Tourguiding in Penang - Day 1

A couple of weeks before I moved to KL, my good friends from Beijing Joanne, Zhao Jie and Zhao Lei came to Penang for a short trip. They were actually in KL for a business visit, but extended their trip to have a few days of leisure. Since they were interested in visiting Penang, I offered to be their tourguide for the weekend, with pleasure. :)

The group of them with my mom arrived Penang at about 11am, and our first destination was none other than the famous Kek Lok Si temple, which is well-known even to the foreigners. Luckily for us, the temple was not that crowded that day, and we found a nice parking place easily too. The first view that greeted us at the bottom of the hill was this pond full of tortoises. I believe tortoises are considered as spiritual animals symbolizing longevity in the Chinese community, and I see them almost in all Chinese temples around. There were also peddlers around selling vegetables to the visitors to feed the tortoises.

Tortoises in the pond

The hike up to the temple was filled with stalls on the left and right, selling goods from Penang and clothings. Surprisingly, the clothes and dresses found here were pretty cheap! You'd think that they would charge a higher price since it's a tourist destination, but I actually managed to get a dress here for RM12! Can you believe that? I'll show you the dress later on. ;) After about 15 minutes and lots of perspiration, we reached the main temple of Kek Lok Si and started praying. As usual, places like this are always filled with smoke, due to the burning of joss sticks.

Main temple at Kek Lok Si

Joanne who's a very spiritual person, told us that she wanted to spend more time praying in the temple. In the mean time, I brought Zhao Jie and Zhao Lei (they're married, by the way) to look around.

Zhao Jie and witch at Kek Lok Si

I asked them whether they're interested in climbing up the pagoda and they were enthusiastic about it. So the three of us ventured to the pagoda entrance and paid RM2/person for the entrance free.

Our targeted destination

The pagoda is synonymous to the Kek Lok Si fame and also a signature place of Penang. One look at this pagoda and everyone would know that you've been to Penang before. :)

Pagoda at Kek Lok Si

At the bottom of the pagoda, we took some pictures of the view surrounding the temple.

View of Kek Lok Si

Then we started climbing up the pseudo-spiral staircase up the pagoda. There were 9 storeys in all, and we reached the top greeted by breath-taking view of the Penang island. One side of the view was facing the mountains, while another side of it was facing the city.

View from top of pagoda - mountain view

I prefer the city view in this case, since you're able to have a clear view all the way to Georgetown.

View from top of pagoda - city view

Zhao Jie and witch

Outside pagoda

After we descended from the pagoda, I showed them what the LX3 wide angle could do. *LOL* They tried to take a full-length picture of the pagoda using their digital camera but failed. Hence, my LX3 came to the rescue and we managed to take several shots of the pagoda at the entrance.

Zhao Jie and witch at Kek Lok Si pagoda

After the visit to the temple, we had a short late lunch at the laksa stalls in Air Itam. I didn't take any pictures there as I was already too hungry from all the climbing and walking! Plus I didn't have breakfast before that! *gasp* Anyway, we left to the hotel to check in later on, which was Copthorne Orchid in Tanjung Bungah. I chose that hotel because it was reasonably priced (~RM170/night) and it was next to the sea! This is the view from our room, complete with the sound of waves. :) The beach was just within walking distance from our hotel.

View from hotel room

When night fell, we had a quick dinner at one of the nearby food court in Gurney. A quick dinner because we had to send one friend to the airport to catch a flight. Guess where we went after sending her to the airport? QEII or Queen Elizabeth II! It's this waterfront club/pub/restaurant just by the seaside next to the pier. Very romantic and very nice view. If you're lucky, it would be windy and cooling too. It was my first time there and I'd always wanted to visit this place since I heard a lot of good comments from my friends. Since none of my close friends were 'clubbing kakis', I never had a chance to go there, until now. We found the perfect parking spot just in front of the entrance! Parking fee was RM5 flat.

Church Street Pier

The signature QEII logo, brightly lit and distinct at night.

QEII by the sea

You're about to see the RM12 dress that I bought from the stalls at Kek Lok Si! I bought it because it had unique batik design that was local to Malaysian culture. Also, my friend Zhao Jie was attracted to the design and bought an exact one in a different colour.

witch at QEII entrance

Look at our identical dresses. :) Which colour is nicer?

witch and Zhao Jie

We also took a picture with her husband Zhao Lei, who was a really shy but friendly guy.

witch, Zhao Lei and Zhao Jie at QEII entrance

We found a table just by the sea, and the breeze was extremely strong that night so it was pretty comforting. We chose to sit outside in the open air just for this reason. Plus, the smell of smoke was also minimal with the cooling wind. I was happily enjoying the ambience and chatting with Zhao Jie when suddenly, rain started to fall. :( No wonder the wind was so strong prior to that. A storm was brewing indeed. We had to move indoors, which was much louder and hence deterred us from chatting. However, I would say the overall environment of QEII was much better than most other clubs in Penang that I visited before. I would recommend this place (outdoors) if you hate the smell of cigarette smoke and stuffy air in most other indoor clubs. :)

That concludes my first day of tourguiding in Penang. We reached the hotel after midnight and slept like pigs to the next morning! *LOL*

I was awarded!

Thanks to foongpc, I was given my first ever blog award! :) I was reading his blog as usual, until I stumbled upon this post, and I saw my name there! What a very pleasant surprise. Thank you foong. :) He gave out 6 awards and I was one of the proud recipients of The Uber Amazing Blog Award. According to him:

Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:
inspires you

• makes you smile and laugh
• or maybe gives amazing information
• a great read
• has an amazing design
• and any other reasons you can think of that makes them uber amazing!

I'm so extremely touched! :)

The Uber Amazing Blog Award

The rules of this award are:

• Put the logo on your blog or post.
• Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
• Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

It is now my turn to pass this award to the 5 blogs that are uber amazing! :) *Drum rolls*

• Kimong
• MisSmall
• Chiaoju
• Zewt
• Bamboo

I really enjoy reading your blog! Keep up the good work! :)

Pretty cup cakes

It was my second week at work, and we were all at this training, trying to learn how to operate a freakingly expensive machine. Halfway through the training, during tea break, one of my colleagues brought in a box of cakes. At first, I thought it was the breakfast provided for the training, but then I found out that she made those cupcakes herself! And guess what? They were all customized with names and faces! So adorably cute!!!

Cupcakes galore

To my surprise, even my name was inside, though I didn't even know the birthday girl. *shy* In my defense, I was still a newbie.

Cute cupcake

And mine was pink! Wonderful! We ended up picking our own cupcakes and eating ourselves (literally). *LOL* The cupcake was made from butter so it was rather oily, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it? Happy Birthday girl!

My Farewell Pictures

Again I've been pretty slow in updating. The truth of the fact is that I'm going through some tough emotional stage currently but I'm slowly recovering from it. I'll be absolutely fine, in case you're worried. :) Anyway, I've made up my mind to kick start my blogger mode after resting for a while, but I need to clear some of the backlogs that I meant to write sooner.

Let me start with my farewell pictures just before I left Penang. I'm so thankful and blessed to have so many friends and colleagues who care about me deeply during my tenure in Penang. I really can't imagine how my life would be without having them around. And for this, I would like to dedicate this post to all of them, who have made a difference in my life. :)

Starting with doryfish, my dear friend, colleague and buddy in office! You know you have left a deep deep print in my heart and I always counted my blessings that at the end of the day, I still had you to turn to. We have gone through so many things together, right from the day we met when I was still an intern. We joined the gym together, the yoga classes, swimming classes as well as our part-time Masters. Having you around gave me the motivation and drive to go through the tough periods just because you understood. :) Thank you. :)

Doryfish and witch

Then there's Suzie, a girl who worked in the same company and who also happened to stay in the same block as mine! Just a lift ride away, to be exact. I had such a great time with you, especially when your other half was away in the US. ;) Remember when we used to go for dinners so often and watched HK TVB series marathon after that? It was really fun! Oh, and I must thank you again for fetching me to the airport so many freaking times that I felt bad for even asking. :( If you need anything from me, I'll be there. :)

witch and Suzie

A group picture with the girls during one of the farewell lunches.

witch, doryfish and Suzie

How could I forget the 2 self-proclaimed 'legends' in my company, Farn Hin and Kum Soon? (FYI, they're the first and fourth guys from the left in the picture below) Both of them indeed provided endless entertainment and jokes during the time I was there, especially when they both thought they're the more good-looking guys in the whole company. *cough*

Colleagues from ex-department

Thank you for the amazing farewell lunch, and by amazing I meant the company not the food. :)

Another shot

And dear Doryfish also organized a farewell dinner for me, at my favourite Italian restaurant, Bella Italia! *grins* Thank you so much my dear! I enjoyed BOTH the food and company that night ;) Allan I hope your back is getting better now. It touched me that you would come all the way from Kulim for me, even with your back condition. ;) But I ended up doing something to make you proud of me! ;)

witch with Bamboo, doryfish and Allan

Ah, the 4 sickawans! *hugs* Too bad Stan wasn't around that time. I have known these people right from my university time onwards, and our bond is still stronger than ever. It's true what they say, the friends that you made during your study years will never be the same with those that you made during your working years. And I'm truly glad I met them. :)

Witch with Chiaoju and Yen :)

Another group of friends from school, way back more than 10 years ago! Bamboo and Hamdan. Let's toast to another 10 years eh? :)

My secondary schoolmates

Not to forget my lunch gang at the company, the people that I met EVERY day for lunch. It's funny how you never get bored of certain people even though you meet them every day, and that's because you found the right clique. I miss you guys very much. :(

My lunch gang

Finally, some pictures from company. :) The girls...

The girls

Members of my team :)

IC design colleagues and witch

And Max! Wah, Max if you're reading this, don't you feel so honoured that I dedicated a whole picture for you? *LOL* The truth is I couldn't find any group pictures with you in it. :P Anyway, I know you won't miss me since every time I called you, it was to log a call and give you a problem to solve. *LOL* But I really wanted to thank you for the great support and help you provided to me all these years. I now know how valuable you are, if you know what I mean. :P

Max and witch

Thank you a million to all of you! You all know where I am now, so never feel shy to call or find me if you happen to be around ok?

Skin deep beauty

I guess it's not a surprise to learn that men are visual beings, and here, I'm referring to both males and females. Most people will judge someone based on first impression, and first impressions are always visual when you meet someone. Even before you start to speak, an opinion has already formed in your opponent's mind. I know it might seem shallow, but you've got to agree with me that people with good looks usually get better first impressions compared to those who are not as lucky. People who get the extra cup of coffee, or the extra piece of doughnut for free are usually those who are comparably more attractive than most people.

But does this happen when you talk about your life partner? Is skin deep beauty going to get you the extra edge? Many people say that beauty is not only skin deep, that when you love someone, you will see beyond the flaws at the surface because love is supposed to be unconditional. But again, men are visual beings. Can they help it if the girl or guy that they see everyday is someone who's full of warts or fat or with uneven teeth? Those are just examples I can think of at the top of my head, but surely there will be many more cases which will affect how a person looks. Do you think it matters in a relationship if you don't look perfect?

A guy once told me that when you really love someone, you will look past his/her flaws. In fact, he/she might even think of your flaws as cute and adorable, something that is uniquely you. Surprisingly, he could really do what he said. I guess guys like him who are romantic do not appear often these days. Do you think most people are still in a relationship because they still feel the hots for each other even after years of being together? Or is it because they're each other's comfort zones?

Men being visual beings, will definitely get bored of looking at someone after a period of years. What happens then? Will the excitement be gone forever? Or do they go around looking for new beings? Or is it even possible to maintain the sparks forever? Tell me.

My first bowl of Chilly Pan Mee

It's been exactly one week in my new company. I have just managed to get my new notebook 2 days ago, yippee! I'm finally CONNECTED again! Before I continue, let me just vent! I borrowed Saucer's GPS for a few days, 3 to be exact, to get the directions from my place to work. That stupid map directed me to use THREE different routes for all THREE days! How annoying is that! My intention was to learn only one route and I thought 3 days would be sufficient, who would have known it would give me all different routes. *sigh* The worst thing was, in one of the routes, I was shown to use this highway when I didn't need to pass through highway to work, and I ended up having to pay like RM6.60 for that route! *argh* Anyway, after the third time, it was enough. I used the Google maps and jotted down the directions instead. It turned out to be a very straightforward and easy route to work! *yay*

That aside, I just wanted to write about this 'explosive' experience I went through in Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee in Kota Damansara. This happened about a couple of weeks ago, even before I moved to KL. I read about this place in some blogs and decided to give it a try since I didn't know what chilly pan mee was about. The restaurant is located at the very new row of shophouses in the inner Kota Damansara area, with many other restaurants as well.

Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee at Kota Damansara

Obviously, on every table there was the unmistakable bowl of chilly flakes in oil. Be very afraid.

Chilly

Look at how RED the chilli flakes were. With the seeds as well! You could just imagine how hot and spicy they could be.

*gasp*

We ordered a glass of Umbra juice (RM2) and two bowls of chilly pan mee. Before the noodles were served, we were given two bowls of complimentary soup with some meatballs inside. Let me tell you this soup was my saviour at the end of my meal. I'll let you know why. ;)

Complimentary bowl of soup with meatballs

After a short wait, we were served our bowls of appetizing chilly pan mee, without the chilly. There was an egg, minced meat, anchovies and some fried shallots with the noodles. I was hungry so I was attracted to the presentation straight away.

Pan mee pre-mixed

The excited me started to pile up the chilli flakes on to the bowl of noodles before even tasting them. I think I ended up putting in 3 or 4 full spoons of chilli, thinking that if it were any less, it wouldn't be able to cover the whole bowl. My, how wrong was I!

Look at how red the bowl of noodles became! At one point, I could even SMELL the spicyness of the chilli. And that's when I knew I made a mistake. The first few bites were acceptable though still fiery hot. But after the third or fourth bite, I started to feel the heat. The spicyness was much more than I could imagine and I started perspiring in no time. Before I even finished half of the bowl, I couldn't stand it anymore. *sigh*

Super hot chilly pan mee

That's when my bowl of soup became my saviour. Well, it saved my noodles at least. To finish up the rest, I dipped the noodles into the soup before eating them. Sure, this wouldn't eliminate the spicyness completely but it reduced the level to something acceptable. At the end of my meal, I could feel the heat in my stomach even. Gosh! Lesson learnt. Never be too ambitious. *LOL*

The price for the noodles was RM5.50 per bowl. Very reasonable, I would say. Anyway, I would definitely go back to try it out again, this time with smaller amount of chilli of course. The noodles had a nice texture without being too thick or hard. I can't comment on the rest of the ingredients because they're all overpowered by the spicyness!

Super Kitchen Chilly Pan Mee
Jalan PJU5/4, Dataran Sunway,
Kota Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel no.: 03-6141 7398 , 03-2697 0998

Irenelim is giving away free shirts!

About a month ago, I started noticing a new commenter on my blog, who went by the nick of Irenelim. She was very consistent in commenting until I couldn't help but visit her webpage one fine day.

Irenelim Fashion

My, was I glad I did it! She has one of the most diverse collection of dresses that I've ever seen! And they're not gaudy or loud, which suit me really well. :)

New collection of dresses

Her vast collection prompted me to continue browsing and browsing, until I chanced upon this magical link... Free shirts and free delivery!

Free shirts and free delivery

How crazy is that? It's definitely one of a kind and I got attracted instantly. If anyone of you is interested, the offer is still valid and it's very easy! You just need to write a blog post about Irenelim Fashion with 2 links to the website and you're done! :) Since I just moved to KL and discarded a lot of my clothes, I could do with a new shirt myself. ;)

I also browsed some of her collections of dresses and found a couple of my personal favourites. ;) I simply love this halter neck sleeveless chiffon dress!

Halter sleeveless chiffon dress

Even though the model in the picture wore it with a pair of jeans, I think it would even be sexier without the jeans but with a pair of black leggings/stockings. But too bad, the red colour is already sold out! Not my luck I guess.

Black empire-waisted dress

There is another dress that I thought looked pretty elegant and classy. And it's empire-waisted! I love empire-waisted dresses! Makes you look younger and cuter without looking like you're trying too hard to do so. :) This dress is simple and yet sexy, perfect for the night out or for the hot date. ;) Black and pink are still available! :))

One thing I noticed and like about Irenelim Fashion is their Return Policy. Very seldom do you have online stores willing to return/refund/exchange your purchases if you find that you do not fancy them after receiving. Most stores only accept exchanges when there was a mistake or the goods are faulty. However, at Irenelim Fashion, their return policy states that:

"At Irenelim Fashion, we want you to be pleased with your purchase. If for any reason you are not completely satisfied, you may exchange, replace, or credit your purchase when it is returned/presented in original and sale-able condition. The returned item must be in its original packaging together with its original tags and accessories."

Isn't that great? It means that after you purchase a certain item and you find that it's not that nice/incorrect size when you try it out, you could return it for an exchange or credit. Don't you think this gives you peace of mind when purchasing online? :)

If you are attracted to the free shirts offer as I was, do check out Irenelim's Fashion and start writing away. Otherwise, if you're not a blogger, her collection of dresses is enough to make you drool! *LOL*