Penang-International-Dragon-Boat-Festival-2011-PIDB

The 32nd Penang International Dragon Boat Festival 2011 or PIDBF 2011 is one of the grand sport events held annually in Penang, Malaysia. This year event took place in Teluk Bahang Dam on 11 & 12 June 2011.




As usual, many participants around the world such as Australia, Indonesia, Philippines and newcomers from Guam Island came to compete with our local rovers i.e Pacific West, PDRM, Angkatan Tentera, Penang Island Paddle Club and Anak Malaysia in this renowned event.

Australian Dragon Boat Team

Australian Dragon Boat Team

The Indonesian Dragon Boat Team are strong and post a great challenge to other rovers.

Pacific West Dragon Boat Team...One of our local favourite...

Even team from universities such as NUS from Singapore came to compete this annual Penang dragon event.

PDRM Dragon Boat Team

The races are opened to men, women and mixed categories cov ering either 250m and 500m distances.

Here goes some highlights of the day...

Laksa-Janggus-Kg-Perlis-Balik-Pulau-Penang

Today, my food exploration continues with the famous Laksa Janggus located at Kg Perlis in Balik Pulau, Penang.

This malay laksa stall is frequented by many Malays from the neighbourhood. Even Chinese and other races also come to experience this mouth watering laksa.

You can choose the standard or the special at RM2.50 and RM3.50 respectively. The latter has slightly bigger serving and includes egg.

I would rate this laksa to be highly recommended and is on par with the famous Chinese Laksa in the Balik Pulau town. The stall opens everyday except Wednesday from 3.30pm to 7.30pm. Besides the laksa, they also serve other types of food such as the koay teow or bihun noodle soup as well as the fried banana.


This fried banana or commonly called as pisang goreng locally, is another popular delicacy in Laksa Janggus.

You may want to know how to get to this Laksa Janggus Balik Pulau. I was using the Jln Sg Pinang route from Balik Pulau town. There is a left turning to Jalan Bahru (Jalan Baru). Turn into this road and just follow the road that leads to Pulau Betong. You can see the Laksa Janggus stall on your left just beside the road before reaching Pulau Betong.

Moontree-47-Kopitiam-in-Penang-Heritage-House

Rather than gooing for the usual brunch in Penang, I gave a try in one of the coffee shop in Georgetown. This coffee shop known as Moontree 47 is located along Jalan Muntri. What amazed me about Moontree 47 is the shop being part of the heritage houses in Penang. It is a nice place to laze around and enjoy the cozy atmosphere.









Below are some of the antiques and decorations of Moontree 47.









There are quite a selection of food menus and I took the Souvlaki as my main dish. Food is okay but I personally feel that the main attraction of this place is the old Chinese style architecture and its surroundings. So, why not give a try to this place while enjoying the heritage trails around Georgetown?

In near future, Moontree 47 will have homestay and I am sure that will attract many visitors.

My-dog-sheep-cow-and-rooster-encounter

Sometime back during the Chinese New Year in Feb, while visiting my family members, I took the opportunity to snap some interesting creatures around my hometown and my in laws house.

Don't be fooled by this cutie beagle look. He is actually my brother-in-law's pet and we called him Nickki. His eyes looked pitiful but that is his usual tactic to get our sympathy to allow him to go into the house. He is extremely greedy and for such reason, when we allow him to go into the house, the first thing he will do is running to the kitchen to search for food. This type of breed is extremely intelligent and having very sharp sense of smell surpassing some other dogs such as fox terrier. No wonder this dog is used to detect drugs smuggling. Nickki is about 4 years old now which equivalent to roughly 28 years old of a human being but still very playful at his age.

In my hometown, I encountered this healthy looking rooster stood boldly on the greenery. This one was cackling for a while which left me wondering what on earth did the rooster cackling in the evening. Isn't it suppose to do that as part of the morning call. I guess the world is turning upside down and this rooster also got himself confused. Probably, he was trying to show off to the rest of the chickens.


Not far from this rooster stood this dirty looking sheep. The rain just stopped and clearly showing this sheep completely drenched. Rearing such animal in the tropical hot and humid climate in Malaysia does not seem to make the cut. Nobody is going to buy the wool. Anyway, I found it interesting to look at this uncommon animal in my neighbourhood.

Adjacent to the sheep is this cow staring at me. I had to be cautious as she looked quite fierce and at any instances, may charge towards me. I found out that this cow is a friend to the sheep. No wonder she is staring at me while I was taking the photograph of the sheep probably thinking I was trying to harm her good friend.

Coincidently, all these four animals fall under the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.

Pulau-Betong-Penang

Last Saturday, I had an exploration around Balik Pulau and Pulau Betong. I discovered quite a number of places that I have yet to visit. One place that excite me is the fish market place at the last junction before going into Pulau Betong. Fresh fishes, prawns etc can be found around the market. Behind it, there is a fishing pier full of fishing boats. That brings something fresh for my photography collections.

A frequent visitor sharing the same source of supply around the Pulau Betong fisherman pier....

Repairing the fishing net is part of the routine job for the fisherman.

On my way back, I spotted a guy observing the river bank in preparation for his fishing activity.


Here goes the action. The fishing net casted onto the river with the hope of netting some fresh fishes for dinner.


Here goes the fishes caught by the guy.

Guess what? This cat gets some free shares of fishes by this kind hearted guy.

Khoo-Kongsi-Armenian-Street-And-Penang-Heritage-Houses

After a couple of hectic days and errands to do, now I am back to my photography hobby. Last weekend, I had a visit to the Georgetown heritage buildings. My first stop was to have my brunch at the Armenian Cafe which slowly becoming my frequent dining place over there. But, I was a little too early and was yet to open. Not knowing what to do, I had a spontaneous visit to one of the most popular clan house in Georgetown, known as Khoo Kongsi.




I like the cooling blue color that brings a sense of peace and tranquility of this place. The red stone flooring reminded me of my late grandparents town house in my hometown.


This one is the window grill carving at the main entrance. I was amazed to see such intricate carving by the skillful Chinese craftsmen from the past.

This fish carving can be found at the pillars of Khoo Kongsi. I took this photo as it has a resemblance of the balance of life just like the Yin and Yang.

There is a small museum in Khoo Kongsi that uncovered the history of Khoo Kongsi and has a kitchen towards the exit.
Hmm... I saw an old bicycle using dynamo as the source of light. It reminded me of my bicycle lesson using such bicycle during my childhood.



Along the exit point, I could see the effort of restoring the old shop houses to ensure Georgetown maintain as one of the World Heritage sites in South East Asia.

My stomach growling reminded me to get back to the Armenian Cafe. This small cafe run by a couple, is located just next to the Cheah Kongsi along the Armenian Street. I liked the simplicity of the interior decoration made of recycling stuff and the mouth watering pasta and fruit shake. Do take note that the food menu are not fixed and varies from time to time. No phototaking in the interior is allowed.

Not far from the cafe, I spotted some guys installing lanterns along Armenian Street in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year. The upcoming year is the Metal Rabbit year.

This picture shows the typical heritage houses around Georgetown. There is a veranda which can also acts as a shelter for passerby when it rains.

An Indian selling mee jawa. One day I must try this out...


This indigo blue Chng Eng Joo house located at 120 Armenian Street where Dr Sun Yat Sen had his meetings with his supporters.