Traversing Penang : Day 1

After reassuring my parents...again that I'll be fine throughout the trip to Penang with 2 of my course mates (Yew Jin, Xin Ying) and 2 of my course mate's friends (which I had no idea who were they: Yi Si, Hau Ping) and my course mate's friend's cousin (Cheng), dad dropped me at KTM Serdang.

It was a relief that KTM upgraded their trains and made them more frequent, and I was not late which in fact I would if KTM (or the government) had not done so. We met at KL Sentral's Mc Donald's...and it was kinda awkward interacting with each other. Shit got a little serious when we learnt that nobody actually planned on how the trip should go....and God....I came out with the stupidest idea (which I thought it was brilliant): Let's explore the upper side of Penang the first day, and the lower part the next day. It sounded simple, and so I thought because I didn't know Penang was going to be THAT big...since it's the 2nd smallest island in Malaysia.

The train to Butterworth was like a bus ride, except with toilets and little longer. Tried to catch some sleep but it didn't last long.

Arrived at Butterworth station the next morning and it was beautiful!

We walked to the jetty and then took the ferry to Penang island. The fare was only RM1.50 and the only problem is that we have to change paper notes into coins.

Dawn, Butterworth

The sea

And then here we are....Penang!

Transport was an issue for us, and we boarded the Central Area Transit (CAT) to Macalister Rd. and walked to the hotel.

It is really weird for people walking down the street with luggage.

Check in hours was from 2 and we left our bags at the hotel and went for breakfast. The banner made me realised on how 'kind' Penangites could be (no joke, Penangites are indeed very friendly)

1) Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall
Apparently, all of us didn't really know on how to REALLY read a map. And we made a big circle around the hall before arriving.

The Three Patriots. The guy in the middle is Dr Sun Yat Sen while I had no idea on the guys on the two sides. 

We were greeted by Mdm Yap, the daughter to the owner of the house. She gave us a tour on the attempts of the Xin Hai Revolution in democratizing China from the Qing Dynasty. Her fluency in Mandarin was stunning as if she's reading from a book. I can't remember much, nor did I took very important pictures in the hall. What I can tell you is that there were 11 attempts in transforming the nation. If it weren't for the revolution, China would have been broken apart and engulfed by other countries like the Japanese, French etc. (I can't remember). 

Despite the decline of the Qing Dynasty, (which the emperor, Xuan Tong was only 6 years old and was merely a puppet manipulated by the palace. Another particular reason (it's personal this time) was that Empress Ci Si consented and gave a piece of land to the French to build a park, which forbids Chinese and dogs. This reflects the desperate need for the country to change, and was initiated by Dr Sun and his fellow comrades. 

But the real question was what on earth his memorial hall is doing in Penang? 

dun dun dun dun.....

The simplest answer would be,

and which many did not realised that Penang has played a vital role in funding and financing the campaigns and the revolutions in China. The Penang Conference in 1910 would be the greatest example that has raised concerns from Penang Chinese community. 

The entrance of Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

“養天地之正氣, 法古今之完人”

"To cultivate men that are determined, and to nurture values of the past and the present, to achieve perfection."
My translation is not that well, but at least the notion is there.

The puppet referring to Emperor Xuan Tong being manipulated due to his lack of knowledge and experience on the throne. 

Democratizing the nation

Statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen

2) Penang Museum (I dunno, but it's a museum)
I'm sorry. I have no idea what is the name of the museum, but it is relatively complete....from history to traditions and cultures of the Penang communities. There were lots of photos and paintings and other interesting stuffs like these:

Not sure if the tiles were actually meant to be that way or just horrible contractors. (the tiles were not laid parallel to the wall)

Picture showing the busy road in Penang

I could never....never imagine a bicycle selling cigarettes

Basically, all you have to know about Penang is here.


3) Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

At first, I wasn't really attracted to the mansion, because the entry fee was RM12 per pax....and It's expensive. The mansion is only open from 11am to 3pm daily, and can only be accessed through a tour given by an old lady. I paid no attention to her at first, because there were too many people and I thought it was boring. Or so I thought. She reminds me of the enthusiasm Lilian Too, the feng shui master has. And, in fact she talked about Feng Shui as well, with some sense of humour.

This is where the lady showed us the air well. 

"yea..yea...we know. It is meant for air ventilation..."

but she exposes the feng shui perspective:

When raining, the water fills up the water well. This signifies that this is the time for you to spend your money. And, slowly, the rain water will drain away through the 2 holes on each side. This teaches you the first lesson: spend your money slowly. The rain water then flows through pipes that connects the whole house, which teaches you to spend your money wisely. and finally, the water that remains teaches you to save some of your money in case you lost your income.

The tiles are arranged in sets of 8. 8 means fortune and wealth. and when you stand on them, you can feel the 'chi' flowing up your body. 

One of the most interesting feature of this mansion and what that makes this architecture so exquisite is:

Bowls are cut into pieces and made ...

into decorations like this! 

Decorations like this requires delicate hands and extreme precision in crafting the desired images. Mind you, craftsman don't craft these decorations and attached them to the wall. But instead, they paste the pieces of porcelain on the wall while crafting it. It's basically a 3D mosaic. 

Wedding bed donated to give a clearer insight to visitors

View from the window.  

Entrance of the mansion. 

Let the sun shine!

A tricycle and a plant. 

P/S: the mansion was painted indigo-blue not because of any Feng Shui factor, but rather the colour is Cheong Fatt Tze's favourite. 

 http://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/index.htm:

According to the principles of feng shui, the best position for a house to be situated is 'Off the dragon's back': meaning, firstly, to face the sea, which the mansion does; secondly, to have hills behind it for protection, which it also does; and thirdly, to be on an incline or slope, which, though not initially possible due to the land's topography, was eventually brought about. (To achieve the desired requirements, granite steps to the back of the central courtyard were elevated about eleven inches, as well as the entire rear of the house, so the last part of the Mansion is substantially higher than the front).
The classical symmetry of the house, meanwhile, ensures that the feng shui 'heart' is located in the middle of the central courtyard, thereby retaining the point from which the greatest 'Chi' (vortex) energy emanates. This point would have been selected by the original feng shui master as the central spot of the construction - with the rest of the mansion evolving from there.

Bejeweled with materials which constitute the basic, 'must-have' feng shui elements of metal, timber, water, fire and earth, the mansion is a virtual buffet of building components, which send out a virtual clarion call to the Gods of prosperity, health and good luck. Decorative ironworks and buried gold in auspicious corners also ensure the flow of continuing wealth.

Out of so many mansions that Cheong had, this is the only mansion that is being well preserved. This mansion was built for his last wife, whom he married on the age of 70. In his will, there was a clause that stated that the mansion shall never be sold until the death of his last wife's son. The mansion was sold to a few businessmen which then restored the mansion according to its former glory.


4) Lunch: Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow
They said this is Penang's best Char Kuey Teow. It got famous through the TV.
Occasionally, I could have a strong sense on gastronomy, and my taste buds asked me to prepare myself for this:

This is a LARGE kuey teow that I ordered, which cost me RM9.50. Doesn't look big to me, except for the prawns. my friend, Cheng convinced me that people are here for the taste only, not to fill their stomach. I believed.

I had my first bite, then the second and finally finished the whole plate...
First, I must admit that the clams and prawns were quite fresh. and secondly, the Kuey Teow was pretty wet. Yew Jin and I suggested that the Kuey Teow should be fried a little longer, to make it slightly drier and accumulate some wok hei aroma which the Kuey Teow lacked as well, despite it's being cooked by coal fire. We could assume that it's because there's too many people and they are in a hurry.

I must admit there're still better ones, which I'd continue later.

here's some other persons' review on the Kuey Teow:
http://food.yowazzup.com/char-kuey-teow-fried-kuey-teow-lorong-selamat-penang.html

http://www.bangsarbabe.com/2008/10/lorong-selamat-char-kway-teow-penang.html

5) Dinner: Street Food adventure, Micalister St.

This is what I ordered: Wan Tan Mee
I have no idea whether my appetite has grown bigger or the portion is pretty small....I ordered Popiah and Lo Bak afterwards. Too bad I didn't take any pictures.

That pretty sums up day 1 in Penang.