Merdeka Celebration

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan Ke-55 or Happy 55th Independence Day! Our beautiful country celebrated its 55 years of independence last Friday, 31 August 2012, and we Malaysians were blessed with a long weekend. So, during the Merdeka weekend, where did you go to???

It was a hectic 3 days for me from the moment I stepped off from my train ride back to Ipoh. On the Merdeka day itself, I went to George Town together with 4 of my school friends. It was a day trip thing and the main point was to search for those beautiful mural arts decorating the streets of the heritage enclave of the island. These mural arts have been in the spotlight since early this year as part of the George Town Festival 2012 and not all of the headlines were the good kinds.

The most popular of them all, "Little Children on a Bicycle"

Just early last month, news of the paintings being vandalized were the centre of attentions in every major newspapers, creating an uproar over the issue. It's sad to see that there are some people who do not appreciate arts and are set to destroy it. However, I do not agree with the idea of setting CCTV on the neighbourhood (which were suggested by my friends) as it shows a bad side of our society. Are we not capable of taking care of our own heritage and have to have it constantly under surveillance?

Anyhow, the trip was a success and I got to take a good look at those wonderful street arts. The bonus point had to be the delicious foods we had at China House (along Beach Street) and Mews Cafe (along Muntri Street). Seriously, I would love to move back to George Town and stay there. Penang has become a whole lot hippier.

The delectable choices of cakes in China House

Us five...

Then, the next two days, I went with my family to Genting Highland. After the whole fiasco of Singapore trip, I was reserved in joining them again for another trip in such a short time. However, I wasn't given much of an option to start with and Genting Highland is always the easiest and least likely to have family dramas due to the familiarity of the mountain resort. And guess what, I was right!

Spinner, a popular ride in Genting

While there is nothing new in term of its outdoor attractions, it still quite nice to be back to the place I visited at least once a year during my childhood. It was not as cold as I remembered (global warming is to be blamed) but still chilly enough. My baby sister has a lot of fun which is a plus point.

Heavy mist in the resort

The ladies in my house

More updates on both trips soon after my Vietnam trip. Seriously lagging in my updates.

*TO BE CONTINUED*