I
had studied the football schedule and as there was no premier league matches
(no thanks to the stupid Interlull), decided to take a short trip to Penang
last weekend. The ETA was 2020; however, due to the loading of cargo, we only
took off at close to 9. We landed at almost 10 and I waited about 25 minutes
before getting a bus bound for the jetty. While waiting, I was approached by a
woman who asked if I wanted to take a cab instead. No thanks, I told her.
It
was in the bus when I realised that there were so many foreign workers in
Penang. For a while, there was only me and two other locals – and one of them
was the bus driver! I felt like I was riding a bus in Karachi or Kabul, such
was the situation in the bus. After more than 40 minutes, we finally reached
KOMTAR/Prangin Mall and I got down. Sighting a 7-11, I made my way to it and
consulted my rudimentary map in there. After getting my bearings, I headed out
again and made my way to Lebuh Noordin. I stopped once to ask and a few metres
away, finally found my guesthouse for the next two nights.
The
lady manning the counter said I could check in the next day; however, I told
her I doubted it would take long and said I would check-in then. It was already
approaching midnight then but I couldn’t resist taking a short walk around and
taking photos. The guesthouse was charmingly decorated with antique Peranakan
pieces from the lobby to the courtyard, the dining area, small lounge, and even
my room. There was an old cupboard, an old dressing table, small frames of
people from the past, a built-in bed, a day bed, two chairs, a small table with
bottles of drinking water and glasses and a mounted flat-screen TV. Even the
door and bathroom door were old-fashioned. I returned to my room after 20
minutes and enjoyed a late-night fruit snack and some Chinese tea.
On
Saturday, I woke up for prayers to the sound of the falling rain. Oh no... it
continued all the way through breakfast. The guesthouse provides brollies
though, placed in umbrella stands outside some rooms. I had one in my room too.
After breakfast, I headed out and made my way to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion,
stopping along the way to take photos of some cat murals (thanks to Aud for the
heads up). I had only just started my walk when I came upon two Chinese uncles.
One of them smiled at me and said (in Malay, no less), ‘Basah, basah, hujan dah
turun’ (It’s wet, wet, the rain has fallen). I laughed at this very obvious
statement and replied, ‘Well, what’s a girl to do?’ and he replied in his
sing-song voice, ‘Manis, manis, manis, seperti madu’ (Sweet, sweet, sweet like
honey). I walked away puzzling over this.
It
took me almost an hour to reach the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. Not because of
the distance but because I spent time taking photos along the way. I bought the
ticket (RM20 including the jewellery museum) and went in. I spent about 45
minutes there wandering from one room to another (you need to take go
bare-footed on the first floor). I wasn’t too impressed with the jewellery
museum for I think there were a lot of other non-jewellery items on display
which made me feel somewhat cheated. RM10 for that!
I
hurried over to Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion about 500 metres away but when I got
there, I was told the tour had started at 11 (I thought it was at 1130). You can’t
enter unless you follow one of the three tours at 1100, 1330 and 1500 (or was
it 1530?). Surprisingly, I didn’t feel disappointed at having missed it and as I
wasn’t about to linger there for two hours until the next tour, I left and
walked back to KOMTAR. At the bus station, I studied the bus schedule and took
bus 103 to Gurney Plaza. The fare was RM1.40.
I
walked around but nothing spoke to me and at 1, made my way to G Hotel next
door. I performed prayers there (the prayer room was pathetic; I guess they
built it thinking it was better than nothing) then went to check out the new Gurney
Paragon Mall next door. Well, I was similarly disappointed. I didn’t spend long
here and returned back to Gurney Plaza for lunch. After lunch, I walked to
Jalan Burma and took bus 101 back to KOMTAR. I then walked to Penang Times
Square (my advice: don’t even bother) and returned to the guesthouse but not
before buying some putu mayam (string hoppers) at Jalan Dato Keramat.
I
went out again after evening prayers to find dinner. I headed to the nearby
Prangin Mall before crossing over to 1st Avenue Mall. The two
shopping complexes are next to each other and yet both have Parkson Grand. And Parkson
Grand depresses me. I had a rather unfulfilling dinner before buying some
snacks and returning back to the guesthouse. I tried to read but kept falling
asleep so I decided to call it a day.
I
woke up some time during the night to the sound of rain outside. It was raining
when I went for breakfast just before 8 but stopped as I was finishing my meal.
I hurried back to get my bag but it rained again and I had to use my small
brolly to get to the bus station for the bus to the airport. On hindsight, I could
have waited another 10 minutes for the rain stopped then. I got the bus 401E
just before 9 and reached the airport 50 minutes later. It rained along the way
and got heavier as we neared Bayan Lepas (in fact one cashier at the duty-free
told me that it started raining at 2 am and didn’t stop at all. She couldn’t
concentrate on her work as her house was already flooded).
The
plane from KL landed at 1030 so our 1045 flight was pushed to 1100. We only
took off at 1110 and landed at 1150. I missed the KLIA Express train by seconds
(reached there at 12 noon sharp and the train was already gone. The clocks in
the arrival area all told me I had 2 minutes left) and had to wait 20 minutes
for the next train. At KL Sentral, I rushed to the bus platform and found the
bus back to micasa waiting (unprecedented). It pulled off just 20 seconds after
I got on. Phew!
Right.
I still have that Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, some cat murals and some dishes left
to hunt. Another trip to Penang, next year, maybe.
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