1013 Asia Travel

Toll-taker on road to new airport building

Denspasar, Bali Airport

(Click on photos to see a larger image.)

Overnight train from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Malaysia

We boarded the overnigh sleeper at 9:30PM. Here are some pictures of out accomodations. Ron and TomO shared a room and I was in the room next door. I was ready to share, but no one came.

Early on a porter came by witb a bottle of water and a little clear box with a slice of cake (like carrot cake) in it. Anotter person checked our tickets.

The train made may stops. Early on, more people came aboard. I slept soundly for about 3-4 hours. After that I slept while the train was moving and woke when it stopped at a station. As we neared Butterworth Station (Penang) the stops were much more frequent.

The 5:15AM Butterworth stop was announced on the PA system and I flew around gathering my stuff up and raced off of the train. I missed the part of the speech that told us to "take our time"!

Here we are at 6AM on the first ferry to Georgetown, Penang. It is a short ride across the straits. You can see the lights of Georgetown in the distance. Now there are also 2 bridges that connect to the island. We got to the hotel too early to check in, but we stashed our luggage there and went up to the gym area and took showers.

Vickie, one of the managers at our Trader's Hotel was very helpful and got us going on our first trek into the town,

.
Street scenes

This is the Khoo Kongsi, a temple and community compound for the Khoo families which originated is specific areas in China. This is the Kongsi that belongs to Teddy Khoe's family. It is beautiful. Underneath the temple is a large museum. This probably the richest of the many Kongsi's here in Penang.

More street walking.

Two British artifacts: The Fort Cornwallis and the Victoria Clock (1902).

Goverment complex across from St. George Anglican Church,

(Click on photos to see a larger image.)

Penang, Malaysia

The bell captain at Trader's Hotel helped up locate a car and driver to take around the island to the things we wanted to see. Anyone touring Penang must book Vejay at The White Limo Services, 012-429-9526, Ofc: 604-899-9252, or e-mail him at cvejayan@yahoo.com

Georgetown is in the NE side on this map of the island.

The first stop was in the area of the Clan Jetties. This is the historic area where many Chinese settled. The famlies still hold on to these waterfront properties, although most of the new generation live elsewhere.

The building sit on piling made from stacks of cement filled plastic buckets.

A fresh catch of fish was trapped and brought in to be cleaned and de-scaled.

Our guide/driver Vejay. One industry is taking the husks off of garlic heads and cloves.

Low tide this morning exposes the plastic bucket pilings.

Next stop was this restored mansion. ...

Open air courtyard.

Our guide in blue

Over 200 stained glass windows were restored and releaded.

Broken pottery was used to make this detailed mosasics. The Chinese avoided import taxes by pre-breaking the dishes.

Instructions

Two Budhist temples (Thai and Burnese).

Reservoir/dam (drinking water)

view from Penang Hill

Making grasshoppers out of leaves

Temple on Penang Hill

Water Monitor Lizard (2-3 feet long) crawled across the restaurant driveway where we were going!

The the Northam Beach Cafe. This is right on the straits. We could see reclaimed land (in the background) and also Butterworth on the other side. This place is like food court with stall of food respresenting all of the cuisine from Asia. I had Tandoori (Indian).

	Asia Adventure: October 16 - November 25, 2013	Part 4: Malaysia
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(Click on photos to see a larger image.) Bali to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wayan drove us to the Denspasar, Bali Airport for our flight to Singapore. We left a little early because that day was an important religious event: the cremation of some royal family members. The street that we would have taken out of Ubud was closed and we took a detour. The airport is new and quite stunning. The waiting area was a little uncomfortable but I think they are still working on that. And our plane was 30 minutes behine schedule.
Toll-taker on road to new airport building Denspasar, Bali Airport Denspasar, Bali Airport
Back in Singapore, we took a taxi to the same hotel that we used last time. It is in the Bugis area which was a notorious area in the old days ... bars, bordellos, etc. Near our hotel back in Singapore Noodle restaurant no. 1: Taiwan ... The chef uses a cutter to form noodles from this log of dough Fantasti water feature in the casino complex at Bayfront and the Marina Bay Sands. Water swirls in the inverted glass dome above and pours through the bottom. Noodle restaurant no 2: dough is pulled and pulled until thin strands are formed and tossed into boiling water. Best noodles so far! McDonalds for breakfast Train station along the way from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia KL Skyline Room at the Pacific Regency Hotel Suites near the KL Tower Dinner at the hotel KL sightseeing ... the Hop On Hop Off Bus route Shopping center near the Petronas Twin Towers We paid extra to go up to the open-air observation deck of the KL tower. It had been closed the day before because of weather. We've seen more of these coffee places than Starbucks! Helpful advertizing on the Hop On Hop Off bus KL sights On the Hop On Hop Off bus The monorail ... one of several rapid transit modalities.
More Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Click on photos to see a larger image.) On our next full day in KL we explored the monorail by taking it to the end of the line. You use touch screens to indicate the station you are gving to and buy a blue, plastic token. The token is held on top of the turn style and it opens up (you keep the token). At the end station, you insert the token in the gates to get out On the monorail. We also transferred to their rapid transit. The San Francisco Coffee shops are all over the place (more that Starbucks??) We met friend Khylune for dim sum lunch at the Pavilion Shopping Center. He is a singer and friend of Terry and Don's (Palm Springs). Khylune lives in Malaysia for half of the year and London the other half. Khylune was very informative and we learned a lot about this country. Khylune (Charles Tham) is a singer. You can sample his music at http://khylune.com/ ... especially his new album Uncovered and his music video Made in China. You can also purchase his music on iTunes. a galleria at the Pavilion shopping center Walkway from the shopping complex to the Aquarium at the Convention Center, Walking back to the hotel and getting ready for our overnight train to Penang! Details to follow.
(Click on photos to see a larger image.) Overnight train from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Malaysia We boarded the overnigh sleeper at 9:30PM. Here are some pictures of out accomodations. Ron and TomO shared a room and I was in the room next door. I was ready to share, but no one came. Early on a porter came by witb a bottle of water and a little clear box with a slice of cake (like carrot cake) in it. Anotter person checked our tickets. The train made may stops. Early on, more people came aboard. I slept soundly for about 3-4 hours. After that I slept while the train was moving and woke when it stopped at a station. As we neared Butterworth Station (Penang) the stops were much more frequent. The 5:15AM Butterworth stop was announced on the PA system and I flew around gathering my stuff up and raced off of the train. I missed the part of the speech that told us to "take our time"! Here we are at 6AM on the first ferry to Georgetown, Penang. It is a short ride across the straits. You can see the lights of Georgetown in the distance. Now there are also 2 bridges that connect to the island. We got to the hotel too early to check in, but we stashed our luggage there and went up to the gym area and took showers. Vickie, one of the managers at our Trader's Hotel was very helpful and got us going on our first trek into the town, . Street scenes This is the Khoo Kongsi, a temple and community compound for the Khoo families which originated is specific areas in China. This is the Kongsi that belongs to Teddy Khoe's family. It is beautiful. Underneath the temple is a large museum. This probably the richest of the many Kongsi's here in Penang. More street walking. Two British artifacts: The Fort Cornwallis and the Victoria Clock (1902). Goverment complex across from St. George Anglican Church,
(Click on photos to see a larger image.) Penang, Malaysia The bell captain at Trader's Hotel helped up locate a car and driver to take around the island to the things we wanted to see. Anyone touring Penang must book Vejay at The White Limo Services, 012-429-9526, Ofc: 604-899-9252, or e-mail him at cvejayan@yahoo.com Georgetown is in the NE side on this map of the island. The first stop was in the area of the Clan Jetties. This is the historic area where many Chinese settled. The famlies still hold on to these waterfront properties, although most of the new generation live elsewhere. The building sit on piling made from stacks of cement filled plastic buckets. A fresh catch of fish was trapped and brought in to be cleaned and de-scaled. Our guide/driver Vejay. One industry is taking the husks off of garlic heads and cloves. Low tide this morning exposes the plastic bucket pilings. Next stop was this restored mansion. ... Open air courtyard. Our guide in blue Over 200 stained glass windows were restored and releaded. Broken pottery was used to make this detailed mosasics. The Chinese avoided import taxes by pre-breaking the dishes. Instructions Two Budhist temples (Thai and Burnese). Reservoir/dam (drinking water) view from Penang Hill Making grasshoppers out of leaves Temple on Penang Hill Water Monitor Lizard (2-3 feet long) crawled across the restaurant driveway where we were going! The the Northam Beach Cafe. This is right on the straits. We could see reclaimed land (in the background) and also Butterworth on the other side. This place is like food court with stall of food respresenting all of the cuisine from Asia. I had Tandoori (Indian).
========================================= 22 Hours to Bangkok, Thailand On the morning of our last day in Penang, we packed and made our way to the ferry back to the train station in Butterworth. There we boarded the second class sleeper train for the 22 hour over night ride to Bangkok. There were only 2 cars when we left Penang. (More were added with whiplash-giving maneuvers.) Single row of facing seats on each side of an aisle. Latt. Latter to the upper bunks. Privacy curtains during the night. TomD in his lower bunk. I slept soundly for about 4 hours (starting around 10PM). After that it was short sleep/wake cycles. Now (Sunday Nov 10th) we are in Bangkok.
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