Makeup by thelittlebrush.

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As usual more in slideshow and Facebook.

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With the charming Mien Wee, both of them made a very lovely couple. The wedding was a simple yet fun affair. A lunch party with a small company of close friends and family in the Crystal Inn was filled with plenty of warmth and love. Less is more. His type of wedding.

A very Happy Birthday to Sze Yin whose birthday falls on tomorrow!

The usual drill. Highlights of the day below. Facebook. Slideshow.

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Heartiest congratulations to Gordon and Jocelyn!

Bridal makeup by thelittlebrush.

Check out some highlights. More on facebook and slideshow.

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After checking in at Rosa Pasadena Hotel (3-star, RM128 for twin sharing per room per night) at Brinchang, he booked a local tour from the hotel lobby. At RM25 per person, the tour covered destinations including Rose Garden, Butterfly Farm, Boh Tea Plantation farm,  Honey Bee Farm, Strawberry Farm and a Chinese Temple. Departed at 1.30 pm from hotel lobby in a van with 6 other travelers (2 Filipinos, 1 Malaysian and 3 Dutch), the trip ended at around 7pm. Dinner was steamboat at the OK Tuck Restaurant which was highly recommended by the locals. Verdict: not bad lah.

The second day in Cameron Highlands was mostly spent walking around in Tanah Rata (RM8 taxi ride from Brinchang), a major hub whereas it seats several hotels, parks and comercial center. They had a fantastic lunch at T-Cafe (check out their Strawberry Fruity Scone and Mango Lassi!). Back in Brinchang, they discovered Strawberry Moment which sells all things strawberries! Besides dried strawberries, strawberry jam, strawberry chocolate and strawberry tea, Mum bought a whole piece of strawberry strudel for supper back in the hotel.

Dinner was yet again steamboat, but in another recommended place called You Hoo Restaurant which was equally good if not better than the previous one. Anyway, in a cool place like Cameron Highlands, nothing really can beat a steamboat dinner, especially with family members.

Some pictures to share, as always.

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Uncles. Newspapers.

And assorted dim sums. That pretty summed up their breakfast at Tho Yuen Restaurant (92 Lebuh Campbell). Like most of the other eateries they’ve been to, they found their way here through Lonely Planet Guide’s recommendation. No angmohs or youngsters seen. Probably just got into bed after a night of wild party.

Wife had just recovered from stomach upset. Porridge suited her better than those greasy oily (yummy) dim sums. As much as he missed the dim sums in Ipoh, this one was not too bad either.

Roaming around the small lanes in Georgetown appreciating dilapidated buildings on Christmas Day did not seem appealing. Instead they decided to take a public bus to Kek Lok Si Temple.

Reaching the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia was no easy feat.  They had to snake through a maze of souvenir stalls, past turtle and fish ponds in order to reach the entrance.  Perhaps they might revisit this place again once the 16 bronze columns supporting a roof over the colossus 120-feet high bronze status of Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) is completed.

A poor man’s wide angle scene at the hilltop area.

The workers taking break at the base of the giant statue.

Their next destination was supposed to be the Penang Hill, but the 30-minute funicular railway ride  ticket had sold out by the time they reached at 2pm. 7pm tickets were available, but obviously without much of a demand.

Returning to the city by bus, they proceeded to Komtar Tower, Penang’s tallest building, standing at 65 storeys, 232m tall. At the cost of RM15 per person (inclusive of drink, well..), they took the lift to reach the highest level of the building. Located in the heart of Georgetown, they were able to scrutinize the whole city lying bare naked, 360 degrees from that highest floor.

Wall-E? No thanks.

A multi exposure taken from the tower of the city with his Holga. Hardly an exaggeration of the cityscape. Busy is an understatement.

From there on, they repeated Day 1 routine. Back to Gurney Drive again for dinner (different food, minus the photography, because he was too hungry), did some shopping in Gurney Plaza (just her), caught Twilight in Golden Screen Cinema until midnight before they called it a day and got slapped with an additional RM10 for taxi fare.

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Eastern and Oriental Hotel. It would not have caught his attention that much if not for the fact that the hotel was established by the Sarkies Brothers, Tigram and Martin in 1884, who later founded Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Undeniably Penang’s and, potentially Malaysia’s most grand hotel.

They made an entrance into the hotel and snapped several shots. None of the staff seemed to mind, which was great. No doubt they won’t attempt this gig in Raffles Hotel.

The next stop was  Cheong Fatt Tze’s Blue Mansion. Cheong was the Rockefeller of the East. The Last Mandarin. In other words, very rich, very powerful. At 11am, they were just in time for the tour around the house (RM10, but worth every sen and sense). Every single object in the house – the door, the chair, the table, floor tile, and their placement – seemed to echo the glorious moments of the past to every visitor who care to pause and feel them. Photography is not allowed inside, which made every instance in the building more memorable.

Who would have known Mr Cheong had such a fast vehicle back then?

Things didn’t go smoothly for them. First she realized she lost her sunglasses. Secondly, her stomach did not feel quite right. Something was wrong with the buffet breakfast, she felt. Feeling uncomfortable, they returned to the hotel for her to rest.

As she got better, they pursued their walking tour in the afternoon. Lunch proved to be difficult, again. They eventually settled for a newly opened restaurant with traditional Chinese tea art as the main theme. Nothing special worth mentioning, except for the long waiting period despite no other customers.

After lunch it was buildings and buildings and buildings. They covered the Cathedral of the Assumption, Penang Museum, St George’s Church, Supreme Court, Town Hall, City Hall, State Assembly Building and Victoria Memorial Clocktower. They passed by Fort Cornwallis, but did not went in.

On the way back, he spotted this Banksy-wannabe graffiti at the turning point of an overhead bridge.

Dinner. After all it was Christmas Eve. They decided to splurge a bit. The Opera at 93E Jalan Penang was the final decision. The environment was excellent and the food was relatively well-matched. Classy without stiff, as someone puts it.

However, wife stomach felt worse soon after (not because of the food in the Opera). They headed back to the hotel straight. He caught Blood Diamond partially on the hotel’s in-house TV channel. By 10pm they both turned in, only to be awakened slightly by the countdown and fireworks two hours later.  Oo, it’s Christmas.

Back to slumber.

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Two days before Christmas, around afternoon, they set their feet in Penang after 3 hours of bus ride from Ipoh. Guided by their self-printed-self-bound Lonely Planet Malaysia Guide (Penang Chapter, purchased from LP’s very own website) in hand, they were ready to explore the island.

Highlights:

• Suffice to say they were nearly ripped off by taxi driver once they reached. Or maybe they just saved few extra ringgits. The drivers had this chart on the wall that states the “official” taxi fare for different zones. Yet it can still be bargained. Why can’t they just stick to meter-reading?
• After checking into Hotel Malaysia (a balanced choice between price and comfort) at Upper Penang Road, settled their belongings, they embarked on a journey to hunt for lunch.
• First impression of Georgetown, which has recently been listed as World Heritage site on UNESCO – sick.
• Several recommended food joints (like the Ecco Cafe) seemed have closed down (LP writers, please update).
• It was 2.30pm. Lunch was overdue for way too long!
• In the end, they had their first meal at …*drumroll*… Secret Recipe in Prangin Mall. =(
• Weather was unbearably scorching hot outside. Definitely not the best time to walk around.
• Movie – Yes Man. How to say no?
• Getting dark by the time the show ended.
• Took cab to Gurney Drive, Penang’s most famous food area that was named after Sir Henry Gurney, a British High Commissioner who was assassinated by Malayan communist guerrillas in 1951.
• Food! Real food! Awesome food. It was the climax of the day. For a split second, they thought they had died and entered heaven.

The Legendary Penang Char Kuey Teow. Not that it’s the best or most well-known in Penang, but good enough for him. Plus the queue was freaking long, so it must be good.

Ah Chye Rojak. He was delighted by the inclusion of jambu (rose apple).

Deep fried chicken gizzards. Beats KFC anytime of the day.

Curry Mee. Notice the pig blood cubes?

And the night ended with a short window shopping in Gurney Plaza, before hailing a cab back to the hotel.

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More pictures in the slideshow if you can’t get enough of the pictures below.

Makeup artist at work

Anticipations

Pump it

Louder!

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After an 8-hour bus trip from Singapore’s Golden Mile Complex, Chern Ye, Poh Yen, his wife and him reached Ipoh at about 6 in the morning. He barely had a wink the whole journey with the stomach grumbling relentlessly. But already he knew what Ipoh had in store for him. Soon after the rendezvous with the rest of the gang at Jye Sheng’s home, they headed towards Foh San Restaurant for dim sum breakfast. It wasn’t exactly easy to get a table to fit nine people during the early morning rush hour, but they didn’t wait for too long either.

Rush Hour

Makan and minum.

All cleared.

Next item in the agenda? More food! And off they went. But just before they entered the next makan place, Yew Nam pointed out an alley that might arouse the interest of the only guy who was lugging his camera all the while. He was darn right.

Nostalgic Alley

Comfort Zone

Tiptoed shoes

The specialties of the next coffeeshop was their super-sweet “Dan Dan” (caramel custard dessert) and Chee Cheong Fun. The latter was so good that Wen Ho had 3 servings!

Considering the sin of gluttony they had committed in the morning, post-breakfast activity was surprisingly healthy – caves visiting. But it wasn’t the caves per se that were so interesting.

No animals allowed, but little did they know the zoo they were heading in.

Yew Nam posing with his new found friend.

He has to admit the photo was slightly tweak to boost the impact, but it isn’t too far off from the reality either.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Ask them.

What you get when you put together an a bunch of tortoises in an enclosed area, a group of football/wrestling fans and some apples.

Camel ride for Kenneth.

As for lunch, let’s just say he was too busy eating to be bother with taking pictures.

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To Guo Loong and Shiau Chen, he wishes both of them a lifetime of everlasting love and happiness!

For more images, click here for slideshow.

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The starting point was Melaka and Kenneth played the host. Subsequently, they proceeded to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang and finally Langkawi.

9 years later, most of the usual suspects congregated yet again in the historic state for food and fun in the name of Kenneth’s customary wedding.

In fact, it’s only barely a year ago since he took their solemnization lunch in Singapore.

Hope that Kenneth and Lynn enjoy the pictures. More images available in the slideshow.

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How much more can we take? How long more to be awakened?

He wonders, he wonders how, he wonders how he wonders…

Happy National Day.

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More images here.

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The last trip to Melaka was his first photo shooting trip with the 400D just bought. Returning after more than half a year, he felt more comfortable this time. The kit lens had been replaced by his 28-105mm USM and 50mm 1.8. Moreover, he also brought the Holga along!

The following are from Holga with Fujichrome Provia 100F cross-processed.

Remaining photos are here and here.

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