No Place to Call My Own

I think age is catching up on me. I am so not active now. I have problems standing on my two hind legs. This morning, I thought I could not walk anymore and was left barking in my mom's room alone. And because of this, my Goddess feels very sad for me even though she has enough problems of her own.

And adding to both our problems, the rubbish in my home which my Dad has picked up, is sent back to my home again. We thought we can have some peace and quiet for at least a week.

Our whole house is stinking now. Can I even call it 'our house'? It seems to be a communal rubbish dump now. When will the rubbish be cleared? Or will it ever be?

A Break in Between the Stories of My Life

This is a super overdue post. When you scroll down and realise the number of pictures, you will understand why it's overdue.

Anyway, my Goddess went on a short trip to Penang from 26 to 28 Jul. Thanks to the Horny Devil who made the suggestion, my Goddess would never have thought of taking good, fun break before another few years of logging away.

Why Penang, you may ask.

The last two getaways that they had were at beach resorts - one at Batam and one at Bintan. They have figured out that they were not a resort kind of person as they were real bored from the two trips. So a city it shall be. My Goddess was craving for Peranakan food, and it has got to be somewhere near and cheap for they only have a few days to travel. So it was a tie between Malacca and Penang. My Goddess has been to Malacca before so they decided to explore Penang together.

Excited, all raving to go!

They left on a Sunday as the air tix were much cheaper. The flight in total, without taxes cost them $20 each!

So hungry he could eat a cow!

Terminal 3 had very little choices of breakfast. So they ended up having mac breakfast.

And he thought he looked like Beckham

My Goddess and the Horny Devil has not been taking the plane for quite a while. Furthermore, all along, their liquid items like shower foam, facial cleanser etc. are all kept in the check-in luggage. As this time round they want to save money by not checking in, plus their bags are small and easy to carry, they opted for hands carry luggage, forgetting all about the restrictions in liquid on airplane ruling!

They were stopped at the baggage screening counter. Luckily the officer was nice enough to let them buy the little bottles to transfer the liquid. If not, there goes my Goddess' Bath & Body Works shower foam and her expensive makeup remover. And they will have to end up buying all their toiletries in Penang! Luckily too that some of her items are already in small packaging. The Horny Devil, on the other hand, had to have his name taken down for bringing in a pair of scissors. Terrorist!

They had to stand aside beside the rubbish bin transferring all their liquid items. Luckily too that they checked in early. So much for always getting into trouble for not doing 'homework' whenever they are at the airport.

And it cost a bloody $15 per pack!

Anyway, all the blunder has been thrown aside, and it is time to enjoy!

They reached Penang

Waiting for the bus to go to War Museum

On the bus

Will shopping in Happy Mart make one happy?

Waiting at the bus stop - like a blind man

The Horny Devil's very happy cos they created some confusion on the bus and in the end, they didn't have to pay for their tickets and saved $3

And they found the war Musuem via public transport!

Along the way, they saw cow dung and a dead snake.

The Horny Devil almost stepped on it!

And they finally reached the museum

And they had fun exploring the dark tunnels

The tunnel was 3 storeys high

Scary poster

The latrine

Cooking area

The bunks

And they thought the notice was written for fun - like how can there be bats in a tunnel of a shelter. And they were so wrong, there were indeed bats deep inside the tunnel and the both of them were so scared to proceed that they u-turned in the end.

Booby trap

They better believe this this time round

There was a well checkpoint at the bottom of the hill but it was too rocky and dangerous for my Goddess to climb down

An interesting tree

Exploring the museum again

The gallow that the Japanese dictator supposedly was executed at

There was a very interesting place that my Goddess didn't take picture of - it was the torture chamber. She didn't want to take anything that wasn't meant for her eyes.

On the bus back to their hotel

They had a bit of difficulty finding their hotel as it was a small hotel located in the middle of the street.

And they finally found it!

Inside the hotel, at the concierge

This is where they are staying

The boutique hotel that they were staying at, PP Island was very affordable. It costs only RM78 per night. There was aircon, an attached bathroom, flatscreen TV and a big comfy bed. Room service was also available. They only didn't have carpeted floor and complimentary breakfast, which was fine with them both as Penang has too much good and cheap food around that they won't take the free breakfast even if they have gotten one.

Inside the hotel room

The view from their room

A coconut shop not too far away from their hotel

A scary abandoned house opposite the bus stop. There were a lot of such scary houses around.

They headed to a famous eating place at Gurney Drive. There were a lot of yummy food to eat! *slurps*

And how can they be at Penang but not try their famous Penang Laksa?

An interesting fried chicken stall - McTucky Fried Chicken

They just couldn't stop trying the food at Gurney Drive until they were bloated. The food they tried in order were:

They decided to digest their food by shopping at the mall at Gurney Drive.

The mall is owned by Capitaland and it's super huge at 7 storeys. The top floor was a cinema that sold tickets at only RM10! They wanted to watch a movie there but unfortunately there weren't anymore seats and they were dead tired too.

And so without the movie, they headed back to the hawker centre to try the seafood that the Horny Devil was fascinated with and wanted to try earlier.

It's called 'ci luo' in Chinese due to its spikes and spiral shape

To eat it, you will have to take the stick and poke the meat out from its shell. The seafood was only boiled but it tasted especially sweet and tasty with the special chilli sauce.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the seawater being washed up and down the shore!

Having lots of difficulty with the shells with small meat

'Making use' of each other at the end of the night

The next morning, my Goddess thought she don't have to go work anymore but...

Breakfast at a dim sum below Red Rock Hotel, just beside PP Island

Look at the variety and quantity of food that the two of them are having!

All gone!

After breakfast, they walked over to the famous tau sa piah place in Penang - Ghee Hiang, which was not too far away from where they were staying.

Ghee Hiang not only has delicious handmade tau sa piah, it also sells aromatic white coffee!

Then, they headed to visit the famous temple Wat Chayamangkalaram, which has a big reclining buddha.

The reclining buddha at Thailand seems to be much bigger

Every side of the wall is intricately made of mini buddha images

And each door has a story to tell

And they popped across the road to the Burmese temple.

The Horny Devil has attained enlightment!

Praying for a happy marriage

After the temple visits, it is up to the Komtar, Penang's tallest building to take a look at Penang from high above.

Unfortunately, the dedicated viewing platform was closed for renovation. Fortunately, they could go up to Penang Tourism Board's office which is at a very high level to take a look. Luckily they went to Komtar on a weekday!

View from above

The Penang Tourism Board office was really nice! At that time, my Goddess secretly wished her office will be as nice as this, and her wishes came true!

Their discussion/dining area

My Goddess and the Horny Devil planned to visit George Town, the town with all the major historical buildings and clan houses.

They wanted to take a bus there, but ended up waiting for quite a while. A 'taxi' driver offered to drive them there instead, saying that it is lunch time now so the bus won't run till 2pm. I hope they certainly weren't duped.

(Taxi is written with inverted commas as it was not an official taxi but a car which the owner used it as a taxi.)

The famous St George's Church

And they visited the Penang Museum

Lunch at a hawker centre nearby

They walked past Fort Cornwallis

One of the Clan Houses

The famous House of Yeap Chor Ee Museum/ restuarant

Another clan house

Next stop, Pinang Peranakan Museum.

If you are a follower of the popular Channel 8 drama, "Little Nyonya", you would have realised this is one of the character, Chen Xi's house.

Yes, Little Nyonya was filmed here, no kidding

The main entrance

The oil lamp in the main living room

The door that separated the rest of the house from the living room, as Nyonyas were not supposed to meet the Babas, but peek from behind this door

The inside of the house, upon stepping out of the main living room. Recognised the staircase that Zhen Zhu will take and eavesdrop on Chen Xi?

In the Nyonya's living room in which they will play 'zhap ji ki'

Playing like a true Nyonya and Baba

The Peranakans has this culture to put two mirrors to face each other

Ancestral tablet stand

The place is so nice that there were 3 couples taking their pre-wedding shots there at that time

Dining table

Tok panjang table which has now been nicely decorated to cater to functions

Look at the glass stained doors!

Their cupboards are not put together by nails, but by fitting each other nicely together, which is why they never rust nor collapse

Food carrier that you bring along to the market with

A western vase made of bronze

The owner of the family






Jewellery won by the Nyona - buttons, necklaces, brooches and hair pins

More brooches


An old camera


Notice that this is not embroided by hand painted

A real tiger, or so the museum guide claims

'Wu Song da hu'

The Nyonya fashion

Their wardrobe, girls on the left and men on the right. It has transparent doors as the maids will plan the clothes for the owners what to wear for each day, and fold them onto each rack. The owner can also see clearer if their maids have been doing work, keeping their wardrobe neat

Their tiny bed as Peranakans were very small-sized back then

The mirror that can be shifted to fit the petite Nyonya's height

Beaded shoes

The bed during wedding

Wedding basin and 'tan pui'

Normal day wash basin and 'tan pui'

The servant's yard

Air-blown glassware

Wedding dress for the petite

Wedding gown

Cooking at the kitchen. The wok is really heavy and it doesn't cause food to burn even without oil as it is made of copper. The laddle is made of coconut so that it doesn't get hot with all the cooking.

Meal time!

The baby pram which has springs at the bottom so that it will serve as a rocking bed to rock the crying baby to sleep - such innovative inventions!

Moulds for cake making like the rice cake

Merlion shaped ones some more!

Having their tea break

Look at how intricately made this 3D art piece is

The beautiful chandelier lights

The guest room

Their bookshelf which is embedded inside the wall to save space, and looks nice too! Maybe my Goddesss' house should have this too.

A baby chair

Which can be turned into an adult's stool, literally!

The whole Peranakan Museum tour took really long - an hour plus. This was the last day that they will be spending in Penang and they really wanted to visit the Penang Hill. They were hoping that they can rush to Kek Lok Si Temple, near Penang Hill before 6pm by bus.

Clock Tower

Weld Quay

In the end, while they were figuring out what bus to take, they ended up being persuaded by another fake taxi to bring them there as it is far, and if they take the 'taxi', they may still make it to Kek Lok Si in time, as it was then the evening peak hour.

Kek Lok Si Temple

The temple was located on a hill top, and hence has a wonderful view too

Unfortunately they reached too late and they couldn't ride on the first inclined lift in Malaysia to see the Kuan Yin statue.

After Kek Lo Si, it was Penang Hill.

By a very cramped and pooly ventilated tram that doesn't have a passenger number limit.



They saw some crocodiles along the way

There were people living on the slopes of the steep hill

And they still haven't reached yet

Not yet

And finally, 30 minutes later..

There was an Indian temple..

a mosque..

and a scary abandoned building that has a 'do not enter sign'. Funny thing is there are houses behind this building. Now how do the people get home?

The pretty view from above

By then, my Goddess was stinking from one whole day of hot sun, and they still have to squeeze in back to the pram to get down to the bottom

A kid couldn't take it and had to wear a mask

The night view, taken while they are still on the pram

The first proper road crossing that they saw

The bus ride back to the hotel took very long. In the end, they were tired and famished. So they settled for a hawker centre near their hotel for dinner.

Penang Kway Teow

And claypot bak kut teh

Their bus tickets collected by the end of two days

The next morning

Last look at the street in Penang

Breakfast at this super crowded place which my Goddess and the Horny Devil came across the day before while walking to Ghee Hiang. It is apparently a very famous dim sum place, according to one of their Penang friends

They took a real taxi, this time round, to the airport. As the Snake temple was very near the airport, the driver kindly acceded to their request to stop by the Snake temple first before going to the airport.

A reptile gallery


Back to the airport

And this marks the end of their short getaway in Penang. Penang really had a lot of things to see, do and eat. It's a pity they didn't get to do the following:

1. Visit Batu Ferringhi night market

2. Catch a cheap movie

3. Do more shopping

4. Visit the toy museum

5. Finish exploring the whole of George Town

6. And eat the famous Nasi Kandar

Otherwise, they have visited almost all the must-visits and ate all the must-eats. If you don't believe, go check out their tourism website or check out 14 August My Paper.

Till then, chaos~