We've been looking at the tourist leaflets we got at the airport and there was an interesting area called Balik Pulau that seemed to have a lot of the things I'd be interested to look at. So since we had no plans, we decided to take a bus there and work our way through the area. The bus ride there was a bit scary as it meandered though rather narrow roads cut out of the hill with a steep drop on one side. Surviving the ride, you see a much laid back Penang compared to the touristy bit on the other side of the island.
We were waiting at the bus stop for a bus and soon realised there didn't seem to be any that were plying the area. Wondering if the service was just slow, we asked one of the drivers, only to find out that they don't have any services running through Balik Pulau on Sundays. Great! So we searched for something to eat and discuss what to do. Lucky for us, we managed to get a cab driver to stop. He was actually on his way him from the mosque with his wife and asked if we minded if the wife came along on our trip round the island. Since he was willing to take us round, we didn't really care that we had another tour guide in the car.
He asked what we'd like to see, and I said we wanted to have a look at the Belacan factories, Keropok factories, try the Nira Palm drink, and also check out the Bedak Sejuk (cooling powder) factory. Lucky for us, I had the map and was easy to find most of the places. We started out at a belacan factory, although it was more of a small family business that went high-tech. She didn't have any product to sell and so it was off to the bigger belacan factory.
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| Controlled Drying Chamber |
At the bigger factory, you get to see how it's really done, with the fermented shrimp being dried n racks in the sun. I'm not sure why there aren't any flies around the place but I guess the amount of salt in it at that point would kill off any eggs they laid. They weren't really operating tours and so they just gave us a brief explanation on how the belacan-making preocess was like. Then mom tasted a little bit of the raw product and had to get a few giant blocks of it to bring back.
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| Push The Fermented Stuff Through Here |
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| Out Come Blocks Of Belacan |
Mom and I were getting a little peckish and so asked if they could bring us for some dessert or snacks. They were also getting hungry and decided to show us the local halal eating spot that apparently sold the best Assam Laksa. Mom decided to have dessert only as she wasn't a fan of assam laksa. In all honesty, the assam laksa was very light, and needed a bit more shrimp paste. They didn't have the palm drink I wanted there but lucky me had the opportunity to try one on the way to find the cooling powder factory. The drink came frozen in a plastic bag, reminding me of my childhood days when we used to share frozen bags of syrupy drinks to cool off in the heat. The drink was interesting, like coconut water, but sweeter. However, the sugary sweetness didn't linger at the back of the throat like soft drinks do. Refreshing and apparently good for health too.
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| Sng Pao? |
Next location was the cooling powder. It was pointed out on the map, but apparently the map wasn't that accurate, and the taxi didn't have a GPS to help. Good thing was that there were helpful neighbours in the village and after traveling up the canal twice, we managed to find someone who knew exactly which turn to take to get to the factory.
The factory was a family run business and although the son seemed happy to carry on making the product, there didn't seem to be much people who used it anymore. There was even a documentary done and televised, but it didn't seem to drum up business. I think they needed to put a few more signs up and maybe put their products at the airport. Anyway, I loved this product since I was young. It's like calamine lotion chips. Mix a bit was cold water and apply to burns or itching bumps and it'll help sooth the problem area. You could also use it to turn yourself into a white-faced ghost for halloween. I think this might be the same thing the Thais use during Songkran for good luck.
Once we saw what we wanted, they decided to show us the rest of the Balik Pulau as we headed back to the front of the island. There was a nice pottery shop, but sadly we couldn't bring much with us. He also showed us a little waterfall that would've been nice if we could go down and cooled off in. Stopped to get some fruits from the shops along the road and even made it to a nutmeg farm. Sadly it closed about 15 minutes before we arrived but they had some product right outside for me to photograph. The farm did smell wonderful though.
He finally got us back to the hotel just before 4pm and we decided to enjoy the little bit of beach at least once before we left. It was quite nice to see that iguanas also seem to be enjoying the warmth of the beach and was heading home as the sun set. After about an hour of soaking the the salty waters, we headed back to the room with Mom looking like she peed her pants as we went up the lift.
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