Woooh I had plans for the day and I couldn't wait! ;D
Sunrise in Air Itam, Penang.
After breakfast, my mom parked the car at the parking lot next to Fort Cornwallis. We acted like tourists, walking from the first destination to the next. I go to Penang a couple of times every year, but this was the first time I felt like a true tourist - on foot with a DSLR around the neck :P
We were walking towards Chew Jetty, where Ernest Zacharevic's "Children in a Boat" mural is at :P For those of you who do not know who Ernest is, maaaaan you guys have been living under a rock!
He's the guy behind the famous street paintings at various UNESCO heritage sites found around Georgetown, Penang. There was a period last year when the public was fuming about immoral people destroying Ernest's art by scribbling and pouring substance over his painting. (So terrible!)
But fortunately, the painting has been restored. Phew thank goodness for that. So yeah, after reading and seeing his unique art on the media, I became his fan! And hey, he's cute too.
Howeverrrrrr, I always miss out on the opportunity to meet him. First time was during my internship at R.AGE. I wanted to interview him for the Get Personal column, in line with the Merdeka celebration as well. But Metro had done an interview with him a few weeks ago, so I couldn't do it anymore D:
Second time was at Urbanscapes! He's one of the reasons why I'm even excited for Urbanscapes, but I just had to be so unlucky! I went to his stall every now and then to check if he was there, coz I wanna talk to him and take a picture with him so badly T.T Once I saw him, but he was busy doing an interview with some people... When I came back, he was gone. And for two whole days, I did NOT see him again D:
Gosh man it was so frustrating! So close yet so far! Anyway, at least I heard him talk. On TV.
Soo yeah, first destination was unplanned. We passed by this building and saw people taking photographs so we went in coz we were curious LOL. Quite interesting la...
"Noooo! You're mine!!!" LOLOL.
Whadda heck HAHAHAHA. Mom's suggestion -___-
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way :D
Quaint.
Wire frame artwork like this can be found around town too. It's cute but then the sun shines on it, the reflection of the wire frame on the wall will make it look like a bunch of wire-y mess. LOL.
This is Lim Jetty. Each jetty along the sea belongs to different families with different surnames, and the family with the same surname would live together. So a Lim would not be able to live in Chew Jetty, and vice versa.
Apparently it's still in use today :O Hmm I wonder if there's a Ho Jetty around the area? Lol :P
The floor is made out of wooden planks and beneath it is water. SO COOL. I also wanna live on a jetty!
Life on a jetty is so nice T___T They chill by the sea, hang clothes by the sea, play by the sea.....
Hai birdy.
"So where do you live?"
"Oh I live at Lim Jetty, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Yeah. No biggie."
Fifty shades of blue :D
Ooh oooh sexy legs. XD
Chew Jetty is next to Lim Jetty, however you still have to walk quite a distance.
The signs are so cute :D Gosh, imagine this as the entrance of your house...
And there I see it! Excites excites. The boat in the picture does look like the real one below!
A closer look at it sees the paint peeling off D: So for those who have yet to see the paintings with your own eyes and would like to see them, do go before it's too late.
... I just realised the position of our hands and legs is eerily similar.
Along the way, there were a few shops selling souvenirs and things like that. Guess the mural also gave the occupants a chance to earn their own income.
We passed by a back lane and saw a group of people busy snapping away. We didn't bother at first, but on closer inspection, there seemed to be a painting...
I love this warehouse's door! It says 睡不着没关店, which directly translates as "cannot sleep, didn't close shop". Haha!
Oh my gawwwwd. Sooooo pretty!!!!!! This painting's just next to the door.
However, it's not drawn by Ernest but by local artist Louis Gan. Awesomeee. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it's drawn by our very own artist. I can say that his drawing is exactly the same as Ernest's - I immediately assumed it was his! :O
The "Step by Step Lane" road sign is fixed as part of the artwork and is not an actual sign haha! You can find this at Chulia Street Ghaut, just a few streets away from Chew Jetty :)
Camwhoring on the streets.
Would have missed seeing this if it wasn't pointed out by a trishaw paddler. "This Old Man" mural by Zacharevic at Armenian Street! The colour is not as striking as before D:
One of my favourites - "Reaching Up" mural at Cannon Street.
LOL! My pose so fake la!
Cute! Apparently it's quite a popular spot for wedding photographs.
One of my favourites too! This is the painting I mentioned earlier.. some retarded person actually poured yellow paint (or something) over the boy! Anyway, it's good for now. "Little Children on a Bicycle" mural at Armenian Street. Btw it's a real bicycle!
"Boy on a Bike" mural at Ah Quee Street. The bike's real too :P
Walked further up the road to explore.
Then I saw this! Whoaaaa.
Almost missed this one too! Gosh I have no observation skills at all. This is just next to the "Boy on a Bike" mural... Websites name it "Little Boy with Pet Dinosaur" mural, but I heard from one of the locals that the boy was originally holding a kite.
I'm not sure about the authenticity of that news though, as I couldn't find any images showing the boy holding a kite on the Internet. Hmmm..... One of the blogs says that someone scribbled the dinosaur as if chasing the boy on the bike, and Ernest later drew a small boy holding the dinosaur like a pet. Lol!
The second mural by Louis Gan, at Chulia Street Ghaut just opposite the "Children on a Swing" mural. A website criticised the painting, saying that the girl looks like she's levitating and the boy seems out of proportion. I agreed after taking a closer look (told you I have no observation skills).
Anyway, it didn't stop me from playing with them :P
At Love Lane, haha this is cute! Something about richmen on Muntri Street keeping mistresses, hence the name 'Love Lane'.. :P
More wire frame artwork :)
Can't remember where is this :/ So cute!
"Little Girl in Blue" or "Kung Fu Girl" mural at Muntri Street. Definitely not "little"!
Last one, the "Awaiting Trishaw Paddler" mural at Penang Road. So far, these are the two large murals by Ernest.
Another funny one :P
Apparently there's another mural by Ernest, called "Broken Heart" mural located at Love Lane. It shows a heart split in half, with each half painted on two telephone booths opposite one another. But the booths have been taken out, though I don't know the reason... I was disappointed when I found out about it :(
Last but not least, it's advisable not to go see the paintings during peak periods like school holidays or weekends - that is, if you want to take pictures. It's really difficult to take a "clean" picture (and maybe with a creative pose or two!) with so many people mingling around. That was a problem I faced... too nervous with the crowd wanting to take their own pictures - otherwise I would have had more creative poses!
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