Penang Hill, Kek Lok Si Temple : High in Height/Spirits

One thing I really like when I am traveling is temple-running! (not surprising as I am living in Brunei and the closest thing to a temple around here is a tiny one in the city) (note: I'm a Christian but I love visiting temples, cathedrals alike)

So naturally when we were in Penang. we just had to visit the Kek Lok Si (极乐寺) temple, which is the biggest and most popular Buddhist temple there.

We went to two tourist sites in one day, the Penang Hill/ Bukit Bendera and the Kek Lok Si Temple because it was sights day!

To go to Penang Hill, you had to drive around 30 mins if you were coming from Georgetown like we did. Then you had to queue to take a train to go uphill. The train looks like this:

The queue was quite long and it was very hot but good thing the queue moved quite fast

Tourist Prices

A return ticket for an adult is 30RM
For children aged 4 - 6 years old it is 5RM
Older children / students : 15RM
Senior Citizens : no discount unless you are Malaysian.

If you really want to, you can pay double for the "Fast Lane".

For Malaysian citizens who show their MyKad the prices are as follows :

Adult : 10RM
Children (4-6) : 3RM
Student Ticket : 5RM
Senior Citizens (60+) : 5RM
Students : 4RM

Disabled people can travel for free.

Information retrieved from http://www.travel-penang-malaysia.com/penang-hill-train.html

 All of us were Malaysians with MyKads except my boyfriend but the officials didn't check so we went in with MyKad prices :|

Up we go!!

I remember the tram to be really crowded so thankfully, it wasn't a long ride. Also, it is notable that we went on a public holiday.

Crowded like in a city MRT station at rush hour -_-

Quite a misty view from the top!

My boyfriend and I LOVE these things. Ok fine, maybe its just me and my boyfriend just tags along but I love putting lovelocks on anything with lovelocks that I see! Our first one was in Paris, with this being the second time. Our third will be at Seoul the end of the year :P 

^_^

With our awesome friends who drove down from KL city to hang with us!

Our love bent the bench :P

Then later, we went and took a buggy ride (of course you can choose to walk if you wish but mind you the walk is against gravity and it is around 2km). You can choose whether you want a Mandarin or English speaking guide/ buggy driver.

In the buggy going up ^_^

Bros

Towards the end of the ride and higher up the hill at the Monkey Cup Garden, there was a Kopi Hutan al fresco 'cafe' (notably the highest in Penang- literally) for us to have coffee in the woods!

As you can see, the coffee was made in a moka pot and we had snacks too while seated on rock-stools in the jungle. It was rather cooling and I was grateful there wasn't any mosquitoes!

Yvonne's lovely photography skills are king

The coffee was smooth, like the black coffee I normally drink!

Posing outside the Monkey Cup Garden. We didn't enter the Garden, which is "a collection of various Nephentes (Monkey Cup) species cultivated in a beautifully designed mossy garden at the right environment. There are original as well as hybrid species from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, The Philippines, and other countries. There will be a dedicated tour guide explain and show you around the garden." source: http://penangfoodie.com/highest-cafe-penang-kopi-hutan/

After that we drove for a bit (forgot how long!) to Kek Lok Si (极乐寺) Temple. In Penang Hokkien, Kek Lok Si means "Temple of the Supreme Bliss". So thankful we drove ourselves because it meant we didn't have to walk up!! It was a really hot day.

The 极乐寺 one of Southeast Asia's largest Chinese Buddhist temples and is one of the most well-known attractions in Penang.
I've always been fascinated with religious architecture and writings, so off we went!

We were first greeted by this huge Goddess of Mercy, KuanYin statue, which is a 30.2m of bronze. It was only completed and open to public in 2002.

We then bought these 'wishes' and placed them on wishing trees

My boyfriend made a donation for a roof tile for the construction/ upkeeping of the temple

Many other donors!

A monk handling this donation panel inside the temple

Inside the Grand Hall

The Temple is so large that we had to take a short inclined lift ride to the other side! The inclined lift ride is RM4/person:

There was a Ban Po Thar, the Kek Lok Si Pagoda in the Central Pavilion, which we entered, all 7 tiersof it! The Kek Lok Si Pagoda is interesting because of how it was built. The base of the pagoda was built in a Chinese style, the center is Thai, and the top is Burmese. So there are three sections of culture and history within the pagoda, and you can really see the difference both inside and from the outside structure. 

source: https://migrationology.com/kek-lok-si-temple-penang/

The pagoda doesn't look very tall here but the walk up was quite tiring, as some of the stairs were steep and narrow, like this:

Due to each floor being of different, we experienced each floor of different styles of Buddha, shrines and decorations that ranged from Chinese, Burmese and Thai. It was really interesting to see what each tier had. There was one with a sleeping Buddha.

The wall tiles were also different on each and every tier, with two of my favorites here:

The view when we reached the 7th level was really beautiful!

Because of the heat and the walk, my friends didn't follow us up so we had to take this using self-timer which i think turned out okay :P

Interestingly enough, brothers Aw Boon Par and Aw Boon Haw gifted the Kek Lok Si Temple this gateway. Last year, my boyfriend and I visited the Haw Par Villa in Singapore, which was built by the two philanthropist brothers.

Also, they are more popularly known to introduce the Tiger Balm ointment :)

Our friends, Yvonne and Kong

Here's a very good and informative link about Kek Lok Si Temple if you want to find out more: http://www.penang-traveltips.com/kek-lok-si-temple.htm

:)

Penang eats and beats

Hi guys!

I just got back from Penang, West Malaysia last Wednesday! The entire journey to and back was really tiring because we had to drive to Miri, take a plane to KL and then another to Penang. Overall, it took us 8 hours, including the transit hours. Could've flown to Dubai with that time! Its because initially our flights were direct flights from Miri to Penang but in March, Airasia cancelled all direct flights so we had to be rerouted to KL first, and then have a transit period of 3 hours in between.

But its okay because Penang was amazing!

As known large and wide, Penang is famous as a FOOD HAVEN! We were really excited to eat all the yummy food in Penang. In Penang, the hawkers and street food is the best. You can't go wrong. 

Famous for their char kwey tiao, asam laksa, rojak and more, Penang did not disappoint when it came to satisfying our taste buds.

This is a food dedication post. Of course Penang, being a UNESCO certified site, has a lot of other sites to visit, such as the many museums, temples and churches, and these will be featured in a later post.

Disclaimer: the trip was a birthday present for my boyfriend. It was meant to be a surprise but due to some issues to avoid clashing, I had to tell him a couple of months before. However, I had another surprise which went smoothly; which was surprising him with our friends from KL! He had no clue they were coming and only realize they were there when we were walking in Little India and I just opened the car door of the car parked by the side. His expression was priceless!

So our friends, Kong and Yvonne took us around (in a car- phew!! Penang heat is no joke!), tasting all of their favorite food that they felt we had to try.

So first things first, we went to the food court by Padang Brown.

The food court was split into halal and non-halal eateries. The food listed in this post are from the non-halal section.

This is what it looks like, except when we were there, it was FULL of people

Crab meat Popiah. First time I had this, it was really special because I definitely have not tasted crab meat popiah before.

No brainer Char Kwey Tiao! I love how Penang ckt use "La chang" which is pork sausages.. It really adds the umph to the taste. It was so yummy!!

Otak Otak and Sotong Rojak.
I read online that only Penang has this particular sort of Otak Otak. The rojak was good too, considering that I do not normally eat squid, I liked the sauce.

No cut-open shots but inside the Otak Otak was big chunks of fish.

"Otak-otak is a grilled fish cake made of ground fish meat mixed with tapioca starch and spices.^[2] It is widely known acrossSoutheast Asia, especially in Indonesia,^[1] Malaysia and Singapore, where it is traditionally served fresh, wrapped inside a banana leaf, as well as in many Asian stores internationally — being sold as frozen food. It can be eaten solely as a snack or with steamed rice as part of a meal."

Squid rojak!

That was our Padang Brown food court adventure. I really recommend going there because there is a huge array of choices for every taste bud. They have a lot of famous stalls selling different food and all of the above we had were on point. LIT. I def miss it.

Next in line is the wonderful crab congee we had in Nt Cheang Kee. It is their signature dish. The restaurant is located in mainland Penang, which was quite the drive from where we stayed, Georgetown. Penang is consisted of an island and a tiny strip of land that is at the same place as Kedah. So this restaurant was on that tiny strip. We got there via ferry. There are also two really longgggggggg bridges that combine Penang Island and mainland Penang.

It is absolutely with no joke when I tell you how delicious this was.

The broth was so full of taste and so rich in the crab taste... Every bite was just.. out of this world. I truly miss it, can you tell? Have you ever ate something and feeling sad that you know you will be missing it already, while still chewing? That was exactly how I felt. I don't even know if we can ever get the chance to return. #emodayz

The congee is teochew style, so you may notice the congee is like rice, and not the normal porridge-y type where it is soft and mushy. What was amazing was that there was a lot of crab meat as well. I don't recall how much it was but this, along with 2 other dishes and drinks were less than RM50!

Highly recommended if you have a car for the drive!

Moving back to the island of Penang now. On our first night right after we landed, we walked to China House, which was recommended by our Uber driver. He said that the restaurant was very unique, and we saw what he meant. It looks tiny from the entrance, but it is a LONG restaurant split into 3 different sections. One was more of a fine-dining type, leading to a kopitiam feel, and there is a pub inside near the back.

It was full so we had to sit in the fine-dining room, which is the first room next to the bar.

The tiramisu is to die for. Non-alcoholic, the last layer is SOAKED in liquor. It was so rich and so good. it was the only time my BF and I finished a slice of cake. (We are not big sweet tooth people)

Also, the mosque on the table will be explained in a later post ;P

888 Hokkien Mee:

in Penang, when you say Hokkien Mee, it is referred to as the Prawn Mee.

Its the best prawn mee I've had. I know the entire post is just praising everything but nothing but truth here.

The broth is so rich in prawn taste, it was the best thing. We opted for maggi noodles with our prawn mee, and added other optional add-ons like pork slices and egg. Ahhhh- the perfect combination!

We also tried the Lor Mee, but I am naturally not a Lor Mee fan because it is too thick for my liking but my BF and friends liked it too.

Highly recommended.

Up on Bendera Hill (Penang Hill), we had the most impromptu decision to have coffee in the middle of the forest while we were on our buggy ride.

Yep, we had Kopi Hutan (Jungle coffee) in the jungle.

I'm a black coffee drinker, so the coffee suited me just fine. Nope, no sugar, no milk- when you go back, hell no you going back! Ha. 

I think the whole experience was just so remarkable because we were literally seated in the jungle, on stools on a hill. And being on a hill, it wasn't hot so everything was just lovely. Lots more pictures obviously, but in a later post.

I do recommend it as a one-time thing, because of the experience being so ever unique. Also, the cafe that serves the Kopi Hutan has a free "shuttle" drive back to the Hill entrance after you're done! Score!

After Penang Hill, we went to the Kek Lok Si Temple at Air Itam. No, we did not get to eat the super-famous Asam Laksa that everyone is talking about. I'm not kidding, go google Air Itam Asam Laksa. Or just Penang Asam Laksa.

Instead we went to another one deeper in. I can't recall what it was called but it was a restaurant and not a food court.

Now, some people may not be able to take the strong fish taste of Asam Laksa, my bf and mum being in that category, but I liked it. Its not healthy, no, but it was good and I liked it! I wish they had bigger chunks of fish in it though. We had this dish twice in Penang and both had only tiny mashed fish bits in them. :(

CKT was obviously good too!!!

Banana Leaf in Little India? At a place directly outside our Hotel? What could be better?

We went to Sri Ananda for Banana Leaf Rice and two of us only amounted to less than RM40. It was so cheap and really yummy. We had the normal options of chicken, beef or mutton and we both opted for mutton because mutton.

We also had the dhal (recommended by the waiter) instead of the other 2 sauces, which he said is mostly for bread and naan.

Now, I am no Indian food expert so I do not know what the other condiments were but I really liked them because they each have a different taste to sort out neutralize each other out. The first is well, cabbage and the second is somewhat sweet while the third was extremely salty. The mutton was just nice, lots of meat and big pieces too.

We were afraid we wouldn't know how to order but we did pretty good. I would definitely go back. I've always been a fan of Indian food for their rich taste and sauces! Nyum.

These two below are just random eats we had. The Asam Laksa is from a cafe really near to Khoo Kongsi and has a reflexology upstairs.

Pretty good, the taste was there but I still wish they had bigger fish slices. The noodles were really springy and slippery compared to the one we had at Air Itam.

Char Kwey Tiao directly beside our hotel. Our Hotel location is the bomb. More on that later.

Another highlight was the Road Famous Teochew chendol! It is really literal, whatever you see on the signboard. It really is by the road side, and really is hell famous. There was a long queue before we could get our hands on a bowl. RM2.70 for a bowl of cold kick was just what we (and obviously everyone else) needed on a crazy hot day in Penang.

Lemme tell you how this man wasted zero time when it came to preparing the Chendol for customers.

See what I meant?

What is really special about this particular chendol stand is that they make their own chendol (the green thing). It wasn't also too sweet, which was excellent. It was nice to have, but it isn't something I will necessarily queue for again now that I have tried it.

That is (unfortunately) all of our Penang eats. I wish we had more time because it just really isn't enough and Penang has WAY too much delicious food for us to discover at every corner and street. Penang food portions are tiny and cheap, so it made way for more food.... Good thing we did a lot of walking and sweating so I THINK (and pray and hope and dream and praaaaay) we didn't gain too much weight. Got darker- fo sho.

Til the next post, folks x