Traversing Penang : Day 2 and Day 3

6) Kek Lok Si

After some bus rides, we arrived at Kek Lok Si....the Temple of Sovereign Happiness.

There're several entrances to the temple, but we took the way through the 'merchandise store street' (?)

Well...we got the chance to climb a flight of stairs. 

and we looked at tortoises. 

Cheng explained to me on how some stores prepare Gui Ling Gao (Tortoise herbal jelly) which the dessert actually does derive from tortoise shell powder. And for that, tortoises were farmed and killed. 

But, no worries. We're in a sacred place now...so stop worrying on these shelled animals. In fact they were pretty well fed. 

Tortoise swarming over food...in Kek Lok Si. 

We saw a big rock engraved with some Chinese words which apparently most of us didn't really know how to read them...because they were too small, not because we're illiterate.

The famous Pagoda in Kek Lok Si. 

In 1930, the seven storey main pagoda of the temple or the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas, was completed. This pagoda combines a Chinese octagonal base with a middle tier of Thai design, and a Burmese crown; reflecting the temple's embrace of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism. ~Penang Online. 

http://www.penang-online.com/pages/place-of-interest/kek-lok-si-temple.php

oooo...scary.... I think it's a fish

So, I prayed for world peace and wishes come true. 

Oooh....an inclining lift to the hill top. 

Panoramic view of Georgetown. 

Deities and the Goddess of Mercy with the 12 zodiacs

And...Yew Jin and I wondered what on earth is pooh doing in a temple.

(must be the wrong place)

Joss sticks and incense and some faith with of course...hope. 

They call him the God of Thunder or Lightning

Symmetrical design of worship towers...

...overlooking Georgetown

Personal thought: Somehow, I feel that the temple has became a market place, but not  much of being the house of Gods and a 'real' place to worship. I see beggars through the way up the hill. I see people selling merchandises and toys and statues (lots of them). I see donation boxes everywhere. I see every blessing the people made as a form of business. 

Somehow, I think, there are things and places that shouldn't be commercialized. 

and please do something about the beggars....

because the moment you spot beggars that's where money is. 

I know some of you would say that I've no earning capacity and shouldn't be saying stuffs like this. But I think it'd be irrelevant whether I have such capacity or not. 

7) Ayer Hitam/Air Itam Asam Laksa

We asked around on where was exactly the best asam laksa in the area, but everyone had opinions of their own. So, we simply settled down for a boel of Penang Laksa in the nearby food court. The dark sauce was shrimp paste which tasted sweet and is meant to be mixed together with the broth. And the broth is not as thick as the ones we used to have in KL. The Laksa is pretty mild, but just beware of the cili padi (small chili). Unfortunately, the best Penang Laksa in Ayer Hitam falls to the one in the market: 

http://www.what2seeonline.com/2009/08/penang-assam-laksa-air-itam-market/

photo courtesy of  what2seeonline.com

However, Cheng suggested that Serdang night market laksa was pretty awesome, too. *I'm a proud Serdang-ian now*

8) Burma Rd.

There are 2 temples for Buddha worship: Wat Chayamangkalaram and hammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple respectively. 

Wat Chayamangkalaram is also known as the reclining Buddha temple. 

Entrance of the Wat

The reclining Buddha is one of the largest reclining Buddha statue in the world.  

Magnificent architecture heavily blended with the Thai influence. 

The temple is guarded with serpents and guardian Gods. 

The whole interior was covered with the pictures of Buddha. 

Across the street is the hammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple. The compund was relatively porch and grand...and more organised as well. 

Through the walkway, there are portraits on events of the Buddha, for example in achieving Enlightenment, battling evil forces, etc.

I never really understood the implied message of the structure. There've been some controversial thoughts as I tried to figure things out...but eventually I found the answer:

Panca-Rupa ( The Guardian Protector)
This world Guardian and Protector is unique as it is rare. It possesses the quality of the five best combination such as the trunk and tusks of the elephant, four hoofed legs and two agile ears of the horse, the lion-faced toe (chimera), the deer's horn, the body and tail of the fish and the two powerful wings of the Roe (Garuda). Therefore it is ideally suited for its role of guarding the world in the form of the globe.

http://www.visitpenang.gov.my/portal3/what-to-see/attractions/dhammikarama-burmese-buddhist-temple.html

This is the Main Shrine Hall. Being the only Burmese Buddhist temple in Malaysia, the temple is fascinating and being quite outstanding from the rest.

There was a Bodhi tree there as well, which many of you would have neglected, and would focus on the wishing pond, and toss coins into 'seemingly-impossible-rotating-wishing-bowls' in the middle of the pond. 

9) Armenian St. 

All along the way we hoped that it won't rain....and it didn't....until Yew Jin did the rain dance. Just kidding, but it rained. So here's a picture of me in the rain with an umbrella standing beside a mural in Armenian St.

At Armenian St. with 2 kids on a bike....in the rain. 

Hand prints.

Armenian St. is place where murals and awesome wall paintings are displayed. And, rather than all being so organised and neat, some messy art may be all we need, but don't get mixed up with the term 'vandalism'. 

Oh yea...since we people were basically the ones that brought umbrellas, we spent some time saving and transporting people and pedestrians into their cars and buses. 

Awesome rain! 

well, only if you have an umbrella and is wearing slippers.

(I know how frustrating it is having your shoes and socks and pants wet, 

but still, suck it up and deal with it. XD)

The city council might wanna do something with the drainage system (or maybe there's nothing wrong with it....just the rain was too heavy....non sense!) because the drains tend to overflow and the whole road gets a little flooded....and in some cases people might not see where they're going and stepped into the drain....or like my case: got my foot ran over by rats from the drain.

Soon, the rain stopped. Went back to hotel to dry ourselves up and then....

10) Street Food Adventure, Macalister Rd

I ordered a beef kuey teow soup. Mild...and mild. Totally different if you're expecting the Taiwan beef noodles. Though tasted ordinary although the name may be catchy....the secret lies within the chili sauce. Ohhhhh....for one, it's spicy....second, it's fragrant and a little soury, which would definitely boost your appetite....

But boosted appetite didn't just rest on a bowl of Kuey Teow soup, I went on for Char Kuey Teow, which I am not fully convinced that Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow was the best. As I moved across the busy hawker stalls that hanged their 'Char Kuey Teow' plate in pride together selling other kind of noodles, I spotted a stall that only sells Charcoal-fried Char Kuey Teow and Charcoal-fried Char Kuey Teow only. I waited for quite some time, cos there were other customers as well. But, believe me....that's a few minutes worth waiting for. Under his skillful hands, he created a plate of Char Kuey Teow that is close to perfection, and hence, my quest in searching a better Char Kuey Teow stopped.

No photos, because basically all Char Kuey Teows look alike. 

The Kuey Teow was evenly fried. It was neither too wet, nor it is oily, nor it is too dry. Well, because of his precision in timing in not over/under-cooking the Kuey Teow. Though it doesn't have prawns as big as Lorong Selamat's but definitely I regretted for just only ordering the small plate. 

That pretty well sums up the trip. We chatted till 3 at night...and woke up and packed and went home. 

Will miss you, Penang. 

Life jackets.

Arrived at KL Sentral at 9 pm.

This is where Yew Jin ran up the stairs with his big bag. 

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.