Saturday, December 27, 2014

♡ Penang Island ♡ Dusk at German Heritage Trail in Penang ❀

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German Heritage Trail in Penang...
I have to admit that I don't even know the existence of the German Heritage Trail in Penang. And after walking along those trail, I find nothing that reminds me of anything German. The only German thing that I know of is German Bratwurst sausage. I have yet to place my footsteps in Germany.
So, what's this place exactly? I know this place as Padang Kota Lama or you might know this place as the Esplanade with a large field. I'm more interested with the sea compared to the field. There's nothing at the big field except for an English-style building which housed the City Council... if I get that right. You might heard of Fort Cornwallis or did you not hear about that place?
Fort Cornwallis...
It's an old fort with lots of old cannons. This was the fort where the fallen soldiers have fought really hard to keep this island from being attacked. There were many attacks from the sea. And to remember the fallen angels, a cenotaph was erected in a gated compound.
The cenotaph...
The year was that of the World War 1. Looks like I didn't study in detail our Malaysian History so I had no idea who attack us in the first World War. I know more about the Japanese occupation as we did a folio on that in Form 3. My other neighbour told me lots of stories as he had gone through a lot of hardship. If grandma was around, I would love to hear her part of the story. Most Chinese suffered tremendously as the Japanese has such hatred for the Chinese due to the war in China. The Indians were not tortured because the Japanese was trying to win their trust so that it would be easier to conquer India after having us fall straight into their hands. That's what I learnt through our history books. I didn't dig for further detail. The Japanese's dream to conquer India was futile as the Americans sent them two atomic bomb, one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki. That made them raise the white flag and many took to their own swords, 'kamikaze'... more like committing suicide to save yourself from further embarrassment. 
In memory of the fallen heroes....
Those are the 5 important historical events that needed us to remember the glorious dead. Sad to say, I don't know anything about those who died for this island but I only know roughly the story of Sir Francis Light. Historical facts apart, let's go back to the sea.
The sea...
I would say it's rare to sea the sea water crystal clear. It was too clean but after that when the tide rose, it became dirty again. That night the waves were really strong that the water splashed onto the walkway. The was the night that flood news in other states of Peninsular started coming in. Hey, do you know that you could bring your fishing rod to try your luck?
That fishing rod...
There's a Chinese man having a real good time getting his catch. I tried fishing there once but I ended up feeding the fish or whatever down below. I went with lots of prawns, fish and worms but I came back with nothing except for the fishing rods. But this guy was wonderful, he caught something other than a fish.
The flower crab...
He used a small fish as bait and he put a net around his bait and hurled up a flower crab. He said it's really easy to get one. I don't eat flower crab as I prefer the mud crab. But it's really amazing to see someone caught something. You tried fishing before? You will know the true excitement only an angler would experience. The sense of achievement was so great that even if you caught a puffer fish, you would feel elated, but that's only for the first two times. After that you get really irritated catching those puffer fish.
The accidental tourist...
If you have nothing better to do, just sit there but please don't fall over, you would create such a scene that the authority might ban the public from sitting there anymore.  The blowing wind was not always gentle. Well, it's not the place which I would sit around. We were actually heading towards another destination and we happened to be there because the car was parked quite a distant away. While walking, why not... get my local tour done with since the camera was with me.
Taman Kota Lama, there's a food court there where you can find really delicious 'mee sotong'... direct translation is squid noodles. It's fried noodles like that of 'mamak mi goreng'. You don't understand the local Malay language? If you can handle spicy food and you like fried yellow noodles, then give it a try. You can tell the hawker that you don't want it spicy. 
That's a group of our young local lads with musical talent. Not all youngsters are crazy mat rempits flying on their motorbikes trying to get themselves and other road users killed. These lads are learned people and they just enjoy sharing their musical pieces with the open audience. They don't have to spend money to rent a studio and don't have to worry about giving out fliers to ask or force people to see them perform. They just play whatever they like and those who happen to be there can choose to pay attention to them or ignore them completely. Win-win situation: They get to play their instruments in public, you get free live band.
A cat and a dog can share from a plate of food. What does that tell you? Think for yourself...

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