Superheroes* Invaded Penang

“Let’s go to Penang!” That’s how it started when Alvin proposed a short weekend getaway to ‘Superheroes*’ sometimes in December last year. Everyone was super excited about it. As for me who’s been to Penang only two times before, I thought, this must be some kind record – my first holiday trip with my family from office! So the mood was set up from the get go, it was something that all of us, superheroes were really looking forward to.

 

Our historic journey began on Friday night, January 11, 2013. After waiting patiently for Syafiq to collect our rented mode of transportation (a comfortable and spacious 10-seater van) we finally left Pudu exactly at 11.02pm. Alas, some of us already had gotten hungry from all that time waiting for the van earlier on, so upon suggestion by Ms. Kyra, we stopped by at Rasta Food Court, at Sg. Penchala, for a quick bite and all. And the journey continued right after that, which I think around 12.34am.

After risking blood clots in our legs by sitting in a van for 6 hours, we arrived at our destination at 6.30 the next morning. Not a minute to waste, we looked for a place to have our breakfast since some of us already demonstrating signs of unruly behaviors probably due to extreme hunger. Our mamak of choice was that 24-hour restaurant along Gurney Drive. I forget the name.

Since Shahrul knows Penang like the back of his hands, he took over the chauffeur’s job from Kong and Syafiq. His first assignment was driving us around the island, starting with tranquil places like Bukit Bendera, Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau. We even treated ourselves with ‘Durian Buffet’ along the way and had a blast taking pictures on the side of the road, like a bunch of lost Japanese tourists in Europe. Ah, those fun moments!

Later that late morning, we went back to Georgetown and were totally in the mood of emerging ourselves with the city’s splendors of the past. We visited many historical landmarks like Fort Cornwallis, Padang Kota Lama, and Penang City Hall Building. Every site brought new knowledge to us and some of it even refreshed our memories as we have known them from our history class. Here also, we really brought ‘photo-taking’ to the next new level – Luqman and Boey especially. 

I must say, all these historical visits really made us nostalgic and hungry, so we decided to have our lunch in one of the most-reviewed makan place in Penang, Kapitan Restaurant in Jalan Chulia. Thanks to Shahrul, we found the restaurant in no time. The food was great and the service was not bad too.

By the time we finished cleaning up our plates, it was already check in time. Alvin before now has arranged for all of us to stay in Georgetown Hotel in Jalan Burma, so it means it’s “recharge time”! And by that I meant 6-hour continuous, really slooow recharge.

We only regained our consciousness around dinner time and Nita suggested we have our dinner in Batu Ferringhi cause you know, it’s easy for us to shop later at that famous night market. After all, superheroes are supposed to have weaknesses, and our kryptonite is cheap shiny things.

After we were all done with dinner and shopping, none of us has yet to show the signs of advanced age. “Night is still young!” said Alvin in his usual trainer’s voice. So all of us hopped in the van one more time and headed to Gurney Drive. “It’s karaoke time!”

It was one of the rarest occasions, as Nita showcasing her amazing vocal styling and we were all felt surreal and special. It was a great night for everyone and I remember having a tough time peeling my hands off the mike when it ended.

The second day was rather uneventful. It was a free and easy thing so some of us took this opportunity to continue shopping at the nearby mall. The rest opted for healthier activity like swimming and sweating it off at the gym.

 Great things must come to end, so did our first holiday trip together as family.  Before we left for home, we had our lunch in the hotel and we were already making plans for our next trip. Everyone was so excited and seemed happy and relax in the company of each other. It’s really a picture perfect moment for all of us.

*refers to the name we call ourselves in the department

Descending Angels

Last week, I took a chance with my friends, and let myself to be whisked away for a short weekend getaway in a tropical island off the coast of northern part of Malaysian peninsula – Langkawi a.k.a the “other” jewel island of the north.

Unlike the rest of my travelling buddies (and as shocking as this might sound) I’ve had never been to Langkawi before. This was my first. Yeay. Of course, I was super excited.

Sham, AJ and Eijam had planned for this little trip for months I think and me and Miron only decided to join the group in the very last minute – ah you know, because we care about our friends and we don’t have the heart to see them going with just 3 people. Ahaks!

And to prove I was as committed as everyone else in this trip, I let Eijam bought all of us the bus tickets on Friday at 11.00pm. O Yeah, you heard it right. We took the bus, babeh! All 10 hours of them!

After toiling and risking possible blood clots in our inner things, we finally arrived at Kuala Perlis Jetty, 8.30 in the next morning. Not a minute to waste, we dashed to the jetty counter and managed to get ourselves the first ferry out to Langkawi at 9.30am. Talk about perfect timing.

Langkawi only took around 45 minutes by ferry and that means we still had plenty of time before we can check in at our luxurious stay at Sri Kijang Resort, in Pantai Chenang. So where did we end up before then? Ha! We went for shopping at all these duty free shops along the stretch of Chenang beach road. Nature sightseeing can wait, we want bargain!

We then went to check in, freshen up and along the way making up plans for the rest of the afternoon – which unfortunately limited to, eventually hanging out at the Loft Café at Perdana Quay (which I was told owned by Tun Dr. Mahathir). It was raining so heavily we stuck at the café for hours. Anyway the pastries were super delicious. Way to go, Tun!

The next day things were looking up for us – weather wise. So we jumped at the opportunity to try out the famous Langkawi Cable Car. Definitely not for the faint hearted, the whole cable stretches up to 700 meters from the sea level. A-mazing. It was soo far high, I swear I could see all the way to Thailand and probably even Japan. Erm, or so I think. Anyway, it was worth all the trouble (hiking up the torturous terrain) and the price ticket. Simply breathtaking.

Oh I forgot to mention, we also stopped by at the Tanjung Rhu on the way to the cable. The beach was sandy white and clean. And the view… wow. Just wow. I took a lot of photos while being there that I believe I just brought the meaning of the word ‘camwhoring’ to a whole new level.

Actually, we were also supposed to do the island hopping in the next day, our last day on the island, alas, something happened and didn’t work out the way we planned so we grabbed the map and just point endlessly on it until it stops somewhere and voila, look what we had found here.

This is Temurun Waterfalls. We never expected it to be this beautiful. I mean just like I said, we ‘discovered’ it by chance but OMG, look at this picture. It’s like a postcard from paradise. Luckily not many people were around that day, so we had to whole place to ourselves. And pretended we were the descending angels. *cough*

Eijam, AJ and Sham wanted to stay for another day, so I let them be, while me and miron took the evening flight home that day. Our flight to KLIA was on 5.35pm. It was a comfortable way home, but my heart and amazing memories with my dear friends stayed there and it was very, dare I say it, unsettling.