Ferreroroche’s Weblog

WELCOME to part 4,

So further walk along Masjid Kapitan Keling, then slight twist and turn, we end up at the charming temple belonging to the Yap Kongsi,

Chinese make up the majority in Penang (60%), alot of the clans (kongsi) have their presence here. Thus for many Chinese, visiting Penang is like a “pilgrimage” aka History lesson to know more about their ancestors. We use GPS on my phone to find our way round so we can save on taxi (a lot of streets in the alleys in georgetown are one way, sometimes walking is easier n faster! ) we also took rapid penang bus everywhere!

well back to the pics, Here is the charming Yap Kongsi temple

we then reached the famous Khoo Kongsi, the Jewel heritage of Penang. we bought our entrance tix (RM 5 Each so its RM10)

and proceed to the museum, their museum is designed to be self explanatory with lots of dioramas and explanations. We were lucky to meet one of the curator and the designer of the museum himself, Mr Khoo of course! so we can learn alot more.

a little OT : I thought Khoo will be related to MrK (whose surname is Kok), because I have seen his relatives spell their surname as Koh. As you might know, many Chinese spell their surname differently because of dialect influences, but they are actually the same surname like Tan and Chen etc.

but I was wrong, of course, The Khoos r different,

though they did use Kok as a middle name in their 16th generation.

pictures of the huge place, and the interiors.

Khoo Kongsi when lighted up at night, this building is actually just the main temple/prayer hall. all the surroundings little shophouses also belong to the Khoo clan, and they are rented out to shops etc. There are total more than 50 houses in that area all belonging to the Khoo clan.

They were a site for filming the movie on Siam Kingdom, Anna and the King.

I cook,

they are enjoying the fruits of my LABOUR

they have many foreign influences too in their buildings, such as this guard, He wore a turban, just like Gurkhas?

WE cannot roll the granite ball inside the lion, I didnt know it can be rolled in the first place. I thought its usually fixed?

after visiting kHOO kongsi, we walked to KOMTAR, all rapid Penang bus stop/transit here, so we took a bus to Air Itam where Kek Lok Si and Penang Hill is located

since its located on a hill, it might be too steep for some to climb, so they build a road, so the place is now accessible to everyone young and old

Me taking in the hillside view

Kek lok si pictures

Pic of the famous pagoda and the surroundings, plus more of the God/Goddess statues

MrK praying,

A lot of people has experienced miracles from this temple, one of the most visited place in Penang. and it is also known as the temple of supreme bliss.

Fann Wong in Ah long Pte Ltd was forced (in one scene of the movie) to pray here by her mother to find a spouse. Well one of the belief is that the temple can help you to find your spouse.

MrK, bought a “roof” of the temple, inscribed it with his name as well as pineapple candle also inscribed with his name to get some of the Supreme Bliss.

Then we took a walk down, via the staircase this time and visited the Tortoise pond

OH MY!, never seen so many tortoise in my life before, there is at least thousands of them, we bought Kang Kong (RM 1) to feed them

The GUY on the right most pic, is Particularly huge, and push others by force in order to get to FOOd, a clear example of survival of the fittest?

after this, we walked to the train station for the funicular train ride up the Penang Hill, along the way spotted a bus, and hop on it, bus 204 straight to the station!

I shall end the post here,

before that, one more look at Khoo Kongsi

and of me, near the many many statues, lining the whole place and the pagodas