Penang Trip 2013 P1 - Kuala Sepetang, St Anne's Church

♥June 1st♥

We made our annual trip to Penang during the school holidays, as with every year, to visit St Anne's church and give our thanks for another blessed year.

This year, the hubs wanted a detour to Kuala Sepetang, formerly known as Port Weld, which is famous for mangrove swamp and charcoal factories. As it was not a planned stop, (the hubs just thought we still have time, and exited the highway at Changkat Jering before informing us where we're heading), we'd done no research and don't know what to expect. We just parked our car, and walked about. As we just had lunch (if he'd told us where we were going first, we could have saved our stomach for later), we didn't even have room for the famous mee udang (Malay: prawn noodle), where a few restaurants were serving.

At one of the houses next to the river, we bumped into another family who was trying to gather enough people to hire a boat for a river cruise, and we agreed to join. The river cruise cost about RM60 for 4 of us (adult RM20/head, children RM20/head) for a 30 minutes cruise.

Poooh-weee! We had to put on the stinky safety vests which probably never got washed/cleaned since the first day the boat started operating.

Even with the smell bothering us, it was still quite a pleasant ride. We cruised past the fishing village.


Saw fishing boats anchored at the back of the houses.


And also went pass mangrove forest, with monkeys playing at the banks.


When we were done with the cruise, and walked back to the car, we saw some salted fish being dried. So we bought some as well. It's very tasty by the way, should you visit this place, don't forget to buy some of these long salted fish home.


And then we drove just a KM or 2 to get to the charcoal factories. We were told Kuala Sepetang charcoal is considered one of the best in Asia and it's in high demand in the international market.



Just so happened we arrived at the famous Mr Chuah's charcoal factory, Mr Chuah was about to end a guided tour to a bus load of tourists, so we joined in as well (tour is free, and to avoid disappointment, best to give Mr Chuah a call before going).

In the factory, there are domes like this which are the kilns where the de-barked mangrove trunks will be 'baked' and dried.
Once dried, the 'door' to the kiln will be sealed off for the charcoal to cool down for a further 8 days.

There were pile high of mangrove branches/trunks awaiting to be turned into charcoal.




Who, but the foreign workers, would want to work in a smokey environment? They are the ones who toiled for us so we could have our good quality charcoals!




Charcoal are broken into smaller pieces and bagged up to be sold.
We bought a big charcoal log to be placed in the house as deodoriser, as well as a pack of charcoal. 2/3 of it has already been used up since we got home. Verdict : super fragrant barbecue! So don't forget to buy some home if you visited this place.

(Mr Chuah's charcoal factory, 34650 Taiping, Perak. Tel: 012-573 9563)

Then it was back to the NKVE and to Bukit Mertajam. The hubs have to drive a bit faster because St Anne's Church closes at about 7pm.

The ambiance in the old chapel is always very serene and quiet. That's where we'll always go to for our thanks giving.




9th year in a row... our yearly tradition of going to give our thanks, and also taking a shot at the front of the old chapel.


And we always wash ourselves at the St Anne's water, and fill up a bottle with the water to bring home.


We'd never seemed to be able to find a good eating place in Bukit Mertajam. One year, we were looking for this highly rated place Yoong Kee which is located near the Bukit Mertajam market for lunch, but it was closed. This year, we managed to find it after asking around at the market.

The restaurant has been operating for more than 60 years. It's at a shabby shop lot which you probably won't notice except for the crowd gathered there.




We ordered 1 fried fish for the girls, and 1 steam fish with plum for us, and a mix vege. The vege, fried with a pork sauce, was very homely. The fish were both very good, very fresh, and well prepared.


The hubs claimed this is the best steam fish with plum he's ever tasted.


It was a cheap and satisfying dinner (if you didn't mind the occasional rats zooming under the table).

(Resturant Yoong Kee, Jalan Pasar, Penang, Bukit Mertajam, 14000. Phone: 04-539 8764)

Continues here.