Penang - Blue Mansion (Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion)

In case you stay at City Bayview Hotel, possibly you might notice there is a blue house around the hotel area. It is none other than Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion or in common known as Blue Mansion.

Front view of the double story mansion

The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is located at 14 Leith Street Georgetown which is within walking distance of City Bayview Hotel, E&O Hotel and even Cititel Hotel. It is also same row with side gate of Red Garden food court.

As described in the banner hanging in front of the mansion, Mr. Cheong Fatt Tze was a rich Hakka entrepreneur, held position as Consul General of the Ching Government, Special Trade Commissioner for South-East Asia and a director of China's first modern bank and first railway.

This Chinese courtyard house is consisted of 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 windows. It is one of the mansions maintained by Mr Cheong beside those in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China. There was a say that this Blue Mansion probably was the favoured mansion of Mr. Cheong.

There are number of websites described about Mr. Cheong Fatt Tze's history, as well as the architecture of this Blue Mansion with beautiful and precise elaboration. Over here, I just want to share my experience and what I appreciate during my visit to this mansion.

I never been to China and do not know how common is the Chinese courtyard houses over there. But in Penang, the Blue Mansion definitely is one of the few well-maintained units. Visiting this courtyard houses could expose the visitors especially those Chinese in understanding more about the culture practised by our ancient in China. As I observe, the ancient Chinese house by rich people was always particular on the architecture. 'Feng Shui' is an important element to be incorporated into the house design, and of course it was also practise by Mr. Cheong in this Blue Mansion.

Unless you are familiar with the Chinese architecture or the free guided heritage tour is needed to deliver the message that hidden behind the architecture. For example, a courtyard at centre of the house look simple but after explained by the tour guide then only we discovered how the ancient people using their wisdom to design it. To me, the Blue Mansion could be only an old Chinese house but after listen to the guide than I am appreciating the whole building as a cultural treasure in Penang. The English guided tours are held at 11am, 1.30pm and 3pm. Admission fee is at RM12.00 per person. But for those visitors who only drop by for visiting this mansion, please take note that you might not be allowed to take photo on the mansion interior, at least we were told to be like that. And certain parts of the mansion especially those areas where the home-stay rooms located. Oh ya, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion does offer 38 rooms equipped with air conditioning and en-suite bathroom for stay purpose. Details could be referred on its official website.

This Blue Mansion is worth for visit, lets take it as opportunity to know more about the Chinese culture and great man's history.

Due to we not allowed to take photo on mansion's interior, hence only few snap shot taken on its exterior. 

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Where to eat in Penang? tea time - Tang Bo Fu 糖伯府

After visited Penang Hill or Kek Lok Si, lets take a break and refresh with light tea time in Tang Bo Fu located at All Season Places, Air Itam. Within modern and trendy shop lots that offering variety of foods, Tang Bo Fu is attracting its customer with wide range of fresh fruits based desserts, from hot to cool according to your preference. By adding on the snack like salt pepper squid or Taiwanese chicken chop, and couple with a bowl of snow ice..this simple combination could partially fill up your stomach while keep you refreshing under a hot sun.

As mentioned earlier, Tang Bo Fu offers variety of the desserts such as mango royale, mixed fruits louye, pudding, snow ice, snacks and etc. Over here we are going to recommend those we tested before.

'Mango and Sea Coconut Snow Ice'

It is my first time to come across this snow ice. Not like the common 'Ais Kacang', the snow ice is in layer form and served with different fruits to give you different taste and flavour. My first order was the 'mango and sea coconut snow ice'. The sour taste is just nice to me and the mango and sea coconut is matching to each and other. Both mango and sea coconut were really soft.

'Mango and Tang Yuan Snow Ice'

Beside sea coconut, another alternative is 'tang yuan' or the rice-made dumpling.These colourful rice ball would definitely give you spongy feel.

'Red Bean and Peanut Matcha Snow Ice'

The third snow ice we tried out was the matcha snow ice couple with red bean and peanut. When we had our first scoop, the matcha was well communicated with our tongue and deliver to us rich matcha taste. In fact I'm not really like to eat red bean but its appearance in this snow ice was matched to the matcha flavour.

Grape Aloe Vera (RM 7.80)

Other than snow ice, we did also experience two desserts under Trump Selections. The first one is Grape Aloe Vera. This cool sweet and sour dessert came with fresh grapes and transparent slides of aloe vera, sweep away our thirsty and keep us fresh..fresh and fresh...

Sunmelon QQ Balls (RM 6.80)

And the second one is Sunmelon QQ Balls. It is also a cool dessert serve with honeydew and QQ balls. I didn't know what is QQ balls until I tested it. It was a translucent sphere and when you bite it, the sphere like burst up and you get the sour taste. Interesting! The honeydew was also scoop out in sphere form. Its nice..worth for try.

Black Rice Soup with Mini Rice Balls (RM 5.80)

Then how about hot desserts? Here we tried out the Black Rice Soup with Mini Rice Balls. The black rice soup was nicely cooked, giving the rice not too hard or soft..By adding in the coconut milk, the combination looked attractive and taste good. The spongy mini rice balls was added in extra score to its overall performance.

Left : Salt Pepper Squid (RM 7.80)

Right : Taiwanese Chicken Chop (RM 7.80)

As mentioned above, the snack offered include Salt Pepper Squid and Taiwanese Chicken Chop. Both snacks were crispy enough and not too salty. It was bit spicy but I think most of us could take it. Since I really like this kind of snacks, when the first piece went into my mouth, I could not stop until whole plate of these chicken and squid being finished off.

Chinese Burger (RM 4.80)

Another snack we would like to recommend is the Chinese Burger. It just look cute when served in front of us. But this small burger was satisfying me when I had my first bite because I had a full load of meat. It was like a Chinese small dumpling-siu mai in between two slides of bread. Wonderful...

In overall, we are happy with this Tang Bo Fu and would continue to support them. For those who interested, may be could visit their page below for more information:

http://www.tongparkfu.com/content/home/index/site:tongparkfu-link:512

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What to eat in Penang? breakfast - half boiled egg and toasted bread

If you take an early flight from/to Penang and looking for simple & light breakfast before start your trip, then combination of half boiled egg and toasted bread offered by Joo Leong Cafe could possibly meet to your favour.

Without a grand outlook, Joo Leong Cafe is within an old fashioned shop lot located beside the road side. But don't look down at this cafe because it is a well known cafe famous with its half boiled egg and toasted bread. During the business hour, you will always noticed that the road side is fully occupied by the customer cars, due to no special parking space is allocated. But it doesn't depress customers' desire to take the breakfast within this limited space cafe.

I had been there for at least twice within these few months but each time almost full house and need to stand before could grab a seat. Just imagine how good the customer response to this cafe when only simple breakfast is offered. But what make the half boiled egg and toasted bread so special until attracting a group of supporters in this food island?

my perfect combination

Almost every customer will order the standard 'package' which consists of two half boiled eggs and two pieces of toasted bread. The boiling process is well controlled until the eggs are really 'half-boiled', before the egg yolk solidify. By adding in the pepper powder and soy sauce, wow..yummy! In terms of the bread, the toasting level is just nice making it bit crunchy. When have your first bite, the bread with rich butter taste might going to satisfy you. For those prefer sweeter taste, lets sprinkle some sugar on top of the bread. I love this combination with additional one cup of coffee. Seems to be too simple for you and not enough to fill up stomach? No worry, lets add one more packet of nasi lemak or fried noodles. 

Not like other food stores, the half boiled egg is served almost instantly or within very short time when it is full house. They have an efficient way to boil many eggs in one time to cater for the high customer demand. Although the food price might be little higher than certain places, but it is still within an economic range. The standard 'package' only cost us RM 3.40 per set.

The Joo Leong Cafe is located at the road side of Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah headed to Penang International Airport. When you noticed the Dynacraft at your right hand side, then it is almost there. Go straight and after the traffic light, slow down the vehicle and find the cafe which located at your left. But in fact the long queue of car parked along the road side could easily hint you where the cafe is. I'm not too sure when they start their daily business but I always be there around 8am. There is a signboard stated that this cafe is closed on Monday.

In overall, this simple breakfast is worth to try. For those visitors, perhaps after the breakfast you could drop by the Snake Temple which is not far away from this cafe.

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Legoland Malaysia 2013 Part IV

Legoland Malaysia having several restaurants offering food variety from Asian to Western cuisine. Almost every themed area is having own restaurant with different type of food and drinks. The choices include pizza, bread and coffee, burger and sausage, western food, asam laksa, nasi lemak and etc. Among all, we preferred Market Restaurant where most suit to our favour. 

We ordered a combo set of  roast chicken. This quarter chicken came together with soup, fries and also soft drink. The set meal cost us RM25 but without any tax or service charge. Some more it accepted Maybank American Express card for payment. Luckily we tested with one set at the time because the portion was big and enough for both of us. But sorry for no photo shown due to we too hungry and forgot to snapshot before we took it..hehe..

After filled up our stomach, we move to the Minilands. It was an wonderful experience where the famous landmarks from 17 Asian countries were captured in this Minilands while they were presented through the construction of 30 millions Lego bricks. Please ensure your digital camera memory card is having enough space to bring back all these unique creations. Here are some samples and there are much more waiting for you...

From Minilands, we move towards the Imagination. The first activity we joint in was the Observation Tower. By sitting in the covered observation deck, it started to meander upwards and having circular motion. This motion design allowed us to view the entire Legoland Malaysia. The view was not so nice at the moment we visited it due to there were certain areas around the park that yet to develop. I believe the scenery would become much more attractive when the development is completed.

After having the bird view, lets continue to show our physical strength in Power Tower. This games required us to pull the rope and got up to the tower. Took a break at the top and gained the park view. Children must accompanied by the adult. When going down, make sure release the rope part by part to avoid sudden fall.

Before left the Imagination area, we managed to grab an opportunity to watch the 4D movie at Lego 4D Studio. Initially it was announced to have technical problem and closed for temporary, but luckily the problem solved before we left the park. Quite an interesting show, remember to return the special goggles after the show. Take note the showtimes to avoid disappointment.

From Imagination, we moved to Lego Technic. When we got nearer to it, we heard someone was screaming. By following the sound, then we saw the Project X from far. It was wild ride on a 18 meters height steep switchback track. It looked attractive to me but my wife was scared to give it a trial. Hence, I went and tried it alone. When came to my turn, I was arranged to be sit at front row while a pair of father-son were sitting behind me. Oh no!! Each time the car slide down with high speed, my heart look like to pop out. But cannot deny this ride was exciting, should give it a try.

After Project X, we moved to Aquazone Wave Racers. This game has two parts where the first part required the player to spin the boat to avoid the water bombs while second part required those watching to trigger water bombs to get the players in wet. It is fun but prepare to get wet if your response are not too fast. Haha..

Water Bombs

Beside the games and rides mentioned in these posts, there are still a lot of activities offered by Legoland Malaysia, especially those designed for children, which include Lego Academy, Lego Mindstorms, Build & Test and etc. We did not pay attention to these areas as we did not bring any kids around.

Before leave the Legoland Malaysia, lets visit the souvenir shop. Maybe you could find something special for you and your kids at reasonable price.

When we travelled from hotel to Legoland Malaysia, the shuttle driver shared with us that the maximum time spend for a couple in this theme park normally around 3 hours. But both of us enjoyed up to 7 hours including lunch time in this Legoland. In overall, we are satisfied with this theme park and plan to visit it again in future, after it completed its expansion.

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Due to raining, the outdoor facilities were temporary closed. We hang around in Land of Adventure areas to look for the shield and finally we noticed that there was crowd in Egypt style building. Without second thought, we made ourselves to the building and follow the queue. After look around then only we knew that it was the Lost Kingdom. 

Lost of Kingdom

Initially I thought it was the indoor roller coaster but I was wrong!! By hop on the auto-drive old style car, it would then bringing us to adventure for the lost treasure. Every car was equipped with 4 yellow laser gun for us to shoot the target (small yellow or red light) along the trip. Every successful shot would be scored and displayed on the screen in front of us. Lets compete with your friends and see who should be the top shooter...

From Lost of Kingdom, we walked towards the Dino Island. Wow..there was a thrilling journey waiting for us. Visitors need get into the boat and the conveyor would bring them to the peak of a forgotten volcano. From that point, the boat would then carried the visitors and flow down on the waterway. Be prepared to get wetted. Unfortunately we didn't bring extra clothes for ourselves, so just had chance to take photo but could not enjoy it..For information, around this area there were drying chambers that could help to dry up you and your clothes, but need to pay for it. However, I think it could only made us not too wet but could not achieve 100% dry for our clothes.

After that we moved to the next destination - Lego Kingdoms. When we walked near to the small castle as below, we heard someone snoring. Looking around and found that the 'Lego guard' was took a nap..haha...Without woke up the 'Lego guard', we got into the small castle and enjoyed the ride with Dragon's Apprentice. If found not challenging enough, lets took The Dragon and I'm quite sure the twists and turn would satisfied you.

But before you could get into The Dragon roller coaster, please find the entrance. Where is it? It is in the castle. Anyway, take photo with this unique building before start your ride.

For those kids that could not absorb such exciting activities, then the Royal Joust might suit to them. Let the kids ride on the Lego horse and posting, giving best position for parents to take a memorable photo for them. Oops..make sure you are 4-12 years old or you will be stopped from the ride..

After few hours of activities, time to have lunch and rest. Where to take the lunch?? Lets find out in Part IV.

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In overall, Legoland Malaysia gave me an impression which is different from Disneyland and Universal Studios. Legoland Malaysia is designed to cater for family with children rather than young couple like us. I'm sure that kids would really enjoy it, even for children at age 2-3 years old, there are also games designed for them. But for 'older' children, don't disappointed where there are also activities suit to our age, or the scenery in the park does worth back the ticket price.

Similar to other theme parks, Legoland Malaysia does have seven themed areas such as Lego City, Lego Kingdoms, Imagination, Land of Adventure, Miniland and etc. Upon entering to the park, we took a right turn and got into the Lego City. We move towards the crowd and found that there was a Junior Driving School. Children aged 3-5 years old busy drove their cars while parents keep on flashing to capture the best photo for their love one.

Then how about children aged 6 years above? Don't worry, there was another Driving School next to it which catered for children age between 6-13 years old. This mini park set-up with true traffic circuit and having instructors assisted to explain and control the traffic. Looks attractive but we were too 'old' to be allowed for the trial. Anyway, heard that this Driving School would reward the driver with Legoland Driver's License to children at the end

How about us?? What to do in this area? Haha..Finally we found something for ourselves-Boating School.

Initially I thought this battery powered boat was easy to control and just a simple job for both of us..Who knows I trapped in the pond for 15 mins, nearly could not move out and going to ask for assistance..haha! During our turn, it started to rain and we not allowed to open our umbrella. Didn't know the reason but I guessed they worry we might be flashed by the lighting.

After the boat ride, we move to the Rescue Academy. This game would examine you stamina.

Basically we need to compete with others in moving the vehicle - policevcar or the fire engine towards the building. How to move it? Need to pump..pump and pump..Once reached the required distance, then we need to get down from the vehicle and start to pump water and shoot the fire or robbers. Once the window was closed, then need to get back into the vehicle and pump it back to its parking space. The first team complete the task is champion but sorry there was no prize rewarded..

Lets took a rest after did such exercise in Rescue Academy. What was the option? Took Legoland Express and enjoyed all the sights of the park.

After the ride, then we walked towards the Land of Adventure...Part III

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When Disneyland officially having its theme park in Hong Kong, I felt so excited because this dreamland is now in Asia (beside Japan), giving me chance to experience it rather than dream in front of the tv. When Universal Studio is set up its theme park in Singapore, I felt even more excited because it just like located next door to me. After all, I'm thinking how come all this established theme parks never come to Malaysia and having their next wonderland with us. Finally we get one and it is the Legoland Malaysia.

Legoland Malaysia is located at Nusajaya Johor, Malaysia. For oversea visitors, the nearest airport to Legoland shall be Malaysia Senai International Airport. It is also reachable if your flight to Singapore Changi Airport, but of course need to cross Malaysia-Singapore border. Not like Disneyland Hong Kong and Universal Studios Singapore, Legoland Malaysia could not be reached by skytrain or subway. For visitors without own vehicle, the available public transport only taxi and buses. For better trip planning, I would recommend to book for hotel that ready with shuttle service to the Legoland. Previously I stayed in Kulai City Inn Hotel and it was ready with 7-seats Toyota Innova as shuttle to send us to Legoland. Single trip charged for 2pax was at RM50. If not mistaken, it took us roughly 30-45 mins to reach the destination. 

Front view of Entrance to Legoland Malaysia

The Legoland Malaysia is opened most of the day from 10am to 6pm but during weekends, public holidays and school holidays, the park might extended the business hour until 8pm or 10pm. However, there is also certain date that the park is closed. So, please check the Legoland website for the information to avoid disappointment.

The entrance ticket is available at the ticketing counters but if you had confirmed your trip 7 days before departure, then you may purchase the ticket on-line to get 20% discount while avoid the queue, just print out the e-ticket and scan at the entrance and you are welcome into the park. Standard price for adult is RM140 while children (3-11) and senior citizen (60 and above) could get ticket at RM110. For MyKad holder now could enjoy the promotion by get additional RM20 discount plus RM10 food voucher when purchase ticket directly from counter. For those who wish to visit Legoland frequently, annual pass is then meet to your needs.

Example of the e-ticket

So, what are the unique attractions I experienced in Legoland Malaysia? Let me continue it in Part II

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