Penang Here We Come

Last week, Alvin, Daryl and I took a bus to Penang. The bus was good. I recommend fivestar 18seater. Alvin expected a ride in a jalopy but was impressed with the reclining seats, personal entertainment system and massage. For me, the comfort of the bus made no difference. At 2 in the morning, I was desperately wishing the bus could be turned into a large toilet at the press of a button. Do not eat Ramlee chicken burger at Yong Peng!!! the expired charcoal pills I had brought along was of little consolation. I thought that the arduous journey would finally end when the bus entered Penang Bridge. To my utter horror, traffic on the bridge at 7am was another fiasco. How did a leisurely trip (a supposed walk in the park) turn out to be harsher than getting to Payatas???

It's been 5 years since my last Penang trip. There's a new Terminal Bas Express at Sungai Nibong close to the bridge and near the new Queensbay area. Not very good for someone in dying need of a toilet!
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/nibongeng.htm

Penang has changed somewhat. More cars now on the roads. Just like in Singapore and we wonder why fuel prices are skyrocketing!?? there's also a lot more property development. More condos now dot the skyline. Even the public flats have been given a makeover. The once shabby squalid flats at Tanjong Bungah have been given a new lease of life. The lights are much brighter add a fresh coat of paint and the ground floor is now abuzz with shops (open for business kind). No longer a dark and dingy hangout where dubious characters linger in the shadows probably trying to get a quick fix. Also Gurney area has been well-developed. Gurney Plaza looks busy and the G hotel too. However, I can't accept the demise of beloved Komtar. Sad. No more 7am Macs Breakfast when we arrive. But there's Prangin Mall, kinda MBK-ish (Bangkok). We were happy to find Midlands mall, more or less the same as before. And Maranatha still gong strong on the 4th floor.. hahaha. Penang is a small place. Consumerism is just going to be kind of stagnant. Unless there's a sudden inlfux of mirgants and the population is growing fast. Else developers should not open malls as and when they feel like it. When one mall is launched, another mall dies. Poor shopowners who go out of business. Lucky for those who can relocate to the new mall. So techincally, it's not wise to keep opening new malls and abandoning the old ones. Just upgrade, expand, refresh.

We stayed at Batu Ferringhi (Ali's Guesthouse). Cool place according to Alvin and I. Daryl did not quite approve of the shack that greeted us. But the people behind Ali's seemed to be more serious about business than Shalini's (where movement in the typical Chinese living room can be easily observed by Kpos like us). The Ah-Poh and chinese man in singlet seem oblivious that they were running a guesthouse. Though they've got good reviews as a family-run establishment, we still wanted a place that would treat us as guests and not distant relatives or in-laws. The Baba Guesthouse, a simple 1960s Chinese house gave us the impression of Ah Peis hanging around in their cotton-thin blue-striped PJs (like old folks' home set up). Actually we never saw anyone go in or come out from there though the door is always wide open. ET Guesthouse? Saw the sign but have no recollection of having seen the place. Ali's is like a kampong place yet, chalet looking.. and Daryl gave his final stamp of approval when he spied the sign "Cable TV available"... arrrggghhhh!!! I warned Alvin in advance: Cable TV means he's not sleeping.. He'll be up watching whatever sports is available till the wee hours of the morning. Still we decided to check in and settled for a small but comfortable triple sharing room. Daryl was happy with the cable TV, I was happy there was a toilet. Alvin was happy with the large comforter on the bed! after freezing on the bus for 10hours. note: always have a jacket and/or blankie when travelling on planes, trains, buses. This is the 21st century! there is air-con... and it can only get colder!

Once we settled in, lackadaisical mode swung in. Batu Ferringhi is really a slack place where I would like to open a mamashop/makan place and watch the world go by. After a month I'd probably be bored stiff and would expand to a guesthouse. After a couple of months, I'd probably open an internet cafe cum arcade (24hours). The mamashop would by then also be a 24hour convenience store. Probably after that, I would organize night street basking, artists on the sidewalks painting portraits. and the makan place would by then be burger joint by day, side walk alfresco dining by night. Guesthouse would have a jacuzzi installed already, cable, wireless and other upgraded facilties. There'd be foot therapy where fish can bite on your feet. There'll be spa and massage on the beach front. And a large pond for fishing! hehe...
Then there'd be beach parties every weekend! Beach soccer and volleyball competitions. Sandcastle building competitions and so on.

After a year Batu Ferringhi would no longer be a slack place but bustling, busy an crowded.. and I'll wonder "why did i ever come to such a busy place???" hahaha and then retreat to Bhutan.

We lived the next 2 days rather nonchalantly, doing nonchalant stuff. Went to tropical fruit farm. How to go? Board the only bus 101 going round Batu Ferringhi (btw rapid bus is good.. almost SBS standard.. take the Hin bus at your own risk haha) stop at Telok Bahang's depot/interchange. Wait for minibus 501 and it'll go to the base of the fruit farm.. i must warn you 1st about the climb up to the fruit farm... phew... hehe For 25 Ring, we went on a tour with a Jacky Chanish guide and a promised fruit buffet at the end of the tour! Many Arab tourists joine too.. they didn't care what Jacky Chan was saying. They were grabbing every fruit in sight. Poor Jacky Chan had to tell them "No dont eat our fruits! Not now! Not here" a few Arab ladies found great delight posing for photos with every fruit tree they saw! After awhile we were hungry and deserted Jacky Chan. So did some of the Arabs who also headed for the fruit buffet line.

The fruit buffet was my first one ever! Who would have a fruit buffet?? ... I imagined that there would be a START line and someone would blow the whistle which would trigger a mad dash down the path for fruit trees which would be everywhere, waiting for us to ATTACK. ... like Sonic and Hedgehog? there'd be ripe mango trees on the left and the mangoes would be in grabbing distance. There'd be sweet rambutans on the right screaming "eat me! eat me!" Further down there'd be jackfruit (already cut and open) dangling before us. Grapes on the bushes (yes they have grapes) and whooo.. mouthwatering... and the finale.. just before the finishing line there'd be tons giganto fleshy yellow durian already waiting for us to devour. The king of fruits. whooo!

However the reality turned out to be very different from my imagined buffet. The real fruit buffet was disappointing...typical buffet set up. a few miserly catering trays... some regular featured fruits.. mango was not the filipino happening kind. didnt even have BANANA! and at batu ferringhi the Banana house had tons of banana. and the batu ferringhi mango was much juicier! and noooo durian in sight!! sobsob.. refund! refund! refund! If Alan, Iggy, Tim were there.. they would have rioted!

Other nonchalant activities that I don't actually need to mention here.. so this paragraph is pretty nonchalant: meals at nondescript roadside stalls, bus rides on long winding roads, dozing off on the bus while on long winding roads, sauntering here and there (confession: it takes effort to saunter. especially when the other 2 are always lagging behind. They make me look like I'm in a hurry). Sitting on the beach looking at the starless sky. Alvin burying his Tat Seng in the dead of the night. Alvin digging for his Tat Seng under the sweltering midday sun. Alvin walking from Penang Road to Macalister to Nagore in search of a new Tat Seng to replace his buried Tat Seng. Quite nonsensical.. but that's our friend Alvin. We don't try to understand him, we just try to live with him... hehe

Anyway after 2 days of slacking on the Batu (aka stone).. we batu (stoned) on the batu (stone)... Daryl was the 1st to want out! "City! Gimme the city!" he gave a ranting speech, praising us for the simplicity thus far.. and it was about time to reward ourselves with a hotel in the city... (actually he just wanted a fridge to store his chocolates. heehee!) so we packed up. bid the Ali folks farewell, waved to Shalini, ET and Baba and boarded the bus (what else? 101 lah) to Komtar. we "trekked" towards the 1st decent looking hotel (not the Singapore air-conditioned hotel!). With the help of Alvin's fishing rod, which efficiently pointed us in the right direction, we finally came to Cititel. A little boring.. but nvm Daryl got his fridge and stored his chocolates.

We went out to familiarise ourselves with the area.. make friends with the people in the neighbourhood... found a Catholic church just behind the hotel.. and on the church's premises was a mission centre called the Lighthouse where homeless people come in for free meals.. now we're talking.. i don't mean we were planning on posing as homeless and get a free meal.. Helloooo?? ok but the thought did cross my mind lah.. we could check the place out find out more about their mission, learn something from them. There was also a Catholic information centre.. bookstore thing. very cool.

Helena this wonderful Penangite Youth worker picked us up later in the afternoon (from where we were having our lunch just across the hotel) and drove us to the Lighthouse just behind the hotel... hehe and we wonder how come petrol so expensive.. here i want to add. that Helena this cool gal.. drives an environmentally green car.. she uses natural gas.. hehe not that kind of natural gas lah! anyway.. she rockzz.. (be a planeteer.. saving our planet is the thing to do!!! Captain Planet) So there was technically no sin commited driving 25metres up and down :)