough firepower to blow the guy into pieces of melon squash on a concrete floor.  At the other, the bravery the man display, the David vs Goliath, the hobbit vs Sauron, and this is the inspirational part.

Often in the mundane working like, one less encounter such bravery.  One less encounter where one need to put one’s life at risk for one’s believe.  And hence, one gets lost in living life itself.  Actions like the Tank Man, brings inspiration into the mundane life.  Reminds one self that life, is what we make of it, and we must dare to grab life by the throat and choke every ounce of breath out.  Take more risk, be brave to face to storm, be fearless to stand your ground.

Photo by Balakov

Tiananmen Square protest of 1989 (Wiki)

Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen

Tiananmen Square and Two Chinas

China: From Tiananmen through today

Update:

Time 100: The Unknown Rebel