There are so many places to go to in Penang and I was impressed with their tourist friendly guidelines in leaflets and services. One of the place to go would have to be Kek Lok Si! I don't really like temples because I get bothered by the smell of incense but someone managed to convince me by telling me the best laksa in the whole of Penang is the one located outside kek lok si!!
And that was the reason why I found myself travelling in a bus this fateful morning to Kek Lok Si!!
After fretting for about 20 minutes whether we missed the stop (because there were fewer and fewer passengers on board), hubby asked the driver on the stop to Kek Lok Si and he very nicely say he will inform us when we get there. I told hubby not to worry because I overheard an old man saying he is going to Kek Lok Si and he looks local, so I deduce I just need to follow his heed. If he goes down, I go down too. Smart, right? Anyway, the bus driver was very nice, he eventually called us when it was our stop.
The entrance to the Kek Lok Si's staircase
I guess we were quite early because the staircase should be decorated with merchandise but it was still quite empty as we walked up the stairs. When we were walking down, the staircase was really crowded with merchandise that the sunlight was quite blocked out so feels a bit claustrophobic. Before long we reach the top of the staircase and spotted the hoards of tortoises.
The lake of longevity, I think.
I really like the hoards of tortoises, one piled on top of another. So active, wtf! lol.. When I move, their tiny heads also move with me and watched me expectantly as if waiting for some morsel of food. But we are not allowed to feed the tortoises because there is an assigned feeder at appropriate time.
Kek Lok Si temple view near the prayer hall
Kek Lok Si temple view
We eventually took an inclined elevator to the top of the hill to take a look at the huge bronzed Kuan Yin statue. It only costs us about RM4 for the trip up and down!
The Bronze Kuan Yin statue
My friend later told me that the large Kuan Yin Statue used to be gold plated but hehe... got too attractive that people always come and molest. So they had to change it to bronze instead.
After visiting the temple, we were famished and rushed to find the famous laksa near kek lok si temple. I heard that you would not miss it near the main entrance of the temple's staircase. We were not in luck because the day we went happened to be some festival of the ninth emperor thingy and most stalls only served vegetarian options and would you guess it, the laksa stall only serve vegetarian option that day!!
So if you think that looks like squid in the laksa, it is actually slices of raw onions!! Sad!!
After the visit, we waited quite a long time for the bus (so long in fact we were able to buy and eat one toasted char siew bun and a taro puff!). The heat and humidity got the better of me and I got cranky, so we decided to grab something cold and refreshing before dinner so I suggested a Chendol stall near Komtar. Except we didn't know the stop for Komtar and missed it and then we decided wth maybe just go back to the hotel and rest. Except that we weren't familiar with the bus route and we missed the bus stop for that too. (I think there is a lesson to be learnt somewhere...) In the end, I managed to find a stop that looks vaguely familiar and that was how we ended up in Fort Cornwallis!
City Municipal Hall opposite Fort Cornwallis
Fort Cornwallis
I reckon that it wasn't much to see here except cannons and two or three old buildings (including a small chapel and a weaponry house), so we only had a short stroll before more food!!
Outside Fort Cornwallis, there is a small food court. There weren't a lot of people there (on a weekday) but the few that were there all crowd around two main stalls (I think operated by the same boss). The main attraction had to be the coconut shake and the mee sotong!! The coconut shake is blended coconut juice and young coconut flesh with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top, very refreshing. I tried the chendol there but it was horrible, I let the crows finish it up for me.
Whereas the mee sotong, it smells so nice and spicy but I had to skipped it if I ever want to see my toes again! Because... jeng jeng jeng... for dinner, we went for roasted fresh clams and then back to New Lane for dinner again!! (Nothing special, a bit of recap of last night so I will skip that) For supper, we went to a roadside stall operated by an Indian near our hotel for Roti John. We weren't sure what to order on our Roti John so we said 'semua' (meaning everything), so this was what they served out to us!!
Taj Mahal Special Roti John
Huge right? It is a roti tisu served up with slices of cheese, raisin, mayo, tomato/chilli sauce, lettuce slices and a cherry on top! After we finished the outer layer, the found the actual roti john nestled inside the cone.
Again, we were amazed with their generous serving of semua! There were slices of frankfurter, banana, cabbage and lettuce leaves drizzled with mayo and tomato sauce on top of the roti john. Definitely special! Luckily my stomach wasn't making much of an issue digesting the load of food I stuffed in its way. hehe...
Recalling what I ate in Penang sure makes me grin, but before you think there is nothing else in Penang except food, let me show you the keychain I bought in Queensbay Mall!
Cute, right?
:P
