At 4.30am, I woke up and bathed and got ready to set off to Golden Mile Complex. We reached at 6am but the tour agency wasn't open yet and we had to wait for quite a while. After checking our documents, we boarded our coach and set off for Tuas checkpoint. At the Malaysia immigration, we changed to another Malaysia coach and set off for our journey. The first stop was to stop for breakfast. This tour package was rather huge with 6 coaches and about 150 people. At the coffeshop where we stopped for breakfast, there were only 2 toilets, however 1 toilet failed to work when it cannot be flushed after somebody shitted in it!!!! I had a bowl of awful wanton mee for breakfast. I went to stock up my supplies of chewing gum before proceeding to the North South Highway. I put on my shades, slipped on my jacket, plugged on my mp3 and slept through the journey!
Day 2: 7 June 2010 Genting-Ipoh-Penang
We woke up damn early at about 6am to depart from Genting to head to Ipoh. We had breakfast at a district called Butong Curry at the foot of Genting Highland. What sprang a surprise was the size of the bao, the locals call it Ye Zi Mei Da Bao.... My, it's really humongous. We got the lady to slice it into quarters so that we could share it... The meat was juicy and tender and as my teeth sank into the bao, juice keep oozing out from the bao..... After breakfast, it's sleeping time back on the coach. The journey was like half a day, and luckily I could catch up on my beauty sleep during the journey. We finally reached Ipoh and we came to a consecutive stretch of cave temples. It's not really a Buddhist prilemmage trip, but it's more of a cultural exposure and tourist attractions. We had a very hearty lunch at Ipoh and made our way to the local products shop. We then started on our journey again to Penang. As we approached Penang, I was looking towards passing the Penang Bridge as it was rather a piece of magnificent architecture. As we neared the bridge, the guide was urging us to take a photo.
Crossing Penang bridge with excitement!
I thought it was rather magnificent but it was as much as I thought it would be…. The first attraction was at Snake Temple. There were many green snakes in the temple, of which the venom was removed for the safety of the visitors. A brief history of the temple was given and we went around exploring the temple. It was a terribly hot day and we got nearly a heat stroke and got drinks to quench our thirst. After departing the temple, we passed by a jetty which is very interesting, the streets of the jetty was a surname clan, for example, there was a Tan Jetty Bridge, Lee Jetty Bridge, and some other surnames, which totaled to 7! As it was rather late in the afternoon, we checked ourselves into our hotel and rested for a while before coming out for dinner. What I HATED most about this trip is that our tour members aborted the idea of visiting Batu Ferringhi.... I was rather disappointed then....
Day 3: 8 June 2010 Penang
The bed in Penang was the most comfy of all. The room was big with bathtub and plenty of space for me to walk about. The location of the hotel was also excellent as it just next to the food street.
After breakfast, we embarked on a full day itinerary. We visited many places of which the most impressive was the Kek Lok Si Temple.We visited the Guan Yin Temple of Penang, conquered Fort Cornwallis and many others.
About the Goddess of Mercy Temple(Guan Yin Temple): It is one of the oldest temple in Penang with the present structures's foundation laid in 1728.
History of Fort Cornwallis: It was built on the site where Sir Francis Light made his historic landing in 1786 or more popularly known as the Esplanade. It was named after the Governor-General in Bangal-Charles Cornwallis and was one of the first few European structures constructed in Penang. The star-shaped fort was just a simple stockade made out of nibong palm trunks in the beginning, before it was reconstructed using bricks at a cost of 67,000 Spanish dollars in 1793. The fort used as military and administrative base of the British East India Company was built to protect the island from possible onslaught launched by Frenchmen. However, no battle has ever taken place at the fort, not even during the Japanese invasion in 1940s. Today, the fort is considered an important landmark and a must visit tourist attraction in Penang. Among the existing relics which are full of historic colours and remain intact are the military barracks, rooms for storage of gunpowder magazine, a Christian chapel, a lighthouse and several cannons.
We visited the longest reclining buddha which was housed in a Thai-style temple, and a Burmese-style temple which was a little bit different.
Can you see the difference between the Thai buddhist temple and Burmese buddhist temple?
We visited the Batik printing centre and a local products shop that sell a lot of flavoured coffee and they were just located next to each other.
A little information about Batik: Described as an intricately designed piece of cloth that reflects culture as much as art. It is the product of a cloth printing technique that combines the creative use of wax and colourful dyes. Rayon and silk are the commonly used fabrics in batik printing with silk as the preferred choice.
We had lunch and proceeded to Kek Lok Si Temple, this temple is such an eye-opener as I think the exterior was rather grand and majestic. What impresses was that the temple was situated on top a small hill, and we had to climb a long flight of stairs before reaching there. Along the flight of stairs were 2 stretches of souvenirs shop. It sold a wide variety of souvenirs.
We visited the local products shop that sell chic kut the, we bought a lot of local products as we, Singapore people, well known for being a shopping queen. We went over to the Chocolate Boutique and got chocolates as well…. They had a wide variety of chocolate flavours on sale….. Everything seems so appetizing and they have got lots of samples for trying as well. Before having dinner, we went over to the Botanical Gardens to take a look at their flowers of which some can't be found in our local city here! We stopped over at Gurney Plaza for shopping before heading to Gurney Drive for dinner. My favourite leisure here: eating and feasting. There was a wide range of Penang food found in this place, and it somehow resembles our Serangoon Gardens' Chomp Chomp or Newton Circus!
Penang delicacy: Fried Kway Teow
Another Penang delicacy: Penang Laksa
We continued our city shopping at night and headed back to the hotel with supper!
Day 4: 9 June 2010 Penang-KL
Today, we'll be departing Penang and headed South to KL..... The ride was a long journey and by the time we reached KL, it was already mid afternoon. We were left to shop in Petronas Towers of which a very interesting scene was captured. The toilets at the ground level of the shopping centre were priced at RM2 per entry!!!! Oh my, there was even an easel telling people about this premium toilets!!! Don't tell me that everything in that toilet is gold plated....
It's about to rain!!!
After shopping, we checked into Federal Hotel which was around Bukit Bintang area and gosh!!! there's a long stretch of shopping centres. We had dinner at the famous Alor street and my aunts headed back to the hotel while I shopped for a while. Day 5: 10 June 2010 KL-Malacca-Singapore
The breakfast at Federal Hotel was superb. I like the style, the ambience and everything else about the hotel. After breakfast, we departed for Batu caves. My aunt and I climb the 257 stairs of Batu Caves, as I had a slight acrophobia, I was rather scared while climbing the stairs, and I had to stop every little while to calm myself. After the climb, there were many Indian statues in the natural caves. It was such a magnificent sight of the natural beauty.
After Batu caves, we head to lunch. Woww, it was a great nyonya lunch at an authentic nyonya restaurant. However, every dish was so spicy that I ended up sweating all over. The lunch ended with a sinful serving of coconut-based chendol. After that, we continue our journey to the next state, Malacca. The main attraction was the red colour Christ Church where we took some photos and climbed up the slight hill that overlook the Straits of Malacca. We saw the broken ship display on top of the hill. After that, we headed down from the other side of the hill and saw some cannon and vehicles on display. As usual, I took some photos before we headed back to the tour bus.
We stopped over at Tan Kim Hock local products shop for everyone to buy some souvenirs. There were many pyramids in the shop. All the boxes of food were stacked up nicely like a pyramid. We headed for the Chendol which was a specialty in the shop as the weather was hot and we needed it to quench our thirst.
My reflections
This trip has been the most memorable, as it spans over 5 states in 5 days. Though it was a little rushed, the photos had already made up for it. The culture was different, the cities were rural, the people were different, the food was different, the attractions were different, and it has all been an eye-opener for a city girl like me. If given another chance, I would love to return to Penang for a longer stay!