A group of eighteen parishioners from the Family Bloc Rosary (FBR) Mother of Mercy Group Batu Bawa Fasa I, made a day pilgrimage to St. Anne Sanctuary at Bukit Mertajam Penang on 29 August 2009.
Our holiday/pilgrimage trip started from 26 August 2009, when we took a direct Airasia's flight to Penang Island at 9.00pm. After a two hours flight we landed at the Bayan Lepas Airport at 11.00pm. Checked into the YMCA in Georgetown and have our late supper at midnight.
The first two days of the trip brought the group to Penang Hill, KOMTAR Complex, Batu Ferringgi, Butterfly Farm and round the island trip to Balik Pulau, where we stopped over at the Scared Heart Church, shopping at Queensbay Mall, sightseeing at Gurney Drive and Fort Cornwallis.
Our pilgrimage was on the third day of the trip, when we proceeded to St. Anne Sanctuary from the Island of Penang using the ferry way and arrived at Bukit Mertajam at noon. On arrival the group have a short prayer session in the old church of St. Anne, after which we continued with the Stations of The Cross prayer at all the fourteen stations which are found at the compound of the church.
After the Stations of the Cross, we proceeded to the Book/Souvenirs Shop for some souvenirs. The group spent about an hour at the shop after which we proceeded for lunch at one of the eateries outlet in Bukit Mertajam. We left Bukit Mertajam at about 2.30pm after a sumptuous lunch and drove back to the Island via the bridge. Another round of shopping saw the group proceeding to the Shopping Center at Bukit Jambul after which we attended a sunset mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Pulau Tikus.
The fourth and last day of the trip brought the group to the Sunday Morning market at Pulau Tikus, then to the Chowrasta market for some last minute shopping spree, before the group checked out of YMCA at 12.30pm. We left the YMCA Jalan McAlisters at 2.00pm with a stopover at the Queensbay mall for lunch and to kill the time before we proceeded to the Bayan Lepas Airport at 5.00pm. Checked in our additional luggages for the flight back to Kuching, bid good bye to David Pierrea our tour leader and boarded the 6.35pm flight for Kuching.
