Penang Celebrates 1st Anniversary of UNESCO World Heritage Listing

It has been a year when Penang was first listed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Listing. It’s an achievement that everyone can be proud of. We can certainly be proud of our rich multicultural heritage together with our historical events as well as town scape.

Coming this Saturday, July 25th, a grand celebration will be held over George Town heritage enclave. Community groups will be staging various forms of performances, arts and crafts. All are welcome to walk around George Town and enjoy one alfresco performance to another. The highlights of the event will be as follow:

25-7-2009 Saturday

9.00am - 2.00pm Free Boat Ride - Lim Jetty, Weld Quay

9.00am - 11.30am “Street of Harmony” Heritage Walk “Street of Harmony” - Meet at Town Hall, Jalan Padang Kota Lama

9.00am - 5.00pm Penang Heritage Exhibition - INTI International College Penang , 1Z Jalan Bukit Jambul

10.00am - 5.00pm Food, Craft, Art & Music Festival - Dewan Sri Pinang, Lebuh Light

10.00am - 10.00pm Art International Festival (Art workshop, art forums & drama performance) - Town Hall & Wawasan Open University

11.00am - 7.00pm Exhibition on the Acheen Street Mosque History and Islamic Traditional Culture - Acheen Street Mosque, Lebuh Acheh

3.00pm - 5.00pm Gostan Forward a solo performance lecture by Marion D’Cruz - Penang Heritage Trust, 26 Lebuh Gereja

5.00pm - 10.00pm Food Stalls and Craft Demonstration - Islamic Museum Park , Lebuh Acheh

5.00pm - 7.00pm “Street of Harmony-Heritage Zone”

5.00pm - 9.00pm Hokkien Puppet Theatre - Cheah Kongsi, 8 Lebuh Armenian (Open House, 9.00am)

5.30pm - 9.30pm Teochew Opera - In front of Goddess of Mercy Temple, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling

5.00pm - 10.00pm Islamic Musical Performance - Acheen Street Mosque & 35 Lebuh Queen

5.00pm - 10.00pm Little Penang Street Market Craft and Food Corner of Little Penang Street Market - Lebuh Armenian

6.00pm - 10.00pm Open House - Meng Eng Soo Temple , Jalan Pintal Tali

6.30pm - 10.30pm Showcase of Teochew & Chinese Culture (Dragon Dance, 24 Seasonal Drum, Teochew Opera,Traditional Games, Chinese Dance & Teochew Delicacies) - Inside & in front of Teochew Association, 127 Lebuh Chulia

7.00pm - 10.00pm Indian Dance and Classical Music - Next to Kuil Arulmigu Mahamariamman, Lebuh Queen

8.00pm - 10.00pm Multi ethnic street performance - “Street of Harmony - Heritage Zone”

8.00pm - 10.30pm “Road to Dawn” Film Screening “Road to Dawn” - Penang Chinese Town Hall , Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling

9.00pm - 10.30pm George Town Sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia UNESCO Closing Ceremony of The 1st Anniversary George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site Celebration - Khoo Kongsi, Lebuh Cannon

Technorati Tags: heritage, UNESCO, cultural show, celebration in Penang

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Earth Hour - Saturday 28 March 2009

8:30PM Local time, wherever you live on planet Earth.

Earth Hour is an annual international event by WWF to raise awareness on GLOBAL WARMING. The event is held on the last Saturday of March. This year, Earth Hour is transformed into the world’s first global election between Earth and global warming.

Join hands with the rest of the world to vote against global warming. Your light switch is your vote. Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth and leaving your light switch on will be a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which it will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

What can you do?

• Turning your lights off for an hour is a great start.
• Tell your friends about it. Better still, tell your work mates, family members and so on about it.
• Blog about it. Create a blog post about the importance of global action on climate and how participation in Earth Hour can make a difference.

In Penang, there will be an official event held to support the Earth Hour event. Details of event as below:

Date: 28th March 2009
Location: Island Plaza - Penang
Time: 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Event details:

6.30 pm - Participants arrivals, competition begins
7:30 pm - Speeches by VIP and prize giving ceremony
8:25 pm - Countdown
8:30 pm - Cultural performance, finger food and drinks served
9:30 pm - Event End

For more details on Earth Hour, point your browser to http://www.earthhour.org.my/

Tags: Earth Hour, Global Warming, Vote Earth, WWF, Penang Earth Hour

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Beautiful Spring in Penang

This year witnessed the most beautiful flowers’ blooming in Penang. There are various places all over Penang with those sakura-like trees blooming beautifully. For a country with warm weather throughout the year, one would never expect such beautiful blooming as of those happening during spring in 4 seasons’ countries.

The blooming season usually happen between February and March. Kudos to those workers in MPPP that have played a roll in selecting and planting those trees. Below are some of the photos captured at one of the spot with those beautiful flowers. Enjoy.

spring, bloom, sakura, spring in Penang

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Kuey Teow Soup

Kuey Teow Soup is another common dish available in all the hawkers’ centres around in Penang. It’s a light dish for those who are not so into hot/spicy dishes. It’s usually serves in clear chicken soup. Most of the stall will toss in fish balls, fish cakes, sliced chicken meats as well as meat balls. There are some stalls that would also add duck meat to the dish.

kuey teow, soup dish, hawker food

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Penang International Lantern Festival 2007

This is the latest happening in Penang.

Bring along your kids and I am sure they will like it.

It is located in mainland, JURU - Auto City.

About 15 minutes drive after Penang Bridge exit.
It will be one of the stop along North-South Highway.

More photos in the next posting…

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Penang Yong Tau Fu

Been sometime since the blog was really updated. Well, we were busy due to work commitment. Anyway, I’ll introduce a new dish this time. It’s locally known as Yong Tau Fu.

The name of the dish is mainly referring to the tofu which is usually served together with vermicelli, rice or other main dish. But as time passed, more and more varieties of side dishes are introduced. Most of the side dishes will usually have fish cakes as the main ingredient.

Customers can choose from the varieties of side dishes and the seller will then cook those together in a clear chicken soup. Then the dish is usually served with rice, vermicelli, noodles and etc.

Penang, Yong Tau Fu, Tofu, Fish Cakes

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Penang Hokkien

I read about the coverage on Star Online.

If you are a Penangite, you MUST visit this website and take a look.

Listen to our authentic Penang Hokkien dialect and see how much it is difference from Hokkien dialect in other part of the world.

Check it out now … John Ong’s Penang Hokkien - http://penanghokkien.com

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Chinese New Year Is Coming …

We will be celebrating CNY this coming Sunday 18 Feb 2007.

Due to workload, it is quite tough for us to post more write up and photos this month.

If you have any photos on how people decorated their houses with red lanterns, lightings and any kind of deco, feel free to share with us. All photos will be creditted accordingly.

Hope we can make this a better site …

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Thaipusam Festival

Today marks the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai which usually fall in Jan or Feb. Pusam means the star is at its highest point during the festival. This day, the Indian community of the Hindu faith celebrates the birthday of Lord Murugan with a test of faith.

Usually, prior to the celebration, devotees will cleanse themselves by fasting and also prayer. On the day of the festival, devotees will undertake a pilgrimage along a route with a various types of burden known as kavadi.

The simplest form of kavadi comes in the form of carrying a pot of milk on top of the devotees’ heads. There are also a more ‘daring’ acts of flesh mortification which is even more daring than any acts you can find in the popular Fear Factor program on tv. It includes acts like piercing the skin, tougue, cheeks with vel skewers. There also also those who carry a portable altar up to two meters tall which is usually beautifully decorated with peacock feathers. The altar is attached to the devotees through vels which are pierced into the skin of the chest and back of the devotees.

It’s believed that at the point of time when the devotees are carrying the kavadi, they are in some sort of trance which they do not feel any pain from the piercing and you’ll notice that one don’t bleed at the wound where the vel is pierced. And miraculously after the festival, no scar is left behind by the vel at all. It is said that it’s the faith in Lord Murugan that void off all the pain from the piercing.

In Penang, Thaipusam is celebrated at the Hindu Temple near the Waterfall Garden. Devotees will throng the temple surroundings starting at about a week before the height of the festival. You’ll also get to see a lot of kolam which are paintings painted on the roads along the temple vicinity.

Besides the Hindus, some of the Chinese community in Penang will also take part in the celebration by offering coconuts, bananas, flowers & Indian joss-sticks. A lot will also break coconuts along the route of the procession as a sign of gratitude to Lord Murugan for the safe health they had the previous year. You should witness this annual event when you are in Penang because it’s one of the most breathtaking festival you can find here in Penang.

Penang, Hindu, Thaipusam, Kavadi, Waterfall Garden, Lord Murugan

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Traveling on a Budget

Traveling can be expensive. Sometimes there is just no other choice but to travel and it may not be something that you want to spend a lot of money on. There are some ways that you can save money while traveling and still have a comfortable and enjoyable trip.

How To Save Money By Flying
If you have to travel remember that holidays are the best days to fly. Thanksgiving is a great day because hardly anyone will be flying that day. The day before and the day after a holiday are the worst days to travel. These are the busiest days of the year to be on a plane. Pack light when you are traveling. Extra baggage could cost you time and money and you can save by packing a little less and you will save a lot more.

Personally, I use Air Asia for cheap air fair. You can check out the deal here if you want to go other states in Malaysia.

Take A Train Instead Of Flying
Trains are a great way to travel because they are usually less expensive than a plane. They are also less crowded. When you decide to take a train you will save money that can be used for other things on your vacation.

Here is the link to KTM or known as Keretapi Tanah Melayu.

Bring Your Own Snacks
When you are traveling either alone or with your family, bring your own snacks. This will save you time and money when you get hungry. Sometimes with the hustle of traveling we forget to get ourselves something to eat. This may cause an all of sudden sick feeling for you. By having some snacks on hand you will save yourself the trouble of feeling sick. This will also save you money. Snacks on coach flights and sections are not free and can be expensive in some cases.

Driving In A Car
When you are driving to your destination, there are some things that you can do to save yourself money. Remember to not drive too fast. Driving fast can cause your car to use more fuel. It may also get you a speeding ticket, which will cost you a lot of extra money in the end. It is better to stay at a steady and safe speed while you are driving. Also bring your own food. Make up some sandwiches and bring along some sodas and water. This will save you money and time by not having to stop for food.

Another good piece of advice when traveling by car is to take turns driving with someone. Make sure that you have another safe driver for times when you need a break. You can sleep while someone else drives for a while and then switch back and forth when a rest is needed. This will save you the expense of paying for a room and get you to your destination sooner.

Penang, Travel Tips, Travel On Budget, Save Money By Flying, Take A Train, Bring Own Snacks, Driving

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