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Published: November 2nd 2006
Our Mansion in Penang
This place was so nice, I wanted to move in. I also secretly wanted to continue hanging out with Mrs. Lo!Georgetown, Penang—the Malaysian island—that is. No, my DC friends, I have not returned home to my beloved city yet, as much as my lungs and mind are screaming for some fresh air and relative quiet.
Georgetown in Malaysia, however, does have some characters that just might rival the characters of DC, and gay divas that are even more “fabulous”, or at least work hard at it.
Case in point was the Guest Relations Manager at our homestay, a fabulous renovated 19th century electric blue mansion formerly the home of the “Rockefeller of the East”, Mr. Cheong Fatze. Mrs. Lo (We were never clear what his name was, but we affectionately and laughingly called our pseudo-host this after he directed us to a local restaurant and advised us to tell them, “Mrs. Lo sent you”.) thankfully took a liking to us.
Others that were not so lucky bore the brunt of his wrath and were bluntly admonished for daring to call the mansion a “hotel”, or for just being “the ugliest gay man ever!”
Perhaps it was our fashion sense, or perhaps it was solidarity in being rather avant-garde ourselves. I should explain that we were quite a motley
Our almost room in the mansion
This fabulous suite was almost ours due to confusion in booking. But we decided to head to the beach for a second night instead. crue visiting Penang. There was myself, of course, a Filipina-Chinese American that people can’t quite pin down to one ethnic background, and rightly so. I was accompanied by Kelly, my tall, and as she describes herself, Aryan-looking White American, and my Jamaican American friend, Donovan, complete with shoulder-length dreadlocks.
Penang, and Malaysia itself, is comprised of quite a diverse ethnic population. There are Chinese, Indians, Malays, Arabs, and more, I’m sure. Still, we managed to garner the stares of fellow travelers and locals alike. I guess they’re not quite as diverse as the US.
Of course, it didn’t help that I had just a long tunic on over a bathing suit, which parents had to explain to their children, was not my underwear. As a Muslim nation, Malaysia is not used to women who are not in full dress in public, even at the beach.
Just for kicks, one evening, my friend Kelly tried to make small talk with our 60’s something dining neighbors who couldn’t help but stare at us in fascination throughout our meal. We could only guess what they were wondering about us, which made us wonder more and more about them. Needless to
say, the couple was quite startled and baffled when Kelly approached them and all she could think to ask them was where the party scene is in Penang. Clearly, they are not the 60's something party-goers you find in Bangkok. Not quite knowing what to say after that, she asked them where they were from (Australia) and mumbled that we were from the US, before we tromped off. No doubt, we fit their image of the in-your-face Americans quite well. Either that, or they thought we were hustlers.
Then there was the Indian waiter who insisted that the food be eaten a certain way, in specific combinations. Yoghurt apparently is no good with large-cut vegetables, only small. Sweet chicken masala should not be eaten with rice with fruit and nuts, as it will be too sweet. We marveled at his insistence; he marveled at our audacity in mixing foods. Penang is heaven for foodies, but not for those who want to have any creative license over how they eat their food.
The mutual marveling eventually came to an end, as we had to make our return to Bangkok where, thankfully, I do most of the marveling.
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liz
non-member comment
yay!
penang looks so fun and i love malaysian food of course! did i tell you that my friend adrienne just moved to japan recently? hopefully i will be able to make my way to asia sometime in the not too distant future (unlikely when i think about my ridiculous credit card and loan debt and my meager paycheck...). i miss you!