Tag: <span>kek lok si</span>

Date: 28th September 2010

When we arrived the previous night, we left a rainy Singapore to land in Malaysia, where the rain had followed. We prayed the sun would come out the next day.

Old Penang guesthouse window sunny day — And today morning, our prayers were answered

We decide to set out early as we had only a day in Penang. While the others got ready, I decided to take a few snaps of the place we were staying.

Old Penang Guesthouse is a restored building that retains the charms of the colonial era with rooms at rates from the current backpacker era.

Old Penang Guesthouse upstairs restroom — This is the shower room and toilets upstairs

Old Penang Guesthouse library tv room — They have a ‘living room’ of sorts where you can watch TV & read the papers while you serve yourself breakfast

Old Penang Guesthouse breakfast — This is breakfast: toast, butter (but usually margarine) & fruits

Old Penang Guesthouse notice board — I made list of things I wanted to eat when in Malaysia

Old Penang Guesthouse wooden staircase — You’re instructed to walk softly at night as the flooring is all wooden

Old Penang Guesthouse breakfast area — The dining area

Old Penang Guesthouse view outside — The skies were getting clearer

Once we were all ready, we soon stepped out to head to the harbour, which was walking distance from where we were staying.

Penang Love Lane cheap hotels — There are a lot of budget hotels on Love Lane (that’s the name of the street we were on)

Penang Chulia street daytime 7-Eleven — There’s a 7-Eleven very close to our guesthouse

Penang Han Jiang ancestral temple — Han Jiang ancestral temple

Penang Georgetown Nagore Indian mosque — Nagore Durgha Sheriff mosque

Strolling through Georgetown reminded me of Fort Kochi (I need to put up those photos as well) in Kerala, with its heritage buildings by the sea.

Penang Georgetown Old Chinese temple roof — Many places of worship in and around Georgetown

Penang Georgetown old Chinese temple — Lim Kongsi Clan Temple; when we entered, there was this one dog ‘guarding’ the temple

Penang Georgetown old temple dog — Which came hopping all the way towards me and my camera. And then Loi patted it. Then it went and peed in the bushes.

Just walking past the many temples – be they Indian or Chinese, mosques etc. you get a sense of the religious harmony that exists in Malaysia. Of course, this was only the start.

We reached the road by the ferry terminal and made our way to the other side.

Penang Tanjong marina bus station — There’s a bus station near the ferry terminal

Penang marina harbour restaurant — There’s a sea-facing restaurant at the end of this walkway

Tanjong marina penang docks yachts boats — That’s where the ferries dock

We stepped into a few travel agencies to inquire about ferry prices to Langkawi. Everywhere, it was the standard RM60 (Rs. 900/US$20/€15). It was the same price quoted by the guy at Old Penang Guesthouse, but fearing he may have been quoting a higher rate, we thought we’d ask near the ferry terminal itself.

We bought our tickets for the next day and continued our walk.

Penang clock tower Georgetown circle — Georgetown’s landmark Queen Victoria Memorial Clocktower

Penang sea park — A short distance from the clock tower, and you get the beautiful sea

Fort Cornwalis Penang Georgetown — This where we went next; entry is just RM 2 (Rs. 30)

Fort Cornwalis Sir Francis Light statue Penang — Statue honouring Sir Francis Light

Fort Cornwalis Penang Sir Francis Light statue Ramesh — Ramesh dishonouring Sir Francis Light statue

You can read about the history behind Fort Cornwallis on its Wikipedia page, but from a tourist’s point of view, its nothing spectacular. Then again, when the entry is just RM2, you shouldn’t be expecting much.

Fort Cornwalis Penang sea steps cannon — But we still hung around a bit longer

Fort Cornwallis park Loiyumba umbrella hot Penang — It was quite sunny

After checking out the fort for around 15 minutes, we made our way out.

Fort Cornwalis is right near the Town Hall grounds.

Penang esplanade Padang Kota Lama grounds — Town Hall & City Hall buildings in the background

Penang sea park tree shade sunny day — The esplanade is a nice place to laze under a tree on a sunny day

Penang esplanade Mithun Loiyumba umbrella — I wasn’t imitating Loi, it was sunny (Photograph by Ramesh)

Penang bay road car parking — We continued our stroll along this path

Then, a young, kooky Japanese couple came excitedly towards us and asked us if we could pose for a photograph with them. Assuming they’re tourists wanting to pose with tourists from another country, we figured “Sure, why not”…

Penang Japanese tourists Mithun Ramesh — … and so we asked them for one for ourselves too!

They weren’t the only Japanese we came across. The Japanese were aplenty in Penang, we would later find out.

Penang Mahkamah Tinggi statue headless lady — The building in the back is the Penang High Court

Penang Georgetown town square mushroom cloud — That was one big ‘nuclear’ cloud

We decided to walk towards the popular Gurney Drive.

Georgetown old museum building — Penang museum

Eastern & Oriental hotel Georgetown Penang — The Eastern & Oriental hotel

Georgetown Penang worship plant sea — We stopped here for a break as Ramesh was quite tired from all the walking

Penang bay boats sea facing apartments condos — Gurney Drive was over there

32 at the Mansion restaurant Georgetown Penang — The Mansion, a high end restaurant

Penang tall building club — We got back on to the main road

Persiaran Gurney drive empty food court Penang — We even stopped by this food court for lunch but it was empty — and closed

Penang three buildings — So it was back to the main road

Persiaran Gurney drive premium condos Penang — And a few minutes later, we were finally on Gurney drive

Persiaran Gurney drive road luxury condominiums Penang — A LOT of luxury apartments on this stretch

It took us more than 30 minutes of walking to get to Gurney Drive. If you think that’s too much (or can’t do it), just hail a cab.

Though there were many restaurants along this stretch, plan was to have lunch from the food court at the end of Gurney drive, which is a very popular local joint.

But first, we had to quench our thirst.

We entered the only major shopping mall on Gurney Drive, Gurney Plaza. They have the usual gamut of mall brands and about the same as far as eateries and coffee shops go. I don’t remember how or why, but we sat down at the Chili’s in Gurney Plaza for beer.

Chilis Gurney Plaza Guinness beer — We ordered Guinness… and I stared at the ceiling… for some apparent reason. (Photo by Ramesh)

Gurney Plaza stores shopping mall Penang — The mall isn’t bad at all. We picked our Malaysia SIM cards from the 3rd floor which housed a lot of tech stores.

Gurney Plaza shopping mall Gurney drive Penang — Gurney Plaza shopping mall

The plan was to sit somewhere and have some beer along with lunch, but after the heavy mugs of Guinness and nachos we ordered, we were honestly quite full.

Persiaran Gurney drive food court Penang afternoon — The food court was closed too. Seems like they only open at night.

Persiaran Gurney drive roundabout McDonalds — This is the major roundabout at the end of Gurney drive

Post ‘lunch,’ we realized we still hadn’t seen any of Penang’s major attractions. So we boarded a local bus and headed to the main bus station.

Penang public bus inside — The plan was to see Kek Lok Si temple and take the tram ride up Penang hill

Inside Penang local A/C bus windows — The ride took nearly 20 minutes

Once at the Komtar bus terminal, we boarded a bus from Lane 1 that goes to Kek Lok Si temple.

Penang Kek Lok Si Air Itam apartments — This ride took another 30 minutes and was headed towards Penang hill

Penang Air Itam restaurant — Passed through mostly residential areas and housing colonies for the middle class

Penang Kek Lok Si town Air Itam — When we reached the town of Air Itam it was already well past 5pm

Penang Kek Lok Si Air Itam town — But there it was: Kek Lok Si Temple

Unfortunately, the locals told us that we were too late and it was closing time. Sucks.

Penang Kek Lok Si temple — So all we could do was zoom in and take photos

Penang Kek Lok Si Buddist temple closeup — Seemed like some renovation work was going on

Penang Kek Lok Si temple tomb — I really wanted to check out the biggest Buddhist temple in Penang…

Penang road to Kek Lok Si temple Air Itam — … but we still had to go further up to get to the temple.

So yeah, if you want to see Kek Lok Si temple, make sure you are here well before 6pm.

Instead of waiting around, we decided to head to Penang Hill (or Bukit Bendara as it called locally). So we hailed a cab as the locals said it would take us at least 15 minutes to walk it there.

Penang towards tram ride — The Chinese taxi driver quoted RM7 which sounded reasonable, so we got in

The journey barely took 5 minutes.

Penang Hill tram ride closed construction — We soon reached the foot of Penang Hill and could see the tram line

But unfortunately (again)….

Penang hill tram ride closed Loiyumba — Loi didn’t take the news too well

Turns out renovation work here as well. Couldn’t the taxi driver have told us it was closed? Of course he could have. But he didn’t… ‘cos he was a greedy b@#$%&*!

Disappointed at the turn of events, we decided to simply head back to town. Oddly enough, the very same bus we took to come here was waiting for departure near Penang hill.

Penang Air Itam Kek Lok Si temple background — As you can see, Kek Lok Si temple isn’t that far from here

Penang Air Itam Indian temple — The cultural mix in Malaysia is truly admirable

Penang Air Itam residential building — Passed through the same landmarks

Penang State Mosque Masjid Negeri Georgetown — Penang State Mosque

Penang school boys street vendors — Hmm, not that different from India isn’t it?

Penang restoran Chu Yoke — (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Rahim burger street vendor Penang — Banjo is fried egg (Photograph by Loiyumba)

We got down near the ferry terminal but contemplated going back to the rooms just yet. I wanted to have dinner at Gurney drive, so from the ferry terminal bus station, we availed the Hop-on free bus.

Georgetown Hop on free bus Penang — The Hop-on buses follow a particular route

The Hop-on bus was taking a long route, so we got down at KOMTAR.

Georgetown Komtar Tower tallest building Penang — Komtar Tower — the tallest building in Penang (Photograph by Loi)

Once we reached KOMTAR, we checked out the adjoining mall.

The offerings are anything but glamourous. Not a high-end mall at all. Just the usual clothes, electronics, grey market goods, coffee shops etc.

Georgetown Komtar ICT mall shops Penang — We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in here

We boarded another bus to get to Gurney Drive.

We got down near Gurney Drive… or at least we thought it was near Gurney Drive.

Penang Gurney Drive Solok Midlands — We walked through a residential colony

Penang Gurney Drive at night — Before finding ourselves behind Gurney Plaza

In the afternoon, Gurney Drive was quite empty…

Penang Gurney drive food court crowds — … but the scene is quite different at night!

Penang Gurney drive beef slices — Beef. Looked yum.

Penang Gurney drive food court seafood Sotong Bakar — As you can see from the above photos, lots of sea food available here

Very limited (to virtually no-existent) pure vegetarian options though.

Before we sat down for dinner, I wanted to check out another joint near the roundabout that I had seen during the day .

Penang Gurney drive seafood restaurant — Saw the lobster sign and assumed it was another food court by the sea

But turns out it was a big ‘mid-to-high’ range restaurant. Looked nice but we didn’t want to spend too much and sit for long — because it was only going to be me & Loi eating. The vegetarian in our group Ramesh still had nothing to choose from.

Penang Gurney drive marina at night — Anybody notice the drain vent in the sea — or is that litter?

Once back at the food court, myself and Loi each ordered what we wanted.

Penang Gurney drive food court oyster eggs — I chose ‘raw oysters and egg’ scrambled

Penang Gurney drive food court dinner — Loi had his boiled meat on a stick. With some beer of course.

Us two had to eat first, and then head back to Gurney Plaza so that Ramesh could find some vegetarian to eat.

Penang Gurney drive food court boiled meat — But Loi wasn’t done with his boiled meat. He wanted more! 🙂

Soyabean curd dessert Penang Gurney drive food court — I had Soyabean curd with hot brown sugar sauce for dessert (RM1 = Rs. 15)

After we were finally done, we headed back to Gurney Plaza so that Ramesh could now eat.

We went back to our rooms by taxi.

Old Penang Guesthouse Red Inn New ABC pub Georgetown — Old Penang Guesthouse, next to Red Inn, next to a pub

But instead of calling it a night, I told the guys I wanted to roam around a bit more. So as Ramesh and Loi went back to the room, I walked on.

Gelugpa Buddhist Association temple Georgetown Penang — This temple was just across Old Penang Guesthouse

Love Lane Inn guesthouse at night Georgetown Penang — There are several budget hotels and guesthouses on Love Lane

The reason I wanted to walk around a bit more was because I wasn’t truly content with all that I saw today. I don’t think I can say I ‘saw’ Penang. I visited Penang, sure, but I don’t think I saw all there was to see.

We landed in Penang after 3 crazy days in glamourous Singapore. So obviously, everything felt a world apart. Throughout the day, every mall we went to, all we talked about was how much cooler Singapore felt. Well duh. Obviously its a unfair comparison… but given how little we actually got to experience in Penang, we could only feel disappointment.

When we were planning our trip, we knew before hand there wasn’t anything stunning to see in Penang. In many ways, it is true. Especially if you have travelled throughout South India, seen Singapore or Thailand, Penang really doesn’t offer anything great in terms of new experiences. Sure, I would have loved to have gone for the tram ride up on Penang hill… and seen Kek Lok Si temple all lit up at night. But we all wanted to even take a ride on Penang Bridge. I also realized Penang isn’t just the island, but there exists Province Wellesley with towns like Butterworth and other attractions on the mainland as well.

So clearly, there was a lot more to Penang than I thought.

Red Garden food court back entrance — I saw this ‘food garden’ which I thought I’d check out

Red Garden food night line dancing Georgetown Penang — Line dancing + food court = Not bad

Red Garden food court Georgetown Penang — Not enough space in tummy to try out everything edible Penang had to offer

Red Garden food court night market entrance Georgetown Penang — This is the entrance

Ho Ping Chinese restaurant Georgetown Penang — Ho Ping the food is safe to eat 😛

Kampung Malabar Georgetown Penang — Yes, this street is named after Malabaris

(You can read about the history behind Kampung Malabar here . Besides me, I didn’t find any other ‘Malabari’ — it’s all Chinese)

Chinese traditional sculptures at-night Georgetown Penang — Saw these outside, what I presume was a store dealing in sculptures

Chinese stone sculptures at night Penang — Why didn’t anybody steal them? I dunno, probably too heavy to lift and run with

Penang Georgetown World Heritage building — Georgetown is a UNESCO World heritage site

Georgetown Penang brick paved roads at night — The same road was wet yesterday

Crystal Guesthouse backpackers Georgetown Penang — Penang is very easy on the pocket

Would I have liked to have stayed just another day longer? Yes. I was curious what was across Penang Bridge on the mainland to see. But alas, this was our last and only day in Penang.

Tomorrow, we were going to be heading across waters to another island — Langkawi!

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back