Last Wednesday was Labor Day. Nope, it has nothing to do with me since I am having my holidays for a few months now. The good news is I have gotten a job and I am lucky to say that it is my ideal job. I have been applying for jobs every now and then for writer positions without having a Degree in Journalism. So to cut the story short, a company has called me up for an interview and lucky enough, I got offered. I was so happy, no words could describe. So I had the Appointment Letter signed and I am off to work starting Monday, 13^th May 2013. J Nonetheless, I will still continue to update my blog on every Monday and Thursday. I apologize for not updating last week and early this week.

So.. during Labor Day, My family and I decided to go for a little getaway up north to my favorite island. Could you guess where? Yes! Penang Island. In my last entry, I have written about the Famous Char Koey Teow in Lorong Selamat. No doubt, I went back for the third time. This time with my daddy, mommy, brothers, aunties, uncle, grandpa and grandma.

Younger bro, Elder bro, Daddy & Mommy

No more babbling about Char Koey Teow, this time round would be one of my favorites, Nasi Kandar. Nasi Kandar is originated from Penang. The word Nasi Kandar was given to this local delicacy because hawkers used to carry a pole (kandar) on their shoulder with rice (nasi) meals on each side. In the modern society, hawkers do not sell rice meals using poles anymore, instead, they rent or buy up proper stalls but the term Nasi Kandar remains. It is usually accompanied by various side dishes such as fried chicken, mutton curry, beef curry, stir fry vegetables, cabbage, fish curry, steam brinjals, squid curry, steam ladies finger, and the list goes on and on depending on the stall.

As we were driving around town, after our visit to the pasar malam at Batu Feringhi, we saw people gushing at the little stall along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling. So we decided to park our cars along the roads and have our little food adventure. To our surprise, people were queuing up and long lines were formed. As we were busy chatting away in the line, the aroma of the dishes filled the air as the clock strikes 10p.m. The smell of spices and curries filled the entire line and you can see sparkles in the eyes of the people queuing. As we move closer to the stall, more and more people came flooding the line. By the time our turn arrived, the line could have been a few hundred meters long! After a long queue for about 20minutes, it was finally our turn!

I decided to have an equal share with my brother and mommy cause I know I will not be able to finish the entire plate. So of all the dishes, we took stir-fry vegetables, mutton curry, and fried egg with onion stuffing with mixed curry spread across the warm white rice. While daddy endures himself with mixed curry, beef curry, hard-boiled egg and steam brinjal in hot sauce. We also had two pieces of aromatic and crunchy fried chicken for the five of us to share. The fried chicken was surprisingly tender and juicy on the inside. With all the spiciness, it is best to also endure yourself with an iced tea also known as “teh ais” which is the iced version of the “teh tarik”, pull tea. 

Our mixed curry rice with stir-fry vegetables, mutton curry and fried egg with onion stuffing.

Daddy’s mixed curry rice with beef curry, hard-boiled egg and steam brinjal in hot sauce.

And last but not least, the aromatic and crunchy friend chicken that is tender and juicy on the inside.

As they were munching away, I noticed the people nearby our tables are also indulging themselves with the variety of dishes. Guess people were too busy enjoying their long awaited Nasi Kandar because their plates were completely clean! Guess the long queue made them appreciate their food even more. We have our plates completely clean as well. We appreciate our food after the long 20 minutes queue and indulged ourselves for not more than 15minutes. It was worth the wait although the line never seemed to move.

My pictures don’t seem appealing because I am not a professional photographer and probably I was too weak and hungry after the long queue. Sorry for the poor photos, will do better next time. Please don’t be afraid of queuing, you’ll never know what you’ll get in the end. Probably it will turn out to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If you never try, you will never know.

Nasi Kandar Beratur

Restoran Liqayat Ali,

98 Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling,

Penang

Opening hours: Daily from 10:00p.m. onwards