A boy caught in the web of technology, sitting along the corridors of Old Penang Guesthouse.
Being in Georgetown is like travelling back in time to Singapore in the 1960s. While all we have left are bits and pieces of our past, clusters of shophouses and temples in Georgetown are still intact and escaped unscathed from the bulldozer. What makes this town different from the other old towns I've visited is, people still reside there and it's not swarmed with tourists and souvenir shops.
Beautifully restored pre-war buildings converted into guesthouses
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Don't turn your back on this gorgeous mansion bcos of the entrance fee. I did and I regretted it.
French colonial buildings in Ho Chi Minh are prettier
This is Joo Hooi coffeeshop today, yesterday and probably decades ago. It was playing really retro music in the background, those kind that you hear in old old films. Hawkers have been selling food here for many decades and they have ultra memory without having to rely on colour pegs or writing down orders.
The Philomatic Union / Society started Chinese education in Penang
潮州会馆韩江家庙
Han Jiang Ancestral Temple
Information posters about the history and conservation efforts are placed along the hallways. Temples such as these are usually vacant and visitors are free to walk in. In land-scarce Singapore, we can't afford the luxury of spending money to restore buildings and leaving them vacant. Usually, they are converted into commercial use (adaptive reuse) which ruins the integrity and history of the place.
This looks new and classy. I have not seen
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Even rickshaws are preserved!
Getting across the causeway on Friday evenings was seriously mission impossible. Lesson #1: Don't fly from JHB at night. Luckily, the flight was delayed by a good 4 hours. Blessing in disguise. If you need a place to sleep at Senai Airport, try the sofa chairs at Bistro Cafe which is located just outside the Arrival Hall. That is if you don't mind people staring at you, dishevelled and rushing to board the plane. Lesson #2: Never book the last flight of the day, especially budget carriers.
The most annoying thing about touching down during unearthly hours is the exorbitant taxi fare with midnight charge. Lesson #3: Pick flights that arrive at your destination when the city is awake. It was 3.30AM and we couldn't find anyone going to the city (to carpool) so we decided to wait for the first bus in the morning. Best part about sleeping at MacDonalds? You get to eat MacDonald breakfast the moment you open your eyes at 5AM. We got on the first bus to Georgetown at 6AM and finally reached our guesthouse at 7AM.
What a start in Penang!
The most annoying thing about touching down during unearthly hours is the exorbitant taxi fare with midnight charge. Lesson #3: Pick flights that arrive at your destination when the city is awake. It was 3.30AM and we couldn't find anyone going to the city (to carpool) so we decided to wait for the first bus in the morning. Best part about sleeping at MacDonalds? You get to eat MacDonald breakfast the moment you open your eyes at 5AM. We got on the first bus to Georgetown at 6AM and finally reached our guesthouse at 7AM.
What a start in Penang!
