R. Doug Wicker's Blog

Time for the second of four Fun Photo Fridays featuring favorites from Penang Island, Malaysia:

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While the signs at today’s George Town, Penang Island, Malaysia may say George Town Mansion, the true name is the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. That becomes an important distinction if you start going internet services because this mansion is located at 29 Church Street (GPS: 5.417884N, 100.341275E). The other “George Town Mansion” is museum, formerly a home built in 1925, at 23, Lebuh Clarke. Pinang Per...

When I left you last week, I was about to show you Armenian Street (Gat Lebuh Armenian), George Town, on Penang Island, Malaysia. Today we’re going to continue that tour, then stroll out onto Chew Jetty, the largest and most famous of George Town’s clan jetties. But before we discuss Chew Jetty, let’s concentrate for no on what makes Armenian Street worth a visit. For one thing, Armenian Street lies deep within the George Town UNESCO Worl...

Today I present the first of four Fun Photo Fridays featuring Penang Island favorites:

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In today’s article we’ll finish up with two photos of Dhammikarama Burmese Temple, then head over to Choo Chay Keong Temple before finishing up on Armenian Street. Along the way we’ll drive by a colorful Hindu temple with some really elaborate exterior details. So, lots to see and do, starting with those two photos of Dhammikarama Burmese Temple:. And whereas you saw the grounds on Monday, today I’ll treat you to pictures of the 27-foot/8.2-meter gilded standing Buddha as...

Last Wednesday’s article left Wat Chayamangkalaram behind as I took you across the street to Dhammikarama Burmese Temple. The image above was taken at that latter location. It’s a statue of the Hindu deity Garuda. So, today I’ll show you around Dhammikarama, and this Wednesday we’ll finish up Dhammikarama, move on to Choo Chay Keong Temple, and then head over to Armenian Street. Next week we continue our look at the world-famous murals of Armenian Street, ...

The first of five Fun Photo Fridays featuring Penang Island favorites:

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Inside Wat Chayamangkalaram, one of the first sights to grab you is a 108-foot/33-meter gold-plated reclining Buddha. Impressive. I’ve seen this statue described as a “sleeping” Buddha, but that certainly did not seem the case to me:

Today is going to be a two-fer, because directly across the street from Wat Chayamangkalaram lies Dhammikarama Burmese Temple. We’ll get to that one in a moment. But for now I’m going to take yo...

The next stop on our Celebrity Millennium adventure was Penang Island, Malaysia, where we would arrive on Friday, 14 November 2025, overnight, and not depart until 5:00 PM the next day. That gave us two full days to explore and also gave me enough photos to spend the next five weeks showing you this amazing destination. So, over that period we will hit several temples, visit George Town, and even take a funicular to the top of Penang Hill. To...

Today it’s Fun Photo Friday favorites of Kuala Lumpur. Next week’s it’s off to our next cruise destination, Penang, a journey on a funicular, and eventually a trip to James Bond Island.

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