Diary of an Internet Addict

24th Jan was the height of the Thaipusam celebrations for this year.

At 0830 or thereabouts, we headed out to Bukit Bendera / Penang Hill and we saw people preparing for the procession. There were the kavadi and urn bearers walking by the road (not sure if they’re filled with milk yet). A group of policemen on motorbikes passed by us. According to our driver, things would get rowdy and that they were implementing a full force ban of liquor consumption this year, though a handful might always find a way to break the law.

(For more information on the Thaipusam procession in Penang, this TripAdvisor member has quite a comprehensive  description)

Banners and leaves hung up as part of the Thaipusam decorations.

Police on their way to their stations

The police on their way to their stations

On the way, we passed by Masjid Negeri Pulau Pinang (Penang State Mosque). We also saw the famous giant Kek Lok Si Temple’s Kuan Yin statue on the hillside from far.

No further comments on either of these places as we did not have time to visit.

We reached the foot of Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill) around 0845.

I wonder if the sight of tourists milling around are irritating to the people living in the apartment at the back. I would completely feel annoyed (and unsafe).

30RM for a round trip (foreigner). 3RM for local.

Visitors are required to purchase tickets to ride the tram all the way to the top. From there, visitors may choose to make their way down slowly (not sure if it’s all the way down or until the lowest station) or ride the tram back down.

Tickets cost 30RM/roundtrip for foreigner and 10RM/roundtrip for local. They are now having CNY promotion, so tickets are going for 3RM for local. (Check out Penang Hill website for more information)

(At this point of time, my signal died. So I had no live updates until I was back at the hotel. Connection was being strange.)

We were fortunate that we barely missed the peak hour. As our tram pulled away, I could see people crowding around the gate.

The guy must be rolling his eyes at us foreigners.

Penang Hill Map

Here’s a tip:

1. Make sure you’re first in the queue. Give the tram before a miss to ensure this.
2. Be right at the gate, seriously, up against it. You might piss the officer off. If so just move away slightly. As soon as the gate opens, RUN!!!
3. Choose the butt of the train. That’s the most exciting. You can stand there too, even though there’re only 2 single seats. Just crowd. Stand. Sit on the floor. Anything goes. You won’t regret it.

So we were at the butt of the tram. And the tram reverses to climb up the hill quickly. If you are familiar with USS’s Mummy ride, that’s exactly the same feeling, but for the next 10 min.

This is truly an experience you wouldn’t want to miss.

Outside the top station was a 360ish platform. We could see the town ( I don’t know which, highly possibly Ayer Itam) below us. Penang Bridge was slightly visible through the morning mist.

It as intensely bright. But the cool weather was a huge relief from the stifling dry heat of Georgetown.

We walked upwards on the pathway until it branched off to a circular plaza with a couple of buildings, one of which is the Owl Museum (12RM per person).

Owl Museum has some owl-motif things inside and a souvenir shop afterward. It also has 4 shops selling chendol on its shop deck.

Generally I would not recommend it unless you’re a huge fan of owls or don’t mind spending since you are already there.

We did not climb our way down as we wanted to experience that rollercoaster feeling from the top station.

It’s bound to be exciting right? A free rollercoaster ride, right?

Wrong!

It was pretty anti-climatic actually. But then again, some people wouldn’t take speeding down a steep slope too well…

All in all, we spent around 2 hours at Bukit Bendera. (Thank you EXIF)