Anne

Our roadtrip from last Sunday morning. After we dropped Piper and Dom off to the boarding house, we went on our way to Penang. Penang and Malacca are both my favourite towns in Malaysia. I can never be bored of both places. There's always so much to see, so much to eat and so much to be photographed in both places. If you are a first-time tourist to Malaysia, don't forget to visit both towns. They still have the old town charm. Both towns whispers stories to you when you weave in and out through the alleys. There's always something to discover there.

St Anne at Bukit Mertajam

Before we get to Penang, we stopped over to see Anne. Anne as in St Anne's Church in Bukit Mertajam. The St. Anne's Annual Novena & Feast Day Celebration starts on the 23 July - 1 August 2010. We are usually a week earlier.

The old church which is now the chapel

Shrine at the top of the hill

We have been coming to St Anne even when my mom was around. It was always happier when she was with us. But as the years wear on, the final years of her life, she was not able to go up the hill to pray at the shrine anymore. It is quite a steep hill. She sits at the foot of the hill and wait for us to come down. I am sure my mom was with us last Sunday.

This is where my mom used to sit while waiting for us to come down from the hill.
This lady is waiting for her kids to come down from the hill too.

Both my sister and i will usually come home from Kuala Lumpur, do a pitstop in Ipoh to pick my parents and Boy to go straight to St Anne. I am usually quite clueless with strange roads. I get lost all the time. My sister however is very smart with roads. We depend on her to get us there each year. Strangely each year we seem to take a different route to St Anne. The roads keep changing. But if you head for the hill, you will always reach the St Anne's Church. There's only one hill in Bukit Mertajam.

St Anne has granted many prayers. Especially for couples that pray for children. On one of our visits there, i saw a couple holding a very small baby and running up the stairs to the chapel. Both grinning and very happy. Their prayers were answered. Its is a very holy and peaceful place.

New church of St Anne. Minangkabau roof and lots of natural light flowing in. 

If you want to visit St Anne's one day, here's the link to their official site. http://stannebm.org
It is a very beautiful sanctuary for prayers.

And off we went to Penang after visiting Anne :) Tomorrow hopefully.. to be continued.

Each year i take photographs of this same place. Here are some of our old pictures of St Anne. Boy is home. Goodnight people. Have a great weekend ahead.