IPSF APPS 2014 Malaysia - Post Symposium Tour (PST)

Monday, 14 April 2014

Penang Invasion!

Day 2

7.00 AM

We had a blast time the day before and had no intention to stop. We started our day ecstatically at 6.00 am and leave as early as 7.00 am for the next place on the list. We were heading to Pasar Air Itam. It is a morning market where you can find fresh food, and even flowers at the low price. The Pasar Air Itam always congested with people who wish to shop and the tourist who want to visit Kek Lok Si Temple. We had our breakfast at one of the kedai mamak there. The menu; well, being typical Malaysian, we had some roti canai, toasted breads and teh tarik.

Then, we started to hike the road towards the Kek Lok Si Temple. It was quite steep and honestly, we were exhausted. However, the scenery up there is so beautiful and it feels worth to be sweat for. The green area surrounding the temple is still intact, while the architecture of the temple itself promotes peace and tranquility. The people are very warm, contradicting with the chill atmosphere of the uphill in the morning. Whoever loves scenery or taking photos like us, you will never get bored here. That’s a promise.

10.00 AM

We went down the Kek Lok Si Temple just to go up another hill; the Penang Hill (It is by car this time, luckily) It is known as Bukit Bendera; literally mean Flag Hill, among the local. Being one of the oldest colonial British hill stations in Malaysia, Penang Hill offers a blend of beautiful nature and historical places. Though we were there went it was almost noon, the average 21°C temperature allow us to explore the hill with ease. The owl museum is unique, while the ice kacang there is a must try dish.

1.30 PM

Next, heading to National Park!!! The national park is located at the Teluk Bahang. People usually come to National Park for its meromictic lake and the turtle sanctuary. Meromictic Lake is a lake that only mixed once a year. The phenomenon is so rare as there is only a few of such lake exist in this world. The main activities are canopy walking and jungle trekking, guided by the expert tour guide available. They were very warm and expert in the flora and fauna in the park. Along the way, there were monkeys, birds and lizards while the flora range from timber, to herbal plants and ferns. The rich flora and fauna are interesting and seeing them upfront is one of the kind experiences. We had splendid time around the turtle sanctuary, the lake and even the Monkey Beach.

4.00 PM

After we left National Park, we went to the Butterfly Farm. There were varies species of butterfly there. However, we were unable to come inside the farms due to time limitation. Instead, we went to the management office and had some negotiations regarding the package they offered.

4.30 PM

This is the time for the creativity to dominate you. The time for tradition to win over the simple modernization. Huh? What? Hehe… Actually, in the afternoon, we leisurely spent some time at the Penang Batik Factory. We went inside the factory, and see the workers chanting the batik. They explained to us step by step on the production of batik. The factory also offer a small class for the tourists to try out chanting a batik handkerchief at such a low price. Can’t wait to try it together with you! ^^, Later on, we went to Teluk Bahang Dam nearby. The man-made lake looks so blue, fading away all the tiredness that we felt back then.

7.00 PM

After getting some rest at the dam, perform our prayers and grabbed some dinner, we felt energetic enough to go again. Hence, we headed to the Batu Feringghi night market. The night market is situated along the road. The goods are varieties and the prices are negotiable. If you are good at negotiation, you can get to lower the price; even up to one-third from the original price. It was long walk, but we barely noticed it. Probably due to our passion in shopping ;) next, we headed to the hotel, and got the best sleep in centuries.

Let the pictures speak:)

Rise and shine!!

Fuel up!!

"Sedapnya (wahh..very scrumptious!)

Spectacular design-Kek Lok Si Temple

The holy statue

"hey... why you look away from the camera??"

"Hmm.. Life is about believing in your strengths and admit your weaknesses. Achieving dreams up to the top!"

Smile!!

"I will jump up...high in the sky! huhu No... i am squating. good exercise for the thigh."

Ayunya.... (posing with effortless grace:)

It was Chinese New Year!

The princess..waiting for a charming prince to come.. ^^

....and he is not coming-.-

it's okay.. you have me princess.

Penang Hill baby!! Excited!

Amazing views await up the hill.

Up we go!!

"Hello. I am from Thailand. Sawadekap."

Arrived. "Let me be the model. The look away post. LOL!

"Haiyooo. Look here lah!"-photographer

Cendol... MUST TRY!

Oops! there is one more. manggo ice.

Hindu Temple

Muslim Mosque.

Must Visit!

Ready.. Penang National Park invasion by PST team!

Peace! Such an adrenaline rush boat trip!

How cute! "Come on, up and out of the sand!-turtles"

Sad.. we went there and it is not the time see the uniqueness of lake and sea unite.

It's okay! You got me!!

Batik. And we proud of it.

Nothing much to say tho...

The dam.

...and the prince still not coming.. why did he left me alone??

The tears of the princess. LOL!

I should buy something for the princess to cheer her up..

Oh my prince.. Where are you?!!

The prince is not coming..haha Trust me!

Princess likes the fan. I should buy this.

or should I buy the broken-heart pill for her?

Haaa......I think this might help princess- LAKSA PENANG.

^^ Penang. Here we go!!! ^^

Hello people!
It's ages since our last update isn't it?

But we assure you that this entry will be the best one ever! Why? Cause it based on our own experience.
In order to give the best of Malaysia to all of you, we make the initiative to actually go the places and feel the essence of being 'the tourist' ourselves. From our own experience, we make some evaluation on the places instead of just accepting the information from the tour guide and the internet (obviously lots of them based on it *roll eyes*). For the first trip, we went to Penang and race to its top tourist destinations. So keep up with our entry and expect some honest opinion from us. And no, we are not bragging, we seriously mean it. ;)

Day 1

10.00 AM

We meet up in Kuala Lumpur and set our foot on the journey to Penang (by car, not on foot, hehe). The journey takes around 6 hours by car. We stop at the R&R Tapah at 2pm. R&R means "Rehat dan Rawat", literally translated as "Rest and Heals". Aligned with the name, the R&R along Malaysia's highway provide comfortable places and splendid services for the highway users. You can see some of the pictures of R&R Tapah here. After getting enough rest, we are back on track for Penang and arrived at 4.30pm. YEAY!!! At last. Just in case you guys wonder, whether you will experience the same unproductive 7hours in the bus, well, yes, you do, but at night ;) You are going to Cameron Highlands, and set to Penang from there at night. So instead of wasting the daylight away, you are able to experience the highland atmosphere in Malaysia and take a rest during the journey to Penang.

4.30 PM

As we arrived in Penang, we directly went to Snake Temple at Bayan Lepas. The snake temple is among the most popular temple in Penang due to the presence of pit vipers around the temple since the day the temple was built. The temple history started from a monk from China travelled to Penang and brought along Chor Koo Song deity with him. A British resident believed in the deity's healing power as he cured from a strange illness. Thus, he donated a land to build the temple, at the place the temple stood today. Aged more than a century; the temple attracts local and foreign crowds alike. Though pit vipers are among the most aggressive snakes in the world, the snakes are calm appear like sleeping in this temple. There is no case of people bitten by snakes in this temple throughout history...

7.00 PM

After spending around an hour in the temple, we went to Gurney Drive. We arrived around 7PM due to the traffic along the way. Gurney Drive is a road that full with hawker food. Penang is known for the wide range of delicious, cheap food from various cuisine; and Gurney Drive is one of the sought after places to get your dream hawker food. As the matter of fact, we Malaysian, love to eat hawker food. It is one of the ways for us to relax and spend our time (even our holidays) with the loved ones. That night, we ate the famous Penang pesembur, which is the mixed of fried food, fresh vegetables and boiled eggs in the sweet and spicy nut sauce. Just pesembur alone was not enough. We add in char kuey teow, the fried flat-rice noodles with prawn. Then the food fiesta began! The food were so good that we can still picturing those scrumptious food even today.. *mouth-watering* The food are highly recommended!!!

10.00 PM

Our stomach were full and we decided to kill times at the Queensbay. Queensbay Mall is the largest shopping mall in Penang. It offers comfortable shopping time with items at the affordable prices. However, instead of heading to the mall, we spent our time at the bay. The cold breeze is calming and the night view at the bay was beautiful. We can clearly see the Penang Bridge shimmering with light from a distance. From there, we went to our hotel, check in and sleep comfortably.