Chapter 2: Penang - The Pearl of the Orient (Part 2)

This is the continuation of my Penang trip. Here's a quick recap on where I've visited in Penang so far:

• Gurney Drive (and Gurney Plaza)
  
• War Museum
• Snake Temple
• Kek Lok Si
• Batu Ferringhi
  

3 December 2007

Well, this day began with a breakfast of "Dim Sum" at a place called Restoran Zim Sum. The atmosphere is akin to that of a hawker's market.


The following photo was taken during my previous trip to Penang in March 2007. This illustrates how busy this place is.


Oh, the wonderful Dim Sum!


Here's the fate of the Dim Sum
Before getting devoured:


In the process:


After:


Subsequently, we went to the jetty to send Kia Xin off. She and her boy friend are going to Langkawi. So nice =P


After their romantic departure, we continued our exploration of Penang by visiting a Burmese temple. According to the sign, it's called the Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple.


I'm not very good at describing temples, so I'll just let the photos do the talking.

A statue of the Buddha

The Goddess of Mercy (I think)

Hmm...not sure what to call it. I think I'll just call it the "Pond of Wishes"
This contraption will rotate like a ferris wheel placed horizontally.
You can toss coins into those pots and make wishes. Each pot has a different kind of wish.
For example, good health, prosperity, success, happiness, etc.

A dragon lurking behind the bushes!

Hmm...a scaly and white composite creature?

A perspective shot of a row of Buddhist statues

Another shrine within the temple complex. Here, they have cubicles for each of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac.

Here's something that caught my eye - two hybrid creatures standing upon the Earth

After visiting the Burmese temple, we traversed an utterly hostile terrain to arrive at our next destination. Nah, actually it was just opposite the Burmese temple. This one is a Siamese temple. Yea, Penang sure has many temples.

We are greeted by the temple's guardians

Statue of the Sleeping Buddha

Some more statues

The temple also had a columbarium (a place where the ashes of cremated bodies are kept), which I did not photograph. Basically, that's almost all I saw in the temple complex. Having explored two more of Penang's famous temples, we adjourned for lunch. Subsequently, we were invited to Chee Keong's house where we had some fun and laughter while waiting for the time to pass.

When it was almost 4.00 p.m., we sent the girls off to the bus station, where they would be headed for Ipoh. That left Sheng Yu, Chee Keong, Pat and I. Chee Keong had his own plans, so after dropping off Pat at her house, Sheng Yu dropped me off at Gurney Plaza. Finally, I had all the time in the world to explore the three big book shops in the plaza. I spent about 2 hours contemplating and evaluating the melange of books on display. In the end, I bought 6 books altogether, costing me more than RM 200! But it was well worth the shopping spree. I needed some books to read.

The beautiful Christmas tree at the entrance of Gurney Plaza

Atmosphere inside Gurney Plaza

The Golden Compass!

I was ready to go back to Sheng Yu's house when suddenly, I got a call from Calvin who was in Penang at that time. I decided to follow Calvin and friends (Choon Seng, Jack and Eric actually). We went to the hawker's stall near the Gurney Plaza and had some scrumptious hawker food.

First time seeing Calvin again after the Grand Dinner

Some "rojak"? Lol.

Some drinks...
The yellow coloured one is lime-plum juice.
The green coloured one is "ampula" (In Hokkien) juice.

We had some "Ma Zhi" as well. Basically it's glutinous rice + grounded peanuts + fried onions + sesame. Very nice, but don't take it on a full stomach! Otherwise, you'd feel bloated

Four of us posing for a photograph in front of Gurney Plaza (Jack was the photographer)
Kind of dark, though, so can't really see our faces

After that, we had a walk along Gurney Drive. We witnessed a breath-taking fire-show, but I don't have the video of it. Calvin does, though so I'll need to ask from him. After allowing our food to be digested, Eric drove me back to Sheng Yu's house, where they were having a birthday party for his cousin.

I spent some time reading a book I just bought, entitled "Finding Heaven on Earth". As I read a few pages of the first Chapter, it says that even Solomon in his splendor thought that everything on Earth was meaningless. How true, with God, nothing on the Earth has meaning. Whatever earthly successes, achievements, wealth that we attain all comes down to nothing in the end. It's our heavenly treasures that matter most.

As I end my day, I knew that my Penang trip was drawing to an end. This would be my last night at Sheng Yu's house. With a heavy heart, I closed my eyes and recounted my trip thus far, before unknowingly falling fast asleep shortly after that.

4 December 2007

The last day on Penang island. I never thought it would come so fast. My day began with a visit to the hospital. No, don't worry. I'm not there because I've got food poisoning or any illness. I accompanied Sheng Yu to do his medical checkup. It was a mandatory MC required by JPA before we fly to Australia next year. After struggling with traffic congestion around the hospital area and struggling to find a parking space, we finally arrived at the Out Patient Department. and met up with Chee Keong and Zi Yi.


I discovered that I could not perform the medical checkup there because I have to be around to collect the results, so I just hung around while waiting for them to finish. I received a call from Zen Yang, who asked me to go to Penang Hill. I agreed, as I had nothing better to do anyway.

Ang's mom drove us to Penang Hill.

A memorial to honour the war dead

We decided to ascend to the peak by train, but before we proceeded to the ticket counter, we had lunch first. Guess where?

Haha...it's none other than Asia Cafe Penang Hill!
I really didn't think Asia Cafe would have a branch here as well

Nothing much...just chicken rice and "ais kacang"

Well, after lunch, we went to the ticket counter at the foot of Penang Hill.



After buying our ticket, we went to check out the boarding station. Here comes the train...


But we're not getting on the train just yet. Our ticket was designated for the 3.45 p.m. train, but the time...2.00 p.m.!

To kill time, we decided to visit a place called Tanjung Tokong. Here're some photos of the surroundings.





After spending some time there, we went back to Penang Hill. And this time...it's our train.



The whole journey to the top took about 30 minutes. The train stopped halfway, where we alighted and continued to the peak on another train. The view from the top of the hill is spectacular and the air was cool.

Zen Yang and his monkey friend

There's even a post office there

and a cannon

a Hindu temple

an antenna and a mosque

The road not taken?

Some pigeons

It's almost dark already...

One last picturesque photo...

...before our descent

Sheng Yu drove the both of us back to his house. I packed my belongings and got ready to leave Penang island.

Just before leaving Sheng Yu's house

The drive to the jetty was pretty sad for me. I was rather reluctant to leave Penang island. But I knew I had other places to visit and more things to discover. We had dinner at a restaurant near the jetty, called the Weld Quay Seafood Restaurant. The price of the dinner shocked me initially, RM 15! The waitress was holding three calenders that looked like lottery tickets, so I thought she was trying to sell lottery tickets to us. Then, she reassured us that she wasn't trying to get us in trouble. Not a bad deal - RM 15 for a 3-person dinner with free calendars.

Finally, we arrived at the jetty. Zen Yang and I parted ways with Sheng Yu. After exchanging good byes, Zen Yang and I made our way onto the ferry. Our destination - Butterworth jetty.


15 minutes was all it took. I disembarked from the ferry, setting foot on familiar land. We were picked up by Zen Yang's friend and after a half hour drive, we arrived at another familiar place - his house at Bukit Mertajam. Shortly after unloading my belongings, Zen Yang and I decided to go out for supper together. He drove us to Shin Hoon's place near Bukit Kecil and got her to tag along.

Zen Yang brought us to have some of this...


Doesn't look very appetising? It's Malay 'char kuey teow' actually. Don't be deceived by its...uhmm...not-so-tasty look because it's really quite tasty. Haha.

After that, we went to have some 'char koay kak', which is in larger chunks or pieces instead of the continuous strand form of kuey teow. We also had some Hokkien char, which is the following:


Wrapping up, this was yet another eventful day, I should say. I retired to bed close to 3.00 a.m. after using the Internet for a while.

5 December 2007

My last day in Penang. The day started off quite subtly with breakfast at 10.00 a.m. Zen Yang brought me to have some chicken porridge at a place near his house.


Then, he took me to view a section of a railway. Believe it or not, a motorcycle or a small car like a Kancil can actually pass through the small opening! I didn't believe it at first until I saw a motorcyclist breeze through it.


Subsequently, we decided to pay Khai Chin a visit to bid her farewell. So Zen Yang drove us to Kota Permai.



After having quite a lengthy chat, it was time to part ways. Zen Yang brought me to try something which I've not eaten before - Yam Rice.


A delicious meal, I should say but it was something quite different than what came to my mind when Zen Yang mentioned "Yam Rice". I always thought it was a yam ring with rice in the middle. Lol.

We then proceeded to the bus station in Butterworth to buy my bus ticket to Taiping. We managed to purchase the 3.30 p.m. ticket, so we hung around the Butterworth train station first.






Time sure flies when you're having fun. Without knowing it, it was close to 3.30 p.m. already. I dragged my belongings to the bus station. After exchanging farewells, I boarded the bus that would take me to a totally unfamiliar territory - Taiping, the Town of Great Peace.

Once again, I was filled with reluctance as I left Bukit Mertajam. I'll remember the great times spent there. Along the way to Taiping, I was reading yet another book I bought - "The Case for Faith". There was this chapter which talked about suffering. Suffering has a refining effect on us, and is God's tool to mould and build character. As I read that, my mind wandered to the days of Cemara, which for me was riddled with suffering at times. But even as I look at, it is during the times of suffering that I was closest to God. Well, I've learnt to appreciate those times.

Before long, the bus reached the Kamunting station. I was picked up shortly after I alighted from the bus and I was ready to begin a new journey in the streets of Taiping...



End of Chapter.

BRIAN CHEE NEE HOU