A tourist in Penang

I played tourist in Penang, and it was nice. I did not try very hard to search out hidden secrets, but went with the tourist flow, sitting on a rickshaw and being taken to famous temples and Peranakan homes. And yes, eating well all the way. You can see that the 'modern' world is encroaching on life, but there is still plenty of charm left in Penang.

It strikes me that the scale of George Town Penang, is small, but its aspirations are the same as people all over the world. So many people want to be healthy, wealthy and somehow avoid death. But if you cannot avoid death, let's home that the living relatives will send pleasures like cars and mansions and soft drinks to the other side by burning paper representations of them.

Are we all just searching for other things that we do not know? We are bound by our circumstances, and we try so hard to manipulate it. When our little human efforts have their limited little effects, we pray for higher intervention. We make offerings to figures, hoping that someone else or something else will perform a miracle for us.

I may not have the faith that many people have, I believe in living. This trip is a pilgrimage to life. Taking photos is part of my meditation. Perhaps this act is like that of circling a sacred monument, perhaps it will bring salvation. Or perhaps the moment is perfect, but I am simply too blind to see it.

The first stop on my long journey was very nice and I want to come back to visit Penang again. I do hope that this bodes well for the rest of my trip.


Kuan Yin Temple


Kuan Yin Temple


Altar in a tree outside Kuan Yin Temple


A Hindu altar outside the Kuan Yin Temple


Altar outside the Kuan Yin Temple


Khoo Kingsi Clan House - Part clan house, part religious temple


Khoo Kingsi Clan House


Khoo Kingsi Clan House - Ancestral tablets and a reminder of the inevitable


Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple


Offerings for the dead,Lebuh Carnavon


Altar at the Chew Village by the sea


A relatively modern dream, already cast aside

Pigging out in Penang

I do not know anyone in Penang. I wanted to come to this town where I have heard so much about but have never really visited, but this is the town where Shin, who was my studio manager for a while, was born and raised. Shin is living in Chicago right now but she asked her sister to take me out and feed me. And what a day it has been. Shin's uncle has the most outstanding Hokkien Mee I have ever eaten. It is thick and full of pork lard. And the Penang Char Kway Teow was great too.

During breakfast I learnt that Shin's grandmother had a shop that sold noodles. Shin's parents ran a restaurant in Penang. And now Shin's mum owns stores selling food in Camden, London. And of course, it makes sense that Shin is married to a chef. It's all in the family.


This is the incredibly rich Hokkien Mee.


And this is Shin's uncle who loves his Hokkien Mee.

After this rich meal I visited a Buddhist temple that Shin's grandmother used to go to because Shin's mother was there. I guess that I will visit Shin's mum in Camden when I get to London. Something to look forward too.



I spent the afternoon exploring George Town. But in the evening, Shin's sister came and took be out for another treat! Nonya food. And before you say we have that in Singapore, we do not. I had inche kabin tonight, which I have not had in years! And there was Roti Barbi and Choon Peah which I have never ever eaten before. This wonderful food is really unique!! The otak is pretty good too.



What a day of eating. Penang is defintely worth an eating trip by itself.

Good Bye Singapore

Good morning Singapore. A taxi drive named Gua Chee Leong took me to the train station. The first thing he said when I got into the taxi was 'To the airport?'. I clarified that I wanted to go to the train station and he was saying that not many people go to the train station nowadays. A bit sad. It is a beautiful station.


Samantha came down to send me off. But it was very early, 6.30am and she had to have a cup of Teh Aliah to wake her up.


And Sam taking some photos of me. I guess this is good because there is no way I could take pictures of myself with my rucksack and back pack together. I will have to return to Singapore to see the pictures though. Thanks Sam, for the send off and pictures.


The journey beckons...


Frosted windows looking up at Singaporean flats.


The first thing I notice while traveling, the very first thing really, is how small Singapore is. Sometimes I think of Malaysia as Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur, but Malaysia is a huge country. And there is so much space, it just feels more open and reminds me of how small I am.



Kuala Lumpur Central Station


The comfortable clients of KTM.



Afternoon rain.

I am in Penang now. The trip has started and for those of you who were wondering, this is not an April Fool's joke.

The Day Before

I had lunch with an old friend yesterday that told me that I have been talking about this overland trip since I knew her. It must be about ten years ago then that I have been wanting to do this trip.

I have prepared as much as I can for this trip. But I guess that I will not know if the preparation was correct till I embark on the trip. I did a full health screen for the first time in my life. Nothing much new there as I already knew about my diabetes and cholesterol. I guess the new thing is that I have a gall stone, but I hear it is quite common.

I was hoping to do no work this March, instead I ended up taking on three of the largest jobs that I have ever taken. I really pushed the limits this March and I have caught a cold now. Lots of work also means lots of archiving and back up. I also have a new tenant for the studio. And it is surprising how many people suddenly want to borrow my videos and meet up. But those people I could not meet, I am sorry, time is tight. I hope you still want to meet me when I return!

I have had my teeth cleaned and my hair cut.

It is crazy trying to stuff five and a half months of living into one rucksack. Every inch counts. Like Apple has come out with a new smaller usb charger, I bought it. But I was defeated yesterday in that I could not confine myself to one large rucksack. I am taking a small backpack too.

I am excited, I am apprehensive, but I know that after ten years of saying I will do this, tomorrow, I will do this.

Email through the Chinese firewall

I was told by a friend that Facebook and Blogger is blocked in China. I am testing out the emailing of a post to Blogger to see if this is a solution around it.

Woohoo, it works!! This post and image got sent over the email system. But I will just have to be more careful over the email posts because I cannot edit till it later.

Prepatory trip to Hong Kong

A month to go and I am making a short trip to Hong Kong to leave some medicine with a friend so that I can pick it up on the way. Some more medicine will be brought by my parents to London. Having diabetes, has added to the logistics of this trip considerably. That and money. Credit cards are much more handy nowadays than twenty years ago when I went inter railing in Europe. People ask me why I cannot send my medicine to my friend in Hong Kong instead of flying over. The reason is that I am going to test out my credit cards as well.

Yesterday I went to Tan Tock Seng hospital. This trip has got me thinking about my health more than I would have had I not gone on this trip. I went for my first full medical check-up. I doubt that they will find any more issues beyond my diabetes and cholestrol, but I think that in future, I will have to go for check-ups more regularly. Like sending in an older car for servicing. I also went to the traveller's clinic to check out my vaccinations for this trip. It seems like the only thing I need to do is get malaria tablets. I have had the necessary vaccinations from my previous trips.

So far I have my train to Penang, my hotel booking over there. I had to book my train from Beijing to Mongolia, a tour in Mongolia, and the train from Mongolia to Russia on the trans siberian. I also have hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburgh. I am definitely going to Arles for the photographic festival. From a recommendation of an Italian friend, I have booked accommodation on a boat in Arles. It should be fun. The rest of the trip will be booked on the road.

After dreaming of this trip for over five years, it is finally coming up. It is really hard to conceive what I am in for, but I think it will be fun. And hopefully, like one friend said, I will be changed by this trip.

Ticket for the first train

I went to the KTM train station in Tajong Pagar to buy my train ticket to Butterworth. From Butterworth I will be taking a ferry to Penang where I will be spending the weekend. The date of departure nears.