The top temple in all it’s glory, Kek Lok Si, Penang
After enjoying my day of wandering round town stumbling across things in Georgetown. I decided to venture a little further afield on my second full day in Penang. I booked a taxi to take me on a tour of a few of the main sights of the island. I started with a morning trip Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple. I was lucky to have another savvy driver who got me there before the crowds at 9am so i was free to look around in
Standing Buddha, Kek Lok Si, Penang
peace and tranquility on my own for most of the time. It’s high up on the hill and has great views back out to the coast and over Georgetown. It’s quite a vast complex which houses a giant standing Buddha and a labyrinth of several buildings split across 2 levels. It’s the largest of its kind in South East Asia and is most easily accessed
by car or bus on the way up, then you can take the funicular railway back down to level two before walking the rest of the way.
The highest level is home to the standing Buddha and the sprawling views of Georgetown, then the second level down has the main temple hall, tower and wishing trees. Where i
Main temple at Kek Lok Si, Penang
discovered another beautiful thing. The temple provides free resources for anyone interested in learning a bit more about Buddhism. There are a wealth of books and CDs available that you can take away, read and then pass on. What a great and generous way to share teaching and thinking. I picked up a couple for reading on my upcoming train journeys and sharing with
those of you who are curious back home in Europe.
The Temple Hall itself and surrounding gardens were the place i felt
Some of the finished renovations in the tower at Kek Lok Si, Penang
most calm, it was so serene and beautifully kept. I have never seen such a carefully manicured garden in a spiritual or religious building. It was here that i I made my wishes and lit a candle for my
loved ones. I like to do that when i am away as an active way of sending some positive
The tower at Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang – i did it!
energy and love. The tower was a fascinating climb, it’s part way through being renovated so the paintings etc on the walls get a bit more scrappy with each level and the obstacles (cans of Dulux, ladders etc) increase. But it was very much worth the effort to see the temple in all it’s glory and more views back over the Island. I somehow managed to make it up and back down again with no new injuries!
I carefully made my way back down goodness knows how many steps to meet my driver for the next stop. Snaking my way through a series of gift shops and stalls that follow the walkway, only broken up by a random turtle pond about half way down. I thought they were fake at first as none of them were moving just basking in the sun, but that soon changed
Turtles at the temple catching some rays
when a little boy came charging across with a handful of greens for them to eat!
Penang Hill was my next point of call, for a bit more history and views of the island from even higher up. It’s accessed by another funicular railway left by the British and updated more recently. I had to giggle at the impatient man in the queue behind me that kicked up a stink about having to wait, dragging his wife to the front of the queue and pushing in only to be herded into the waiting area with everyone else afterwards. They only let so many people on at a time! Ooooops, karma in action me thinks… And incredible people management from the “Special Forces” managing the railway. That’s what it said on their badges anyway…
Kek Lok Si temple, Penang
I felt a bit faint having only eaten 2 cha siu bau all day (they were glorious but not enough for a cake lady until 14:30!) I love Asia for the fact that I can eat freshly made things like that for breakfast. I know I could do it at home but it’s just not the same with frozen ones
Loved this on Penang Hill, showing me how far i had travelled from some of my favourite cities!
from the Chinese supermarket! So after a quick stop at the bird “sanctuary” i sought out my first Penang afternoon tea at the very top of the hill. It’s higher up than the temple so has even more breathtaking views of the island and i whiled away a good couple of hours blissfully pondering what to do next and writing. Only being interrupted by a Malaysian teenager curious about where i’m from and why i am here on my own. This was to become a theme… She was from a province 2 hours away from here on holiday with her family, curious to know what i thought about Malaysia. She was very sweet.
That was the first of three afternoon teas that day… I stopped at a old colonial mansion Suffolk House on the way back to the hotel. It was built by Francis Light the man who founded the British settlement in Penang many years ago,
Afternoon Tea number one at Suffolk House
and was derelict until only a few years ago. It’s now restored to it’s former glory and is used for all sorts of events and filming for TV and films. It was here that i was bullied into having my second afternoon tea. The lady thought i was dithering about money when i asked her how big it was. “Nope, i’m just not sure i can manage two full on afternoon teas in a day” i thought to myself as i sat down to try and attempt it. But it’s all good research for the 80 cakes book right?! That’s what i told myself anyway. So i was being really really conscientious as i got back to the hotel and was shepherded into the lounge area for yet more afternoon tea… I stuck on a smile and tucked in to a solo cup of tea. I couldn’t face any more cakes and snacks, which must be a first.
I’m clearly getting old as after all that snacking and walking i was in dire need of a nap. I had planned to go and watch the sunset in the city this evening but i was woken by room service just a tad too late. I could see it unfolding from my bathroom window and was a bit cross with myself for missing it. But i clearly needed that sleep. I could hear a thunderstorm grumbling in the distance and I decided I would go out anyway and watch the impending lighting from the Sky bar at The Bay view hotel. Surely they would send me inside if it wasn’t safe?!
In all eventuality i was perfectly safe from the weather up there, it made for much better viewing than your average nights TV and i was reading my Kindle peacefully when i started getting a barrage of questions from the barman “where are your friends?” “Is your husband on his way?” Can’t a girl read a book in peace?! If you know where my husband is then let me know, he must have got lost on his way to meet me, i thought he would have shown up by now… Although it did make me ponder buying a fake wedding ring to stop these questions in their tracks. People can be quite unintentionally rude when they go down this line of questioning.
This only continued when a group of guys from the Australian Air Force pulled up pews at the bar and ordered never ending rounds of G&Ts. “You’re on your own?! i’d never do that!” then led to a long a funny conversation dispelling a raft of assumptions about why i was in South East Asia or indeed might want to talk to them.
Them: “So you’re here because it’s cheap?”
Me: “No i heard it has great art, food and history. I’m not staying in a hostel…”
Them: “But nights out are cheap?”
Me: “This is my first night out Penang, and it’s not that cheap in this bar!”
Them: “Oh so you’re not here for drugs then?”
Me: “Erm well, i have some nurofen in my handbag?”
Them: (incredulous at this point) “So, you’re not here for drugs or because it’s cheap? what are you looking for then?! why didn’t you wait for someone to come with you?”
Me: “I’m not looking for anything, i know exactly what i want from life. This journey is part of educating myself and broadening my horizons for my future. I could have waited my whole life for someone else to want to come with me, but it’s my dream and instinct that i’m following not anyone else’s so why would i waste an opportunity and my life waiting when i am perfectly capable of going and doing it by myself”
Them: “Oh OK, that makes sense then. So you’re not a backpacker then?
Me: (For the hundredth time!) NO!
People have so many assumptions and projections that they like to keep putting on me which gets tiresome sometimes. I’m not running away from anything, it was so hard for me to leave the UK as i have a great life there with adorable friends and family and a beautiful home and a good career. But it wasn’t enough, the desire to see the world from a different viewpoint was strong and i needed to go and fulfil it. I would love to be settled somewhere with a partner, but it hasn’t happened yet and i will carry on this wonderful journey taking me wherever my heart leads me. Although it seems to be intimidating and baffling to so many people.
They were a good laugh after we got through my interrogation, i feel like deserve some wings after all that! We had a fun night in the end, with them commandeering the microphone from a poor local band in a bar (despite the fact that there was karaoke inside) I even have a travel buddy for the next couple of days who’s keen to get out and explore too. So it’s all good!
A slightly hungover Cake-lady reaching for the nurofen…
Baci a tutti
x x x
