Articles from this Category
9 February 2011
Kek Lok Si (or Temple of Supreme Bliss) has been Penang’s big attraction for decades. The Chinese-Buddhist temple complex at Ayer Hitam is massive … there are many shrines in addition to the old main pagoda built in an eclectic style … Chinese, Thai etc all put together. More recently there is a ginormous statue of […]
8 February 2011
Today I said goodbye to family and flew to Penang again, leaving at 1220. It is my third time there this trip, using the island as a hub. It has turned out to be a good plan as I love the food and the character. It’s like an authentic version of Singapore … Singapore with […]
1 February 2011
It was another early morning start for me, to catch the 0810 AirAsia flight from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur. Less than four hours later, I was in KL, landing at 1430. It was a much nicer time to fly the route compared to the traditional schedule of the full service airlines, leaving at night and […]
14 January 2011
Today I went to the Butterfly Farm near Teluk Bahang. The bus ride took me through Batu Ferringhi which is the beach-hotel district. There were some nice resorts and the sea looked quite blue further out but brownish in many parts closer to land … I’ve been told by many that they don’t bother swimming […]
13 January 2011
Above: From the AirAsia inflight magazine on my flight from Medan to Penang. Begs the question … is there a minimum age for carrying a kavadi? He hasn’t got any body piercings … no skewers through the cheeks, no limes attached to his back with fish hooks (I think, since we don’t have a photo […]
5 January 2011
Around Old Georgetown Penang is nearly the western-most state of Malaysia. So with the whole country in one timezone, the sun rises late and sets late too. Just like daylight-saving time in some parts of the world. Perfect for early morning exploration and also sightseeing at dusk. I started early by taking the free bus […]
4 January 2011
Today, I took a very cheap 2 hour flight from Kuching to Penang, departing at 1220. My 1day/2night stay there would be the first of three stays as I use the island as a hub for other travel … thanks to cheap airfares and cheap accommodation (at the Tune Hotel, costing quarter cent Euro per […]
30 December 2010
I got invited by a friend Rashidah to join her extended family for a little hike on Gunung Serapi which locals also refer to as the Matang mountain. It was news to me that the short sweaty hike would take us to Sarawak’s oldest Hindu temple. A temple was supposed to have been built here […]
29 December 2010
Today I paid a visit to a farm owned and operated by my old school friend Patrick. It’s possibly the only farm in Sarawak that employs considerable mechanisation. To make it more special, it is at the base of the karst mountain that hosts the Fairy Cave … a beautiful setting indeed. It’s about a […]
22 December 2010
I had to go renew my passport today. 5 years ago, it was a 1-day service. Now it is a 1 hour service … the fine print is that it is 1 hour from payment. The reality is that there is a bit of waiting before you get to make your payment. I had to […]