Life through my eyes...

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Trip to Penang...

As I mentioned on my previous post, I was issued the wrong boarding pass which belonged to a "Mr Demol Gerardus". Can you imagine the shock of my life when I read that and I was sipping coffee at Morrisons on Merrin? Needless to say, we rushed back to the airport in a hurry!

The airport had lovely Christmas decorations so I decided to sit on Santa's chair. If only Santa was there then I could give him my super long wish list. Hehe!

Before entering the departure gate...




On the plane just before arriving in Changi Airport...


I'm going to repeat myself but it was my first time ever flying on an international flight by myself! Good thing that I was only on transit for 1 1/2 hours so didn't have too much time to shop around in Changi Airport but I did manage to use the computer and wake some people up in New Zealand. Keke...

Arrived in Penang on the very same day (thanks to the different time zones) but was extremely exhausted. Didn't help that I was suffering from a cold either. It was a great feeling to be back home and an even better feeling eating tasty home cooked food. Soon after, I went in to see my dear Ah Kong.

Was really shocked when I saw him. I was trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. He had shrunk considerably in size, having lost even more weight than when I saw him a few months back. Just seeing him lying on the bed, helpless and dependant... I could barely comprehend what I was seeing. It was never something I anticipated. Yet, his mind was still lucid and of an inquisitive nature. I knew right at that moment that I had made the right decision flying back home, no matter how short the visit.

Had an early start the following day, waking up at 6:30am for breakfast and then struggled through the whole day. This would become my daily routine until I left Penang. Imagine, me... starting my day at 6:30am! Didn't anticipate that one, did you? Haha! But I suppose it was just to try to make the most of the trip and also, so many things were happening all at once that it was the only way to fit everything in.

I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to go home. But i'm glad that I was able to lend a helping hand to look after my Grandpa, to relieve my 2nd Aunty so that she could go back home to Perak for a few days to look after my Uncle, to accompany my 1st Aunty to Adventis Hospital every couple of days because of eye surgery complications and ultimately, to be everyone's driver. Amongst all that, I still had to make multiple visits to the bank, renew my passport and of course, eat and survive on 4, sometimes if i'm lucky, 5 hours of sleep every night! OMG! *fAiNt*! Never imagined that I would have the courage to drive in Penang but certain situations force you to face your fears. Now when I look back on it, it's not that scary. If motorcyclists wanna die, BRING IT ON! MuaHaHaHaHa~!!

Other than the daily chores and all the running around during the day, I would do my shopping or coffee-ing in the evenings. Didn't really meet up with many people back there, including my other cousins because I simply didn't have the time and I had my priorities. In that way, it was a shame that my trip was so short.

Went shopping at Island Plaza with my Mum the day after I arrived. Was surprised that she offered to take me shopping cuz she's just not a shop-a-holic. I think she had forgotten how I actually shopped and probably regretted taking me there cuz of how much I spent in just 45 minutes before the shops closed. MuaHaHaHaHa~!! I'm home, Mummy!! Miss me? Wahahaha!!

Anyway, attended a New Year's Eve dinner at Cheong's friend's house. Food was great! Didn't expect to have lamb shanks for dinner, especially when i've just arrived from New Zealand. I don't think I was great company that night - exhausted from the trip. Apparently they said that I was weird cuz I was so quiet. Bleh! Probably shouldn't have gone out that night...

After dinner, Cheong and I left his friend's house to meet Yean at Esplanade for the countdown but it was almost impossible to find a car park and I wasn't feeling my best so we decided to go home. Ironically, I had just crawled into bed when I heard the fireworks blasting off at midnight. Was too tired to look out the window and even had my phone on silent which is why I didn't pick up or reply. Sorry people! What a sad start to the new year... Haha! Sorry to Cheong too... I think I spoiled his new year plans... Oops~

On that note (slightly late but what the heck):

< < = - H A P P Y - N E W - Y E A R - = > >

My cousin from Canberra, Kenny, arrived back in Penang. It was nice to have a youngster around the house, although he's 10 years older than me but compared to the rest, i'll still term him as a youngster. Hehe... It was good to see him again... Really difficult for us cousins to meet as most of us live overseas and return home at different times of the year. Although we gained one, we also lost one cuz my 2nd Aunt returned home to Perak. She always cracks me up so really missed her but she surprised us by turning up a couple days later. It freaked us out as well, cuz we thought someone else's gate controller could open ours. *fAiNt*!

Went to Gurney Plaza in the evening with Cheong and then caught up with Yean later on! Yeah!! NZ-Penangnites united! Headed up to Batu Ferringhi to see all the night stalls up there and the ridiculous prices that they try to rip the tourists off with and how they try to convince tourists that an imitation is real. Haha! Classic... But our main purpose was because someone wanted to buy some illegal goods. *aHeM*! Sounds so dodgy huh? Hehe... Nah, just DVDs. :P

After that, we went to a Mamak stall to eat roti canai and have our teh tarik. Hehe... Good stuff! Good thing that I was facing away from the drain because apparently a huge rat ran right past. Did I say huge? Well, I didn't actually see it myself but considering Cheong and Yean were trying to figure out whether it was a cat or a rat, i'd have to say it must have been pretty damn big! *PuKe*! Go figure... We still ate there though. What do you expect in Malaysia? Comes with the territory right? *SiGh*!

Following our feed, we went back to Gurney Drive to cam-whore. Hehe! Thought i'd upload just a few. As usual, more will be placed on the photo section of my blog at a later date. I stress "later date" Yean... Patience... Hehe...

Christmas decorations outside Gurney Plaza






Posing with the 'G' outside G Hotel


Yean flew off that morning for Korea so we were less one Penangnite. :(

Cheong and I went on an adventure to Queensbay Mall. I say "adventure" because he ended up taking the wrong lane which took us onto the Penang Bridge heading south. Haha! Good thing I brought my camera because I had to capture Cheong's pissed off look! It costed us RM 7.00 i think for that mistake because by the time we realised, we had passed the part where we could actually u-turn and had to go through the toll gate. Haha!! Cracked me up the whole day... Cheong wasn't amused at all. Look at his pissed-off look! MuaHaHaHaHa!!

Detour to Penang Bridge... Keke!





View of the bridge from outside Queensbay Mall. Hehe!



Queensbay Mall... FINALLY!



Inside Queensbay Mall... Aren't the lights pretty?


After walking around a bit, bought Cheong and I Haagen-Daaz ice creams so he wouldn't be so pissed off. I was still laughing though... Haha!

Look what I found in the supermarket?
D 24 from Perak (?!) - "Si hoot chap-goh koh" but "si beh hoh chiak"!



Speaking of durians... A close friend once said that if I was best described as a fruit, i'd probably be a durian - hard and sharp on the outside, but soft and creamy on the inside. It truly made me think of how many people I actually trust enough to open up to - to allow them to get to know the true me - the one where I feel comfortable enough to be myself. Sad to say, I can count them all on one hand...

Back to my Malaysia trip... I was without the internet so I had to go to what we consider the upmarket places in Malaysia, such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, etc. to use their WiFi. Cheong and I must have spent almost RM 50.00 on drinks and snacks at Segafredos that night but what is RM50.00 converted to NZD?! Wahahaha!! It's always so comforting to convert from RM to NZD. Not so, the other way around. Hehe...


One thing bad about being in Malaysia, I don't know the value of the ringgit and I can never keep track of my money... I don't know what on earth I actually spend on but at the end of the day, my purse is always so much flatter!

The following night, we went to Gurney Drive for supper. Haven't eaten there for years! Actually, wasn't meant to end up there but my cousin accidentally took both spare sets of house keys so had to meet him there. Decided to stay and have some supper. Everyone always tells me how it's so expensive to eat there cuz they're targeting tourists and it's not even that nice. I totally agree with them. Stupid "sotong bakar"! Cost RM 6.00 for a few pieces of slightly toasted sotong. CHEH!

Sugarcane water!! *YuM*!



Gurney Drive Hawker Centre



Gurney Drive round-about that was surprisingly free-flowing!


Went back to Gurney Plaza to resume shopping the following day because Cheong brought me there 1 hour before closing, the previous night. Smart ass~ After covering the whole mall to my full satisfaction, decided to eat A&W! Haven't eaten it for ages! Hmmm... Curly fries... *TuMMy RuMbLiNg*! This was also the night that I decided to take up the position with Polson Higgs... Huge load off my shoulder! Haha... Contract signed, sealed and delivered. No turning back now...


My 3rd Uncle from Indonesia arrived early the next morning with Wati (his maid). She's such a lovely, hardworking lady. Relatives found it very amusing watching us try to communicate with each other. Her level of English is like my level of Bahasa - very limited so we used more body language. Our conversations were made up of laughter more than anything else. But at least we were both learning from each other? Haha...

Also had a quick family lunch that day. Wanted to take photos but when we came out of the restaurant, it was just too hot that everyone sort of said their goodbyes and scrambled off to their cars. Such a pity really. Always regret not taking photos of good times.

Visited the New World Plaza where Cheong and I went for coffee and WiFi at Starbucks... Apparently it's not the safest place to visit at night despite all the lighting. Hmmm... It looks nice though... All the lights... Feels like you're in wonderland or something~


The next day, my 3rd Uncle found that he had shingles and instead of going to a Western doctor, my 1st Aunty recommended us to take him to a "sinsei". I didn't know how serious shingles was and even now, i'm not sure how true it is. It's easier to explain if I firstly state that shingles is also known as "snake" in hokkien (at least). Please note: This could very well be an old wives tale but I would rather not watch to find out. The head is where the shingles start, the end of it, its tale and apparently if the tale meets the head, the person will die. I don't know how true this is... Just to put it in there, my Uncle was cured after a few treatments.

My trip was coming to an end and it came to be the day before I would actually fly off. So had to do all the last minute stuff... visit the optician to buy contact lenses, blah blah blah... and of course to have a look around the shops to see whether I needed to buy more stuff... blah blah blah... But most importantly, had to have that last minute eating session to mark off the check list of food that you ascertained were important enough to note down. Hehe... So yeah... We went out for hawker food for dinner that night with the family...

Cheong and I ended up flying off on the same day (but different flights) after I extended my trip to Malaysia by 2 days. An extension of 2 days doesn't seem significant but considering I was initially only going back for 8 days and ended up staying for 10, it was a considerable difference. Admittedly, the length of the trip was not long at all but since I had spent 2 months back there on my previous trip when I went back in February, it was better to have been than to not have gone at all.

So the night before we flew off, Cheong and I went for coffee at Coffee Bean in Island Plaza. As you would expect, he wasn't looking forward to leaving as he was heading back to Christchurch and straight back into work. Poor guy. I, on the other hand, was heading for Perth to continue my holiday plans and I was excited because i've never been there before. At the same time, I was rather reserved because I tend to not be too accepting to new surroundings.

Surprisingly, I love the place and I can actually imagine myself living there. If I didn't have a job to come back to, I would have probably packed up and applied for jobs over there. It's a really nice place which (for those who have been to New Zealand), I describe it to be somewhat inbetween Christchurch and Auckland except for the weather which is freaking hot. Did I say hot? I mean, HOT! It reached a high of 42 degrees when I was there! *fAiNt*!

Anyway, tales from my trip to Perth deserves a whole new post and I expect that it'll have a whole heap of pictures as well. So look out for that. In the mean time, the night before I flew off, I made Cheong bring me around Penang to take photos but after a while, he refused to stop so a lot of them came out blur! Anyway, here are just a few...

Outside Island Plaza...



Prangin Mall by night...



Can't remember the street name but the historical buildings have been recently renovated and the street lighted up... Absolutely beautiful...



Cheong's the new face for "skin formulation"... Haha!



Asian Christmas Tree? :รพ~



Outside my house...



The reason for Cheong's cellphone number... Uh huh...


I wasn't flying out until late evening so the last day was extremely hectic - even compared to the previous days. It was so hard to fit everything in but at least I managed to visit almost all the malls in Penang. I stress ALMOST!!. Shows you East-siders how many malls we actually have. *aHeM* *aHeM*!! We may be an Island but we make full use of our land!! Haha...

I was driving to Dad's office and was stuck in the jam so brought out my camera and took a photo of what I believe is the tallest building in Penang - Komtar... I didn't have time to go shopping there this time round although I think it's fairly deserted now leaving all the small, small shops and look... We even have a TV screen to entertain us while we're stuck in the jam.

Komtar



With my Daddy @ Daddy's office... There's a baby picture of me in the background. Keke...



Mabel^2... Hehe...


Just before heading to the airport, it was the dreaded time of saying goodbye, especially to my Ah Kong. Him telling me how he looks forward to seeing me again on my next visit... :(

Saying goodbye to my dear Grandpa...



At the airport with my cousin, Kenny Ko2...



Mummy and I...


Lastly, I shall leave you all with these pictures:

Char Tee Kueh...



Ice Kachang...


*dRoOL*! And that folks, was my trip to Penang... I left Christchurch with a heavy heart... So too, Penang... and even Perth. Seems like I don't know where I belong anymore.