Whatever got into me?! Here I was on the way to Penang... on the bus for the first time... and all on my own. Nope, I didn't quarrel with my dear hubby and ran away from home!!! I decided to embark on this little adventure all for the sake of a passion called quilting (LOL!) ...and I had the blessings of my family and lots of encouragement from my friend in Penang who provided free lodging and transport for the 2 whole days I was there :-) Thanks for the hospitality, MS. The bus stopped at Butterworth and I took the ferry across to the island where I was promptly picked up at the jetty.
First stop was a late lunch at the New Lane hawker stalls... to get my fill of chee cheong chook. See those mouth-watering deep-fried pig intestines and delicious red meat inviting you over? In my hunger, I forgot to take a picture of the bowl of piping hot porridge (sorry!) but I certainly did not forget the price - RM4.50! That's steep but one place that I will keep returning to... the porridge is THAT good :-)

It was straight to the Vistana Hotel after that. The 2 workshops (one on quilting & one on making bags / etui boxes) were about to "tutup kedai" when we arrived (after all it was almost 5pm). Anyway, we did catch a glimpse of what the participants had been up to... and WILL be up to (their course is a 3 day thingy). For visitors, there were quilt / bag exhibitions at the foyer... sale of sewing / crafting tools... and the Benina sales personnel was there to give us a very personal demonstration of their ultimate quilting machines. One word - COOOOL (if you are willing to fork out RM7999.00 :-)

Dinner was at QEII at the waterfront... This is one of the newer and more unique dining places on the island. It caters to the young (hey, we're young at heart; so that qualifies!) and serves a combination of Italian, Asian and French cuisine. It was a Friday night and drinks were on the house for ladies. I very timidly asked for a coke :D!!! The seafood pizza we ordered was the thin crust type and it came loaded generously with calamari rings, prawns and oysters topped with oozy yummy cheese... hmmmm... the word "delicious" does not do it justice (just don't ask the price, ok?) lol...

More pictures to remind me of my night in Penang. Shimmering lights... on the street... at the waterfront...
Truly, Penang deserves its title - "The Pearl of the Orient". My friends and I took a leisurely walk back to the car park... this was only day one. Come back if you want to know what I did on day two :-)

Labels: 2009, Craft Fair, Ramblings