Sunset At Bukit Bendera...

After an amaxingly hot afternoon at Kek Lok Si Temple, we headed to Penang Hill or Bukit Bendera as the locals call it, to get a view of the city of Georgetown below and skies at dusk.

Bukit Bendera is a 833 metre high granite hill, which finds its first modern mention when Captain Francis Light, founder of the British colony in Penang, first plotted a horse track from the Penang Botanic Gardens up to the top of the hill in 1788. The Captain cleared an area in order to grow strawberry, which gave the hill its first name - Strawberry Hill. However it was officially christened Flagstaff Hill, which literally translates to Bukit Bendera in Malay. The hill became a home for the Governor of Penang and the local colonialists who wanted to beat the heat of Georgetown below.

The hill gained popularity after the funicular rail right to the hilltop was constructed in 1924. Today, the hill is a major tourist destination for anyone visiting Penang, especially if one appreciates panoramic views of the city below. 

Dusk is just about setting in...

Georgetown below and Butterworth (mainland Malaysia) in the background...

Kek Lok Si Temple lit up for the night!

Komtar, Georgetown's tallest building...

Dusk is in the air...

Bukit Bendera is home to a whole lot of eateries, but I have other plans. Hopefully we will get to visit Teksen, an iconic restaurant in Georgetown tonight!

Penang Bridge, one of the two bridges that link Penang island to the mainland...

The views from up here are amazing!

Time to head back...

A Walk Through The Perdana...

We completed our visit to the Muzium Negara and our next pit-stop was the Islamic Arts Museum. We decided to head to the Islamic Arts Museum by walking through the Taman Tasik Perdana, or the Lake Gardens...

The walk is barely 2 kilometres or so, but the humidity is killing, the weather was bad today that it even beats Singapore or Mumbai in October, after the Monsoons recede...

A layout of the Perdana...

Finding our way through...

A view of KL Sentral area... CIMB and Hilton KL Sentral buildings...

The 92 hectare park was the brainchild of Alfred Venning, the State Treasurer of Selangor in the late 19th century. In 1888, Venning proposed that a botanical garden be built in the valley of Sungei Bras Bras, and the British Resident Frank Swettenham agreed to the idea and sanctioned a grant. 

Venning prepared the layout which included an "experimental economic garden", cleared the area of scrubs and lalang, and planted ornamental flowering trees and shrubs. 

The park attracted public support, and a leading figure of the Cantonese community, Towkay Chow Ah Yeok, contributed a hundred chempaka and orange trees to the initial planting programme in 1888. An ornamental lake was created by damming up Sungei Bras Bras, which is now known as Perdana Lake. 

The park also houses a bird park, an orchid garden, a hibiscus garden and a butterfly park, a lot like Singapore. That makes me get this feeling that the Malaysians are still smarting over the secession of Singapore in 1965 and they keep attempting to outdo Singapore in many respects. The Perdana seems to be one of them - while Perdana is beautiful, it is still way behind the Singapore Botanic Gardens. 

A fountain that we saw earlier from our hotel window...

An interesting bench...

Crossroads...

Had the weather been pleasant, this would have been an excellent walk, but nonetheless, the greenery was immensely enjoyable and enchanting...

I wish I could relax in the shade for a while...

Finally we head out towards the Islamic Arts Museum...