Quaint buildings in Penang...

I was in Penang at the end of last month. While playing tourist there I photograph many scenes of George Town. Most of the buildings in the old part of town remind me of my growing up period in my home town of Kuantan. I was happy to see all those old buildings still standing around; row and row of it with a few in between modern buildings that have been built in recent years. We call these rows of shop houses as pre-war buildings as most of it was built before the Second World War. While I was at the 6th floor of the Hotel room that I was staying I took a picture of some old building from the window of the room. This is indeed an opportunity to get a rare shot of the row and row of the shop houses from up above. It looks need and well planned. I grew up in one such shop in Kuantan where my father had run a restaurant. During a period where there was hardly any fan let alone air-conditioning, the interior of the build was always kept cool. It has ceiling made of hardwood and planks. With a high ceiling it allows the hot air from below to move upward and disperse through the vent above. 

While taking a slow walk around the town I came across an old building that is still standing on one corner of the street, doing business as usual. The one storey build look old and I believe it must have been built about a hundred years ago.

As I move on I saw a familiar signage that show the Odeon cinema.  During my childhood growing up in Kuantan there was a cinema there of the same name that I often goes to watch movies. Here in one corner of the old section of George Town stood an old building call the Odeon; nostalgic  indeed. 

Have a nice day.

A place call ChinaHouse in Penang...

While in Penang recently I came across this building with a huge banner hung in front of the entrance. I read it and since I love animals I decided to give a donation to the charity. I enter the building and saw a Bar. I ask the person there where I can give a donation for the Cat's Charity. She said I had to walk to the Cashier and hand it there. I thank her and with the camera dangling I walk and soon found that the shop is long and that it consist of many kind of eateries. I got to the other end where the cashier is and hand her my cash donation. She give me a receipt for the donation. I then ask their permission to take photo of the place and they say to just go ahead.

I explore the shop and took picture of what I thought were interesting. I felt for the whole concept and love the place but did not sit to enjoy those tempting cakes. Telling myself that I have to come again to sample the cakes or perhaps have lunch here with friends. Those folks who had planned this joint were real creative in that they have taken the food outlet to another level; a blend of so many eateries under one roof. There is a Bar at one end where one could enjoy the music and whatever drink, there is a long dinning area where one could enjoy dinning in an ambiance of tranquillity. Then that row and row of cakes that looking at it alone would want you to sit and enjoy it with a cup of coffee or tea. There is a garden of sort that turn the ambiance into an atmosphere of coolness; taking away that hot and humid weather of the outside. I soon found out that this place is call ChinaHouse. One can enter the building either from Lebuh Pantai or Lebuh Victoria. Below are some scenes of the interior of the place.

Have a nice day.

The Street Art of Penang...

I have always loved the work of art and that includes Street Art. Street Art is a form of free expression in a democratic society where artists would create artwork on the wall of buildings along the streets in town to display their creative works. It add colour to the streets which would otherwise remain dull and monotonous. 

In Penang the work of Ernest Zacharevic a young Lithuania-born artist call ’The little Children on a Bicycle' painted on a street's wall along the Armenian Street went viral and soon draws the attention of the world. Eventually more such artwork was created at other places in the city which includes those that are done by the local artists. It soon draws tourists from near and afar to Penang. So while in Penang the other day I decided to go and have a look at the many Street Arts that had been painted on walls all over a certain part of the old city of George Town on the island of Penang; an old city that was found during the colonial era. It was then call the Pearls of the Orients. It is a trading post from the time of the spices trade until the present with its harbour still is one of the busy port of Malaysia. With a long history many immigrants from China and India make it their home here together with the local Malay. Now it has grown to be a metropolitan of millions of people, sort of a microcosm of what the Malaysian society is all about; multiracial, multicultural and multi-religions as it is seen today.  As a thriving city in the North West corner of Malaysia it now can boast  of one of the tourist destination of the world. Tourists from near and afar come here to enjoy its hospitality especial the food, now the Street Arts has become an attraction by itself bringing tourists over just to see it for themselves. 

So while in Penang recently I too decided to go and see this wonder of the arts that have attracted so many to Penang. To do that I took a slow ride on the trishaw and let the paddler take me into the street of George Town where those Street Arts are display. In the slow drive of more than an hour he took me to see the Street Art that has become a tourist attraction in the part of the old town. Everyone who saw it was happy and took turn to photograph it. I did it too and got a friendly tourist to snap one for me as seen in the image above. Indeed a fascinating experience to be in that short period of time. I did enjoy watching the many artworks all over that part of the city and would surely comeback again to look at the other that I had missed during this short stay in Penang. 

Have a nice day.

The Trishaw.. Little Magic of Penang...

Friday February 28, 2014. I have not been to Penang for so long and when my daughter and her husband wanted to go to Penang to look for a house for their daughter who would be studying at the Medical College there I decided to follow them. We left the house at 8am on a beautiful and hot Friday morning taking the DUKE bypass to get into the North South Highway. After a stop for a rest and lunch at a new rest area before Ipoh we proceed on. The weather became hazy as we approach the Penang Bridge to get across to the island of Penang. On arrival I was drop at a hotel in George Town which I had booked through the internet and they left to go and look for the house. I check up into a non-smoking room at the hotel and took a rest. Then went out to have a walk; to nowhere not that far from the vicinity of the hotel. Most of the places look familiar since I have seen it many times before when visiting Penang on official visit while working with the government. This time it was real nice to just play tourist whiling the time away enjoying the walk and taking picture of those places. 

At the entrance of the hotel I saw a row of colourful trishaw ever ready to take tourist on a slow tour of the city of George Town. I was not alone playing tourists and from time to time met other tourists mostly foreigner along the way. I stop and talk to a young American engineer who came all the way from California to see Penang. He said he wanted to see as much in the two days he is staying in Penang. I wish him well and left to wander and wonder the sights. I then turn around and head back to the hotel and bought a takeaway of Mee Goreng at a nearby shop. Got back to the room in the hotel and enjoy the Mee Goreng; then took a short rest. Above is a sight of the rows of the colourful trishaws with the pigeons enjoying it afternoon meals of food left there probably by those trishaw owner/riders. The sound of cars passes by would trigger those birds to fly and then settle back for its meal. Its movement does create a majestic scene as seen in the image I had snapped above. 

For the first timer to Penang I would suggest they take a ride on this trishaw and leave it to the trishaw paddler to take you around. I did and found it was the best decision since I had not been to Penang for such a long time. Had it not been for that trishaw ride I would be lost as to where to go and enjoy my day trip to the enchanting Penang. That trishaw ride does made my day in Penang. 

Have a nice day.

A Perfect Day...

It was Monday the 10th of February 2014, a hot and dry day. It has not rain, the grass on the roadside has turn brown for lack of water. It has been a cool week before this and now the heat is unbearably hot.  Since all the bills have arrived I decided to go out and pay all of it at the ATM that the TM authority had at Ampang Point. Ampang Point is my township about 2 kilometres away from my house where I could get everything done. Since they installed the Bill paying ATM like they did with the Cash dispenser ATM I had to get use to paying there. There is no longer a human interface. It all machine now; for folks of my generation it not that easy to get used to using machine to pay bills. Since its introduction last year I had always got help from the friendly staff there who would help me get the paying done. To get it right one had to key in the bills number right. It the number that is important to getting the bills paid properly. It actually just takes a few minutes to get all the bills paid using the machine. We all have to get used to this mode of payment and I am learning it fast. It’s the era of electronic where one could pay the bills on-line or go to the nearest ATM.  

On that fine day at around 10am in the morning I went out.  First I send some bedding materials to the laundry then walk to the adjacent shop to buy two meters of hose for the filter pump; after that went to have Roti Canai at a Mamak shop nearby. I then went to have a haircut at the regular barber shop there. Then I remember I had to get some grocery. I found that I forgot to bring the list so I drove back home to pick it up and then went to have the car wash. While the car is been wash I walk to the TM store at Ampang Point to pay the bills and got it done at the ATM there. Then walk back to the Car-wash and pick up the car. On the way home I stop at the supermarket nearby and bought some grocery. With that I completed my errand for that day and got back home around 12.30pm and its Lunch Time. It ends as a very productive morning; a perfect day indeed.

Have a nice day.