#64 - Penang Trip

07.10.2010
Date: 02/10/2010 (Saturday)

Itinerary: Blood donation > Chew Jetty > Gurney GSC > Ivy’s Kitchen > Pinang Peranakan Mansion > grandma’s house > Fort Cornwallis > Kulim

Day started with blood donation. Was excited and happy since it had been over 3 years since my last donation. Either I got period or the timing wasn’t right. Went with YSK and CWY. It was quite fast and I had  to commend the male nurse who did the intravenous insertion of the needle. He did it swiftly and flawlessly, without much pain.

And there was no bruise at all after that. Lay down next to YSK and it was quite fast. We were sitting up and enjoying our Milo plus curry puff after a shortwhile. It was organized by a group of church goers and the volunteers were very friendly. I think first-timers won’t be afraid of the donation anymore after seeing their warmth.

Next stop, Chew jetty. YSK didn’t join. Total 4 of us: WL, BH, WY and I. WL was the organizer for the entire trip, from Chew Jetty to Pinang Peranakan Mansion. Thanks to him, a very warm and caring angel. BH was very vibrant and happy-go-lucky and I can click very well with her. WY was a very daring and sociable girl and we used to live next to each other back in USM Saujana hostel back then. I was hoping to feel the sea breeze but there was none. Anyhow, we met an uncle there who showed us the house where the shooting of Ice Kacang Puppy Love took place.

Even sat on the wooden bridge where Eric Moo and Ah Niu squatted to have a small pep talk in the movie. The whole feel was different from the trip I had with double YL and JS. Nevertheless, the lady who sold coconut jelly and cassava+seaweed crackers at the last house offered us a tour into her house. It was definitely long, at least the length of 3 houses. And the view was spectacular. We could see Tan Jetty’s temple from there clearly. Awesome! It was slightly drizzling when we left the place.

Watched Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of the Ga’hoole in Gurney GSC. I love watching animation so was slightly disappointed with what I watched. The storyline was so-so. I was expecting a very nice background but it was almost the same throughout the animation.  We had mixed comment on the movie.

Some said OK, some said boring. I think I will rate it 2.5 out of 5. We even debated that it’s an animation, not cartoon. When they saw the ad on another animation called Sammy’s Adventure, they all urged me to watch it next time since I like turtles so much. Why I like turtle? Don’t ask. It came naturallly. Turtles are cute!

Had lunch in Ivy’s Kitchen. Nyonya food. Had green curry chicken, sengkuang, fresh lettuce, asam prawn and perut ikan. The place was moderate in decoration but the boss was super friendly. He was already standing there waiting for us, when we were so busy taking pictures in front of the signboard.

His service was good and he appeared from time to time to chat with us, espeically since it was quite deserted. To be fair, it was a late lunch so perhaps other customers had already left by the time we reached there. Overall food was OK. The feel was OK too. I would rate it 3.5 out of 5. Plus for the ambience and the hospitality.

Finally was the long awaited Pinang Peranakan Mansion. When we talked about Peranakan, we will automatically think of Baba Nyonya culture.  True enough, in Penang alone we have two such places: Pinang Peranakan Mansion and Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. Kapitan was equivalent to captain. Hence, Kapitan Cina were actually representatives of the Chinese enclaves during the Portuguese and Dutch colonial ruling.

I didn’t really know about both these places until JCGS and CWK organized a trip up north and wanted to visit these places. But we didn’t manage to visit it then. Now that I had been to both, I wanna make a small comparison between these two:

a) Pinang Peranakan Mansion - situated in Church Street and painted in green, it offers plenty of things to shoot for those avid photographers, especially if you go there with a bunch of crazy friends. Visit www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my for more details. The visiting time is from 9.30am to 5pm.

Photography is allowed and there were so many glassware and antiques in there. The place was literally more crowded and the explanation given by the guide was less detailed. Entrance fee: RM10. There was quite a number of movies being shot here. Was built by Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee.

b) Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion - situated in Leith Street, just across the road from City Bayview Hotel and painted in blue, it stands grand and was partly a homestay. No photography allowed and there is only 2 visiting slot per day, i.e. 11am and 3pm. Detailed and lengthy explanation would be given by the very informative guide.

I enjoyed this place more as u can really understand the reason they built it this way and that way.  Too bad no photography allowed. Visit www.cheongfatttzemansion.com for more details. Entrance fee: RM15. Built by Cheong Fatt Tze himself.

All in all, they shared the same feature, whereby feng shui was given priority in the design and structure of the mansion. Overall, both are worth visiting. If you ask me, I will go to Pinang Peranakan Mansion for photography. U can easily spend 3-4 hours there if u are crazy about snapping photos all the time. I will go to Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion if I want to hear the details of the mansion, its owner and the history behind. 4 of us had enough fun and we returned back to Gelugor.

Drove to Sg. Ara to visit my grandma and played badminton with my sweet little cousin. Afterwards, went to Fort Cornwallis with CWY and YSK to watch Pessband performance. I wasn’t really into music. I couldn’t even sing a proper song in karaoke session. I never remember a full song anyway. The feel was OK. If only it was windy that time. I was basically sweating and sticky. The emcee was not bad and the overall performance is OK too.

I was thinking to have a walk by the sidewalk of the Esplanade but decided against it as it was quite late. But just when we nearly reached U-heights, I shouted hungry and the other two agreed with me. End up, we ate the most expensive nasi lemak we ever had in Subaidah near Tesco Extra, at RM7 per plate. But it was nice. It had been quite some time since I had such a heavy supper.

Time to train for stamina to prepare for Penang Bridge Marathon, which I had registered under quarter marathon category (only 10km). Though it was only 10km, I am not sure whether I can pull this through. I hadn’t jog for quite some time now. The stamina for marathon is definitely different from those in hiking and badminton.

To me, jogging is the toughest and the endurance and the persistence involved is much much more than I can afford. Well, no use giving so much excuse. Better plan to go for jogging soon. But at the same time, I will continue my badminton and hiking Told ya I am an avid fan of sports.

Comment:
> 07.10.2010 (Pheo)

testing the comment part since CMY said can’t leave comment