Down memory lane

Went on a short cruise to the Pearl of the Orient, Penang, an island in the Northwestern coast.
In total darkness, somewhere in the Straits of Malacca on board the  Star Cruise GeminiLobby on the eight and the stairs I took so many times since I am on the nine and when I don't feel like taking the lift just to go down one floor, its good for digestion too... Breaking dawn, hoping to catch sunrise but looking at the horizon, it look very unfavourable...so much clouds and its so grey. a lil' bit of hope maybe......still it look most unlikelythe sun rises...... if only those grey clouds would go away, sad...sad....sad..... it rises only to be hidden....Foggy or blurry Penang Bridge? actually I took this from the lounge tinted window in the ship. Its the longest bridge in Asia at 13.4km overall length and 8.4km over water. Komtar, still the tallest building on the island
As we approach nearer to port, I managed to captured the iconic Penang Ferry - in the far back, its the oldest ferry service in Malaysia. It began its operations in 1920. These iconic ferries ply between the mainland and the island, ferrying both passengers and vehicles. In the foreground is the newer ferries that probably service Langkawi Island and Medan, Indonesia On a short tour of the island, The Victoria Memorial Clock Tower at King Edward's Place is one of the most recognizable icons of Penang Island. It was donated by Cheah Chen Eok, a wealthy Penang citizen in 1897 on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign ...The tower was sixty feet tall, with each foot for each year of the Queen's reign. Unfortunately, she never visited Penang, nor did she ever live long enough to see her clocktower completed. By the time it was completed in 1902, the Queen had died. I took this photo in a haste, it appeared tilted....very but the actual fact is that the clocktower leans to one side. Many thought it was the road, but the legacy is that it was caused by the bombs that dropped around it during the Second World War which destroyed the Government Building nearby.Biscuit shop like this is so famously known in Penang, Tau Sar Peh - Green Bean Paste Cookie. This is the Lim Wah Thai shop, gotta be a new one. Over the years, a number of shops producing such cookie has mushroomed all over in that little island.Burmese Buddhist Temple, and I always got its mixedup as Sri Lankan The statue of the Buddha in golden robe stood majestically in what appeared to be the main hall now.The delicate woodwork on the ceilling, I believed this is the new wing of the temple coz' this part is new to me it also houses these buddhas
On its opposite is the Siamese Temple or more famously known as the Reclining Buddha There's a yummy Thai ice-cream vendor here that has been here for as long as I can remember and I forgot to snap a pic..yeah..you guessed it right....if you think that I was savouring the yummy icecream until I forgot...LOLKek Lok Si Temple or Temple of Supreme Bliss, the temple was completed in 1904 minus the pagoda. For the first thirty-five years of its existence, the temple was without its iconic pagoda. It was only in 1927 that the pagoda, today one of the most recognizable landmarks of Penang, came into being. Construction works began in 1915. (I did not took the above photo for I don't think I am able to captured the two pagodas so beautifully, instead I google for it - somehow taking photos is one thing that wasn't on my mind this trip) View from inside of a tram to the Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Pavillion

Statue of the bronze Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) The Goddess of Mercy stood 82.7 meters tall, from its base to the tip, equivalent to the height of a 20-storey building and was completed in 2002 replacing the first one which was white that was damaged in a fire in the early nineties. View from the Kuan Yin Pavilion
Cute stone animals on the pavillion, there were larger animals from the Chinese zodiac around the garden.and look what I spotted as I was crossing the road! Peddler of fabrics ? or going home from the morning market ? By the look from the tables piling on top, I think its the latter.

This trip is taking me back down memory lane for this is my hometown, whereas Diane can't remember when she was last here, ohh... she was here many times before.

Here's Diane & me, a reflection from our bathroom mirror wishes everyone,

Happy New Year 2011

may the coming year be another great year of productive stitching and stashing !