Broga Hill

"Easy to climb and nice scenery". That's what I was told by my colleague. This time, Jeff took the initiative to organize this trip. To catch the sunrise, we have to leave home from Petaling Jaya at 4:30am (yawn...)

After driving and getting lost with Nokia GPS (map not so updated), we finally reached Broga just before 6am. But we don't know where's the exact location to hike the hill. Following the road, we reached a small (really small) town and luckily, the local kopitiam shop has already started business, so we asked for direction from the locals.

By the time we reach the starting point and started hiking, it's already about 6:30am. No fun lugging around heavy tripod and camera bag and racing against time to reach the top of the hill. Took us about 30-45 minutes to reach a location high enough to take some descent photos.

Never miss a group photo!

Note: Lots of mosquitoes in the morning. So wear longs exercise pants and use repellents.

Georgetown - Day 3

Day 1 and day 2 of our trip had been very interesting. On this 3rd and last day, we chose to visit the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Pinang Peranankan Mansion and Fort Cornwallis in the morning, as we had to drive back to KL in the afternoon.

Again, we were not able to visit Cheong Gatt Tze Mansion, as we were not aware that tourists are not allowed to enter without the tour guide, which is scheduled twice a day only, at 11am and 3pm.

Entrance to Fort Cornwallis, built by Captain Francis Light for the East India Company. No trip is complete without a group photo, right?

Gun barrel.

Our last stop of the trip is the famouse Pinang Peranakan Mansion, townhouse and ancestral hall of Chung Keng Kwee. Admission is RM10, but it was well worth it. It is very huge, with plenty of rooms, more rooms at the back of the mansion, and a temple at the side. Each room is filled with lots of Chinese and Baba Nyonya antiques, from furnitures, clothing to dining sets and even a very old large format camera! We've spent about 4 hours there.

Entrance into the mansion.


Everyone busy taking photos.


A view to the central hall from the room window.


No more photographers around... :)


Antique dining sets.


Stairs to the upper floor.


View from the top floor.


Wardrobe with old traditional Baba Nyonya clothing.


Room that showcases Baba Nyonya furnitures and traditional clothing.


Another room, that has the old chinese style bed and other bedroom antiques.


Very elegant round table.


Decorations of the Chinese bed.


Another dining room at the back of the mansion.


Jeff lost in temple


Stone table and stools in the temple.

With this, it is the end of our photographic trip to Georgetown Penang. There are still many places that we have not explored yet. Definately will come back again later, with much better planning.

Georgetown - Day 2

As the morning breaks (that's 8:30am by our standard), we get ourselves ready for this 2nd day of our Georgetown heritage photography trip. Yesterday we didn't manage to visit many places as we started off late, at around 3pm. So today we are not about to be slackers and come home without any good shots.

Some sunlight coming through into the room.

A view of Komtar from our hotel.

Passing by old house.

This time, we chose to drive and parked our car near Little India. Then we walk to Khoo Kongsi, established 1835, clan complex from 1851, present temple, 1906. It is the most renowned of Penang's Hokkien clan houses perpetuating Confucian practices.

Upon entering the premises, there is a lot of empty unit of houses that are locked. Some even have "to let" signs for businesses. Going in further, we are greeted by the guard and asked to buy admission ticket of RM5 each. Khoo family can visit for free.

As we walk closer to the temple, we are greeted with a fierce guard at the left. Another guard at the right is less ferocious.


Roofs of the clan temple.


Not sure what are these, but these can be found in most Clan temples. Comes in pairs as they are placed at both sides of the entrance.


Small status at the walkway.


Lantern inside the temple.


A close look at the lantern.


Another roof decoration at Khoo Kongsi.

Moving on, we reached Cheah Kongsi, which we didn't manage to enter yesterday for being late. It is a Hokkien clan temple, founded 1820, built 1858.

Cheah Kongsi from the field.


Small lanterns hanging from the temple's roof.


Inside Cheah Kongsi.


Old tea table with discolorations. Fruits are fake by the way.

Moving on, we arrived at the Han Jiang Ancestral Temple. Also called the Teochew (Changzhou) temple. Founded in 1855, temple built in 1870. Winner of UNESCO Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Award (2006) for the preservation of both tangible and intangible heritage.

Old timer talking with the keeper of the temple, at the entrance.


Roof of the temple. Seems like the weather here is quite unforgiving, since the restoration award was bestowed just three years ago. Roof tiles and paint have lost its colour.


Door art at the temple.

It's lunch time again! So this time, we go straight to the famous cendol and asam laksa place where most people recommend.

The entrance to the coffee shop.


Inside the shop. Hot, humid, and packed with patrons.


Finally, our asam laksa is here. For cendol, we had to order and have it outside as there's too many people waiting for it!

After our lunch, we went to one of the clan Jetty that belongs to the Tan. There are plenty of clan jetties, but why we chose this one? Because it's closest to the ice kacang stall, which we plan to eat after this... :)

A boat beside the jetty.


A small temple at the end of the jetty.

And so, we finished visiting the Tan Jetty, and had our quick tea time break. Again, we're late to taste the famous ice kacang, as it has been sold off. We settled for another icy treat instead, which is just as good and refreshing.

So lesson for the day is, eat whenever you see it. Don't wait until it's finished!

Some more photos from our 3rd and last day in my next post!

Georgetown - Day 1

With the car stopped and secured on deck, we went straight to the front of the ferry for the best view towards Georgetown, the historic capital of Penang island. For quite sometime, I have been planning to visit Penang for a photography trip. Taking opportunity of the long weekend, I've invited my friends in the "photographic department" to join me in this journey.

Jeff whipped out his Ricoh GRD2 for a quick snap of the island. The sea breeze compensates the heat from the warm sunny day. From the right, the rain is slowly moving towards Georgetown. Hope it doesn't last too long throughout the day and spoil our outing.

It was 2pm after checking in to our hotel (more like a hostel), we went to the New World Park Food Court for our lunch, and our first taste of Penang food. Yummy! Look at how many things Jeff ordered!

After the satisfying meal, we started walking towards the heritage zone, which is about 0.5km away. While walking, we've spent quite some time snapping up photos along the way.

Old business signs along Lebuh China.

A trishaw at Lebuh Armenian.


Old shop house at Armenian.


Armenian street sign.

This shot taken at Lebuh Pantai, where a few adjacent old shop houses have been burned down. Towards the end is the roof of Cheah Kongsi. What a relief that it was pared from this fiery destruction. We didn't manage to visit Cheah Kongsi as it has closed. Seems like most Kongsi are closed by 5pm. We just have to come back tomorrow.

This shot didn't turn out what I intended. The shop has this three different sizes of basket hanging on the pillar at the walkway (well, some kind of basket, not sure what it is). As I am planning to take the shot, my good photo kaki came into view. What's worse, the tauke of the shop is about the close the shop and are removing the baskets! I was thinking, what the heck, just shoot only lah. So this is what I get. What turns out in this photo which makes things interesting, is that my friend Winson seems to striking the same posture as the tauke keeping his baskets!

Jeremiah taking a shot at the Central Fire Station.

Rattan chair turned warning sign for a uncovered drainage hole.

Francis Light Monument at St. George's Church in the evening.

And so we're done for the day. Didn't turn up much as we were late, and spent too much time walking under the sun. To replenish ourselves, more food again please!

Dinner #1: Tai Chow


Dinner #2: Dim Sum


Dinner #3: Hokkien Mee

So the lessons of the day are, start the journey early, leverage on the car and don't walk all the way! Check the opening and closing time of the places.

More interesting shots from the 2nd day in my next post!