Malaysia Trip - Part 4

With everyone having gone to bed rather late following the Chingay performance, in the morning some people were rather slow to get going.

Khuan-Hoong - wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The day's trip was to Penang Butterfly Farm, below a few photos.

A butterfly.


Another butterfly.


Not a butterfly.


Thomas with a butterfly.


A feeding butterfly.

After visiting the Butterfly Farm, H-M decided that some shopping was needed, so we went down the road to the Penang Batik Factory.

Peter enjoying shopping for batik.

Then it was onwards-ever-onwards, this time to the Kek Lok Si temple.

Kek Lok Si is a regular spot for Elks Street, be it to feed the turtles or look at the statue of Kuan Yin. The temple has expanded massively in recent years and is in danger, at least in my opinion, of becoming rather 'disneyfied'. Sometimes I feel that the spirit of 'Malaysia Boleh' leads Malaysians in the wrong direction.

Snake Thomas.


Tiger Henry.


Pig Jia-Jun.


Rabbit Peter.

Rat Kwan.


Pig H-M.

Snake Khuan-Ning was also there, but her photo was not very flattering so it's not here.

There was some time for spiritual activities, as the photos below show.

Jia-Jun at prayer.


Thomas and Henry at the altar.

Incense burner for one of the shrines.

Lotus flower from Elks Street's next port-of-call.

Malaysia Trip - Part 3

Waiting for us when we got to S.P. were Po-Po, Jia-Jun and Khuan-Ning, soon to be joined by Theng-Theng and the K.L. aunts.

In the S.P. house, H-M, her mother, and the K.L. aunts

Henry and his cousin, Khuan-Ning.

Henry in the kitchen giving the Cambodian maid some tips.


H-M and her two K.L. aunts.

After a short rest in S.P. it was back to Penang for a little more sight-seeing - a visit to the Penang Chingay festival. Chingay is an art form in which participants perform acrobatic tricks with impossibly long flags. (Short video - here.) Other cultures also have flag-related sports, for example the Swiss 'Fahneschwingen', although the Swiss flags are substantially smaller.

We decided to cross over to the island by ferry rather than use the 13-km long Penang Bridge.

A Penang ferry.

All the ferries are named after Malaysian islands and our ferry was Pulau Penang.

Pulau Penang, Penang.

The Chingay competition was held on the Esplanade. Here a photo of the Town Hall - note the size of the Chingay flag.


Happy-Ning taking a photo.


Thomas still feeling the tropical heat.


Group photo with Theng-Theng, Kwan and the boys.


Entry of the Chingay teams.


Drummers.

After the end of the show we went back to Khuan-Hoong's place, our residence for the night.

Night-time view from Hoong's flat.

Malaysia Trip - Part 2

The next day was another Penang day. Part of Thomas's homework for the trip was to visit a temple, so it was decided that Kwan's car would go for a Hindu blessing to ensure safe travels for Elks Street and associates.

The temple gods.


A part of the ceremonies, with the Hindu holy man presiding.


Smashing the coconut.


Fixing the charm in the car.

Suitably protected, we set off for the day's activities. The first port of call was the Penang Flower Show (Pesta Bunga Penang). The day was hot and steamy, and consequently, the Finns wilted relatively quickly, especially Thomas, who is no fan of tropical temperatures.

Thomas trying to keep off the sun.

After the Pesta, it was time to look for something to eat.

As with all Penangites, Elks Street is extemely picky about food; everyone has an opinion and only the best is good enough. If you want oriental street food, the best place in the world in Penang, but whose Curry Mee, Char Kway Teow or Wantan Mee is best is always open to debate.

In the food court. Thomas still feeling the heat.

The pudding was Ais Kacang, which cooled everyone down and is an Elks Street favourite.

Making Ais Kacang.


The final product.

Later it was time to set off for Sungai Petani to see how Po-Po was doing. The journey was broken by a stop at Khuan-Hoong's workplace, GearMech, and the Snake Temple.

Tourists heading towards the Snake Temple. (From left to right, Kwan, the Cambodian maid, Henry, H-M.)

A burning joss stick in front of the temple.


There really are snakes inthe Snake Temple.


A door to...

On the way to Sungai Petani we were confronted with an all-to-familiar sight - a traffic jam.

On my first visit to Penang, I fell in love with the city (and not just one of its citizens). Yet, development has been such that visiting Georgetown is no longer so attractive: too much time is spent in traffic; there has beeb uncontrolled building of high-rises; and the humanity of the city has been sacrificed at the altar of motorisation and modernisation.

Penang traffic.

Malaysia Trip - Part 1

For a variety of reasons, Elks Street has been in hibernation recently but now the days are getting longer and Elks Street has woken up.

As Elks Street followers will remember, in December we went for a short trip to Malaysia. H-M left some days before the boys, and travelled a different route, but everyone ended up in the right place, although not without some thrills and spills.

Below a few photos.

Thomas and Pingu reading on the train.


The boys smiling in Frankfurt Airport.

And why the happy demeanour?

In Helsinki Airport the computer system claimed that Henry was only booked through to Frankfurt, while Thomas and I were going to Penang. The outsourced, poorly-paid (or -trained) workers in Helsinki were unable to deal with the problem, causing some increase in Peter's already high blood pressure. Luckily, the Singapore Airlines' staff in Frankfurt made two calls and everything was sorted out. Well done, Singapore Airlines!

We arrived in Penang on time and in good humour to be met by H-M and Kwan. And then it was off for a supper in one of Penang's many food courts. Fortified by noodles and soup we went to Khuan-Hoong's flat, our residence in Penang.

View from Khuan-Hoong's 17th floor flat over towards the Kek Lok Si temple. (As the cranes indicate, the view will soon be blocked by yet another high-rise.)


View towards Rifle Range.

The series of apartment blocks in the middle of the photo are the Rifle Range flats. The now-demolished house (161-B Jalan Padang Tembak) in which H-M was brought up is just to the right of the Rifle Range flats.

The next day was a sight-seeing day. With jet lag in mind, the plan was to do something relatively easy and relaxing - a drive round the island. We headed north, dropped by the 'thin aunt' and Lai-Ping in Tanjung Bungah for lunch, before heading towards Teluk Bahang and an educational visit to a fruit farm.

'Thin Aunt'

A photo shoot at the Teluk Bahang dam.

Our guide at the Penang Fruit Farm, Ali.

The trip to the fruit farm was interesting, although a little too much of an Ali show for your correspondent's taste. We were caught in a tropical downpour, which cut short our visit; a visit that ended with a fruit buffet.

Driving back to Georgetown we dropped by 'the old house' to see what had happened.

Where the house once stood. (In the background, some of the Rifle Range flats, and on the right, SMK Padang Tembak school.)

Despite our best efforts, jet lag managed to catch out some of the party!

Thomas taking an unscheduled nap.