Leaving Ourselves Behind

There are many reasons Penang is well-known – fabulous street food, long-standing history of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and British citizens and its UNESCO-anointed capital city George Town, aka “Pearl of the Orient“.

But one of the most entertaining aspects of visiting this Malaysian island it to play the “Where’s Waldo?” game of hunting down famous street murals. Some of them have proven to be quite elusive, but here are a collection of a few notables, some with the added feature of “props”, which encourage tourists to insert themselves into the scenes.

There are also a number of wrought iron sculptures that tell Penang stories. Two common forms of transportation – the motorbike and the rickshaw.

If you’re accustomed to spending $1500 (and up) for your shoes, then you’ll already know that Jimmy Choo is from Penang. His fabulous career began right on this corner.

For a city that was founded in 1786, you might expect a few signs of wear and tear. The shophouses are beautiful – some renovated and some not, but they all carry the dignity and grace of history and good bones.

A stately hotel.

A less stately hotel.

A crumbling building that has reclaimed the first floor for an upscale clothing shop.

This is Georgetown – the good, the bad and the ugly exist side-by-side. There is no “good” area or “bad” area – it’s a mix of what’s been fixed up and what still needs a scrub. In a way, it is refreshing – gentrification has not taken over and pushed people out. The sidewalks exist and then they don’t. There are portals to walk along for a while – free from traffic and direct sun.

They can have fanciful entrances.

And then they disappear for a while, and you’re forced out onto the road; remembering to shoulder-check for left turns and speeding motorbikes. We are learning how to walk out into traffic, although I lack the finesse and sure-footedness of the locals.

Is this not the most matter-of-fact business name you’ve heard in a while? Not Doug and Brad, or Muhammed and Amir, but “Son and Dad.”

Another matter-of-fact business name is the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, affectionately known as the “E&O.”
It is considered one of George Town’s best hotels, strategically situated right on the Strait. We get to look at it from our hotel window.

We decided to pop over for a better look, and it was indeed a lovely property. In theory, we could have afforded to stay here ( $225 for a sea view suite with breakfast), and possibly we should have treated ourselves. But long-term travel and “sensible” budgeting habits die hard. We opted instead to sit outside on their beautiful back verandah and enjoy a beer.

A few street scenes from George Town’s central core.

We walked down to the waterfront to see the famous clan jetties. Between the 1880’s and 1960’s seven “villages” owned by Chinese clans were built on stilts over the water. Today, they are a major tourist attraction.

This area is filled with small shops and restaurants and food stalls. We had a good laugh with these two – you do what you have to do to stand out, but it was only about 11:00 am and we weren’t ready to stop for a bite.

I did finally have my opportunity to try durian, that smelly love-it-or-hate-it smelly fruit. A small stall was selling durian by the piece, which was exactly what I’d been looking for.

And yes, it was as appetizing as it looks. The shop owner had a very thoughtful explanation for the durian controversy. It is his belief that it needs to be cooked to be enjoyed, since it tastes like onions and cheese.

When you bite into a cool piece of fruit, you expect juicy, sweet, sour, but you don’t expect onions and cheese, therefore your taste buds are confused and your brain tells your mouth to pucker up and not take one more bite. I listened to my brain – happy to have tried it, but just as happy not to continue eating it.

But the food? Oh my goodness, the food here is to die for. And I’m so sorry to report, but I am pitiful at taking food photos. The food arrives and I dig in. I will try to remember to share some of our dishes.

There is a local dish called Char Koey Teow – noodles bathed in a sweet and savoury sauce and topped with veggies and prawns. We went to this stall two nights in a row.

We also went to Bibik’s Kitchen, graced with a Michelin Guide Recommend. Bibik came to our table to explain the difference – a “star” is only given to fine dining establishments, but a “recommend” indicates a high level of quality, and naturally does not hurt business. I wish I could tell you what we ate – we shared three spicy dishes, and walked out happy and about $25 poorer. Incredible.

And finally – our trip up to Penang Hill. This series of “hills” provide locals with relief from the smothering heat and humidity of the city – it is at least 5 degrees cooler up there and breezy.

At over 2700 feet above sea level at its highest point, Penang Hill is reached by a 5-minute funicular ride.

One of the views of the city.

Once at the top, it is a short walk to the Habitat rainforest park – a stunningly beautiful area that has short hiking trails and a breathtaking canopy walk over a suspension bridge. The big catch up there are the flying squirrels – apparently as big as cats with distinctive brown and tan markings and webbed feet that allow for gliding. We did not see a single squirrel, flying or otherwise, but we did have to edge by a number of monkeys.

Still, the walk was so beautiful and peaceful – we enjoyed every minute of it – lots of jungle sounds, birds and cicadas.

And we’ll finish with another mural.

There was a lot to see in Penang, and I have more to come in a couple of days.