Penang Hill adventures

Apart from attending the Local, Global and Universe environment awareness programme, I had other objectives to go up Penang Hill.

I needed to rediscover the hill by myself. I needed the solitude to reconnect myself with nature. Largely, I wasn't disappointed, and I'll share the experience with you at another time.

But what contributed to helping me make by day atop Penang Hill were the unexpected guests that I met. I came across the first ones while walking along Summit Road, now less romantically renamed as Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra. Easily 20 to 30 of them. What they were doing was beyond me but one thing was for sure...they were communicating with one another by touching with their feelers.

Here are the giant ants of Penang Hill. Each measures about an inch long. And just look at the guy on the right. I wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of those mean pair of mandibles!


My other guest was spotted on the grounds of the Bellevue Hotel. This time, I had the presence of mind to place a 20 sen coin beside it for comparison or else few people will believe me! Isn't that pill millipede a beauty? It was about two inches long and 3/4-inch wide. When alarmed, it curled itself into a tight ball.


I didn't manage to snap this photo (below) of the millipede after it became bashful with all the attention trained on it, so I need to thank Divya for passing the image to me.