R. Doug Wicker — Author | Stories of Mystery and Adventure

August 10, 2026 · 5:35 am

Malaysia — Arriving Penang; Heading to Wat Chayamangkalaram

Celebrity Millennium crew drill, Penang, Thailand

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 misquote Margo Channing (All About Eve, 1950), “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a fun five weeks.”

We disembarked at a little after 11:00 AM and headed out to catch our first-day tour.

Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower (a.k.a., Jubilee Clock Tower)

After joining up with our group, we loaded up aboard our roomy and very comfortable bus and headed for our first Penang Island destination — Wat Chayamangkalaram. Try saying that very quickly) three times!

Wat Chayamangkalaram is a very colorful, quite elaborate, highly detailed Theravada Buddhist Temple. It was built in 1845 in the Thai Temple style.

When I say this place is colorful, I mean colorful. The image above doesn’t even begin to hint what awaits your camera lens and your eyeballs. Especially attention grabbing are the brightly colored glass mosaic dragons in the front of the temple:

In Wednesday’s article I’ll take you inside and then tour again the grounds for more views. And in the same article we’ll stroll across the street to another fascinating Buddhist site — Dhammikarama Burmese Temple. Until then, enjoy today’s photo gallery/slide show:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Fun Photo Friday — Kuala Lumpur Favorites

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.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Malaysia — Touring Kuala Lumpur, KL Tower, and Petronas Towers

Merdeka 118 as seen from the observation deck at KL Tower

Kuala Lumpur certainly has its fair share of tall structures. For instance, the photo above was taken from the observation deck of Kaula Lumpur Tower, which is 1,381 feet/421 meters tall. And in that image is Merdeka 118, which stands 2,227 feet/679 meters! In case you’ve not guessed yet, 118 is not the address; it’s the number of stories. That makes the megatall skyscraper Merdeka 118 the second tallest, coming in right behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (see my article on that monster at: Dubai — Burj Khalifa and Museum of the Future). And while KL and Merdeka are huge, they are not the only ones dominating the Kuala Lumpur skyline. Let us not forget the Petronas Twin Towers at 1,483 feet/452 meters: