EuCHO0.NET - (^(0o)^) The Pigatory

6am - the train was expected to reach Butterworth at about 6am.. did not have a good night's sleep.. woke up every hour during the night to check the location.. was dreaming of a stationary and soft bed in the next hostel..

immediately went to take the ferry from Butterworth to Georgetown of Pulau Penang.. too bad it was too early to watch the sunrise from the seas.. then we navigated the unfamiliar streets of Georgetown still in the dark.. fortunately the hostel was not difficult to find.. located conveniently along Love Lane..

the skies were still dark when we arrived at Love Lane Inn.. the hostel-keeper was nice to offer us another room to rest in because our assigned room was not yet vacated.. we ended up getting a triple room with air-conditioning for no extra charge

so we had a bath before having a short nap.. quite a lucky beginning to the day for us

9am - after the short rest.. we set off to begin our tour of Georgetown.. the first place we looked for was the Kuan Yin Teng.. supposedly the oldest chinese temple in Penang.. i guess we took a wrong turn and we ended up in another small chinese temple.. what the heck.. go in and pay respects anyway.. we also found a kopi tiam and had some coffe and toast for breakfast.. we did not even realize the kopi tiam was just next door to Love Lane Inn while we were having our meal.. we had walked a whole round without knowing it.. anyways.. we carried on to search for the actual Kuan Yin Teng..

10:30am - not much to do around here yet.. the shops were mostly closed.. so we headed to Komtar to get our return tickets to Singapore.. hot hot morning and we followed our usual mode of transport (number 11.. or rather a pair of number 11s) to Komtar.. about 20 minutes walk only.. it was a Friday morning and the shopping centre there was unnaturally low on customer count.. JH described the place as "depressing".. not much of a shopping experience there..

no luck getting our tickets over there either.. but according to the officer at the tourist information centre in Komtar.. we could get tickets directly from the offices in Butterworth.. wah.. means we went back to take the ferry to Butterworth.. was a good thing anyway since the tickets were cheaper there.. also the bus departs from Butterworth.. which is much nearer from the inn as compared to the bus terminal at Sungei Nibung if we had gotten the tickets at Komtar..

2pm - continued to explore the streets around Love Lane.. we were lucky to bump into the old lady who was selling Penang laksa on a pushcart.. she seemed to be quite famous around the area.. providing the best laksa.. but the laksa gravy was not to my taste.. i think i'm too used to Singaporean food.. i watched as JH gobbled up the remaining of my laksa gravy..

we decided it was best to rent bicycles so as to better explore the further reaches of Penang from Georgetown.. alas.. we could not find any decent bicycle rental shops around after walking the whole stretch of Lebuh Chulia.. apparently all the bicycle rentals required a deposit of RM200.. we were nearly broke and it was not a good idea to withdraw more cash since it was already near the end of our tour.. i think we got tired and went back to our rooms to sleep through the afternoon.. nothing to our liking along the streets of Penang..

7:30pm - after a nice long rest.. we went to the nearby Red Garden food court (recommended by Jimmy and Amy of Love Lane) for dinner.. i liked the atmosphere over there.. very Singaporistic.. similar to the food centres in Singapore.. we had a simple meal.. we were sitting right in front of the pavillion where the music was played.. took a photograph of that..

JH was singing along with the music.. so i suggested to JH..

"Maybe you could climb up the stage and sing.. free karaoke wo.. and they may pay you.."

JH replied:

after that we went for a walk down Jalan Penang.. lots of shops along this busy road.. mostly food if i do not remember wrongly.. eventually we arrived at the entrance of Chinatown.. a chain of night market stalls open at night.. we walked through quickly.. not really bothered about what was on sale.. shopping was not our top list of priority here.. but we did find a bubble tea stall.. so we shared a single cup.. topped up with water to finish off the remaining ice.. truly budget travelers on the roads tonight..

we were on our way back.. along Love Lane.. when JH noticed a trash bag along the road was moving.. some creature was struggling to get out of the bag.. JH presumed it was a kitten or a puppy trapped in the bag.. so he went off to a nearby temple to borrow a pair of scissors.. we carefully cut an opening in the bag and stood away.. sheesh.. a huge rat escaped from the bag.. oh well.. i suppose saving a rat's life was just important as saving a cat's life..

9pm - finally we returned to Love Lane Inn.. Amy had recommended renting the bicycles from her friends next door.. we hoped to negotiate the deal by bringing down the deposit value.. but the neighbours had not yet returned home.. so Amy suggested we go out for another short walk first before returning to meet them..

we headed to another food centre.. which was located near the northern coast.. looked like a nice place for dining.. could enjoy the sea breeze there as well.. i even got the idea of waking up early the next morning to catch the sunrise there.. but nah.. sleep more important.. guess we were not in the mood for eating.. just enjoyed the sea breeze a little before we moved off.. we also passed by the City Hall.. which we missed earlier in the day.. the state building was beautifully decorated with lightings.. quite a sight.. but we did not take any photographs..

next unique spot was a seafood restaurant along Pengkalan Weld near the ferry terminal.. JH had noticed a tree growing into the entrance of the restaurant when we walked pass it earlier in the day.. he wanted to take a photo of it.. on the way there.. we crossed the clock tower again.. took a photo of that too.. the clock tower looked nice under the night light and there was a monument next to it as well..

we carried on to the seafood restaurant.. but along the way.. we crossed the path of a "few" cockroaches.. JH (terrified of roaches) jumped up double quick time and skipped all the way in front.. far away from the infested area.. while i was still happily kicking the cockroaches into the drains.. i think my feet were itching.. had not played soccer for a couple of weeks..

reached the seafood restaurant.. but JH was so abashed by the earlier incident that he did not bother to take a photograph of the restaurant.. it was time to return to the inn again.. the family was expected to have returned..

10pm - back at the inn.. the family had returned and we managed to negotiate for a much lower deposit.. i offered my S$50 note as deposit while JH used his student card.. the cost of bicycle rental was RM12.50/day.. yeah!! we finally got our bikes.. immediately we went for our test rides.. we left Love Lane and exited at Lebuh Chulia and turned into the nearest street towards Komtar..

*Unfortunate Event 2* - not before long.. one of the pedals of JH's bicycle dropped off.. quality bike indeed.. so we pushed the bicycles back to Love Lane.. luckily the family were still awake so we could request an exchange of bicycles..

went off for another test ride.. this time i chose to go the other direction.. exited Love Lane at Lebuh Light and turned to Jalan Penang straight to Komtar.. then we turned left and took the familiar road back to Love Lane.. was a smooth and uneventful ride.. the whole round took only about 5-10 minutes i think.. was happy about it as it meant we could travel and explore many places the next day..

back at Love Lane.. JH discovered he did not have the key to his bicycle lock.. JH could not remember if he forgotten to take it or had dropped it during the test ride.. anyway.. the family had already turned in for the night so there was no way of finding out.. we went for another round of the test ride in an attempt to find the key which JH might have dropped.. unfortunately we discovered nothing..

11pm - oh well.. at least we still have one lock to secure the bicycles.. and it was late so we called it a day.. time to plan the next day's tour..

(phew.. what a long day.. quite eventful day for our 1st day in Penang.. not too bad huh..)