Return to Penang

Not sure how we managed this but the original post was replaced with another post so I am rewriting this one and hoping I can remember at least a little of what was in the original.

Eric is really enjoying the challenge of geocaching, he discovered more local caches online and solved another one.  On Friday we went geocaching to Kovan together and walked home along a park connector he had discovered the day before. These park connectors are shared foot and cycle paths that are being constructed over many of the drains in the built-up areas, threading paths between all the parks. A wonderful idea, this gives us an alternative path to walk to work instead of walking along the busy Upper Serangoon Rd.  We felt pretty fresh still when we returned so decided to get the tennis racquets out of their covers. They have been in the wardrobe since we brought them back from Darwin in April. We have a condo tennis court that is hardly ever used, but first I strapped on the knee brace. Talk about pathetic! We could barely keep a ball in play and I quickly decided that my end was allowed any number of bounces before returning. We managed about an hour of swing and miss, getting more exercise from laughter than anything else. But we did enjoy it and have vowed to return and get the groove back. We followed that up with a dip in the spa, a great way to finish. 

Our tennis court

Our spa which we have never had to share

I had visions of us having tennis mornings with workmates until I felt twinges in my knee the next day and decided instead that will have to wait until 2013, after the Nepal trek. 

The start of the week was awkward because people, both work colleagues and parents, were starting to discover that Eric was moving to Punggol. It was a good thing in a way as we were going to be away for the weekend with staff from that branch (Wayne and Pauline Ash ex Butterworth) so it would have been even worse not to have spoken about it. They seem to have accepted it ok. On Monday morning flew to Penang with 6 other colleagues and checked into the Yeng Keng Hotel in Chulia St, right in the heart of the action. It is a small 20-room restored boutique hotel in one of the oldest surviving and intact 19th century buildings. 

Yeng Keng Heritage Hotel

So much has changed and yet so much stays the same. We found Hamediyahs in Campbell St for lunch, upstairs, eating the best murtabah in Georgetown. 

Hanmediya's famous Indian Restaurant

In the afternoon we split up and did our own thing. Amongst other landmarks Eric found the Hong Kong Bar and they still had a photo of his surprise 30th birthday celebrations even though there has been a fire in the interim and they lost many of their memorabilia. We all dutifully went there later to check it out but some found they couldn't recognise him with brown hair, no beard and glasses. 

latest visit to Hong Kong Bar

We all ate dinner at the Red Garden Hawker Centre which turned out to be beside the Blue Mansion House, how quaint. The Blue House is a living museum where you can arrange to stay. We were very impressed last time we visited but this time we went to the Peranakan House Museum instead. This was the home of a wealthy Chinese tin mining magnate who also held a license to sell opium. We enjoyed the guided tour that explained a lot about how the well-to-do spent their time, day to day. 

Forecourt of Peranakan Heritage Mansion

That was in the afternoon. In the morning we had revisited Kek Lok Si Temple, what was once known as the temple of the 1000 steps but these days the stalls are gone and you drive up.  The original white concrete Goddess of Mercy statue which stood above was damaged in '93 and a very impressive new copper one, sheltered in a huge pavilion has replaced it. 

Kek Lok Si Temple

Goddess of Mercy

The taxi drivers waited for us while we clambered all over the site and then they drove us passed the turf club and back to town via what we used to call 'Millionaire's Row' on Northam Rd and into town by Gurney Drive around the fort and clock tower. 

In conjuction with Penang’s Georgetown Festival, several walls within the capital have gained a new lease of life, thanks to the awesome efforts of Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic. He has left his mark with beautiful wall paintings of children all across the historical town. The artworks are funny and  fascinating, the one below is a mural of the children but the bike is a real bike, leaning against the wall. 

Armenian St

Muntri St

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