Penang 2

Alright, so here's part 2 of my Penang vacation.

We once again woke up early. But not as early as the day before. In fact, we had the pleasure of waking up at about 7 o'clock in the morning. The reason we had to wake up at 7 was because we had to make it to Penang Hill. And the best time to do so was in the morning because that is the best time to enjoy the cool and misty air of the highlands. So, after we had all woken up and taken our baths, Justin being the latest as usual, we went out for breakfast at a Chinese stall around the corner. Maryanne's grandparents accompanied us there. The stall looked pretty much like what we would see around Kuala Lumpur. But the only difference was that the enviroment around it was a whole lot more relaxed and the food is almost half the price of what you would pay for here in Kuala Lumpur. If I am not mistaken, all of us ordered a large sized "Wan Tan Mee." Want to know how much it cost? An amazing RM 2.50. And to make things even more interesting, it tasted much better than the usual ones which we would find in Kuala Lumpur and even the portions are much larger. As for my drink, I ordered a cup of Nescafe which once again, just like the day before, tasted phenomenal. After we had enjoyed our meal, we waited for the taxi to take us to Penang Hill. Maryanne, Leonard, Nickie and myself boarded the taxi while the rest of the dudes were fetched by Maryanne's grandfather. Along the journey, we spoke about the good life in Penang. I said that over the past two days, I had come to fall in love with the tranquil lifestyle of the Penang folk. I also added that when I finally have the money, I would build my home on an Island. Leo on the other hand said that he preffered a house on the mountain top. He figured that life would be much beautiful there. I guess we all have our own desires.

After about 5 minutes, we finally reached our destination. We alighted from the taxi and proceeded to the entrance. Upon getting in, the four of us, since the others were not there yet, decided to take some pictures with Penang Hill as the backdrop. Then, we proceeded to the counter to buy tickets for the journey up to Penang Hill. It cost only four Ringgit and our mode of transportation would be by the famous red and white electric tram. Once we had gotten our tickets, we proceeded to the station and waited for the train, where we took more pictures. The trip up took about 20 minutes. But it was quite an exhilarating trip because when we were going up, we really could feel the effects of the slope. We were going up a 45 degree slope. And according to some calculations, the distance of the slope was almost 1.3 kilometers. And the height of the place where we finally ended up was about 612 to 615 meters above sea level. Apart from the mathematical side, the journey up was quite an enjoyable ride because we once again did some ridiculous deeds. One of them was to take a picture of Chong dressing himself up like a mini Uncle Chong. You will see what it was all about when I finally get the pictures up. Plus we also managed to take a look at a few magnificent houses that were built along the way up.

Once we had gotten there, we got out of the tram and started to explore Penang hill on foot. It was quite misty up there and we could barely take some decent pictures due to the heavy mist. But it was quite an experience though. Suddenly, while walking, it started to drizzle. We figured that it might rain heavily anytime soon but fortunately the drizzle stopped as soon as it had started. So we continued on our way to the Canopy Walk on foot. According to the route marker, we had to walk for about 1.6 kilometres to get there and quite honestly after yesterday's hike, 1.6kilometres seemed like a whole lot to ask from us. But instead of complaining, we gladly decided to cover the distance. Along the way, we made a little detour. We saw a rather deserted path up towards an abandoned bungalow and wanted to take a peek. While we were a little apprehensive at first, our need for excitement finally got the better of us. But the weird thing was, as soon as we had decided to go up, a blanket of mist covered the entrance, adding a spine chilling feel to our adventure.
Immediately, we started to walk up the deserted path. The deeper we went, the more creepy things got. The area was rather gloomy. And at the end of the path lay a house which looked like it had been abandoned for decades. It looked pretty rundown. We named it the haunted house. But the first sign of trouble came when we saw neatly tied curtains on the window. I figured that there just might be occupants living in the house. But we ventured on anyways. We took a few pictures and resumed our journey. Along the way, we saw some picturesque scenery's. In fact from where we were, Penang Bridge seemed like a toy. It looked so small. The houses atop the hill were very beautiful too. But apart from the beauty, what captivated me about the journey was the fact that I was having this much fun with some of my best friends. And that itself was immense. After some walking, we reached to the end of the trail. We then decided to take the canopy walk. The canopy walk was somewhat a suspended bridge suspended from trees. It is something like the one which you would find in Bukit Cahaya but the only difference is that this was higher and longer. Initially, we didn't want to go, but after some negotiating, we went on it. And it was worth every penny. The environment was amazing. It was completely exhilarating to be standing on a rickety bridge so high up. But the one who was scared the most was Justin. He had a fear of heights. But he managed to pull through in the end. After all that, we took the long walk back to where we started. We went to the toilet, which was a big relief for Justin because it was now his turn to have stomach ache. We hung around for a while, bought some snacks and then went back down for some lunch.

The trip down, for some reason, was much faster than the one going down. Once we had gotten down, we walked a short distance to where we were to eat lunch. Would you want to guess the name of that place? It was called Asia Cafe. In fact, I think both the Asia Cafe here in Kuala Lumpur and the one in Penang are under the same management. We ate then went to look for a taxi. But this taxi ride was somewht different. Guess what happened. While waiting for a bus, this dude in a very old car pulled up along side us and asked us if we needed a ride. We, being quite tired of waiting for the bus said yes we needed one. So, with a fee of RM 2 per head, all 7 of us crammed up into the car. And that was probably the most uncomfortable taxi ride of my entire life. We were squashed like sardines. And to make matters worse, the taxi driver told very lame jokes. Finally, after some rather exciting riding, we managed to get back home in one piece. So I guess that's one more memory for us to laugh about 10 years down the line.

After the trip, we got home and relaxed. Some of us, including myself took a shower. Some elected to take a siesta. I for one just couldn't sleep. It was pretty weird actually because even though I was tired, I always felt fresh. Plus waking up wasn't really that much of an issue. I guess it must have been the air. Seriously. Then after the shower, we played some card games. It was really fun.

Then, after some waiting, another one of Maryanne's friends arrived. Her name is Madeline. She would be driving us to our next destination which was Youth Park. Shin Ying tagged along as well which was amazing. Youth Park is somewhat like this huge recreation park. But this place was huge and very beautiful. There were so many species of greenery that I had a good time snapping pictures of some of those plants. Plus while the rest of the dudes were busy talking and eating ice cream, Ignatius, Madeline, Shin Ying and myself went to have some fun. We decided to tackle the obstacle course. And it was really fun. We climbed, jumped and did all kinds of things. I even managed to tear the sole of my right shoe while doing some stretches. But I guess it was about time that shoe gave up on me anyway. If my doctor were to have seen me doing this, he would most probably freak out. But I told myself that I will never let my medical condition stop me from doing the things I enjoyed. After all, life is just too sweet for that. Then, we were joined by the rest of the gang and we once again played around. After some good playing, we returned home. We were to go to Tanjung Tekong for dinner.

At Tanjung Tekong, we had some of the best sea food in our lives. The food was fresh and it tasted really good. The cockles and clam were amazing. Then we had Ikan Bakar. This time it was sting ray. And it was a whole lot better than the already tasty ones which we had over at Gurney Drive. Even the crab was tasty. Unfortunately, I only ate half a piece because, I'm a little allergic to crab. But the other great thing about Tanjung Tekong was that we ate by the sea side. And needless to say, the scene was very beautiful. Then, after dinner we got home and watched a movie. We watched "Whisper." It is a movie about how the devil often deceives human kind to do bad things. Chong was not particularly fond of watching such movies because he couldn't digest horror movies. But amazingly, he watched it through. After the movie, we all went to bed. But there was one problem. We couldn't sleep. So, all of us sat there discussing about love. The after talking, most of them were quite sleepy with the exception of Ignatius and myself. So we went downstairs and talked. We talked about life and so many more other things. In fact, the more we talked the more we realised just how similar the both of us are. And I was amazed and touched at the same time. We spoke on things that are very personal, our hobbies and it was just unbelievable. We kept talking until about 3 in the morning. Then, we went to bed.

I'm getting a wee bit tired now. So, I think I'll leave the last day for another post.