London 2012 - Inspired A Generation

So as I have mentioned in the previous post, I had a whale of a time during the Olympic Games. Some of the achievements by the athletes really inspired and awed me. Here's some of my favourite moments from (mostly) swimming and diving events: 

Swimming

Men's 1500m Freestyle

Team China's Sun Yang really impressed me when he broke the world record by 3 seconds! That's fucking impressive, and the fact that he almost had a false start (he did, but the judges did not penalise him because it wasn't his fault) at the beginning made it even more sweet a victory for him. Well done! His achievement would definitely inspire a generation of upcoming and present swimmers alike. 

Sun Yang's record breaking was legendary!

Women's 4×100m Freestyle Relay

Team Australia's first gold in this Olympic Games! The highlight of this event was after learning they had won the gold, the last swimmer of the relay team climbed out of the pool to celebrate with her team mates, before she was indicated to leave the pool (For those of you who don't know, this is a swimming rule whereby swimmers can't climb out of the pool as they please -they need to go to the edge of the pool and get out using the staircase-and before the referee indicate them to do so). The team could have been disqualified for this mistake, but luckily they weren't!

Team Australia celebrating their victory like there's no other! 

Women's 800m Freestyle

Team USA's Katie Ledecky showed the world that age doesn't matter in going for gold! She is 15 years of age. This was Katie's only event at the Olympics and she definitely did not disappoint herself and her team! 

Katie Ledecky's only event and she took the gold! 

Diving

Women's 10m Platform

How can I not love this event? Team Malaysia's very own Pandelela Rinong Pamg dived like there's no tomorrow and secured a medal for Malaysia! As a fellow Malaysian I am so proud of her performance at these Games! She ranked 2nd in the prelims, 5th in the semi-finals and 3rd in the finals - Malaysia's first women medalist at the Olympics and first medalist from diving. Well done! Watching her from the prelims up to winning the bronze was anxious and nerve wrecking as if I was really there at the Aquatics centre. The fact that she did a not-so-good opening dive during the finals (10th place after round 1) and climbed all the way to 3rd after the round 5 made it such an emotional moment for herself and her team mates and coach. I must also say Team China's Chen Roulin was in a league of her own throughout this event. She dived superbly well. Team Australia's Brittany Broben and Melissa Wu also did really well, especially in the semi-finals and finals. It was such a close call for Melissa and Pandelela for 3rd place! 

Congrats, Brittany Broben, Chen Ruolin and Pandelela Pamg

Men's 3m Springboard 

This was the first event in which China's gold rush in the diving events was broken! Team Russia's Ilya Zakharov was a legend that night. He proved to the world that the Chinese can be beaten. And I quote FINA "The Chinese can be beaten! Not because they flopped, but because someone else got better". Another inspiring moment, no? Also, Team GB's very own Chris Mears who secured 9th place made such an impressive final dive to be the first Brit diver ever to score above 100 points! Malaysia's Kee Nee became the first Malaysian ever to qualify into the finals for this event and placed 10th overall! I must say this was the most intense diving event I've ever watched! Every round of dive was so unpredictable. 

Ilya Zakharov, Men's 3m Springboard champion

Men's 10m Platform

Another event in which the Chinese did not win the gold! It was such a fierce match between China's Qiu Bo and USA's David Boudia. In the end, it was David who grabbed the gold, marking USA's comeback after several years of Chinese domination in the diving pool. David amazed the audience when his performance improved tremendously from 18th place in the prelims (final diver to make the semi-finals cut) to 3rd in the semi-finals and to gold in the finals! Thomas Daley also made an impressive comeback in this event when he secured the bronze, winning GB's only medal for diving at these London Games. Despite making several mistakes during the prelims, he definitely performed with all his might during the semis and finals. Well done Tom Daley, you've done your country so proud! To the person who had sent him an insult and hate-tweet after the Men's 10m Platform synchro event, you should be ashamed of yourself, very ashamed. 

David Boudia's well deserved gold victory! I think he's hugging his coach

Thomas Daley celebrate's his bronze medal victory

These young divers have made their mark at the London 2012 Games! Hoping to see more of them in future diving events and ready to be further impressed and awed by them!

Badminton

Men's Single Gold Medal Match

I did not actually watched the entire match between Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and China's Lin Dan; I only saw the first round where Chong Wei beat Lin Dan, missed the second round because I went out for dinner, and followed the third round on the London 2012 website because, well I don't really have passion for badminton and therefore I didn't finish watching the match. However, Chong Wei has definitely inspired many when he gave in his all to try and secure Malaysia's first ever gold medal at the Olympics. Despite his heroic efforst, Lin Dan was the better player in the end, and Chong Wei had to settle for the silver. Chong Wei displayed excellent sportsmanship during these Games. The same cannot be said for most Malaysian fans though, who showed such an ugly and disgusting side when they condemned and criticized Lin Dan throughout and after the match. You can support your country without condemning others. There's so much more to sports than just winning medals. Shame on these people. 

And that pretty much sums up some of the best moments from London 2012! These Games have definitely inspired a generation, or at the very least, I was. 

Photos source from London 2012, the official Games website. 

London 2012 - Isles of Wonder

It's been two weeks since the Games of the XXX Olympiad at London came to an end. However, I'm definitely suffering from post-Olympics syndrome. Although I was not personally in London to watch the Games, the experience of watching it at home has been a wonderful one for me. My anticipation for the Games began in January, when I recalled London was the host city, and it was heightened as the date approached the opening ceremony. Most people would know that I have a huge thing for many things British/English, so the fact that London was the host city has definitely made me look forward to the Games even more. Many of my friends would have noticed my excitement via Facebook, when my timeline cover photo featured the Olympic rings at various locations in London. Heck, I even tracked down the current location of the Olympic flame through the official website! Before the Games began, I checked out the schedules for all the diving and swimming events which I wanted to watch to make sure I did not miss them. I am a huge fan of aquatics sports since being a former competitive swimmer, I know it well. Also, because most of the athletes I know such as USA's Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, South Korea's Park Taehwan, Great Britain's Tom Daley, Chris Mears and Jack Laugher, China's He Zhong and of course Malaysia's very own Bryan Nickson Lomas and Pandelela Rinong Pamg, are swimmers and divers. 

So my London 2012 'experience' began with the wait for 4 am (MST) for the official opening ceremony of the Games. Titled "Isles of Wonder", the ceremony had a very different approach from Beijing's "greatest ever" opening ceremony four years ago. Contrary to how most people disliked the London opening ceremony (probably because Beijing's ceremony was more extravagant, more awe, and more artistic left a legacy that couldn't be beaten), I personally enjoyed most of the performances throughout the night. It was simply all things British! The opening sequence "Pandemonium" featuring the industrial revolution has got to be one of my favourite performance of the night. Particularly, the forging of the Olympic rings was very unique compared to the previous Athens and Beijing editions, as each individual ring came from different corners of the stadium and meeting in the centre to form the five interlocking rings, signifying the union of five different continents and peaceful coming together of the different nations at these Games. Simple, yet brilliant concept. For those of you who missed it, you can watch it here.

These "satanic mills" during the industrial revolution sequence (Pandemonium)

Forging of the Olympic rings (Pandemonium)

The Olympic rings (Pandemonium)

Next came the short film "Happy & Glorious" featuring the royal arrival of Her Majesty The Queen unlike any other! You have got to give it to Britain for their sense of humour. The following sequence entitled "Second to the right, and straight on till morning" paid tribute to children literature, the National Health System and Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was definitely entertaining, from the music to the use of children performers and the entire choreography. Next, the performance of Chariots of Fire led by Sir Simon Rattle accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra featuring Rowan Atkinson as the legendary Mr. Bean was definitely one of the highlights of the ceremony. Whoever said they didn't enjoy the humour probably doesn't have any sense of humour? (Come on, it's Mr. Bean!). The next performance featuring the digital age "Frankie and June says...thanks Tim!" was not so much my cup of tea, but the dose of great British music featured was definitely the bomb! In fact, music was definitely the main feature of the night! Perhaps this was why I enjoyed the ceremony unlike many others, because the music is simply brilliant. I am a sucker for British music, despite not knowing every single one of them. A moment of silence during the memorial wall section and the memorial performance which paid tribute to the victims of the London bombings in 2005 was definitely an emotional one, even for me. 

"The Queen" jumping off the helicopter during the royal arrival (Happy & Glorious)

A Tribute to Great Ormond Street Hospital (Second to the right, and straight on till morning)

Tribute to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, who tweeted the above message to everyone (Frankie and June says..thanks Tim!)

The lighting of the Olympic cauldron, which came after the parade of nations, was another highlight of the ceremony. The theme of the London 2012 - Inspire A Generation, was very clearly conveyed when seven British Olympians handed the privilege of lighting the cauldron to seven upcoming young athletes. The cauldron, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, was made up of steel pipes and individual copper petals inscribed with the names of each competing nation. Seven petals were then lit, and the flame spread until all petals were lit, before the steel pipes then rose and converged to unite the 204 individual flames into one flame of unity. It was a spectacular feat. I quote the BBC commentator "Breathtaking in its beauty and its ambition".  I was definitely very emotional during this part of the ceremony. And what better way to end the ceremony than to have Sir Paul McCartney himself performing his ever-famous Hey Jude? As I mentioned earlier, music was definitely the main feature of this ceremony. In short, London's ceremony was a symphony of British music, coupled with British humour and the remarkable use of children during the ceremony, conveying London's aspiration to 'inspire a generation'. 

The converging of individual flames on 204 copper petals

The Olympic flame of unity

Photos source from London 2012, the official Games website. 

Penang, Part Three

Our final day in Penang began with the hunt for the famous Penang Road Teochew chendol at Lebuh Keng Kwee. There's actually two chendol stores at this street, but you can guess which one's the famous one (hint: the store with more crowd, duh?). However, my uncle told me that he tried both, and found that there's not much difference between the two. Oh well, we ended up getting from the famous one. We also each had a bowl (well Steven had two) of asam laksa from the Penang Road Laksa shop. The asam laksa here is the bomb! The soup is heavenly. Let me repeat: HEAVENLY. It's no wonder the place has been visited and featured on so many Asian food programs. If I was returning to Penang I'd definitely come back for more. The chendol on the other hand was good, but not to the point that makes me want to brag about it. 

Lebuh Keng Kwee

The Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol stall

The chendol

The asam laksa!

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol

Lebuh Keng Kwee off Penang Road

10200 Georgetown

After brunch, it was time for some souvenir shopping, and we walked around Chowrasta Market. I didn't get any souvenirs though, because I am cheapskate (Hello, don't believe what I just wrote!). Nah, it was because I didn't see anything worth getting for my friends and family back home, so yeah. Walked around more to digest that awesomely heavenly asam laksa before heading to Georgetown's UNESCO World Heritage Zone. 

The Old Majestic Cinema along Phee Choon Road

I took a picture of Ms. Mei-Jean...

 ...taking picture of us

Look at this photographer's finger (upper left corner)

Komtar along Penang Road

We visited the famous Fort Cornwallis, which is located along the Esplanade. If you're lucky (as we were), the sunny weather and clear blue sky here made it a perfect day for photography. If you're interested the the history of Penang and this fort, there's ample of reading materials for inside this fort for your reading pleasure.

Entrance to Fort Cornwallis

With Sir Francis Light!

Small chapel

View from atop the fort wall

Fort Cornwallis

Jalan Tun Syed Shah Barakbah (The Esplanade)

10200 Georgetown

And then it was time to bid farewell to Penang! I will definitely return for more Penang in the near future! 

Penang, Part Two

Our second day in Penang began with the hunt for good local dim sum for breakfast. However, our search for the supposedly famous dim sum shop was to no avail as none of us could spot the shop with the address found on food blogs. So we settled at another shop known as De Tai Tong Cafe (大东酒楼). To be honest, Penang dim sum doesn't really differ much from one another, but the main thing is that they come much cheaper than those in Klang Valley. So while you're in Penang, make sure to have some good rounds of dim sum at very affordable prices. 

Dim Sum

De Tai Tong Cafe

45 Cintra Street

10200 Georgetown

After breakfast, we strolled along Cintra Street and Campbell Street, but it started drizzling, so we took off to the famous  Pinang Peranakan Mansion. This place is practically a museum for all things Peranakan. For those of you who don't know what peranakan means, it refers to the local acculturated Chinese community, who are unique to the Strait Settlements during the colonial era. They are also known as the Baba and Nyonya community to the locals. The manor itself has been used multiple times for filming of local and regional Chinese dramas such as The Little Nyonya (Singapore) and The Iron Lady (Malaysia). Admission fee costs RM10 per adult. 

Intersection of Campbell Street and Cintra Street

If you click and enlarge the picture, you'll notice that this building is crooked

Three storey shop lots, which are prominent during colonial era. Not many states have preserved these buildings, except Penang and Singapore

Tourists stick the entrance stickers on the stalk of the plants

The entrance stickers

A game of cherki (somewhat like mahjong)

Courtyard

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Group photo take 1: Steven, Boey Yee, Mei-Jean and yours truly

Group photo take 2

Pinang Peranakan Mansion

29 Church Street

10200 Georgetown

Had a brief chilling session at Old Town White Coffee along Church Street and started playing with our cameras (except Steven, who was so busy social-networking and gaming on his brand new SIII). Basically the photos below are effects from the colour filters.

Along Church Street

Next, we took off to visit the famous Armenian Street. Took some time to search for some of the street arts, which was a project called Mirrors Georgetown in conjunction with the Georgetown 2012 Festival. These street arts are drawn by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic. His work has garnered not only local attention, but also international attention! Kudos Mr. Ernest, for beautifying Georgetown. Check out his official facebook for more pictures and information about his work. Unfortunately, we did not know that his work was not just in Armenian Street, but at several locations within Georgetown. We also did not know that his work was featured in an art exhibit which was held during our time in Penang! What a waste, not meeting such a talented artist and to see all of his work. We also visited the famous Khoo Kongsi, (a local Chinese clan) in Cannon Square, which is located in between Armenian Street and Acheen Street (Lebuh Acheh).

Cannon Street

Armenian Street

Cannon Square

Khoo Kongsi

Ms. Boey Yee found this trishaw more attractive than the Khoo Kongsi temple itself

The names from the Khoo generations

Khoo Kongsi, 

18 Cannon Square

10200 Georgetown

We then took off to the famous Kek Lok Si temple, which houses the largest bronze statue of Guan Yin. The panoramic view of the city of Georgetown from the hill top is breathtaking (unless it is hazy or cloudy on that day). 

The Bronze Statue of Guan Yin

Reclining tram from Kek Lok Si Temple to The Bronze Statue of Guan Yin

Views of Georgetown

Lastly, we departed for the famous Penang Hill. This place is definitely a must-visit! The weather up here is just nice, especially since Malaysian weather is known to be hot and humid at sea level. The chilling breeze up this hill is just what we needed to get away from the intense heat! And what better way to enjoy such weather than a nice cup of coffee or tea at David Brown's Restaurant and Tea Terrace. They even have a restaurant for those who wants to have a wholesome meal. Besides the hill, the journey up hill on the Penang Hill funicular train is also an experience not to be forgotten. It is basically a train which goes up on a inclined track (a steep one, mind you). This funicular train is new and improved with fully air-conditioned and comfortable coach. Mind you, this train service is a thousand times better than that of KTM's national rail or commuter rail services in Klang Valley. 

The funicular track

The funicular train

Hill top views

Does anyone remember a game of ting-ting?

Outside The Owl Museum

At David Brown's Tea Terrace

David Brown's Restaurant

We left Penang Hill and headed to Bayan Lepas to pick up Mr. Warren for seafood dinner at Tambun, Seberang Prai. Dinner was a crazy one, especially with the crabs. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to have a good night's rest.