Malaysia : Victoria Station Bayan Baru

Victoria Station , or perhaps " THE TRAIN RESTAURANT " is in one of my favorite list of best western restaurant in Penang. Beside the foods , the exterior design of this restaurant are unique. It was shaped like a train and best interior design as well. The whole place like as if you were having your meal in a train except they don't have the " cho cho sound thingy "

This Train Restaurant situated at Bayan Baru ( Near Sunshine Square Complex Bayan Baru )



That's our first meal ( The Snail-like Butter ) with warm stim bun . It looks awesome. Nice deco even a single butter.



This is my grandma's meal. The " Wild Mushroom Chicken ". Fully furnished with special sauce and big wild mushroom. Taste good for all age.



That's my father's meal. The Black Pepper Chicken. This is not as tasty compared to my grandma's. The Black Pepper is too hot for him.



Here's my mum's " DRAGON COMBO ". It was almost similar to " COMBO PHOENIX " which include a lobster , chicken meat , corn , tomato , and some fresh vege with fries.

Dragon Combo tastes are not as good as the Combo Phoenix. Combo Phoenix include with chicken meat ( which is grilled and not fried style ) whereas Dragon Combo comes with Fried Dorry Fish and Squid. The fried Dorry fish are so-so but the squid are tasteless.



Tada, that's my meal. I'm a bit phobia with meat and meat and meats.....! Scary~~!
I've choosen the some kind of seafood spaghetti. Very nice taste and inclusive lots of prawns and cheese. No regret of getting this noodle.

For those whom are interested to get to this restaurant , here's the address of it :-

Address :-

17 Lorong Mayan Pasir 5
Penang 11950 Malaysia

Tel : +60 4 642 5988

Operating Hours

NOON-3PM
7PM-MIDNIGHT

Malaysia : Ferringhi Garden Restaurant

Best open-Air Cum Air-conditioned Western Restaurant in Penang - Ferringhi Garden Restaurant

Ferringhi Garden sits just beyond the Park Royal Hotel on the Batu Ferringhi main road. The restaurant building is placed directly beside the road at the front while the parking lot is located behind the building. The parking is slightly confusing to get to. Taking the first right turn after Park Royal Hotel, I was able to make my way down to the end of the crowded side road and then turn left into the restaurant parking lot.

The parking lot can hold around twenty cars, a large sized lot compared to most in Penang. The reason becomes apparent as I noticed the huge size of the restaurant, around sixty to seventy tables in an open air setting. Besides having a large dining area, the restaurant also has an upper floor section used for large functions.

The restaurant building has air conditioning, yet the cool air intentionally escapes out towards the garden tables. Although it isn’t as cool as the fully enclosed restaurants, eating in this setting is still very comfortable and delightful. People who sit outside are also kept cool by floor fans and air conditioning that flows out of the building.

Now let's talk about the food .. * yummmmmy *

The Caesar Salad was good, although nothing spectacular about it. It tasted much like a traditional Caesar Salad would. While traditional Caesar Salad uses Romaine lettuce, this one did not. In Penang, most restaurants don’t use Romaine lettuce as it is difficult to source in the warm Malaysia environment.

John with his pussy act again ...

John and I are best buddy. I celebrated his " bird-day " in this restaurant. This is his first meal " The Cream of Wild Mushroom ". Taste is better than any other mushroom soups around the corner. Quite a big bowl too.

Look how greedy he was .... trying to swallow all he could....

The " Mongolian Beef Steak " came a little while later. Presentation was delightful and it looked very pristine. Depends on the restaurant, but most steak presentations aren’t this nice. The taste of the steak was fantastic. Cooking is half the battle as well as selecting proper cuts. The restaurant does both well. I could tell from the first bite that the restaurant selects good steaks. Definitely one of the more excellent main courses John tried so far.

Look how fascinated he was .... with his lil' beef

Mine dish was not that facinating as what John has done to his beef. It was " GRILLED CHICKER...something ". Taste is good. Lazy to take picture of it as I'm dying from hunger.

Lastly, The chef gave us a special dessert ( which is free cause I knew the chef and the boss is my friend ) ngek ngek ngek...... * include with the cheeky sound *

The Banana de' Coco Split ... inclusive a medium fried banana , ice-cream and coconut mixture with cakes. Very nice. I've forgotton the name as the pretty waitress ( myanmar ) spoke too fast. I nearly " catch no ball " - Not understand

An Upclose of the BANANA ..

So Finale ...

Do you think it's worth to get your ass over there?

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Look at his face ... do you think its worth?

P/S : Some review shots are taken by penangreview.net. Thanks for sharing :D

Zheng Zhou : Qingmingshanghe Millennium Park

Qingmingshanghe Millennium Park is an ancient theme park with 53 shops in traditional Chinese style. Lord Bao's Memorial Hall was one of the ancient hall built within the millennium park. The memorial hall was built to commemorate Lord Bao Zheng ( 999-1062 ). Beside that , they also have the Imperial Street of Song Dynasty with 400 meters long and 30 meters wide.

Here's some picture of the ancient Lord Bao's Memorial Hall and the exterior of it.




and here's a brief sketch of Lord Bao making a justice for a pair of couple. This story is about a husband which was already married and marry again with a rich family's daughter. The husband lie to his wife that he is still single. -.- what a loser!


Beside this , there's some ancient script and letters written during Lord Bao



Some say if you touch the name of Lord Bao , you will be wealthy and smart ass. I don't believe it but curious to touch it :P


Do u know where is Lord Bao's name?

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Neeh~! Found it? Thousands of people already smudged it. You are not the first one though -___-"

Louyang : The Longmen Grottoes

Main Entrance to Long Men Grottoes Caves

The Long men Grottoes are on the Yihe River bank, some 12 kilometers from ancient city, about 30 minutes' drive. It is one of the three most important Buddhist sculptures and carvings in China. The Long men Grottoes enjoy a good location where two mountains confront each other between which flows the Yihe River.

A bridge connects Long Men Grottoes zone and another part

The grotto was first carved in North Wei Dynasty, over 1500 years ago and expanded through the succeeding East and West Wei Dynasties, North Qi Dynasty, North Zhou Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties and was finally completed in North Song Dynasty. Over 500 years' renovation and expansion have created the prestigious world cultural site. The most significant chiseling activities happened in the Tang and Norh Wei Dynasties, which lasted over 150 years.

Spanning a length of around 1 kilometer on the hillside along the Yihe River, the niches resemble dozens of honeycombs dotting the area. There are about 2.100 grottoes and niches, over 40 crematory urns, 3,600 inscribed stone tablets and over 100,000 Buddhist images and statues. The largest one is 17 meters high while the smallest is a tiny as 2 cm. One third of the complex are works of the North Wei Dynasty. These masterpieces are the Binyang Cave, and Lianhua ( Lotus Cave). The impressive Qianxi Temple, Fengxian Temple, Wanfo Cave( Ten Thousand Buddhist Cave) are the highlights of the Tang Dynasty's carvings.

One of the Buddha Statue in Long Men Grottoes


One of the in-cave shots

The Longmen Grottos are of great value in world sculpture history and it has been listed in the World Cultural Heritage Site by the UNESCO. To protect such a valuable heritage site, the Chinese government as well as some influential world cultural organizations are trying hard to share this site with the whole word. A large-scaled renovation was undertaken in 2003 to keep the grottos in good condition.

Mini caves with mini statue



Enlarged mini statue


Giant Statue , some where damaged by theft. Mostly the buddha's head were the precious ones.



At times , we still need to " guard " the guards.



Toilets are meant for Men and Ladies. For those who are in between must get to the center ones

Tips:

1. Comments :In terms of geographical location, the magnificence of the carvings Longmen Grotto ranks the first among the three most significent Buddhism sculptures(Longmen, Dunhuang Grotto in Dunhuan, Gansu province in northwest China and Yungang Grotto in Shaanxi province)
   
2. How to get there?
   Take bus No 81, 53,60 and the tourism line which departs from the Luoyang Railway Station daily.
3. Don't wear brightly colored clothing otherwise you will attract variety of insects.
4. You may consider to bring a camera with wide-angle lens to capture the scale of the cave art possible when it's impossible to back up.

Deng Feng : Shaolin Kungfu Show Biz

After those temples , cemetery visit and vegetarian canteen (yucky!) , finally we manage to escape from it to watch a pure Shaolin Kungfu Show. There were no such things with Co-actor or acting gimmicks! Everything are based on fact and truth. Shaolin Monk divided into 2 categories. One is just a normal vegetarian monk which are only praying and meditation. Another is Fighting Monk. This Fighting monk are allow to fight and protect the country from enemies. They have special permission as they can drink wine to heat up their body.

Why Fighting Monk exist? This is when a King of China being attacked by a group of enemies and this monks are there to save the King. So the King appreciated their help and he made a special permission for this monk for they have saved his life and protected the city.


Shaolin Kungfu are often practiced at the early age which often starts at 6 yrs old onwards. In Malaysia , our pampered child still in the air-conditioned kindergarden. Now you see how lucky we are as a Malaysian. As for China , their parents often send their children to temple to study kungfu to protect themselves and for health conscious purposes.

This young monk practicing meditation method. To decrease stress and increase their inner power in his body. Unbelievable , this monk is just 8 yrs old. They might look small , but they are mighty. In China , you need to think twice before you wanna bully them.

This teenage monk practising " pressing ball " kungfu. I'm sorry i'm not familiar with their skills ( as they did not reveal it ) so I would just have to put it as a guess though... * no heart feelings dude * This kungfu seems like increasing sexuality power :X ( do monks need them? )

As for this , I'm scratching my head out. He seems using is inner power to trim his pubic hair. So I have to name it " Trimming Pubic " Kungfu. You wont believe till you see by yourself. There will be some little tiny hair on the ground after the practice :X



Newly incarnated of Monkey God. Intimidate from a chinese drama series perhaps. I'll name this " Monkey Face " Kungfu. The whole body moves and act like a real monkey. In another sense , this moves just like you were paralyze or some psychopathic dude. So Kids at home , if you're momma gonna screw you , remember to show her your monkey face :p



His moves are like a wild tiger in the forest. From another angle I would assume it would be a pussy cat crawling on the ground. I'll name it " Pussy Boy " Kungfu.



This is the " Butt Yoga " Kungfu. For those new comers , I'm sure you would have the trouble to unlock yourself from your butt :D



Beside that , this is another version of the Yoga Butt Kungfu , which i'll name it as " Fart Up " Kungfu. When your teacher screws you , just show them what you've got :P The Fart Up kungfu style is very effective on someone which irritates you alot :P



For those who dont have table or chair for study, you could use this " Book Reading " Kungfu to get your brain captures what you've read. The two fingers pointed behind your skull is to support your head from getting sleepy ( lots of people will get sleepy when read books ). With the fingers pointed u back , you will definitely captures everything inside the book without reading it twice.


Now It's all about KUNGFU FIGHTING ... Hoooah ...

Deng Feng : Shaolin Temple + Pagoda Forest

After breakfast at Peony , and again .. Coach bus took us from Luo Yang ( 1.5 Hrs trip ) to Deng Feng. In Deng Feng , We get to visit the Shaolin Temple and Pagoda Forest. Both places are holy and sacred for Buddhism. Very windy outside. The temperature was around 19 degree c.

Statue of a monk.

Remembrance for those who has written poems or poetry. All scholar whom been here dropped some love notes for them in a big large brick. Every brick has different hand writing.

Below are both statues of Kungfu Statue. They presented as the basic principal of Shaolin Kungfu. Let me introduce to you ...

Guys .. read their lips carefully ..

This is Mr. Hummph .. ( some say u need this to do your morning chores in the toilet bowl )

And this is Mr. Haaah ( to release gas - aka - fart )

Both of this statue shows their basic principal of shaolin kungfu by their lips. You need to gather the chi and release the shit energy. It's good for health too.