The Tan Yiek: blog

I've always wanted to experience the beautiful scenery in Sekinchan since some time ago. In addition, the Malaysia's Raya holiday was quite lengthy and I got bored doing nothing at home. Therefore, I have decided to visit Sekinchan, as a form of day trip to burn some of my free time, although there are several negative factors were warned repetitively over the net.

Pro(s):

-Beautiful scenery that is Instagram-worthy.

-Homestay & Culture.

-Local delicacies such as seafood.

-Best time to witness the golden yellow wheat field on the particular month of June & December.

Con(s):

-Traffic heavily congested due to peak season such as national school holiday or festive season.

-Weather is unpredictable, which may ruin your trip.

-The wheat field might not be aesthetic good looking as what you've expected if you visit at the wrong time, day and month.

-Not English friendly place.

To summarize, my entire day trip was more towards the "cons" side, however, there are still some light of hope during my trip.

I left the city (Petaling Jaya) at 12 noon and the journey took about 1.5 hours. This 1.5 hours is a 72 kilometer journey includes massive accident and unusual heavy traffic congestion. However, this 1.5 hours of journey considered fair enough, all thanks to Waze, helped me to skipped the jam.

All you need is:

-Decent amount of cash, probably RM 100 to RM 200.

-Car with outstanding fuel efficiency, mine was the Nissan Almera 1.5, total fuel costs for return trip is RM 40.

-Bottle of water to stay hydrated.

-Smartphone with Maxis internet service. Celcom internet DOES NOT WORK in this area, not sure why.

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My visit to each hot spot is according to flow and sequence, based from the direction I traveled from.

A = N.16 cafe 拾綠號

B = Farm Ville Cafe & Homestay

C = Ah Ma House + Kampung Datuk

D = Paddy Processing Factory & Gallery

E = Pantai Redang Sekinchan (Not labelled on the Map above, 10 minutes drive away)

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A. N.16 cafe 拾綠號

Above image shows you that this is N.16 cafe. A bus-designed infrastructure that is on top of a container. The bus caters the guests that would like to dine in, with the expense of small space. The container as the base, has washroom and small kitchen inside. This cafe serves typical western dishes and beverages such as pour-over coffee and soft drinks. Also, N.16 is located right beside the Padi Box Homestay, which is one of the most iconic homestay in Sekinchan.

Due to peak timing, I only had the chance to see what's inside this bus and do not have the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the food and drinks by N.16 cafe.

Instead of waiting to be seated, I went to the back of the container, to buy a bottle of sparkling juice from them and cool down myself under the shade.

RM 7 for this bottle of Malt beverage to cool me down from the scorching sun.

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B. Farm Ville Cafe & Homestay

It works similar like how N.16 cafe 拾綠號 and Padi Box work as one.

Yes, I visited the Farm Ville Cafe but not the homestay. Just another ordinary cafe and nothing for me to comment about.

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C = Ah Ma House + Kampung Datuk

This is a must-go location, the Ah Ma House, middle of the paddy field, where you can find most of the souvenir items here before the end of your journey. The products are mostly edible products and follow by man made furniture. Price starting from RM 2 and above.
Moreover, you may opt for a ride around the paddy field with the vintage buggy car, RM 10 per pax.

People checking out their cart.

Would you like to have some cotton candy?

Making of the traditional wafer snacks "Kuih Kapit", was made by egg batter clasped with the iron mold.

Opposite Ah Ma House, is the Kampung Atuk. In Kampung Atuk, you will be able to learn about the fishery industry as well as able to try the specialty of the local food.

Oyster Omelette is the highlight dish in Sekinchan. RM 15 per plate.

Kampung Atuk's gallery, tells you how the local catch the fish in the sea. (RM 5 for adult | RM 3 for children, access to the gallery)

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E = Pantai Redang Sekinchan

This is another location that you must visit before you leave Sekinchan for good - the Redang beach of Sekinchan. This beach is popular because the presence of the fishery firms, temple, eateries and beach!

Mainly, visitors usually visit this place because of the temple, where they can obtain a red string of charm to toss it up to the tree trunks and make a wish come true. Otherwise, visitors are usually here to relax their minds, to take Instagram-worthy image or possibly to eat!

Traditional man made house.

Fishery ports.

Store owner is busy cooking and delivering the food to the customers.

One particular moment was the food took so long to deliver on to my table. I had to constantly remind the food store owner about my order. This was utterly disappointed or perhaps it wasn't the right time to visit this place because of the high influx of visitors.

Oyster omelette, RM 15 per plate. The typicality of Sekinchan's Oyster omelette tends to have very high contain of oil, flour and lack of oysters... Unlike in Penang, it was really good, filling and delicious!

RM 6 for this Char Kuey Teow. This was the worst dish ever. Tasteless and kept me waiting for a very long duration.

At the end, this trip was to rejuvenate inner mind and relax the body after months of hectic work.

Sekinchan is actually a nice town to visit, provided that it has to be at the right time when visit.

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I usually don't visit cafe nearby my house due to personal presumption of "things that are generally nearby your house isn't really good" - which is a wrong mindset to have, until one fateful day that I have decided to pay Brew & Bread a good visit.

Brew & Bread has been operating more than 6 years ago and still counting...

Today, they are one of the best cafe in Klang Valley that could serve good brunch as well as specialty coffee to the market.

Prior to the visit, I learnt that Brew & Bread was offering their very new single origin (La Campanula - Apaneca Ilamatepec in El Salvador), a bourbon and SL 28 varietals that underwent fully washed and sun-dried process which resulted in vanilla, red apple and almond tea as the tasting experience that you can obtain from this bean. So then I decided to give it a try. It was a clean cup of coffee I would say, light-bodied and citrusy like red apple and gives out a tea-like finishing at the end of your sip.

Little did I know, I was caffeinated by the coffee because of my empty stomach. Thus, to order their food to recover from caffeine sickness as well as to try their food :P

Meet my very own appealing and seductive Chicken Roulade (RM 19.00). Initially I thought it came in a big portion, unfortunately it is not big in my own point of view. I'm a big eater and I am disappointed with this. However, taste wise was pretty good when your chicken thigh rolled with amazing stuffing, coated with white sesame, brown sauce, pumpkin mash and drizzle of olive oil infused with basil and parsley dip.

After my unsatisfying-small-portion-but-taste-good Chicken Roulade, I called for a plate of Prawn Aglio Olio (RM 15.00) to fill the gap in my tummy. One of Brew n Bread's signature dish, as highlighted on their menu. Great plate of pasta in my opinion as their pasta cooked to perfection of al-dente and blends well with the other ingredients such as fresh prawns, hams, sugar peas, wild mushrooms and not to miss out the seasonings.

Ratings

Price & Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3.5/5

Food & Beverages: 4/5

Brew & Bread

10, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla M 31/M Shah Alam, Malaysia.

Closed on Thursdays
Daily Operation except Thurdays: 8 am to 7 pm.

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Recently I had a trip to Penang because of my university held a field trip that required me to be there on-site, in addition, to relive the old memories of mine, visited Penang 10 years ago. Penang is well-known for its local delicacies, quaint architectures and photogenic views as well as packed with diverse culture that you may learn one or two!

I'm thankful enough that my university hosted this trip to Penang last week despite many other tasks need to be done.

Due to time constraint, allowed me to summarized this post for you on what I 'personally' think about Penang, as a whole.

1. Its different.

I'm not saying that Penang is extremely "different" because it is on the island that makes it so special but because it is really a unique place where you can feel the aura, packed full of historic culture that still live within until today. I felt safe (for now), compared to other states that I have been before and you can see more tourists compared to locals. The ratio of tourists to locals give you the feel that as if you are in another world.

Locals said that living standard is horrible these days compared to the old days, so you won't be able to see them around so often :p...

When you are in Penang, you should not waste your time resting, because Penang has lots of food awaits you to try throughout the entire day.

Otherwise, head to the beach for water-sports activity or shopping malls.

Night time is best for night-life before you go to bed.

2. Yummy Yum!

Po-piah is the Asian version of wrap, with vegetables and possible protein inside.

Fried Carrot Cake that you should not missed out despite the large quantity of oil used!

For those of you who don't know, I repeat myself here, YOU SHOULD NOT MISSED OUT PENANG'S DELICACIES, as they are the best, mainly because they are cheap, big in portion, fresh and delicious. Research showed that foreign tourists spent most of their time and money on local delicacies because they are valued for money and they taste better than any other food :P

Long story short, you should go for Char Kuey Teow(picture below), most common suggested dish for beginners, which literally means fried noodles with bean sprouts and fresh big prawns.

Char (Fried) Kuey Teow.

Fried oysters and scramble eggs! A plate of fried oysters & scramble eggs can be pricey but never mind the value, because its really delicious and fresh. Highly recommended by me!

This is po-piah that I was saying just now. Asian version of wraps.

Cendol originated from Indonesia but also popular in Penang due to the Penang's variant.

Loh-Mee, a Hokkien dish, thick starchy gravy with thick noodles.

70's Ice Ball. It was said that back then, they used newspaper to hold the delicious ice ball...

Big Bowl Ramen. This shop happen to be in Chew Jetty, what a strategic venue to sell such item. However, it is the best ramen I ever had. Especially the curry soup.

Apart from the above, I have not cover all the delicacies in Penang due to the limitation of time. Fret not, food are easily available everywhere as you move.
So, keep on moving.

Not to mention that, there are many indie-cafes in Penang island nowadays that served coffee, cakes and tea. A new trend that may possibly override the traditional food and drinks?

3. Photogenic Penang

On good weather condition, taking a simple picture of the sea, streets or people, is beautiful enough for you to keep it into your own gallery or to showcase your photography skills on social network.

Tourists hunt for cultural murals.

Walking along the WHS office in Penang.

Someone done with fishing.

Conclusion

-Going for a food trip or as a overall, Penang is the best by far (in my opinion). Reason behind my judgement is because Penang has many kinds of food to offer as they are authentic, delicious, fresh and affordable.

-Apart from the tourist spot George Town, there are many other places that are worth visiting such as Batu Ferringhi, Butterworth and many more.

-Accommodations and night-life pubs/clubs are readily available.

-Transportation in Penang is never a problem with the aid of transportation rental or smart-phone application such as GrabCar or Uber, to hire personal driver.

-People like you and me, this island has ample of places to take pictures on.

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