Penang Trip - April 2012

Besides visiting my parents, I also went Cheng Beng with my sister to pray at my grandparents graveyard.

We managed to buy 2 durians from the Air Itam central market for RM40 and they were quite good, it was just the beginning of the durian season so we did not expect it to be that good.

We managed to eat the Hokkien Prawn Mee and Char Koay Teow more than once.

Not forgetting the famous and popular Chendol by the roadside too.........

Please go to my Facebook album to see more photos of my trip.

Earthquake & Tsunami in Penang, April 2012

My family & I flew into Penang in the late afternoon on Wed 11 Apr to visit my parents.

We understood that there was an earthquake in Sumatra while we were in the air, Jas got a tweet about it upon landing at the Pg airport and was confirmed by my cousin who met us.

We still went for a seafood dinner near the jetty area ( this is not facing the open sea so we sholud be safe .. ) but when we were driving back to our hotel ( located in Georgetown ), we saw people outside the shopping mall like what you see in a fire drill. Apparently, there was another earthquake and there was some talk of a tsunami coming in about 2 hours time, around 7pm+.

So we decided to stay inside the hotel and my cousin rushed home as she did not want to be caught by any flooding waters, etc..... but it was a false alarm eventually. THe tsunami warning was called off when I saw the news on TV at 9pm.

We decided to go to the shopping mall to buy some drinks and snack for supper and also to stock up the fridge.

Guess what happened?

All the shops were closed and only 7 Elven was opened and Pizza Hut too! We have no choice but to follow the crowd ( mainly tourists, I think! ) to get our stuff at 7 Eleven and quickly returned to the hotel, which is just next to the shopping malls.

It was quite an experience as the town looked deserted and I have never ever seen this before....... having lived in Penang for 18 years before I left for my overseas study and eventually, working and living in Spore!

Even my Dad felt the earthquake and asked my Mum if someone pushed him when he was lying down in the sofa in the living hall.

Luckily, other than earthquake felt, there was no tsunami at all. When I spoke to the shopping mall staff the following day, they were scared as the hanging lights were really swinging to and fro and this is not usual at all! They were told to go home and be with their family in case there was a tsunami coming later, it was nice of the management to care for their staff.

Finally, I am glad to report that my family & I have a great time shopping in Parkson in 1st Avenue and also saw 2 movies, Battleship and Hunger Games, one after another... something that we are unlikely to do in Spore.....ha...ha.....

A panorama view of Georgetown, looking towards the Jetty, taken from  8th floor in 1st Avenue shopping mall.