Just like this, I was another year older. Graham gave me my birthday present. He had commissioned a beautiful Northern Lights themed necklace from the jewellery artist that I get most of my jewellery from. It has come out really well and has become a firm favourite. It also a perfect match for the two tops I had bought the day before.
We got ready and headed for breakfast just after 07:00. We both had some coffee. I got some orange juice for Graham and some pink guava juice for me. Graham had his usual breakfast. I had some longans, some cereal, congee and vegetable curry with some of the crispy crepes. I then made myself some kaya toast. I also had a slice of the pandan cake. I had hoped for more of the peanut butter ice cream but was out of luck. However, I had some coffee ice cream and some chocolate ice cream instead and they were both tasty.
After breakfast, we went back to the room to get changed for some pool time. I put on my new batik coverup over my swimsuit. I headed for my usual lounger to read for a bit. Graham headed straight for the pool. I joined him after a short while and stayed in the water for about one hour. Then we both got out. We were in no rush to go anywhere that day. My favourite ship was due in Penang that day and I wanted to watch her sail in. One of the Celebrity ships had arrived while we were in the pool, but I had to wait a little longer for Ovation of the Seas. Graham spotted her before I did, but soon she was in full view on the horizon. I started to feel pretty hot and even though my lounger was under cover, I felt that I was burning. Graham suggested that we move to the front of the pool where there were big parasols. This turned out to be a wise decision. It was cooler there. Soon after we moved, Ovation got really close. This was quite a sight. After this, she moved out of view. Graham suggested that I probably would still be able to see her if I went to the far corner of the pool deck. He was right. Once she was docked, we headed back to our room. We got showered and changed. Then we headed out.
In 2019, we had visited a beautiful temple that was near where the famous street art is in Penang. I wanted to go back there. On the way, we spotted that the batik shop that was closed the day before was open. I decided to check this out. This was a much smaller shop than Sam’s Batik House. However, they had some very nice batik cover-ups, and the owner made me a rather sweet deal if I bought three. I took him up on this offer. They also had some very pretty batik sarongs, and I got some of those for the other female team leaders. I still needed something for the two men, but I was quietly optimistic that I would find something later in the day.
We partially retraced our steps from our first full day in Penang. By this time, breakfast was a distant memory. We found a little Chinese café and decided to get a late lunch. We ended up with Bee Hoon Goreng. This is a dish consisting of stir-fried thin rice noodles, vegetables, different meats, and prawns. This was about as close as you can get to Singapore noodles which are nowhere to be found in Singapore. What we call Singapore noodles is actually a Cantonese dish that was invented in Hong Kong and from there headed to Chinese restaurants in the Western world. However, what we were served was pretty similar to Singapore Noodles. We had ordered two portions, but something got lost in translation and we only got one portion. That turned out to be a blessing as the portion was pretty big and if we had one portion each, I doubt we would have felt like dinner later. We did however get an iced tea each. We were the only tourists in there. The food was very cheap, but delicious.
Once we had finished our food, we carried on towards our destination. We had managed to get turned around and took a longer route. We were just about to give up and head back to the hotel when I spotted something that looked vaguely familiar in the distance. I left Graham where he was and headed up to the next junction. I was indeed right that I had spotted something familiar and the temple I had wanted to go to was just beyond there. I returned and collected Graham. Our destination was Choo Chay Keong Temple, which is also known as the Yap Temple. It was built in 1924 and is next to the Yap clan house. This in itself is a fascinating building. It features a blend of Art Deco and Straits Eclectic styles, complete with European-style Greek columns. The temple itself is a classic Taoist temple with an ornate, green-tiled roof adorned with writhing blue dragons, ceramic pearl decorations, and three porcelain figures symbolizing luck, wealth, and health. The temple is not particularly big, but it is beautiful on the inside and the outside. I spent a few minutes looking around the inside and take some photos. Then I went back to rejoin Graham, who had waited for me outside. Just as I was leaving, somebody started to close the gates and lock up. There were still some people in the temple and when they came out, the gates were locked. I am not sure how they got out.
While I took some photos of the outside of the temple, Graham was approached by two members of the local tourist police who asked if they could take a photo with us. In China, this would not have surprised me. In Malaysia, this felt a little unusual. We were far from the only western tourists in Penang. Still, we were happy to oblige. In exchange, I asked them for directions of a famous work of street art that we had seen in 2019 and that I wanted to see again. I knew that this was close to the temple, but for once my good memory let me down. They pointed me down the street opposite. I was still a little confused as this looked so different from what I remembered. I took a few photos and eventually I spotted a bit of a crowd a little further down the street. I realised straightaway that I had found what I was looking for. I was hoping to get a photo without people in it. I watched for a short while. Then I got myself into a position where I was able to get a quick photo while people switched over. It took a couple of turns before I got the timing right, but I ended up getting my photo. There are plenty more pieces of street art in George Town. I would love to see some more of the street art in Penang, but Graham does not share my enthusiasm for this. I may have abandon him for a few hours this year and see what I can find.
Graham got a second wind and fancied doing some more exploring. I was up for this. We passed Khoo Kongsi, which is the largest Chinese clan house in Malaysia. We had visited this in 2019. I would have been up for a repeat visit, but it was already closed for the day. I did get a nice photo through the fence though. Not long afterwards, we came past the central fire station that Lisa had pointed out during our food tour. This was built in 1908 and was the first fulltime fire station in Penang. It is a really pretty building, too.
Graham suggested that we could walk towards the port and I was up for this. I seemed to remember that the town hall and the adjacent city hall were in that direction. They are really impressive buildings. They are actually closer to where we were the first morning. There still were some impressive buildings around. We were both done walking when we got close to the port. I checked the Grab app where the closest pick-up point was, which was at a nearby hotel. I left Graham on a bench near a bus stop and went to find this hotel. I had no trouble finding it, but I took the scenic route. It turned out there was a much quicker way. I went back to Graham, and we went back via the more direct route. Once we got there, I ordered a Grab. We had a bit of a wait as it was rush hour by then and with two ships in port, there was a lot of traffic in this area. Still, it was preferable to walking. About 15 minutes later our Grab arrived and soon we were back at our hotel.
For the second time that day, I saw the prospect of my birthday dinner disappear. We were both exhausted and headed for bed. I had set an alarm for an hour later just in case. I woke up just before the alarm went off and Graham woke up when the alarm went off. He was up for going out for dinner and asked where I wanted to go. I opted to go back to the Indian restaurant that we had found the day before. We were welcomed with poppadom and various dips. Graham had a beer and I had some watermelon juice. We had both chosen the same curry, Chicken Makhani. The owner suggested we should have one portion of this and a portion of the tandoori Chicken Tikka. Graham had some rice with raisins and almonds, and I had some coconut rice. This was just as good as what we had the day before. We also got some dessert on the house. I can’t wait to go back to this restaurant this year.
When we got back to the hotel, we took turns having a shower. We both packed and then we went to bed. I had every intention to stay awake until Ovation of the Seas was leaving, but I only managed to read a couple of pages in my book before my eyes felt very heavy. I figured I would see her again soon enough and went to sleep.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
Leave a comment