After an hour of peace and serenity at Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram, we returned to worldly pleasures, to a world of materialistic pleasures.
From Lorong Burma, we took a Rapid Penang bus to take us to Gurney Drive, an upscale sea-side promenade that is lined up with high-end malls and luxury condo blocks, indeed a far cry from the rich cultural heritage of the old part of Georgetown that we had explored earlier today.
Gurney Drive is the playground for the rich and the famous of the South East Asian region, and we heard that Jackie Chan owns a penthouse here!
It was low tide and the sea had receded quite a bit...
Gurney Drive reminded me of Marine Drive back home in Mumbai...
But the apartments here are much cheaper, at around Rs. 35 million for a lavish, 3-bedroom luxury apartment. Ask a Mumbaikar, that is indeed quite a reasonable price for a lavish pad on the Marine Drive...
The log was once a tree...
It would certainly be fun to be here when it is cooler and breezy...
Am not sure if that's an egret!
We visited Gurney Plaza for some window shopping and some cold coffee before we were on the road again to head to Georgetown's iconic clan jetties.
That's when we saw an uglier side of Penang. Right outside Gurney Plaza, we saw a couple of taxis lined up and the prospect of a cool ride to the jetty tempted us. Much like the taxi-wallahs back home, there was a cartel at work here. Travelling by meter did not seem like an option and the ask-rate for a 5 kilometer drive was 180 Ringgits, upwards of Rs. 3000, whereas the official fare was barely 30-40 Ringgits! Negotiations went nowhere and the unrelenting attitude of cabbies forced us to take a Rapid Penang bus which cost us a few Ringgits only.
Buildings decked up for the Chinese New Year...
A grand office of a logistics company on Pengkalan Weld...
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