Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Sites : Guar Petai Emerald Pools @ Butterworth Penang

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / Footsteps Malaysia 2016-Sites / Guar Petai Emerald Pools @ Butterworth Penang
                        Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels                       

Guar Petai Emerald Pools @ Butterworth Penang

Lombong Guar Petai, Tasik Gelugor, Province Wellesley, Penang, Malaysia - August 2016
There is this place in Penang's mainland, (called Seberang Perai or previously Province Wellesley) it is a beautiful place with emerald greenish blue pools dotting the green landscape. One with reddish hills that stand out in the the clear blue sky. This place is called Lombong Guar Petai (Guar Petai Mine).


Guar Petai is a former quarry, stones from the hills were mined to produce gravel and clay from the pools were excavated for a nearby brick factory. This quarrying and mining activity surprisingly had not marred nature but in fact had unintentionally turned the place into one of the most beautiful spots here.


The quarrying and mining activities had cleared the land of most trees leaving a landscape that has a good unobstructed view. Nature has slowly crept back; green turfed areas and clumps of trees have grown back on the flattened land. Spots of greenery have also grown on the laterite hills.
The clay mining had left pools of water with a minimum bottom clay layer below which are4 probably gravel and sandy soil. This has acted as a natural filter leaving the pools of water surprisingly clean and clear. But what gives the water a bluish emerald colour? Perhaps it's the mineral within the soil. And surprisingly, although there don't seem to be fish in the water, algae had not grown to turn it a murky green. Perhaps the same mineral which gives it the bluish tinge act as a deterrent to algae growth.


The quarrying activities had stripped the hills of most of the rocks/stones, leaving behind reddish-brown sandstone hills which due to lack of soil is almost bare of growth. A tree here and there and clumps of shrubs have left a few patches of green to add and enhance the scenery.


At the foot of the hills, reddish laterite hillocks make the place seem unreal, bare of any growth it looks like a scene from out of this world, looking like a red Martian landscape.


We went there while on a cycling trip from Penang Island (... see blog) ; this is what we saw - beautiful, isn't it?
It had rained for a few days earlier, but today we were blessed with a bright, clear blue sky. And surprisingly, even after the rain the pools of water were still clear!


Access to Guar Petai is from Jalan Arumugam Pillai, at a jucntion after Kampung Lahar Looi and just before Kampung Guar Petai. Opposite this junction is the Masjid Nyior Sebatang. The road from there is un-tarred and of red laterite finish and it leads pass an operating brick factory. Near the factory, there were short stretches of the road paved with broken bricks.


During rainy weather, the road in can become muddy with pools of water; do be careful if you walk, cycle or drive in.


The place is serene, quiet and almost deserted of people except for visitor. It is a calming place to bond with nature; but there are news that the place could be developed into a tourist destination (... see Star newspaper article). That, I think would be a bad idea; i.e. to build proper roads, sheds and food stalls; when the throngs come, so will the rubbish. Sure publicise it, but leave it as it is - a jewel of nature. Let the people come, but let them come in naturally, through the track roads, or better still forbid motorised vehicle from going in.



The place may be calm and serene, but there are several do's and don't when coming to visit:

- don't speak out loudly or shout, or worst still swear. The locals believe that places like this are filled with spirits; so say a prayer while there.
- Wear proper attire like shoes if you are going to go climbing up the hills
- Do not swim in the pools, just let them be naturally. Also the pools can be quite deep and the edges steep, and who knows what is in the water.
- Don't pollute or leave rubbish behind. Collect any rubbish you bring in and take them out. Take lots of photos but do not leave graffiti on the stone walls of the hills.


LOMBONG GUAR PETAI
Kampung Guar Petai, Seberang Perai, Penang, Malaysia.

GPS: 5.436643, 100.485111
(Click here for Google Street View)





Related / Similar Blogs :




You may also like :


Balik Pulau Street Art Wall Murals
Interesting pieces of beautiful street art murals found at the rural town of Balik Pulau located at the other side of Penang Island.















You are at - Jotaro's Blog / Footsteps Malaysia 2016-Sites / Guar Petai Emerald Pools @ Butterworth Penang

If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via Facebook or Twitter)

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

YummY! - Korean Smoked Pork @ Mapo Restaurant Yongin

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / FootSteps / YummY! / Korea 2016 Korean Food / Korean Smoked Pork @ Mapo Restaurant Yongin
                                                              YummY!                                                             
               Jotaro's Food Review              
Korean Smoked Pork @ Mapo Restaurant Yongin
Sanggal, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea - June 2016
While on a cycling tour of South Korea, we were heading for the Yongin Korean Folk Village after a train ride from Seoul. As there is no direct train services to the folk village, most who go there will stop at Sanggal Station and take a bus/taxi from there. We cycled and en-route were looking for a place for lunch, when we spotted this unique place...

.... "Hey! There's a piggy climbing a building! Indeed there was, a cute little fellow almost atop a two-storey shop. This is interesting and it's a restaurant, the Mapo Restaurant that specialised in smoked pork. With this unique pig calling out to us, we just have to go in and try their food. And we came out a happy lot as what they served was very good.


There were five of us and we ordered a set that cost 29,000KRW. It came with a centre tray of smoked pork, with small saucers of local condiments that's goes with the pork. Together came some kimchi, some salad leafs and a bowl of pork stew.
Each of us were given a individual eating saucer, in them were a slice on onion dipped in fruit vinegar - this seems to be the way when eating roast or barbecue meat in Korea. The smoked pork was really a generous helping, more than enough for the five of us, let's hope we can finish it.



Let's have a look at the stew first. It was a pork stew with some meat and lots of vegetable and a sprinkling of spring onions atop. It was a thin stew and was more like a soup, and was just slightly spicy. No surprises here?

There was! But a pleasant surprise - lurking below the surface were chunks of coagulated pig's blood, one of my favourites. With lots of mixed vegetables cooked till there were soft, this stew reminded me of chop suey and it was very tasty. The pig's blood was also nicely soft to bite into.



The main dish was a smoked leg of pig, deboned and cut into thin slices. Most of the slices were fat with gelatin; below these slices were strips of lean meat. Three saucers of condiment lay on one side - slices of fresh garlic, red chilli sauce and right at the top, a interesting pinkish stuff (which we will come to later).



The pork was really, really good with the skin well smoked and the smokiness permeating into the meat below. It's boneless and not all fat, the lower layer were some lean meat. It's so good that we DID finish the lot!
Overall it was tender with the meat still retaining their flavour, it was only slightly salty - and that's were the condiments come in to cater for individual tastes.



Remember the pinkish stuff? On closer look, these were salted fermented mini-prawn (called Saeujeot,동백하 새우젓) something akin to Malaysian cincaluk. Dip the pork into this and the flavours are enhanced.



The setting of the restaurant were cosy. There were two sections with a mini-garden separating them. Seating was oriental on-the-floor style, dining from low tables.



Going round to have a look at their activities, I saw these vegetables and mushrooms, plucked and sliced for preparation of the soup.



At a counter were these Twigim (튀김), Korean style tempura, ready to be deep-fried and served.



A poster advertising their menu offer (i.e. for those who are too lazy to order ala carte, or illiterate to order in Korean.... that's us!).


Their set menu ranging from 12,000 to 39,000KRW.

So if you are on the way to the Yongin Korean Folk Village and looking for good food, do stop at this place, there will be no regrets!
Mapo Restaurant
8 Minsokchon-ro Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Mobile: +82 031-2740707





Related / Similar Blogs :






You may also like :










Balik Pulau Street Art Wall Murals
Interesting pieces of beautiful street art murals found at the rural town of Balik Pulau located at the other side of Penang Island.

Ah Mah House Sekinchan
When in Sekinchan, don't just visit the paddies and seafood shops; drop by this place and have memories stirred of a past by-gone era and childhood days.







You are at - Jotaro's Blog / FootSteps / YummY! / Korea 2016 Korean Food / Korean Smoked Pork @ Mapo Restaurant Yongin
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)