Well, this time, the trip to Penang, the pearl of the orient, was kind of disappointing. Only a short 3 day trip but a very long 3 hour plus drive from the capital, in the middle of the potato. To add to the time, unpredictable traffic in the roads in Penang was another hassle. The Penang bridge was 13km long and most of the cars were traveling at only 50kmph. That’s like speed on a small road in a housing area! The slow-ness!!
Anyway, my parents and I went there because my dad had an invitation to attend a gathering. This gathering consisted of students from my dad’s secondary school, Chung Ling Secondary School in Penang. It was their 45th year of anniversary of leaving school. Well, it seems that they are very happy to leave school. A lavish 8-course dinner served in the middle of the school hall itself. Well, it was fun for them but boring for me. I had to sit with the wives of the ex-students which includes my mum. Thank God my mum was there. Luckily, the ladies were very friendly. I think we were the most noisy table in the hall. So much gossip and talk and experiences and jokes to share. Well, typical women attitude.
Next day, woke up and found out that it was raining. Not heavily but just raining lightly. Typical kind of monsoon rain that usually lasts the whole day. And it did. Rained and rained and rained. Wanted to go many places to sight-see but the weather led us down. Only managed to visit the famous Kek Lok Si temple. To me, that place isn’t a temple anymore. I was a shopping area to me. There were full of shops and stalls all along the way to the temple and inside the temple itself too. The place now is just too commercialized. It’s not as interesting as it used to be. Even the goods sold there are so expensive and not worth even to take a look. All these stuff are better bought in KL here. Better quality and even cheaper here than that so called “tourist-spot”.
At night of the same day, second dinner to celebrate their leaving of school. This time we leave the old and ancient-ness of school to a nice seafood restaurant. This time we had buffets. The food was so-so. Nothing to shout about. The worst part of the night was the karaoke part where guests took turns to go on stage and sing their song. Most of them were ear-splitting and totally out-of-tune. I don’t blame them. Age is catching up for them and they better enjoy life before it’s too late for them. Old Chinese songs that were either too slow or too challenging for them to sing. There was even a man, which was drunk (I think) had this terrible style of dancing. I think he just wants to attract attention. He was dancing as if he knew to do perform kung-fu steps. But it was kind of out of pace with the music and didn’t really match the songs. In my head, all I could think was saio kya (hokkien for mentally ill person).
This morning, woke up to a wonderfully prepared and very fragrant nasi lemak, prepared by the host’s maid which was really good at cooking after serving her master for 18 odd years already. It just too nice to even consume it. After breakfast, it was time to leave already. So had to pack up and start another 3 hour plus journey back to the capital of the country. On the way back, we stopped at Bidor for their ever famous aap tui meen (duck thigh noodles). It was just so appetizing. Nicely cooked.
That was what mostly happened during my trip to Penang.
