Cherok Tok Kun @ Bukit Mertajam 21 June 2013

 After a few days in the bustling streets of Penang, we went over to Bukit Mertajam for some tranquility.

As it was a weekday we had the place to ourselves.

 Sand and water play

 Exploring the hill.
The kids made camp, played out stories they created and were in a world of their own.

 A nice tea house by the stream with tables set under shady trees. I thought the place was simply delightful

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 I don't think I enjoyed sweet potato as much as I did that day. 

 We had rose tea

  Yam cha!

Lunch

Then it was back to the jungle

Toy Museum, Penang 9th April2011

Located at the entrance of one of the hotel in Tanjung Bungah, the toy museum is reputed to be the largest in the world

This display case to the left of the entrance completely spooked the boys out. Han clung to me for the rest of the tour. Fai would sneak a peek at the display case from afar before taking a step to ensure that the coast was clear of anything scary .

Rows and rows of figurines on display. From Barbie dolls to Transformers.

Touching is not allowed. Look only.

Lord of the Rings chess set

Star Wars chess set

Marvel chess set.

As you can guess, I spent my time there looking for all the different chess sets that were on display. Didn't find a Barbie chess set though.

JY said that this looked like Fai on a bad day

And this is me on a bad day

Bukit Genting, Penang 10April2011

I never knew this place existed. Off the main Balik Pulau road heading towards Georgetown , we took a right turn and drove up hill and came to a strange place.

The place was called Bukit Genting and it had peculiar works of art everywhere.

We found this rather on the dark side.

It gave us the creeps.

Cobra head carved into the wood with a hand protruded out.

Everything painted black.

What do you make of this?

A garden with a few animals such as rabbits, birds and squirrels in cages

There is an observatory here. Not much information and no one around. Can't be sure if it is still being utilised.

Deck with a gorgeous view of Balik Pulau's coastline. Spot the paddy field. And that is not haze, it was actually misty up in Bukit Genting.

Boat for rent up on a hill.

Should be a very unique experience spending a night here.

Mist shrouded trees. Spot the giant spider on the web.

We spotted a snake. We thought it was fake as it was a beautiful fluorescent green.

Han prodded it and it started to move and flick out its forked tongue.

Beware of live snakes!

We had come to Balik Pulau for its famous durians but they were not in season, it would take another few months before the fruits ripen.

Penang War Museum 10April2011

Never run red lights in Balik Pulau. Some sections of the road are single lane and when the lights turn red on your side, traffic from the opposite direction moves. The road is too narrow to avoid oncoming traffic and there were alot of heavy vehicles on the road.Information overload at the entrance to the museum.

Too much to read while standing, my neck ached while I strained to read the print. So I took a photo for easier reading.

The map of the 20acre fortress. Be prepared to walk and battle mosquitoes.

The walkway in. On the left is a rusty bicycle -must be one that the Japanese used to invade Malaya and a few miniature replica of kampung houses that were built in the jungle by villagers that fleed from the invading army. On the right were a few newspaper articles and such. Had to rush through, Fai couldn't wait to get to a tunnel.

Shelter tunnel.

It was about 5 feet high, so I had to crouch a little. After 80years, the tunnel was still in very good condition.

No dank, musty smell, it was surprisingly airy.

It was very dark inside, I nearly walked into a wall at a sharp corner. The tunnel was a loop. Imagine a corridor with two doorways, on your left and right.

Walk in left doorway and emerge on the right.

The escape tunnel(below).

It was a climb up a narrow 20feet high ladder. ScMak said the tunnel had shrunk since her last visit and I couldn't climb while carrying Ean. So exited and climbed up a flight of 36 steps to meet up with the rest at the top of the hill.

Site of the Monster Gun (Below)

It was destroyed by the retreating British army during the Japanese invasion. It measured 16.5m in length and weighed 100 tons The monster gun looked something like this.

The one in the photo below is much smaller.

Han eyeing the anti-aircraft gun

Trapdoor and noose in the replica of General Yamashita's gallows.

This handwritten note was pinned onto the staricase.

Grim reaper and guilottine.

More grissly information.

Noose

I couldn't quite figure out the motorbike and the urn.

This site was the torture chamber

Mortuary and another guillotine Barracks

Prison

Ventilation for barracks.

Lonely corridors. I didn't feel like peeking in most of the time.

The place gave me the shivers.

We were warned to be wary of bats but we didn't encounter any.

Entrance to command centre.The engineering and construction back then seemed far superior to what we have now.

Control centre.

Operation where-to-go-and-what-to-eat in progress.The exit! My guide, fellow homeschooling mom, ScMak had been to the War Museum umpteen times and she added eerieness by suddenly asking the spirits for directions to the exit using a method shown to her by a seer that was staying at the Bed&Breakfast I was bunking at.

I am glad I had gone in a group and had given the night tour a miss ( night tours are from 7 to 11pm) It was rather eerie and there was a strong feeling of foreboding at dark, deserted spot

Writing this post is rather nerve wrecking. Photos I uploaded keeps on disappearing and especially the one on the gallows- vanished twice. I will not post that photo.

So if my comments make no sense, it is because the photo that was supposed to be there, isn't and I am done with this.