Penang, Here I Come!

After a 3-day-stay in Malacca, my next trip was to Penang, an island which was once known as "Pearl Of The Orient". This small island is to the north of Peninsular Malaysia. Apart from Malacca, Penang's George Town was also officially recognised as UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007.

 

 

We visited some interesting places such as The Chocolate Boutique, Coffee Tree shop, the old mosque, recreational ground, shopping complexes, to name a few but unfortunately, I wasn't able to take many photos because my camera's battery was dead!

  The Chocolate Boutique - the name sounds yummy!
All sorts of chocolates are sold in this building

I couldn't resist buying a few types of chocolates from
The Chocolate Boutique.

The interior of Summit Hotel, Seberang Prai
(part of Penang on the mainland.)
To enable us to visit our nephew in Kulim, we stayed here.

Pulau Pinang (Penang island) bridge - the longest bridge

in Malaysia. It links the island to the mainland. Took this

photo on the flight back to KLIA.

 

We had planned to go to another island, Langkawi, but cancelled it due to some constraints. It would have been a great trip going there because Langkawi is a duty free island.

Traditional Houses

On the second day of our trip to Malacca, we were enjoying ourselves sightseeing in the beautifully decorated bicycle rickshaws. The owners brought us to most of the tourist spots. One is traditional houses in Kampung Morten (Morten Village). We were brought to a penghulu's (headman) house.  It is one of the best traditional houses that I have ever seen. The house displays the beautiful living room, dining room, bedroom, decorated dais for a wedding ceremony and some antiques that are as old as 200 years!

A Malay traditional house. The stairs are made of concrete.

The interior of the house.

The beautiful bed.

A 200-year-old gong (in the middle.)

The bedroom on the wedding day.

Some of the antiques displayed.

Another Malay traditional house.

Baba and Nyonya's house.


It has been a very enjoyable trip and I am looking forward to travelling there again.

Greetings From Cats' City - Kuching



The cats' family in the city.

Meoowww! Kuching (literally translated 'cat') is the capital's city of  Sarawak. I don't know why it is called as Kuching. Most probably, cats were found in large numbers here hundreds of years ago. Just an assumption.

I am here on a short break. Kuching is also like a second home for me because it's a frequent trip here. Furthermore, some family members are residing here.

As I am having some problems to upload my own pictures at the moment, I have to borrow an image from http://www.tripadvisor.com/Kuching

An interesting and very informative site, please log in to get more informations about Kuching.

Oh ya! It's Monday. Wishing everyone a great week! :)

Seeing Is Believing

Let's take a little walk in my little town.



Among the small signboards at the promenade. The stork symbolises Bintulu as a coastal town.



Part of Bintulu Promenade which stretches from the rivermouth right up to the town. Quite a vast area.
A beautiful place to relax or take a walk.



The beautiful design under the palm tree captured my eyes.



.A billboard in town advertising the world class LNG Port and The Port of BIMP-EAGA.

LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker at the deep sea port. Bintulu is known for its oil and gas industries.

The new kid in town.

I don't have to walk down the streets of San Francisco to get the taste of that coffee.
It's available here.

Among the hotels available in town.

The main market known as Pasar Utama Bintulu. The roofs are in the shapes of traditional Melanau's hat.


*All photos taken by yours truly, Balqis.

It's Monday....again!

Yeah...it's Monday. Surely, there are no Monday's blues. I think I have the blues not only on Monday but on other days, too. For instance, there are times when I don't even know what am I up to when everything seems to go wrong. Well, that's the situation when the mood swings settle in which I fail to understand, sometimes. :) I realise that the more I dwell in it, the worst it gets. Among all days, I like Friday the most cos it leads to the weekend. A much awaited time which can be spent with family members or friends, going picnicking, shopping, cooking my favourite dishes or simply relaxing at home and watching good tv programmes. I'd love to have a well-spent weekend that gives me the contentment of a fruitful day.

Actually, I spent this weekend in Kuching. Just came back on Sunday evening. It was a long journey back and forth but I really enjoyed it. Enjoyed being on the road, as well, appreaciating what nature has to offer all the way. I saw beauty in everything. In the clouds amidst the blue sky, the green leaves, trees and the hills yonder, the buildings...to name a few.  Everything's in perfection and soothed my mind. I also got the thrills being on the road when coming across some eccentric drivers. The drivers who drove as if the highway belonged to them giving no chances for others to overtake. By right, others could overtake at certain point when it's safe to do so. But not to a few drivers I met on the road, just recently, who seemed to be so selfish. I think, they also got the thrills on speeding with the turbo engine. When our car came close behind them, they increased speed which to me was a clear indication not letting us overtaking. It happened many times. By the way, we weren't in the circuit....it was just a family trip. And we didn't feel tempted to race with with them. Well, forget about them.

Here are some pictures which I took on the way to Kuching. By the way, Kuching is the state  city of Sarawak.




This gives me a peace of mind.



The cottony clouds, lush of green , the bluish hill and the highway.

No!.... that isn't a twister...take a closer look.

The "Hanging Garden" on the fly over in Kuching.

Meow....a cat at the rear of a bus.



Magnificent



The gigantic pineapple in Sarikei.

Part of Sibu town as seen from the longest bridge in Sarawak, the Rejang bridge.



The little red bridge at Bintangor.

Oh ya! Tuesday's coming up. I have two nieces who are in standard 6 and who will be sitting for their standard 6 examination starting from tomorrow until Thursday. They are both 12 years old. Good luck girls! Stay focussed! I know you could do it! *Hugs*

*By the time I finished uploading the pics, it's already Tuesday! :)