We were up just before 07:00 again, took turns having a shower and then we headed downstairs for breakfast. Graham had his usual breakfast of fruit, fried egg on toast and some pastries. He also tried some congee, but that was not to his liking. I had some longans, congee, chicken curry with the crispy sweet crepes and also the lacelike pancakes we had tried the day before. I also made myself some kaya toast and finished my breakfast with some peanut butter ice cream. We both had coffee and pink guava juice.
After breakfast, we got changed into our swimming gear and headed to the pool. Graham went straight into the pool, and I settled down on a lounger to read. However, this time I made it into the water after a while. It felt pretty chilly when I first got in, but I soon got used to it and then it was perfect. In the end, I swam for about an hour. When we got out, we retreated to some loungers, and I read a bit more until we had dried off enough so that we were no longer dripping. We headed back to our room to get showered and changed. Then we headed out.
Graham had figured out where the closest shopping centre was and we headed in this direction. On the way we saw a batik shop. Unfortunately, this was closed. I did however find another shop that was of interest. This was called Sam’s Batik House. This was quite overwhelming. There was such a huge variety of things. In the end, it was not batik that caught my eye. They had some beautiful, embroidered cotton tops. I ended up getting two of them, one navy and one teal. They are the softest cotton you can imagine, and I wear them quite frequently. I am hoping to get some different colours in November. They get some very mixed reviews. People are complaining about them only stocking ethnic clothes and also about the prices. It is true that by Penang standards, it was quite pricey . However, there is an element of you get what you pay for. The quality is amazing and something similar in the UK would have cost at least twice as much. They are also catering predominantly to the local community and not to tourists. Even then, the tops I bought are definitely not looking out of place when I wear them to work here in the UK. There were things that were very specific to certain cultures, but there was definitely something for everybody. Other comments mention that the staff was very pushy. This is something that I will not put up with. I have walked out of shops numerous times even here in the UK if staff swoops down on me as soon as I enter the shop. The way I see it is that I am quite capable of asking if I need help. My experience was entirely different. I would describe the staff at Sam’s Batik House as attentive rather than pushy. Yes, once they had realised that I was interested, they did suggest other things I may be interested in, but when I said that I just wanted to stick with what I was looking at, this was absolutely fine and they backed off. Incidentally, I had a look at another shop and there the staff really was pushy. I turned around and walked straight out again.
We carried on and came across an indoor market. We had a look at this, and I found a lovely batik coverup at an absolute bargain price. I ended up getting this, too. We also walked through an open-air market and through some interesting streets until we got to the shopping centre. The shopping centre was a complete rabbit warren. A lot of shops were closed and the ones that were open seemed to sell either clothes or suitcases. Eventually we did find a shoe shop, but that only sold shoes for women. At some stage, I managed to lose Graham. This was spectacularly bad timing as I had just found a shop that actually sold sandals for men. I retraced my steps and I eventually saw Graham who had headed downstairs to the ground floor. I went downstairs to catch up with him and then we went back to the shop I had found. He did get a rather nice pair of sandals. Then we headed out.
When we stopped in Penang on our cruise in 2019, we visited Kek Lok Si as part of our shore excursion. Kek Lok Si is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia and an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, and other parts of Southeast Asia. It is located in the suburb of Ayer Itam, which is about 4 miles outside Georgetown. I really liked this and always intended to go back when I had some more time to explore. We were planning to take a taxi to get to Kek Lok Si. There were plenty of taxis outside the shopping centre. Unfortunately, all the drivers had disappeared. We waited for a while to see if a driver would reappear. Then I decided to order a Grab. A driver got assigned pretty quickly and I got an update that he was 12 minutes away. However, it appears that he got stuck in traffic as I could see on the app that he was not making much progress. At some stage, Graham lost patience and headed back to the hotel. Of course, just after he left, the driver appeared.
The driver dropped me off at the main car for Kek Lok Si. From there, there is a funicular that goes up the hill to the main temple complex. I got to the entrance for the funicular and was told that this was out of order and that I had to walk up. He pointed me in the right direction. At this stage, I was kind of relieved that it was just me. There were a fair few stairs, which did not fill me with joy as my knee still objects to stairs. However, I had come all this way, and I could see the temple up on the hill. Giving up was not high on my list of options. I started to get going and thankfully, it was not too bad. Because I approached the temple from below, I also saw some elements that were further down the hill from the main complex that I had not seen in 2019.
When we had visited Kek Lok Si in 2019, I almost by accident took my all-time favourite photo. I was just about take a photo when some kind of procession came through. I just quickly pointed and clicked before moving on. It was only when I looked at my photos later that I realised what a gem I had ended up with. One of the reasons why I wanted to go back was to recreate this photo. I remembered that I was outside the main hall when I took this photo. However, I could not work out where I was standing when I took the photo. I started to second guess that memory and wondered if this photo was actually taken from the upper level of the temple complex. I explored this level a bit further and took a few photos. Then I headed to the entrance to the funicular that goes up to the upper level.
I had a good look around, but could not find the perspective from which I had taken the photo in 2019. I explored this level a bit more and then I headed back to the funicular. I was the only person on there. Once I got back to the main level, I paid a small amount to take a golf cart halfway down the hill. From there, a minibus went back down to the main car park. There was another charge for this, but it was only a small amount, and I was very happy to pay this.
I had every intention to order a Grab when I got to the street level. However, there was a taxi driver there offering his services. This ended up being about twice as much as the Grab had cost me, but it was still only about 6 Pounds, which considering the trip took about half an hour, was an absolute bargain.
I expected to find Graham in the lobby, but he was not there. I went to the pool area, but he was not there either. I quickly headed back to the room on the off chance that someone had let Graham in, but he was not there either. I took my iPad and headed back to the lobby. Graham arrived back about 20 minutes later. He had been exploring the local area including the Lutheran cemetery I had discovered the first day. Once we were reunited, we headed back to the room for some downtime.
At dinner time, we were discussing where to get something to eat. I had discovered an Indian restaurant opposite the hotel that I was keen to check out. Graham was up for this. It turned out to be an excellent choice. Graham had a Tiger beer, and I had a fresh coconut, which was much nicer than the one we had shared in Singapore. Graham had a Tandoori mixed grill, and I had some butter chicken. We shared some coconut rice and some naan bread. We had originally wanted to order some rice each, but the owner suggested we should share on portion of rice and have some naan bread to share as well. This was solid advice. The food was absolutely delicious. This is definitely one of the pricier restaurants by Penang standards, but by our standards and considering both the quality and the quantity of the food, it was good value. We paid just short of 200 Ringgits, which is about 40 Pounds. I loved the food so much that I asked Graham if we could go back there the next day for my birthday dinner. He was up for this.
Once we had finished our dinner, we went back to the hotel. We got ready for bed. I read for a short while and then I settled down for the night.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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