Courage of Conviction

Heard of the legend that says it would rain for the first 9 days of the Chinese Lunar 9th Month? Yup. It's because legend has it that it's during this period that the 9 Emperor Gods would come and together with it brings rain. The 9 Emperor Gods temple in Burma road directly facing Madras Lane in Penang. It is said one has to be a pure vegetarian for the 9 days to cleanse oneself enough to send off the gods at the end of the 9 days. During this period, no animal products(milk, meat, eggs), garlic or onion. Even the plates, pots and utensils have to be new or untouched(clean from cooking any meat) Took this with my phone. Yes. It's nice with all the lighting during the night. Another bokeh picture using manual focus Small effigies for prayers. Coil joss sticks The best part? The food of course I feel you could never get as many varieties elsewhere compared to this place The mixed rice dishes. I was eating there for the past 5 days becaus...

So Mid Autumn is coming again. What comes into mind then? Mooncakes right? Getting tired of spending your mid autumn with mooncakes and want something new? Introducing Gourmet Pineapple cakes. Previously only available in Taiwan and China. Not now. Gartien brought this Gourmet Pineapple Cakes down to the Heart of Penang. To be honest, I was never a fan of moon cakes and I am glad I have found this gem. Yes Pineapple cakes which is not too sweet, packed in bite size packaging in their Mid Autumn special edition boxes. Each box comes with 10 individually wrapped cakes enough for you to share the joy with your family. You could surprise your loved ones this year with something new rather than the traditional mooncakes.    I think this year's Mid Autumn Festival would be different for me as I finally found something I would love eating while having my cup of tea watching the moon. Made from fresh pineapples without preservatives and artificial flavo...

Having headaches on what to give your friends, parents, mother in law(or laws) or even your sam gu luk poh(translation: any relatives or aunties) this coming Chinese New Year? Well first you would need something that is presentable and of a Chinese tradition right? Why not something more pineapply tasty than pineapple biscuits/tarts? Try pineapple cakes or 鳳梨酥 instead. Pineapple is called "Ong Lai" in Hokkien which translate to Wealth Coming. So what is more appropriate than this? Gartien (小田佳園), a local Penang pineapple cakes manufacturer came out with its new CNY packaging designs with Peony/Mudan Flower/牡丹 motives in gold on it's red gift box of set of 10 pieces of individually wrapped cakes with chinese ink paintings of Mudan flowers. These are limited edition packings as there are only 1000 of these auspicious gift sets left. What I loved is that each cake is individually packed to retain it's freshness and hygiene. One or two packs is good to go along wi...