Pay Day

Today is supposed to be pay day, but my boss was too busy and tired, he postponed to tommorrow. There's just so many things to do each day and I enjoy the freedom to work at home, taking power naps when mentally tired. Just saw the news on Astro CNN that 50 people were dead and 400 injured in Las Vegas massacre. My prayers go to the victims and their families. Indeed this is a fallen world and we certainly need God's protection wherever we go and have the Holy Spirit inside us as beacon of light to guide us through this treacherous path of life. May perpetual light shine upon the just departed souls and be in a better place.

3 Piles of Books

Yesterday, treated my family to M Galleria at Times Square and then my second sister handed me 3 big piles of books, some on Art while others are on different topics. Well, I plan to read them through myself and sell via Mudah cheaply for some revenue. There are treasures from childhood that my parents, especially mum bought for my sisters and myself. She invested a lot of money in our reading materials together with dad who used to work as an English teacher in a remove class in a Chinese secondary school. Well, he is now retired and enjoying his retirement with monthly pension to spend.

10 Articles to Write

Even though this month I have 10 articles of at least 1,000 words each to write, I may not accept all of them, depending on time and availability to write. I have just started with the first article and was halfway through writing it when my supervisor gave me more work. So, I had to stop writing and complete the office work first before resuming my article. I am also in the midst of finetuning my OpenCart ecommerce site to accept sales online, especially for Christmas season. I don't plan to go with Shopify even though it is easier to set up and all automatic like Wordpress, but the USD 29 / month puts me off!

10 Articles to Write this Month

I have 10 articles to complete this month, but will take my time to do them and may not even complete all of them - depending on my mood. I could be in a writing marathon, but with constant revisions, this puts me off. And it requires lots of hard work, typing at the keyboard while copy and paste the URL links into the travel site system which has an automatic word count. If only I am famous blogger or powerful media influencer, I could earn much more in the region of thousands just by blogging for products and cash. Some of the bloggers are happily traveling around USA and some lesser known ones have quit their stressful jobs to work at home as a lifestyle blogger. Now how fortunate is that?

10 Thematic Museums in Penang You Mustn't Miss

1. Wax Fun-Filled Museum

The wax fun-filled museum in Penang Times Square has a wide repertoire of famous personalities including the head honcho of M-Mall, Mr Tedy Teoh himself at the entrance. There are also Mr and Mrs Smith, Madonna, Queen Elizabeth, Barrack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Michelle Yeoh, amongst the exhibits. For the disabled, it is free entrance as long as you can product your disability card as proof.

The address is as below:

Opening Hours Mon - Sun, 10am - 10pm
Website https://www.facebook.com/penangwaxmuseum/
Entrance Fee Adult: RM35
Children: RM15
Special Needs: Free
Student: RM15
MyKad Holders:
Adult: RM25
Children: RM10
Address: M Mall 020, Jalan Dato Keramat, George Town, 10150, Penang, Malaysia.

2. Upside Down Museum

As the name suggests, Upside Down Museum has everything inside it upside down. When you take photos, it gives an illusion that you are upside down instead. Tables, chairs, etc were strategically placed and stuck firmly to the ceiling so that they will not fall down. If you happen to be in Penang, don't give this a miss. The address is as below:

Address: 45, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Phone:04-264 2660
Hours: Mondays to Sundays : 9:00AM – 6:30PM

3. 3D Glow in the Dark Museum

3D Glow in the Dark Museum or simply known as Dark Mansion has a kaleidoscope of attractions in the dark. Colourful lights and mirrors play a magical illusion of imagination for your photo taking. There's infinity room, stars and moonlight, mysterious tropical gardens of Pandora, masterpiece of Edgar Müller and more. It is worth paying this place a visit, even though it is not so well known compare to Upside Down Museum which always has a long queue of tourists and buses of school going children. They are just doors aways from each other. The address is as below:

Address: 145, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Phone: 04-251 9694
Hours: Mondays to Sundays : 10:00AM – 6:30PM

4. Wonderfood Museum

In Wonderfood Museum Penang you can get to see many local foods display such as big bowl size of laksa, nasi lemak, chendol, satay and so on. The exhibits look very real, but they are not edible. They showcase the local delights of Penang hawker fare of street foods, except in gigantic size. It is worth paying this place a visit should you be in Penang. The address is below:

Address: 57, Lebuh Melayu, 10300 Georgetown, Penang.
Phone: +6012-435 0968
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-7pm
Weekends & Public Holidays 10am-9pm
Ticket Price: Malaysian: Adult RM18, Child RM8
Non-Malaysian: Adult RM36, Child RM16

5. Toys Museum

Touted as the world’s largest toy museum, tt is home to over 100,000 dolls, trains and other collectibles. Moreover, it has earned a spot in the Malaysian Book of Records as Malaysia's first toy museum. For the record, the most expensive toy at the complex is a RM9000 Gundam robot from Japan. The owner claimed to have spent millions of dollars collecting the toys for the museum. The address is as below:

Opening Hours: Daily, 09:00 – 21:00 (last admission 20:30)
Location: Beside SJK (C) Eok Hua School
Address: 1370, MK2, Teluk Bahang, 11050 Penang.
Tel: +6012 460 2096

6. Owl Museum

Despite the name, there are no real or stuffed owls inside Owl Museum. What you have here are many figurines, glasses, frames of pictures, carved wooden owls and the like. Souvenirs like owl necklaces, t-shirts, soft toys and more are sold here in this compact museum that is located at Penang Hill. The address is as below:

Address: Level B3, Astaka Bukit Bendera, Jalan Tunku Yahaya Petra, Bukit Bendera, 10000 Penang Hill, Penang
Phone:04-826 5704
Hours: Mondays to Sundays : 9:00AM – 6:00PM

7. Glass Museum

The entrance fees are as below:
Malaysians: RM15 (Adult), RM7 (Kid 3-12yrs)
Non-Malaysians: RM20 (Adult), RM10 (Kid 3-12yrs)

The address is below:
Address: 6, Jalan Burma, 10050 Penang, 10050 Penang, Malaysia
Business Hours:
Mon-Fri: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Sat: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm

8. TeddyVille Museum

Experience the cute teddy bears @ Teddyville Museum Penang. It showcases a huge collection of adorable bears from yesteryears till now. It also has miniature teddies and even human-sized ones; there’s a teddy here to suit every taste. The address is below:

Address: 54, Jalan Low Yat, Puncak Ria, 11100 Batu Feringghi, Pulau Pinang
Phone:016-550 5949
Hours: Opens only on Saturdays and Sundays : 9:00AM – 6:00PM
Mondays to Fridays: closed.

9. Penang State Museum

From Wikipedia, The Penang State Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It is maintained by the government of Penang to showcase the culture and art in Penang. The address is below:

Address: Lebuh Farquhar, George Town, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Hours: Saturdays to Thursdays : 9:00AM – 5:00PM
Fridays: Closed
Phone: 604-226 1462

10. Batik Painting Museum

There are about 70 Batik Paintings being showcased in this Museum. Over 25 artist are represented including the famous Khalil Ibrahim, Tay Mo-Leong (Dato'), Fatimah Chik and more. The address is below:

Address: 19, Lebuh Armenian, George Town, Penang.
Tel: 04 262 4800
Opening times: Daily, 10am-5pm

Kizuna - The Japanese Restaurant in Penang Times Square

Kizuna Japanese Restaurant had reinvented itself from a lack of customers for being too pricey to being affordable with high class ambience. Above is a photo of the surroundings with Japanese paintings of ladies adorning the otherwise bare walls.

This is taken outside the restaurant in Phase 1 of Penang Times Square on the ground floor. Colourful umbrellas serve as part of the decorations that is reminiscent of Japanese culture.

A life-size mannequin in Japanese costume with the trademark umbrella stands beside the logo near the entrance. She looks awesome in kimono, the national costume of Japan.

Here is another picture for your eye candy. She is standing between 2 lamp posts while holding the signature umbrella below the sign board and logo. This certainly reminds me of Japan and I feel that I am already in this unique country where politeness and bowing of heads to greet one another as part of the culture rules. One can never go wrong by being polite and honest.

My friend ordered fried rice as he loves his carbohydrates and some prawns. It serves authentic and unique Japanese cuisine.

I had cod fish with sliced black Shitake mushrooms and topped with Japanese black sauce. It cost RM 60 or around USD 13 per dish. The cod fish was fresh and sumptuous to taste with the black sauce and paired with black Shitake mushrooms. It was embellished with faux red flowers on the side.

The pink lighted trees and wooden bridge is for photo taking and forms part of the ambience of Kizuna near the entrance cum exit. The trees certainly brightens up the dim-lighted place which gives an aura of romance in the dark.

This is a small top-view aquarium with tiny fishes and located in the middle section of Kizuna Restaurant. Decorations are placed strategically for a good view and observation. For more details, check out the contact below:

Penang Times Square, George Town, Penang
Tel: 604-370 0268
Opens 12:00PM - 10:30PM

Chap Goh Meh Celebration at Quayside

On the 11th of February 2017 was 'Chap Goh Meh' celebration at Quayside condo. For those who do not know what this phrase means, 'Chap Goh Mei' itself is the 15th night of Chinese New Year in Hokkien which also marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration. Above was God of Prosperity giving out ang pows consisting of 2 chocolate coins wrapped in golden paper to signify money. Quayside is an upscale condo near Straits Quay Mall in Tanjung Tokong.

There was a lion dance with accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Children were feted to ang pows, notwithstanding a few adults too collected them as well.

In this photo taken by me, many hands stretched out to collect their ang pows or red packets traditionally given out to unmarried singles by the married couples or in this case, by the God of Prosperity. The shed was erected by a beach since Quayside is a seaside condo with many facilities like swimming pools, Jacuzzis, gym and an air-con reading room.

We were treated to a buffet dinner, compliments of the fund collected by the condo management. Each person costs $40 and you have to turn up after signing up, or else your money will be forfeited and you have to pay instead. There is a wide repertoire of food like char kuay teow, fried prawns, vegetables, fish fillets, fried rice and noodles, drinks, desserts and more. For those who were early, they were treated to a plate of 'yee sang' where they can toss for good luck.

We were entertained with live band and music while dining outside with the buffet dinner. Security guards were stood at strategic places to ensure safety and that everything is in order. After dinner, many residents went back to their units while some stayed on to dance to the music and wait for the announcement of lucky draw prizes.

It took about 45 minutes for all the prizes to be given away, with some being contributed by fellow residents. Many numbers were called and had to be cancelled due to absence of the lucky draw holder. Finally when the first prize was announced, no one collected and it was gone. The master of ceremony then picked another number and this time, it was my number being called at 0845 and I got a free night stay for 2 at Lone Pine Hotel with breakfast included. The prize is easily worth at least $600 as Lone Pine Hotel is also a favourite seaside hotel with premium price that is affiliated to E & O, the developer of Quayside Condo.



Above is a short video that I took of the lion dance at Quayside prior to buffet dinner.