Penang Trip 2018: Day 4

It was an free and easy day for us. No schedule and no plans to follow, just went with the flow. 
Lazed around and watched tv in the room after breakfast haha. 

Fruits and Nuts Granola

We took a Grab to Lebuh Pantai (Beach Street) just after noon to browse around the area. We didn't intentionally look for Penang Street Art as we saw them back in 2014. 

I had dessert at China House, one of the famous cafes in Penang.

The highlight of China House - the bakery table with 30 different cakes available daily

I went for dinner alone while Marieann napped. I went to Lebuh Presgrave hawker centre, just a street away from our hotel. It was my best hour ever for the trip haha. I had Hokkien Prawn Mee and Ais Kacang. Yum!

The famous 888 Hokkien Prawn Mee 

I also saw 2 kittens and a cat on the way to and back from the hawker centre and played with them for a while before going back to the hotel. 

An unexpected late night entertainment happened around 1120pm. There was a fireworks display which we could view through one of the small windows. Not sure what the occasion was.

Tonight's turn-down service snack -peanut brittle

Cats, Shawls and Soaps

I went with my neighbour/ friend to Isan Gallery at Jalan Kembangan. 
What greeted me first were the lovely cats at the front porch! The owner of Isan Gallery, Percy is a very kind man. He looked after close to 10-12 stray cats - 3 who live at the front porch, 3 who live upstairs in the house, and a couple more who roam the back alley.

The collection of shawls is amazing. I managed to find a silk shawl which has both of my favourite colours - green and purple! I also bought a couple of hand-made soaps. Always good as last minute gifts or for self! :) 

Japan Trip 2016: Day 10 Part 1 11 Dec 2016 Sun - Teramachi-dori, Kyoto

We slept in a little before heading to have breakfast at 9:30am. There was some variety in the breakfast dishes from yesterday's. :)

We headed out to Teramachi-dori or Teramachi Street because I needed to pick up some Hojicha tea leaves for my friend from Ippodo Tea Co. which has been providing high quality Japanese tea since 1717! A real traditional tea house. :) I ended up buying some Hojicha tea for myself too. By the way, Teramachi-dori is not the covered Teramachi Shopping Arcade, it is further out. It is worth travelling out of the covered shopping arcade towards the street as there are plenty of traditional and modern shops to look at.

We have to pass through Teramachi Shopping Arcade to get to Teramachi-dori

Quaint shops on both sides of Teramachi-dori, both traditional and modern

A flea market in front of Kyoto City Hall

We did more shopping as we walked through both Teramachi and Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcades again. :P We were surprised to see that there was no queue at the Baked Cheese Tart shop so we went in and got one to try. It was quite delicious. As we spent a "little" too much time shopping, we were running late to meet my Primary 4 P 1999 student, Pamela at 3pm. So instead of having a sit-down lunch, we bought chicken onigiri and corn soup back to the hotel as lunch and we could also drop off our shopping bags.

Discovered another temple

Loved the drawstring bags from Hamamonyo

Japan Trip 2016: Day 8 Part 2 9 Dec 2016 Fri - Nishiki Market, Teramachi & Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcades

We took our time to familiarise with the transport system in Kyoto and didn't venture too far from Kyoto Station. We went to Nishiki Market which is also linked to Teramachi and Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcades. We were attracted by quite a number of traditional shops and shops like B-Side Label. :)

Nishiki Market

Teramachi Shopping Arcade

A temple/ shrine in Teramachi Shopping Arcade

Shinkyogoku Shopping Arcade

Shijo Street

We had cup noodles for our dinner. It was something we wanted to try ever since we were in Japan. Do they taste better? Yes, they do haha.

Lobby on 3rd floor

There were actual pieces of pork!

Our stickers from B-Side Label and local snacks