Mini Trip 2 : Penang sight seeing

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Initially, we planned for a 4days 3 nights trip to Penang & Langkawi but due to time constrained, it has been shorten to just 2D1N to Penang coz we have bought the free ticket from Airasia. Why Penang? Coz Gerald has not been to Penang before and he insist on getting back by bus coz he want to see the Penang Bridge *LOL*

We fly to Penang on 5th June 07 early morning and reached Penang International Airport around 8.30am. Transportation was pre-arranged tru phone (thanks to Catriena) for the private tour around Penang (we chartered a taxi @ RM 25/hr). Photo taking is limited coz I forgot to bring my charger with me *slap head* but I managed to snap alot also *he he he*

1st destination : Penang Hill

We bought the ticket for the 11am tramp ride up to Penang Hill but thank God that we managed to get into the 10.30am tramp. It's really an experience not to be missed coz the view is awesome (though it's a bit cramp in the tramp) & I think you will never get this anywhere in Malaysia. The ride took about 1/2 hr to reach the top coz we need to hop on to a 2nd tramp that will continue its journey up the hill. Penang Hill is a great place if you love to walks but to us, there's nothing much to do and it only took us 30 mins to explore and head down the hill again (the tramp system got me puzzled and out of curiosity, I observed the tramp when going down hill and took some photo of the tracking system *LOL*).

2nd destination : Kek Lok Si Temple

We went up to the Kuan Yin Statue first before heading to the pagoda. The Kuan Yin statue is so huge that I barely manage to snap the whole of it up close. The statue is very impresive and although this area is still under construction, tourist still can visit & make donation for the construction of the pillars. Once it has completed, we must really visit it again. After snapping some photos, we head down to the old section where the pagoda is located. Since this is the 1st for Gerald, we climb up the pagoda to catch the spectaclar view & also to count how many story are they (silly activity) and can you believe that I got so scared when I reached the top floor. I practically have to walk around the pagoda sticking close to the inner wall & gather my courage just to take 1 photo with Penang view behind me *giggle*.

3rd destination : Khoo Kongsi

By the time we finished the Kek Lok Si, it was already 2pm and I am rushing time to complete the tour in 5 hours coz dun want to pay more *stingy me*. Since there's nothing much we want to see, we wanted to just go to get the famous tau sar pheah (green bean biscuits) but were detoured by the taxi driver to a place that's quite historic, Khoo Kongsi. It's a great recommendation by him coz the building is so well maintained. There's lot of carving and I was like (^0^) all the time when I was there. This place was like a club house for the Khoo clan in Penang and according to the historic writings, they are very powerful and rich in Penang. They even have special privilege (imagine that).

4th destination : Golden Temples

Yup, it really does looks like gold from far & near. We went for a quick snap & run photo shooting in 2 temples that housed the longest Sleeping Buddha (Siamese Temple) and tallest sitting Buddha (Burmese Temple). I don't really like the Siamese temple coz got lots of thsoe weird & scarry figurine which will definately give me nightmares if I stay any longer. As for the Burmese temple, it's very educating coz they got painting with the whole epic of how Buddha came to be (good for tourist & non believer).

After that, we head to get the Tau Sar Pheah and check into Copthorne Orchid and refresh ourselves before the met up with Catriena for makan-makan session & also bring Gerald to Gurney Drive (my personal thought of this place is not very good coz it's a place with overly priced food).

That's it for this sight seeing post. Will post the gastonomic tour later (full of good food photos *wink*)

Here's some photo that I managed to snap