Bayu Emas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang

Yesterday I made an appointment to see two different units of apartment at Bayu Emas, Batu Ferringhi, Penang. My son, Dani, and his friends are now working for Hard Rock Hotel and they needed accommodation due to their second shift which started at 6pm until 2.30am. I am not comfortable with this shift at he will be driving home at such wee hours. It spooks me as he recently got involved in an accident on one rainy day at Tanjung Bungah opposite the Tsunami flats. So Frankie and I encouraged him to share a unit with his friends nearby the area.

One night he came home telling us about the rental which was RM1000 for a two roomed unit but the price has since increased to RM1100 according to the broker. I happened to ask Dani if there was any for sales. He said there were two and I asked him to call the broker, Nellie, for an appointment to see the units.

So yesterday was the day. We were shown the three roomed unit but we did not quite like the atmosphere there. It needed repainting and the ceiling was leaking as it was on the top most floor. Moreover the layout wasn't what I fancy.

We were ushered to the next block which consisted of two bedrooms. The moment I walked into the unit I was overwhelmed. You may say that I fell in love with the place at first sight. It was awesome. The paint is as good as new. It comes with furniture, fridge, 3 units of air conditioners, water heaters, hob and stove. I only need to repaint the grill at the kitchen as it was rusty.

The place was neat and clean. We were happy with the condition. The bathrooms are spacious. Out of excitement I forgot to take photos of the bathrooms. There are things left behind like vacuum cleaner, comforters, pots and pans, crockery and stand fans which I do not know if the seller will come back to collect them.

I decided to confirm buying this unit. Hopefully the seller has not changed his mind about selling. Rental now fetches RM1100 for a two roomed unit but I am giving my son and his gang a special rate out of compassion.

Botanical Garden, Penang 4.5.09

I was chasing butterflies and this small yellow butterfly was what I caught with my camera. Mind you...it wasn't an easy 'catch'. There were other species flying around as if they were dancing or teasing me. I managed to take a few shots of the yellow butterflies as they were easier to spot.

My brother and I decided to take a walk to the Botanical Garden on the 4th of May, 2009. We decided to atke some pictures of an Indian temple before reaching the garden. It is a beautiful temple opposite the Chettiar Temple. It was just refurbished.

As we were shooting around, I heard rumbling noises. I turned towards the noise only to discover that the monkeys were running on the roof on the other side of the temple.

House Dana 3.5.09

Before my brother came back to visit my parents, I decided to have house dana. It just came to my mind that it would be good for my parents. But I was not sure how to go about it. My dad had once invited monks over to his house back in Perlis after he was struck with stroke back in the 70s.

Luckily, I have a friends who gave me valuable advice. They are Charles Ong whom I met online at PGHK and Sunny Khoo who is Charles' friend and I had Sunny in my Facebook. So I contacted both of them. I then proceeded to Heng Ghee's place to discuss with him and his wife since he is my dad's Godson. Poay Eng gave me some tips.

I decided to choose the monks at the Burmese Temple at Burmah Lane as it is nearer to my home. Frankie drove me to the temple on that very day. I was not sure where to make the appointment. Frankie led me to the hall and there he asked a couple of ladies minding a stall. They told us to see the lady in the temple at the counter. She asked us to see the monk who was sitted at the end of the hall. I went to him and after paying respect to him, I told him my intention.

I never know that it was so easy to invite monks home for house dana. Bhante was so pleasant and helpful.

The day came with much excitement. My cousins each brought food that they cooked. So we have plenty on that day. Bhante arrived and all of us lined up to pay respect to him. Then we were all sitted on the floor. Bhante explained to us about doing dana and he explained every parittas that he chanted. He did not want us to follow blindly.

My dad may not be able to think well now but he did tell me that he was very very happy for the dana. Well, I hope to hold more house dana in future as my parents are not able to go to the temple to offer dana now.

It is good too to transfer merits to the devas, petas and to our dead relatives who may have reborn as hungry ghosts. And also to practice metta. I felt a lot of metta being radiated. As my parents a staunch Buddhist, I will fulfill their aim for them as long as I am alive.

Taking a boat ride from Monkey Beach

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Emmelia and I got a boat ride back to the other side. Pak Atan, the boatman, was seated behind Emmelia. As you can well see, both of us were having a good time. We enjoyed the ride not doubt we were scrutinized for being softies. Oh well, as long as we were happy SO WHAT!!!!!!!!

The trail to Monkey Beach

Here are a few photos which I manage to take though I was out of energy. Shame that I was not in the mood to take one of those which we need to jumped down and climbed up on boulders. It was tough on me as I was carrying a heavy load (water, food, DSLR camera, lenses, batteries and flash. Every time I jumped, I felt like falling to the direction where my load swung to. For your information, I fell twice scraping my knees. I rather not have my camera and lenses knocked against any though rocks.

Black Creature

Can anyone of you tell me what this black creature is? It was caught by Wong at Monkey Beach. It is not slimy. Soft to the touch, moves and shapes itself. And it was not a blood sucker though it looked like a giant leech.

I was captivated by it and was playing with it for a while. Alas, I asked what Wong was going to do with it. He said he was taking it home to cook it. Though I begged him to let it back into the water, I was talking to a deaf ear. He murdered it and found it uneatable as it turned very hard after boiling.

Poor thing...It was killed. It would be good if the authority set a law that whatever is caught has to be put back where it belonged?