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Published: October 30th 2005
Georgetown's famous blue house
The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Georgetown is also dubbed ‘La Maison Bleue’The trip from the Perhentian Islands to
Georgetown meant crossing Malaysia from east to west. Although it is not as far as the country’s expansion from north to south, it is said to be long and rather tedious, because there is no direct road. There is a direct bus, though, from Kota Bharu to Butterworth, the mainland city closest to Georgetown on Penang Island, at 9:30 a.m. As the morning boat was supposed top leave the island at 8 a.m., we should easily catch this buys; but the boat was late (rather unusual for Malaysia) and the shared taxi did not manage to take us to the bus terminal on time. There was either a night bus or a bus next morning to Butterworth but we were determined to reach Georgetown the same day and were not interested in staying in Kota Bharu. This being Malaysia, a rather developed country, there should be a way. So we hired one taxi to Tanah Merah, another one to Gerik, where we caught a local bus and finally another local bus to Butterworth, from where we used the ferry to Georgetown. We definitely spent more money than if we had waited to take the
Like a scene from the movie 'Indochine'
Actually, this famous mansion was used as one location in the French movie 'Indochine' featuring Catherine Deneuve night bus, but we deeply dislike night buses and avoid them as much as possible, even in a modern country like Malaysia (actually, we have not taken a single one yet on our whole trip).
After our crossing of Malaysia, we were on the lookout of a reasonably priced guesthouse, which is not so easy to find in Malaysia. The cheapest places in Georgetown are to be found in Chinatown which forms the old city’s core, with many guesthouses, food stalls and small shops. The guesthouse that had been recommended to us was full, so we simply went to a place next door. The Crystal Guesthouse was quite new, it was not mentioned in any guidebook yet, and we got an AC room with hot shower for RM 40 (ca. EUR 8). This was certainly more expensive than typical backpacker hostel, but it was new and very clean and for once we were absolutely glad about AC. The guesthouse was on Lebuh Chulia, one of the streets with the highest concentration of Western tourists. There you could find everything you wished: every kind of Western food, cafeterias and bars, and several internet cafes. As we stayed in Georgetown for
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
The strong blue colour is striking and is natural, stemming from a flower a rather long time, we got to know several places very well. We used the internet mostly in Jim’s Place, where it was rather cheap and he did not count the minutes. For food we several times went to the Ecco Café, held by a passionate Chinese cook, which offered superb pizza, salads and home-made bread. The guy was very nice and the place offered some welcome diversion to the Malay, Chinese or Indian dishes. The region was ideal to get information, book tickets and meet other tourists. Georgetown is not very far from the Thai border and we came across many expats living in Thailand who regularly come to Malaysia to renew their Thai visa. They were a completely different breed of travellers and had many interesting stories to tell. Another indication that Thailand is not very far, was the presence of numerous ladyboys circling the streets in the night. Georgetown is a place where all these people live together without bothering each other, pleasant and fascinating to see.
Georgetown is a big city of around one million inhabitants situated on the island of Penang, which is now connected to the mainland by a long bridge. But this
Exterior decoration of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
These special items of decoration are made of small pieces of porcelain is a toll bridge and it is far more economic to use the ferry for the short distance. The city only gained far-reaching importance, when the British East India Company needed a strategic post to facilitate their trade with China. On August 11, 1788, Captain Francis Light established a port and made Georgetown the first British settlement on the Malay Peninsula. Georgetown’s strategic importance under the British explains the high percentage of Chinese or Tamils from South India, who came as labour force, many Chinese later on turned into rich merchants residing in impressive mansions. But Georgetown’s glory did not last very long, the foundation of Singapore in 1829 was the beginning of its end as strategic trade post. Some people call this development rather a blessing meaning that the city has kept a rather backward touch, at least in the old town that many tourists crave for. In fact, there is old Georgetown, with its multitude of temples, Chinese mansions and colonial buildings, and modern Georgetown, where the majority of the population lives, with high-rising buildings and glitzy shopping malls. Georgetown is the biggest settlement on the island of Penang (Pulau Penang), but the locals often refer to it
Interior of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
The mansion of a rich Chinese merchant was built in 1870 and has 38 rooms as Penang or Pinang as well, which at the beginning may cause some confusion among non-initiated Western tourists.
A fact that we had already discovered in Melakka and Kuala Lumpur, was again very visible in Georgetown: Malaysia’s multi-cultural and multi-religious society. Everywhere you can see Chinese girls in mini skirts side by side with Muslim Malay women wearing a light head scarf and Tamils in their colourful clothes. Many types of Asian cuisines are to be found, posh Indian restaurants, small Chinese food stalls, restaurants with Western food, or a Japanese sushi chain in shopping malls. Although we are not very fond of Malay food, which is not very different from the Indonesian cuisine, we ate well and diversely, from pizza over sushi and Indian curry to delicious Chinese dim sums. Architecture in the old town also reflects the Malay diversity, mosques are in the same street as churches, Indian and Chinese temples, not to forget some remnants of the British presence. Georgetown was the second city where we managed to go to the movies. The big cinema complexes remind of America, the films shown are Hollywood, Bollywood, or Chinese productions, the fascinating thing is that they are shown
Furniture at Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
This beautiful bench delicately inlaid with mother-of-pearl is just one example of the house's rich interior decoration in a multitude of languages (English, Malay, Tamil, Mandarin) and always subtitled in the other missing languages. We watched a South African film called ‘The wooden camera’ and were very satisfied with our choice. The only drawback was that the room was nearly empty and that the air conditioning being always regulated for full rooms, so we were freezing a lot. Not far from the shopping centre, there was a huge food court with delicious dishes, juices and desserts, where we ate some very nice sea food. There we could observe that the different groups live side by side but that they do not really mingle. One part was for the Chinese population, another, separate part for the Malays. An interesting experience for us.
Of course we did not stay in Georgetown for so many days only updating our travelblog, we also did plenty of sightseeing. Georgetown is easy to explore on foot and thus we discovered many buildings that were not mentioned in the guidebooks or on tourist maps. There are the remnants of a British fort, but it is clearly visible that the fort was never used for defence but only for administrational ends. There was no
Entrance to Pinang Peranakan Mansion
Another rich Chibese's house, not as spectacular from the outside as the previous one, but inside equally rich moat, for example, and the walls are so low that you can almost jump over them. We still went in and had a lively conversation with one of the tourist guides dressed in an old British uniform. He was a Muslim Tamil, living in Malaysia in the third generation and we knew more about Tamil Nadu than him. When we asked him how he liked India, he said that he could only stay in the village of his forefathers for some days, it being too filthy, basic and underdeveloped. A very interesting and eye-opening conversation indeed! Apart from that we mostly saw nice Chinese temples with their multiple roofs of brightly coloured glazed tiles and kitschy dragons guarding the entrance. Some of them were of minor artistic interest, others were really beautiful, with elaborate wood or stone carvings. We also went to see the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia with its 7-tier ‘Million Buddhas Precious Pagoda’. The temple is a strange mixture of styles, extremely kitschy and very, very big. We were disappointed and found it quite ugly, the pagoda mixing Chinese, Thai and Burmese styles was probably the only interesting thing. In the end we were glad that we
Main door at Pinang Peranakan Mansion
Well guarded by two grim-looking Chinese warriors had taken the local bus and not paid a lot for a taxi! Chinese temples are called
kongsi, a Hokkien term for a clan house. This is where Chinese families gathered to worship their ancestors and they are in typical Chinese architecture; with a spacious courtyard in front of the clan house, two halls in the main building, one for the shrine of the clan deity and one for the display of ancestral tablets, comparable to grave stones. This is why there is a high number of Chinese temples in Georgetown, all of them rather different one from the other. But the Chinese merchants did not only go to temples, they also lived in houses, some of which are a stunning display of their accumulated riches. One of them, the
Pinang Peranakan Mansion from the end of the 19th century, has recently been extensively restored and is still relatively unknown among tourists. The fantastic thing is that you are (still) allowed to take pictures inside and that you have much time to admire and walk around. We were absolutely awe-struck by the wonderful furniture beautifully laid in with mother-of -pearl, the rich china and works of art, the house temple
Nice bonsais in a Pinang Peranakan Mansion courtyard
The whole mansion was tastefully decorated inside and outside, as examplified by this beautiful wall decoration and numerous rooms, all furnished and decorated with supreme elegance. We could hardly believe our eyes and were so happy that we had discovered this gem. Another mansion is very well-known and touristy, and you are only allowed to take pictures from the exterior. Which by the way is rather impressive, in very intensive blue paint, which stems from a flower, that is why the
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is also dubbed ‘La Maison Bleue’. This mansion was also impressive from the architectural point of view as well as from its interior decoration, but it is full of tourists, so it lacked the atmosphere of the first mansion we had seen. When we took the local bus to the cinema, we passed through Lebuh Burma and by several Burmese temples, the sight of which made us look forward to our next big destination, Burma (Myanmar).
This was our last stop in Malaysia, next we were heading to Thailand, where we intended to stop in the south-west for some days of snorkelling and swimming, then move on to Bangkok, where we would organise our next visas and other travelling formalities. We liked Malaysia, it has a very good infrastructure, everything
Wall decoration
Found in one of the interior courtyards works fine, information is reliable and people are very friendly and helpful. It is certainly not a highlight from the architectural and cultural point of view, but we were fascinated by this multi-cultural and multi-religious society, where the different groups seemed to live together without major frictions.
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anonymous
non-member comment
A very comprehensive blog about your trip to Penang. I love it! I love those pictures as well!