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St. Patrick’s Day Festival 2019 Ball

I attended St. Patrick’s Day Festival 2019 – The Ball which took place last Saturday (9 March 2019). It was held at Eastern & Oriental Hotel (E&O) in Penang, in their Grand Ballroom.

 

This is a foreword from Penang Irish Association :

“St . Patrick’s Day is a global celebration of what it means to be Irish; the spirit, the determination, the creativity and that indefinable something that makes us who we are. Ireland is capable of great things and every year, our embassies and Consulates use St. Patrick’s Day to show the world just what we can do.

 

One of our great strengths as a country is our people.

 

We celebrate our rich culture and heritage and we’re proud of its influence on world literature, art and music. St. Patrick’s Day is a great chance for us to share our culture with others.”

 

This is an introduction video I made before I entered the Grand Ballroom and did a live streaming of their event :

 

This is the first part of the live streaming taken during the event :

 

The video ended abruptly during the first video as the streaming stopped unexpectedly after I walked out of the ballroom and went across the hallway towards the buffet area. I made 2nd live streaming after that. The beginning part of the 2nd video was also not smooth as I was experiencing broadband problems. I was using my telco’s 4G internet and I also tried using the hotel’s wi-fi but the same problem occured. That means it wasn’t really the internet’s problem but there must have been some difficulty to get internet at that particular part of the hotel when I walked out of the ballroom and headed towards the buffet area. I was told by the hotel staff that they will be renovating the E&O ballroom soon and they have already begun renovating the heritage wing (where the Grand Ballroom is situated at) of the E&O Hotel Penang.

 

Here’s the 2nd part of the live streaming :

 

I had a great time at this event. It was nice dressing up, consuming the delicious food and beverages, looking at their performances, experiencing the Irish culture of celebration, and looking at the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen and being at the hotel’s ballroom. If you would like to attend this festival, they hold it every year so you can look forward to next year’s celebration. For more information, you can contact Penang Irish Association, which I’ll leave their information below.

 

PENANG IRISH ASSOCIATION

info@penang-irish-association.com

penangpia@gmail.com

https://www.penang-irish-association.com/

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Nasi Lemak Dinner At Gurney Hotel

I went to Gurney Hotel for dinner yesterday. I tried their nasi lemak, which can be ordered from their a la carte menu. I ordered honeydew juice without ice as well.

 

I took a live video about my meal. Tried out YouTube’s live video. My voice is a bit soft when I see the video playback. I was using earphones when I took the video, so it sounded just nice that time. The video is a bit shaky at certain parts and video movements were also too swift when I took the live video as compared to how I would deliberately slow down for a recorded video for editing. Lighting wise, I wanted the soft lighting, so I turned off the flash but it ended up too yellowish in the video. Can be improved and I’m glad that I tried out something new (YouTube’s live video, apart from trying out the food).

 

 

Food wise, it’s nice of the hotel to change the curry chicken to fried chicken because I have allergies to chilli. I’m not sure how the allergies developed because I wasn’t allergic to chilli or spicy food last time, I just chose not to eat spicy food because it was hot. Now I can’t eat it because I will get inflammation and allergies. However, a small part of the fried chicken was still spicy. I’m not sure if they accidentally touched some chilly spices onto certain parts of the wings. With allergies told to restaurants, people preparing food have to be careful what they serve because like for those with allergies to peanut (which is more common in the US), even if they don’t eat the peanut but touch it, it might cause anaphylactic shock. I’m wondering what happens and what alternative remedy can be used if someone doesn’t carry an epi-pen around when they have anaphylactic shock.

 

All in all, food was alright. Honeydew juice was delicious. Comfortable environment with air conditioning and would have been much better if not for the noisy people running around. Why were they running around the hotel anyway ? I don’t think it’s suitable for people to run and shout about in the hotel, it’s not like it’s a marathon. I know people would rent hotel ballrooms or seminar rooms for team buildings or events that have games but at the open area of a hotel like the lobby and the dining area… just not appropriate. I usually don’t see this at Gurney Hotel. Perhaps you can go on a day when there are no noisy people to enjoy your food.

 

Nasi lemak dinner Gurney Hotel

 

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The Gurney Hotel’s Selera Kampungku Ramadhan Buffet

Recently I went to The Gurney Resort Hotel & Residences Penang for an event they held in conjunction with Ramadhan 2018. They served their Ramadhan buffet for dinner, which is called “Selera Kampungku”. It translates to English as “My Village’s Appetite”.

 

If you haven’t gone to try their food, you would need to go today as today is the last day for their iftar Ramadan (break fast evening meal). Their sahur set (meal before starting to fast for the day) is until tomorrow, 13 June 2018, so you can still go tomorrow. It is advisable to give them a call to check if they are serving before you go. The hotel’s number is in the flyer I have enclosed below and I have also included at the end of this post.

The Gurney Hotel's Selera Kampungku, Ramadhan 2018 Buffet flyer

 

I have made a video about the dinner that night which shows some of the food they are serving. You will be tempted with their roasted lamb and chicken meat, which was succulent with 3 types of sauces for you to choose from.

 

Their chef made bhatura which was served with dhal curry. This is the first time I’m trying bhatura, which is new to me and it reminded me a bit of naan bread. I had it with dhal. I like their dhal curry which was not spicy at all because I don’t take spicy food and it was just right for my palate. It might not be the favourite of those who like spicy Indian food but to me, it was just perfect. If you want to know more about what bhatura is or how it looks like, watch my video below where the chef will show you how it’s made and he will tell you about bhatura.

 

They had many varieties of local delicacies like rice with dishes, kuih, desserts like ice kacang and drinks suitable to quench your thirst after breaking fast. My ice kacang was cleared after only having a spoonful or so of it as I went away from the table to take pictures and videos. Mana ais kacang saya ni…

 

I would have enjoyed having more of their food but I was busy going round taking pictures and videos plus interacting with some of the people present at the event. Amongst the few outings for blogging these 2 weeks which includes food, at this event I became Miss Cakap Banyak, not Miss Makan Banyak.

 

I want to eat and I want to talk also but if I talk, I eat slower than usual because I don’t like to talk with my mouth full. You know how people talk when their mouth is stuffed full of food and you have no idea what they are talking about ? It’s disgusting especially if they start spewing food from their mouth. So, sometimes I let the other person talk as much as they like and I just listen so that I can happily eat my food. Sometimes I eat in silence and I don’t mind eating on my own because it’s at my own pace without distraction. This blogging is a bit different because they had an event along with the buffet dinner blogging. At events, I became a bit hyper – so many things to see and do, so I go round and around.

 

Here’s the video regarding the dinner : https://youtu.be/pROmYYoLkiA

 

COFFEE HOUSE

The Gurney Resort Hotel & Residences

18 Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Georgetown, Penang.

04-3707000

http://www.gurney-hotel.com.my/