This entry is one week late. I have been trying to blog in chronological order. I was totally exhausted after those few days in Gurney Drive and one full day visiting the tsunami hit areas of Pulau Betong and Teluk Kumbar. I tire easily and I am not getting as much rest as my body is screaming out for. I need to post those images before I leave for Kuala Lumpur. Wuan does not have broadband. It is a pain to upload a whole album of photos via dialup.

1306: There was nothing sweeter than home but we will not be able to enjoy the comforts yet. We came back just to drop off our luggage. Despite our cousin assuring us that she and her family were safe and well, Peter and I wanted to go see for ourselves that they indeed were.

1434: Peter stopped at the rest stop at the peak of Jalan Tun Sardon on the way to Balik Pulau. Wuan have not seen the panorama of Balik Pulau and Genting from there. It was hazy and the view was not exceptional. This unclear air had pervaded since the time we were at Gurney Drive. The blatant opening burning made it worse.

1449: We stopped at Balik Pulau town for lunch. Peter parked his car right in front of this house which still retained its antique door and facade. This is one of the few houses left in this town that is not renovated and converted into a business premise.

1451: Wuan had been hankering for her favourite laksa here for a long time. Unfortunately the stall was closed. She likes the Siam laksa cooked by the swanky aunty managing this stall. On the other hand, I abhor the place because it is usually swarmed with the biggest flies I have ever seen. I believe this laksa stall is popular with tourists because of all the publicity it has been getting in the press.

1510: We had asam laksa instead. This stall has been selling laksa here for as long as I can remember; and that is a very long time. Although I have to stop eating laksa now because of the fish (I am cutting down on eating sardines) and shrimp paste, I still will indulge in it once in a very long while. I like mine sour; Wuan like hers lemak.

1542: When we reached the Pulau Betong village, vehicles from the Civil Defence, a fire engine from the Paya Terubong Volunteer Fire Fighting Squad and two garbage trucks from the MPPP were parked there. The MPPP crew were busy loading the discarded furniture, mattresses and other objects damaged by the tidal waves into the truck. I waited in the car while Wuan went to take some photos. We then went to our cousin’s house which was quite far behind and was not affected at all.

1631: After leaving out cousin’s house, Peter drove us around the area for us to take in the idyllic vistas of stilted kampong houses, coconut palms and the leisurely pace of kampong life. This is the type of life I would like to live – the infrequent noise of traffic, the sweet melodies of nature, greenery all around and to be able to breathe unpolluted air. These kampong folks have it all.

1642: On our way back, Peter decided to make a detour and took us up to Bukit Genting. The view up there was still as scenic as when I first saw it except for the haze. Wuan had a merry time shooting the flowers and anything else that caught her attention. We had an early dinner there. I am not partial to Thai food and those that we ordered did not tantalize my taste buds one bit.

1856: We made one last stop at Teluk Kumbar to check on a relative of Peter’s wife. Apart from the pile of silt-laden belongings at the garbage dump, there were little suggestions that this place was inundated by the tsunami as well. We were told that truckloads of refuse had been carted off by the MPPP and the area thoroughly cleaned up and fogged.

2003: We reached home, tired but contented that Penang is alive and bustling again. At the same time, we silently mourned for the loss of life here and elsewhere and prayed that those that survived the onslaught of the tsunami will receive aid soon. We were only bystanders to this cataclysmic tragedy and can never fully grasp the grief of those who lost loved ones and all they ever owned. Humans are very adaptable creatures. We shall rise up again from the ruins and build a better world. This is evident by the outpouring of donations of cash and kind from all over the world. We shall persist. We shall overcome. We always had. We certainly can now.

* More photos are in the Gallery.

Sunrise at Gurney Drive.

0707: Wuan caught a few of these remarkable shots of the sunrise while I was still deep asleep. She is definitely a very morning person. All the sunrise shots for this trip were taken by her. She excitedly woke me up just to show me what she had captured. When I looked out the window, the sky was already bright and clear.

Bak kut teh at Zealand Cafe in Gurney Drive.

0856: On the previous mornings, Wuan and I had noticed that the morning crowd usually gathered in the coffee shops selling bak kut teh. This is a popular herbal soup cooked with pork ribs, pork and almost all the innards of a pig. It is served with either white rice or yam rice, crullers (ewe char koay) and bean cake (tau kua). It is true that we Chinese eat almost anything four-legged except tables and chairs. We thought it must be good since there were always sizeable crowds in the shops. However it was not as tasty as we had expected. We must have appeared odd photographing our food before eating it.

Feet of the reclining Buddha at Wat Chayamangkalaram in Penang.

0941: We went back to the Siamese temple to take a few shots that we missed for our own personal album. It was already crowded with tourists, mostly Japanese and mainland Chinese. Tsunami or no tsunami, Penang was still full of tourists. This photo is of the reclining Buddha with the motif of a wheel on the sole of his foot. I gathered that the eight spokes of the wheel represent the Noble Eightfold Path (Attha Sila) of Buddhism.

Gurney Drive, Penang.

1205: It was time to leave. This had been one uneasy holiday. And I did what most tourists have done more often than me – visit the two Buddhist temples. I believe I have been there as a kid but I do not have any recollection. Now I can be certain that I have been there, thanks to Wuan. Everywhere we went in Gurney Drive, we overheard people talking about the tsunami, the earthquake and the rising death toll. Would we go come back again some time in the near future? Perhaps, just to see the Gurney Drive that I know before it is lost forever to the waves of development.

* More photos in the Gallery.

Sunrise at Gurney Drive.

0658: Wuan, as she usually does, woke up just before 7am and took this shot of Tanjung Tokong. Penang too was beginning to stir to life. The tide had receded, leaving bare a swathe of mud from one end of Gurney Drive all the way to Tanjung Tokong several miles away. The reclaimed land near there was beginning to take shape – a stretch of land stood where the sea formerly was.

Gunung Jerai from Gurney Drive.

0808: It was a beautiful morning. We could see the hazy outline of Gunung Jerai in the distance. I remember having seen the peak from the other side many years ago when I followed Dad on his monthly trips to Kedah. In the plains it rose, a mass of green that seemed out of place among the the padi fields, buffalos and kampung houses.

Nasi lemak breakfast at Restoran Khaleel at Gurney Drive

0823: We stopped at Khaleel for breakfast. That is the only Mamak restaurant the entire stretch of Gurney Drive. We had nasi lemak, teh halia and roti canai. The sambal was exceptionally spicy but the fried anchovies and peanuts was crunchy and nice.

Pretty furry red flowers called the Dwarf powder puff (Calliandra haematocephala) at Gurney Drive.

0901: Further up the road, Wuan was fascinated by a bush of red furry flowers outside one of the few residential houses left in Gurney Drive. The rest had been turned into food outlets or demolished and condominiums built over them. That was one of the brighter spots in Gurney Drive which had been taken over by the drabness and the concrete rigidity of condominiums. It was like a refreshing oasis of red in a sea of filth and commercialisation.

Indian rotiman with traditional tricycle cart at Gurney Drive.

0906: The rotiman playing his trade on a human powered cycle is a vanishing sight in Penang. They used to have a big bell they hit with a rod that produced an unmistakable ring. As kids, we would run out upon hearing that to buy butter buns spread with kaya and margarine. In a few years’ time this image will be but just a memory of days gone by. We could also see the golden pinnacle of a stupa from where we were and decided to make a quick trip there.

Interesting-looking ficus tree at Burma Lane.

0912: We passed this interesting looking tree and could not resist the photo opportunity. I am not sure if it is a banyan tree. Countless roots appeared from its branches and grew down into the soil to form trunks. The locals here, in their superstitions, would build small shrines to worship spirits that was believed to reside in such trees.

Stupa of the Wat Chayamangkalaram Siamese Buddhist Temple in Pulau Tikus Penang.

0914: The towering golden stupa seemed out of place amidst the modern structures surrounding it. That is the landmark of the Wat Chayamangkalaram Siamese Buddhist Temple. It houses a reclining Buddha in its main hall. Right across the road from this temple is the Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple. Both temples are lavishly crafted in the design their country of origin. These are one of the main tourist attractions in Penang. More images of the temples are available in the Gallery.

Rescue helicopter circling over Gurney Drive after the tsunami.

1055: On our way back to the hotel, we saw the search and rescue helicopter circling in a search pattern again. It was searching off the sea of Gurney Drive yesterday. We had wanted to photograph it then when it passed closest to us but the digicam battery went flat just at that precise moment. After Wuan had replaced it with a fresh set of batteries, the craft was too far away already. We did not let the opportunity elude us this time.

Cleaning crew clearing the mud from Gurney Drive after the tsunami.

1111: The cleaning crew were cleaning this end of the road today. They must have been at it for the past three days, making sure that all traces that the tsunami left behind were thoroughly washed off. Like yesterday, they sportingly allowed us to snap a few shots of them at work and gave us the thumbs-up sign afterwards.

Cafeteria at Penang Senior Citizens Association.

1400: Lunch was at the Senior Citizens Association Cafeteria somewhere near Pulau Tikus. We had some of the famous local delicacies like choon peah, roti babi and mee sua tau. Wuan had a field day snapping shots of the flowers in the huge compound. There were hibiscus in various colours and shades and several species of heliconias. After lunch, we spent the rest of the day window shopping at Gurney Plaza, again.

Seafront at Gurney Drive by night.

1930: We emerged from the shopping complex into the dusky sky outside. People were beginning to fill the promenade – the evening strollers and those looking to dine there. There were no signs that this side of Penang was hit by a tidal wave. Life went on as usual, almost. The evening scene of Gurney Drive is still as beautiful as it was years ago. But that will soon disappear. The sea is being reclaimed. When that is completed, Penangites and tourists alike will not be able to enjoy the sights, sounds and smell of Gurney Drive like they used to for the past decades. We are losing one of the island’s most enduring symbols to development that most of us are unaware of or are a reluctant partner to.