2022
The 24 hours of 25th Feb 2018 (Sunday) has just been nothing short of amazing. It was our first meet up for the Local Guides community in Penang (Malaysia) after the longest time in recent memory. Which was organized as part of the Local Guides Worldwide Photowalk. This meet-up event was held in Georgetown of Penang, a Unesco world heritage site, located about 400km from Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia. Georgetown is located on an island, and a different state from the capital of Malaysia. And most of all, this meaningful meet-up also coincided with the Penang state Chinese New Year celebration 2018.
Penang CNY Celebration 2018 is a street event jointly organized by all Penang citizens in conjunction with Chinese New Year. It takes place in the heart of Georgetown on 25 February 2017 (Day 10 of Lunar New Year). In addition to the unique festive atmosphere of Penang Chinese New Year, the celebration hopes to promote culture, traditional arts and intangible heritage through performances, exhibitions and workshops. There will be a number of heritage precincts opening their door to present their authentic cultural gems including but not limited to tradition, crafts, food and languages.
Theme of this year's Chinese New Year 2018 event: "Searching For The Beauty of Penang". The beauty of Penang is the true spirit of Penangites. We welcome everyone to feel the beauty of Penang.
On the midnight of the day before, I had boarded a bus from Kuala Lumpur to travel the 400km to join our fellow Local Guides in Penang for the meetup and CNY celebration. After over 6-hour journey and a lot of delays, changing buses, boarding a ferry, and waiting and walking, without much sleep, I had arrived in the Unesco world heritage site of Georgetown Penang. Whilst there were really just 4 of us who came for our inaugural first meet up of the Penang Local Guides, it has been one of the most exciting and interesting single day anyone can ask for. I was joined by Eugene Wong @EugeneWong, a co-organizer of the Penang CNY event and part time Facebook event live broadcaster; Alsmie @AlsmieA who is a part-time "pro" photographer and event cover; and Firdaus @firdaus a most energetic couchsurfing host and event buff. It was just amazing meeting new friends who are so passionate and energetic about life. We took a little to chat to get to know each of ourselves while enjoying some cool drinks in the heat of the day.
Then, we were off, albeit in the super hot sun, exploring the streets of the Unesco Heritage site of Georgetown Penang. The real opportunity for today is really that there will be a number of Heritage Precincts (Kongsi's) opening their doors to present their authentic cultural gems for visitors to experience, including but not limited to tradition, crafts, food and languages. We can think of the Heritage Precints as private family heritage museums and temples (usually owned by a certain family clan), which usually do not provide access to public, but only for this day. It was a very special experience for all of us, because these historical Heritage Presincts usually are not opened to public. And most certainly it was my first time visiting them. And it was an amazing opportunity to be able to shoot photos, 360-panoramas and 360-videos for Google Maps.
Our Group Summary 360-Video
The below are a few of the many Kongsi's and Temples that opened their doors which we had time to visit.
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Yap Kongsi & Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/9oTEKbsnsUA2
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Khoo Kongsi (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/UXd8R9cA6422
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Poh Hock Seah Twa Peh Kong Temple (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/C3CqLY1ZYxs
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Cheah Kongsi (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/nyc6FFmGvcB2
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Koo Siang Wooi Koon Penang (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/pWcGhyUkRcR2
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Toi Shan Wui Kwun (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/ZfGvCkKnpSv
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Chung Shan Wooi Koon (Sun Yat Sen) (Below)
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/NsriU2t2gjT2
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More activities during the day:
Earlier in the day, as I had arrived at 6am in the morning, earlier in the day, I had the opportunity to do some quick visits to several tourist attractions in Penang Island. Sharing some 360-videos here also.
Chowrasta Morning Market. A popular wet market right in the center of Georgetown. Join my 360 Walk (Video below).
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/Af5cSfhZn732
Penang Hill. Highest point in Penang Island. Join my 360 ride up to the top of the Island in the (Video below).
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/YvWSBoS4C2u
And most importantly, we got to celebrate the Chinese New Year event with the Chief Minister of Penang in an auspicious Lion Dance and Lou-Sang ceremony (Video below)
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Thanks everyone for attending this. It was such an awe inspiring day for me, and I hope it has been just as amazing for all of you as it was for me! @AlsmieA, @EugeneWong @Firdaus
Original event page: https://maps.google.com/localguides/meetup/ww-photo-walk-penang-malaysia
Penang Local Guides Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/communities/103671708157627122950
Signing off with lots of fond memories.
Stephen Abraham
Our crazy all day meet up in Penang, Malaysia on Feb 25, was just a full amazing day.. non stop, no sleep, walk until almost drop. adventure..
Tagging lots of other friends: @AlejandraMaria, @OSAMA, @ErmesT, @KarenVChin, @YK1001, @JeslynL, @BellaWi, @LucioV
@YanniY, Watch the last video in the main post.. we got to Lou Sang with Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang. 🙂
25 Feb 2018. Close to 35,000 steps, under 1 hour sleep. 😛
