1st day, Nov 3rd
Woke up *damn* early in the morning. 7 am we set off (my family and my uncle's, again - in short, 6 adults and 2 kids) and reached Ipoh by 9, had breakfast at the usual coffeeshop (Dad's customer BTW), and another 3 hours before we caught sight of that *unusually long* bridge in the middle of the sea.
The roads in Penang was always a pain to travellers on wheels. Due to seating arrangements, I was elected as the 'navigator' for Dad the driver. I was given a bunch of year-old maps and I had to figure out where the hell we are and where we might end up with.
The first thing that ran through our minds was the Ji Le Si (Kek Lok Si, but I prefer Mandarin - I'm no Hokkien). But as usual and expected, the bloody jam - cars and people - was in our way. We only managed to get our car parked, went for lunch (laksa, but I'm no big fan of it - took chicken rice instead - and ice kacang + cendol), and left - without any attempt to climb the steps.
As our check-in time to the hotel is around 3pm, we still have around 2 hours to spend. Where to go then? Since the hotel was close to the Botanical Gardens (and Gurney Drive too), hmmm, might as well go and take a stroll... with the monkeys.
"So ?" was my sis' reply, while I thought that monkey-killing was the civic duty of the locals.
My bro and lil' cousin with the Cannonball Fruit... now that's huge...
After the stroll and some nice-but-expensive mashed-peanut-topped ice-cream, we went straight to the hotel to check-in. After dropping our stuff, our next destination was - the northern seaside. Found a sandy spot with nice 'fengshui' (well it is, judging from the Chinese cemetery nearby - backed by the mountain and facing the sea).
Ugly posing with the kids...
Well, after that, we returned to the hotel, and walked all the way to Gurney Drive for dinner. After half an hour, we're disappointed to find that the stalls weren't there (we learnt later that they were relocated). So we ended up walking all the way to the Cantonment junction, and had dinner at a seafood restaurant (lousy + expensive, last time we'd be there). And finally, we turned back and took a peek at Gurney Plaza. Then we walked the 30 minutes back to the hotel, and a movie in the TV then Zzz.
2nd day, Nov 4th
It was decided that the early morning of this fine day *to sleep* will be replaced with the 8am visit to Ji Le Si, along with breakfast nearby the place. We have to wake up HELL early, but it was worth it - the breakfast there was nice (I had Hakka noodles) and there weren't too many people at that hour. Our trip upwards was a breeze. The pond, the compound, then some photos - then straight to the Inclining Lift (ain't free) that brings us to the new(?) statue of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. Well, construction wasn't complete there - they're still raising funds to build a Tian Tan (Heaven's Altar) style roof over the statue for more protection - actually to be specific, they're raising funds for the roof tiles.
Oh look it's me again... Zzz...
Zzz... another one...
I think I better stop this self-admiring of mine...*clicks the STOP button*
A round of photos, and we went down, next to the pagoda tower or whatever they call that (ain't free either). Nothing much except a compound filled with flowers, and now come to think about it, I'm starting to regret that I've entered that place for nothing. Damn.
Then it was the time for souvenirs, and finally the trip downwards, which we descended with much difficulty, thanks to the crowd and the stores that made the path narrow. We had lunch at the same place as yesterday (chicken rice again... and again, ice kacang + cendol), then we left for the Ssssssssssss Snake Temple.
I never knew there was more behind the century-old structure - at least until now. The moment I stepped to the rear section of the temple, instantly deja-vu hitted me - I've been here, but not in reality, but in one of my dreams. But who cares if I've deja-vu ? Nobody cares. We had a round of snake-visiting and then, off to the city center.
Georgetown was, to me, a mess - the maps I had were outdated, and most of the roads are one-way streets. We were looking for a particular small lane in Penang Road - in search for the famous Cendol there. It took us around 20 minutes and a couple of rounds of driving before we caught sight of the stall - which was so damn obvious with the crowd gathered around. The car was parked, we squeezed into the crowds, and we went Cendol-crazy with a bowl of it in each of our hands.
After the ice-thrilling treat, our next stop was Khoo Kongsi, or also known as the Clanhouse of the Khoo's. Now converted to a musuem, it only opens for a limited period of time to visitors. Was impressed with the wall carvings that were based on the 24 Filial Acts, and also it was the first time I get to see a REAL Chinese memorial tablet.
After that, we went back to the hotel. I had a nice 2-hour nap (well, gotta admit it's a waste of 2 quality vacation hours), then for tonight, we went to the open-air hawker stalls nearby (they were originally from Gurney Drive, but due to all the upgrading in Gurney Drive they were relocated here - just next to the enourmous Mt. Erskine Chinese cemetery site) for dinner. Food's not as good as expected (with the exception of the "Oh Jian", the oyster omelette), but at least we had our stomachs full. After that, we returned to the hotel, and after 'Puteri Gunung Ledang' we went off to bed.
3rd day, Nov 5th
We decide to leave early in the morning. We checked out, had our breakfast nearby, and we're off to the ferry jetty. And well, my 'Navigator' job ends here as well.
But well, the return trip wasn't directly to KL. We're making stops all around Perak, from Ipoh, then took the old highway to Kg. Tualang, Batu Gajah for lunch, then to Bidor where we retook the PLUS highway again, and re-exited at Tg. Malim because of the highway jam. Reached KL at 8 pm, and after dinner it was already 9 pm. Oh well, how much I missed my PC. :P
1 comment:
Cool~
Take more pictures of yourself la~ Nobody will mind. I'd like to see them :D
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