Malaysia – Georgetown; The continuation search for Street Art (3)

Hi!!! Still with me? That’s good. Still on Armenian Street Ghaut, we had a slight detour off to Lebuh Victoria as a strong fragrance smell of freshly cook moon cakes and biscuits caught our noses.

Cute looking ‘piggy ‘biscuits.

.. the old style entrance to the shop.

Walking further down Armenian Street Ghaut, you will see lots of ‘cats’ on the side of the street… not real cats but mural cat painting.

This is the giant cat mural painting and a mouse hiding in a corner avoiding been ‘caught’ by the ‘cat’. =). This mural was done to create awareness of the need to protect animals (hmmm maybe not to the mouse though)

.. here is a ‘cat’ made of strings on a cloths pole.

Beautiful old houses on Armenian Street Ghaut.

Another hand painted cat at on a zinc panel at a bicycle rental shop. (oh yes… there’s lots of bicycle rental shops which you can rent bicycle to ride around the Georgetown Heritage area).

That’s all? Well… hell no!! There’s more to come. Let’s keep on moving!!!

Malaysia – Georgetown; The continuation search for Street Art (2)

Still at Chew Jetty, we were strolling along the passageways, passing the clustered wooden houses which were still occupied by the occupants of the Chew Clan communities.

The passageway made of wooden planks. The houses built on wooden stilts.

One of the typical wooden houses at the Chew Jetty.

Colourful sign boards…. so that you do not get lost lol!!!

Wooden houses on stilts. If you look at the picture below on the far left, there used to be an Ernest Zacharevic’s painting; Children in a boat but due to the rain and sunshine… it was slowly disappearing. You can catch this painting in my earlier posting – Street Art around town; of a different kind

Boats tied to the jetty and it was low tide.

A view at the end of the jetty overlooking Penang Bridge from afar.

Walking out from the Chew Jetty…. we were heading to the Gat Lebuh Armenian (Armenian Street Ghaut) road.

Old shops doing metal works… and this one was doing anchors for boats or ships.

Want more? Then dun stop… let’s continue ‘walking’ with me and let’s find those street art. =)

Malaysia – Georgetown; Continuation search for Street Art (1)

Welcome back!!

This is the continuation of my search for the Street Art in Georgetown, Penang. If you have missed out on my earlier posting, you can find it here; Street Art around town; of a different kind and also my walk in Georgetown Heritage Area

Started off early in the morning, we have our breakfast at Weld Quay at a typical old Kopitiam (coffee shop).

Oyster porridge; nice and tasty with youtiao (fried breadstick)

a typical old coffee shop in Penang.

This stall sells ban chang kuih (pancake)

nice and crispy ….

….filled with crushed peanuts.

Welcoming us at the entrance of Chew Jetty was a painting of an old lady and I guess next to her was her grandson in a ‘superman’ costume.

Home made painting.

Like what you seen? Well there’s more. Follow me on my continuation of my search ……

Malaysia – Walk up to the Batu Caves (3)

My last post on the walk up to the Batu Caves.

The interior of the caves is beautiful. Guess the pictures says more than words. Enjoy…..

Sunlight shooting through a hole into the cave…..

One of the temple altars..

view from inside of the cave to the blue clear sky.

Heading back down the stairs… slowly. =)

Here’s the short of the monkey if you missed out on the earlier post. =P

Hope you enjoy following me on the walk up to the caves. Keep following me and find out what is coming next. =)

Malaysia – Walk up to the Batu Caves (2)

Welcome back and following me on my walk up to Batu Caves.

Below is the the statue of Lord Murugan, found at the entrance of the steps; stands at 40m tall which is considered as the tallest statue of Lord Murugan in the world. This massive statue is a master piece of Indian sculptors.

A shot right under the statue.

The stairs up to Batu Caves…..

Some people also come here to exercise especially in the morning and evening to walk and down the stairs.

Did you manage to catch a glimpse of the monkeys?

Right at the top of the stairs; 272 steps!!

.. entrance of the cave

Interior of  the caves.

Follow me into Batu Caves in my next post. =)

Malaysia – Walk up to the Batu Caves (1)

Over one of my weekends, I took a trip to one of the Caves in Kuala Lumpur; Batu Caves to be exact.

What is Batu Caves?

Batu Caves cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan and is the focal point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia, (the other place in Malaysia that celebrate Thaipusamin a massive scale is in Penang – Celebration of Thaipusam. Been here 20 years back on Thaipusam day and it was packed with people… back to back unlike what you will see in the coming photos.

Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and cave temples in the Gombak district, 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. It is also the name of the nearby village.

The Shrine at the entrance of the Batu Caves

Another temple which is the near to Batu Caves Komuter Station.

Lots of pigeons near the entrance. The girl is ‘enjoying’ herself been surrounded by them. Can you see her?

Stalls selling Indian garlands

Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones and almost 100m above the ground. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. You will need to climb a steep flight of 272 steps to reach it.

Interesting? Stay tune to fine out more in my next posting. =)

Malaysia – A View from the Airplane Window

This is my one of trip back from Penang to Kuala Lumpur using flight. As flights were getting more affordable (provided you book early) it is more convenient to fly than to take a bus which may even cost more. Malaysia have a lot of choices of flights to choose from such as Firefly, Berjaya Airlines and Malindo which flies to Subang Skypark, and Airasia to LCCT. Flight time is usually around 45mins to 1 hr whereas a bus trip will take about 4 to 5 hours.

In the Firefly ATR 72-500 propeller plane taxing to take off.

passing by an Airasia 737-400 which just arrived.

A nice shot from the airplane window overlooking the 2nd Penang Bridge link; which is 24km long (land and sea) which is expected to be open in Nov 2014 linking the island to the mainland at Batu Kawan.

The Island of Pulau Jerejak which is a short 5min ferry ride from the island. This island was formerly the main leper asylum for The Straits Settlements (1868), then Quarantine Station(1875) and later penal colony (1969) for the ISA detainees. Now, it has been converted to a resort which is facing the island side. While the other side of the island of Jerejak is a shipyard.

Lastly…. a short out of the window of the clouds at 25,000 feet.

Catch me on my next posting. 😊

Malaysia – St’s Anne Festival

It was on the last Saturday in the month of July, I went to the St Anne’s Festival in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia.

What is this festival you may ask? It is annual celebration of the feast of St Anne which attracts over 100,000 pilgrims from Malaysia as well as neighboring countries like Singapore, the Philippines and Australia. The celebration usually last for 10 days which include the actual feast on the last Saturday of July.

Left Penang early and stopped by a coffee shop at Bukit Mertajam for breakfast before walking towards the St Anne’s Church.

Along the way, we passed a temple

with beautiful stone structure.

St Anne’s Church ground where both the old and new church are located.

View from St Anne’s Dataran overlooking the new St Anne’s chuch.

Interior of the new church.

… this is the old St Anne’s church which is build on a hill way back in 1888.

USA – Yosemite National Park in the summer… (3)

Welcome back to my final part. Still in the Yosemite National Park and driving around the valley. In the valley itself, there are a couple of beautiful waterfalls.

This is the Bridalveil Fall. Standing at the base.. and you can feel the very fine shower which is so nice on a hot day. =)

.. and this is the Horsetail Fall.

Further in, we stopped at one the famous hotel there; Ahwahnee Hotel.

Surrounding the hotel, beautiful tall pines trees and views.

 

Hope you enjoy this short trip. Wanna know where’s next? If yes, then follow me and find out. =)

USA – Yosemite National Park in the summer… (2)

Continuing on my trip in Yosemite National Park, still at Glacier Point and enjoying the view with the clear blue sky.

A sign board and brief information about Glacier Point.

Glacier Point is a viewpoint above Yosemite Valley, in California, USA and located on the south wall of Yosemite Valley at an elevation of 2,199 m, 980 m above Curry Village.  The point offers a superb view of Yosemite National Park’s Yosemite Valley, including Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, and Clouds Rest.

Driving from Galcier Point, we arrived Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite Valley  is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of California. It is about 13 km long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines and is drained by the Merced River and a multitude of streams including Tenaya, Illilouette, Yosemite and Bridalveil Creeks, which form some of the highest waterfalls of California. Also is renowned for its natural beauty, and is widely regarded as the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park, attracting visitors from around the world especially in the summer.

Below is the spectacular view from Tunnel View.

Next stop was El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about 900 m from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world’s favorite challenges for rock climbers. During visit, we saw rock climbers scaling it. They look like little ants. LOL!!

Can you see the climbers on El Capitan? If you can… you have an eye of an eagle. =)

More to come. Follow me on the last part of the trip to Yosemite…..