Friday, April 06, 2007

okay, post time!

realised i didnt blog about my penang trip, so here goes.

travelled there by night, so didnt get much photos. here's one of the penang bridge in early early morning, though i doubt u can see much. :P



our hotel, the bayview. right in the middle of the city, which made for convenient travelling.

and the view of the pool from our room. really weird one though...the pool, i mean. its not often u see 3.5 meter depth...it got pretty scary swimming over that section.

anyways. penang being the food haven it is, what follows next is my food gallery, from 5 days of gorging. try not to drool. :D



breakfast on the first day...lor bak (fried items, not pictured), hokkien mee (with the prawns) and lor mee (bowl with dark sauce). all noodle items tasted a bit off, but the lor bak was great! ridiculously expensive, though. it really makes u wonder how locals can afford to eat out. then again, if you lived to eat, price wouldnt be much of a concern, ne.



hawker food isnt the only great place to eat though, everytime we go back (which is what, once every 2-3 years), my aunt tends to cook up a storm, as you can me. now you know why im so scared to go back to penang...all that happens is sideways expansion.



Final food pic, satay at one of the rest stops on the return journey. yum. :)

One more memorable thing about penang has to be the architecture there, as a lot of the old houses built during colonial times are still standing. Sadly, not all of them are in every good condition. As i hae a ruined house fetish, however, this proved not to be a problem. Some highlights of lovely architecture, both of the ruined and non-ruined variety.

Yes yes, not architecture i know. But heck, who can resist a lane like that?? :D

Again, not architecture per se, but i really had to take a photo of this. Corridors which have a size limit! gah. for all the great food, penangites still seem to be pretty slim , huh.

(yes finally architecture!) a lovely, lovely building i found. its just...woah. hee. you want irony? the two buildings on either side of this poor dear are modern skyscrapers. Its quintessesntially penang.

Now this....all ive got to say is: a room with a view, anyone? :) man, the real esate industry over there's just digging themselves a new grave. ha.

Anyway that picture's helping me segue into the other reason why i went to penang: qing ming jie. visited graves from both sides of the family. Not wanting to have too many pictures of graveyards and/or headstones, which arent the world's most tasteful photographic material on my blog, I bring to you this:

A pretty interesting looking statue from on of the graveyards i visited. Gravesites here (especially the old ones) are really well decorated, some even with tiled floors. The're almost pretty, really. Looking at these though, it really is kinda sad that burials are a luxury here, not to be had for love and money. Outdated custom, maybe. Lets not forget all the culture, and craftsmanship, which tend to walk hand in hand with customary practices.

with, that. finito! :)

.shiri.