Hillside Stalls

In Penang, we find that we are eating out more often. Part of the reason for this is because we work very long hours (from about 7:30 to about 5:30 or 6:00).  Also, the food is very cheap, perhaps cheaper than we could make ourselves and certainly less time and effort - consuming.  Most of the time we eat at Hillside Stalls which is about a 5 to 10 minute walk from the school. Penang is famous for its stall food (rated by CNNGo  as one of the 10 greatest cities in Asia for street food). Supposedly people travel a long way, even from overseas, just to eat at the different stalls in Penang.

Char kway teow with watermelon juice

So far, my (Garth) favourite dish in Penang is Char kway teow. It is medium width rice noodles stir fried with egg, vegetables, shrimp and Chinese sausage in a dark soy sauce. My favourite drink at the stalls is watermelon juice. Together I can get both for about 5 RM or the equivalent of $1.66 Canadian.

Rudy's is where I buy my char kway teow at the Hillside Stalls.

Mutiara Cafe where I buy my watermelon juice.  They also sell pineapple juice, ice tea, apple and orange juice,  and other drinks including a favorite of the girls' - Milo which comes either hot or cold and tastes like hot chocolate / chocolate milk.

At Hillside, which is also true for other groups of stalls, they will have stalls that sell only Malaysian food, ones that only sell Western food, and ones that only sell beverages. You order from the stalls you want, and then they come and serve it to your table.

Eileen and the girls eating at one of the tables at the stalls.  Aimee's friend is the one with blond hair with her back to the camera.  The pizza place is behind where we are sitting and to the right.  Aimee and Elizabeth will sometimes split a pizza from there.

We usually go for supper at 6:15 p.m. The Hillside stalls are just opening at that time. Some stalls are more for lunch and open around 11:00 a.m. and close around 6:00 p.m. Other stalls are more for supper and will open at 6:00 p.m. and stay open quite late, even past midnight. People in Penang usually eat their supper late. At 6:00 p.m. when we go for supper, the stalls are not that busy but if you drive by the stalls at 10:00 p.m., it is very busy.

Garth and the girls at the stall. The extra girl is a friend of Aimee's. The dark drinks are Milo. We have reserved having Milos usually for Wednesdays as a treat for the middle of the week.  Elizabeth usually likes hers hot (even in the hot weather) while the others like theirs cold.

On Thursdays, we do takeaway because Hannah has to be at Girls Scouts for 7:00 p.m, so we usually eat the food in Eileen's classroom. People here don't call it take-out. They call it take-away. I can still get my favourite dish with watermelon juice, but the watermelon juice is in a plastic bag tied up with a string. You loosen the string just enough to put your straw through.

Takeaway Thursday with our beverages in a plastic bag.  Hannah was too shy to be in the picture.  Looks like most are drinking either lemonade or pineapple juice.