Chinese Lunar New Year Lanterns

Here are some of the lovely lanterns that lit up not only my eyes but my heart when we set foot on the padang (field) where they were displayed for everyone to enjoy during the Chinese New Year season.

Not only children but adults were delighted by the colourful lanterns lighting up the night.

There were cartoon figures as well as the Chinese zodiac animals.  Of course the Monkey was specially featured since this is the Monkey Year.

Nothing like colourful lights to end a happy day.

Food Paradise

Penang is touted as a food paradise and I concur wholeheartedly.  One of the reasons why many people visit Penang is the food. 

Here you would get the authentic dish instead of the kind that strives to pass for the original in other places on the mainland.  In fact, the same food which I tried in Kuala Lumpur and even Singapore don't even come close!! The taste is either totally different or too oily.  Somehow they miss the oomph!

Here are some of the dishes that we savored during our short visit and a Penang friend who knows where the best tastes are, took us to different spots usually patronized by locals only.

                      The very spicy & expensive char kuey teow fried by a well-known old lady

                                               Foreground: O-chien or oyster omelette

                                               Background:  Loh Bak, some kind of spicy roll & fritters

                                  Left: Chee cheong fun or flat white noodles with special sauce
                       Right:  Char kuey teow, or flat white noodles fried with egg, prawn & cockles

                                                                       Mee Java

                                     Loh Bak which tastes different from the above, more tasty.

                                             Fruit rojak or local fruit salad with sweet & spicy sauce

                                  Assam Laksa, a spicy dish which tastes heavenly.  I had already dug into it before remembering to take a picture.  Hence it doesn't look as nice as when it first landed in front of me!!

I forgot to take photographs of the other dishes which we had.  Food was so tempting that we dived into them immediately, forgetting to take photos first.  Maybe another food trip there in the future?

Street Décor for the Chinese Lunar New Year 2016

The streets were not to be outdone by the malls.  Most of the streets would have lanterns strung across and at night they made a pretty sight.

However, some streets were more artistic.  They had different things hanging across and you would have to look up to admire what was above you.

                                                           Pretty umbrellas of different colors

                                                         Even the post has geometric patterns

                                                             Sarongs put to a different use

                                                                      Colorful kites

                                                                 Colorful food covers

                                                               Another decorative post

                                                        Another view of kites and food covers

                                                             Different types of bird cages

Chinese New Year Mall Decor 2016

The lovely décor in shopping malls create a wonderful festive atmosphere that bring excitement and life to an otherwise humdrum mundane day to day routine where most people try to economize on spending as the ringgit goes further south.Seeing the beautiful creativity and hearing the new year songs make people want to celebrate and enjoy the new year.

The Chinese people all over the world celebrate the Year of the Monkey this year and some malls highlight this with the figure of a monkey taking center stage.

It is wonderful to note that despite having to tighten our belts, we can still enjoy the new year by visiting malls and taking photographs of the pretty decorations.