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Published: March 22nd 2008
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Island breezes, friendly people, and bus drivers who think you're insane for going to see a monument in the pouring rain. Ah... Penang.
Off the western coast of Malaysia, the ferry takes you from Butterworth to Penang in 15minutes. This is after an overnight train from Kuala Lumpur - the Langkawi Express that is anything but express - which puts you in the area at dawn. However, my lower bunk mate was a funny ex-military guy who had lived in DC for 4-5 years and had great stories to tell about slaughtering his first (and only) turkey to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Interestingly enough, he described turkey meat as "hot" meaning it warms the insides and caused them discomfort. They never ate it again. I explained about the tryptophan mixed with naps & football on Thanksgiving Day.
It was wonderful to start the day with a sunrise over the strait while motoring across to the island.
I only had about 36hours, as I was scheduled to depart for Bangkok the following afternoon on another overnight train. Just enough for a quick tour of the colonial district, some amazing food at the street stalls, a nod to the
Eastern & Oriental on the coast and one heck of an adventure on public transport to get to some monuments just outside of Georgetown proper.
I walked the streets of Chinatown and Little India (there appears to be one for every town and city I visit) and saw
Khoo Kongsi , a Chinese clan house that is in wonderful condition. There are several spread throughout the area (see pics), but Khoo Kongsi is the most lavish.
Went over to the Eastern & Oriental for lunch, which was sorely disappointing. Malay oxtail soup was gravy with tough meat welded to bone, and sitting alone under the shade of a canopy listening to the drove of a ceiling fan and nothing else, really did nothing for my day. Give me a rowdy, dingy, hawker centre any day. What I should have done was gone out of town and over to a nearby Penang village known for their laksa, but it was not en route to anything else and didn't seem like a good use of my 24hours. Duly noted, it's worth traveling for food.
My attempt to nap some of my exhaustion away at the
hostel was thwarted by my very
chatty roommate having checked in while I was wandering around. So, I decided just to be tired and headed out for Kek Lok Si Temple for a peek before they closed, followed by a sunset stop at Penang Hill with a ride up the funicular to the top for spectacular views. Both of these sights are in Air Itam, readily accessible by bus.
After waiting for the bus in an exhaust filled station and jostling about the roads for a good 40minutes, the heavens open and release a deluge that I haven't seen since the last time I was in Miami in August. Once we round a corner, the bus driver points at an enormous temple perched atop a hillside and starts to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. That's when I realized I must have been missing a piece of information about how to get to the temple once you get off the bus. Walking up a steep hill wide enough for one car, but not for the two lanes, scooters, bicycles and pedestrians that were navigating it. And I am without an umbrella.
Luckily, part of my changing was putting on the gortex hiking shoes so my
Temple Detail Chinatown
Lamp at the entrance. Loved the shape. feet were dry. Because I was being smart, starting to break those in before I do any serious walking in them. What I learned that day, is that no matter how much tread there is, they are no match for the grease spattered sidewalks transformed into oil slicks with the pouring rain. I went down pretty hard and busted open my knee on a filthy street. So now I'm soaking wet, hovering under a makeshift canopy of 40gallon nylon produce bags, blood running freely down my leg, staring up into the hills wondering how I'm ever going to find the path to the temple before they close within the next hour. Oy vey!
The end result was that I waited the rain out, fished out some tissues, and once the temple closed, the sky stopped weeping and the clouds cleared. Onward to Pengang Hill!
Not even close. I wanted to walk the 3km to the base of the Hill where the landing for the funicular is. I figured I could blow off some steam, flex the knee that was starting to stiffen and enjoy the slightly cooler air the rains brought. The Malaysians thought I was crazy. "Long
Khoo Kongsi Entrance
These circles lined the wall along the entrance to the Khoo. way! You take bus. Lady no walk." So despite assurances it was feasible and safe to walk (it is still nearly 3 hours until sunset), I could get no one to tell me how to get there because they kept sending me to the bus. Four different buses and two different bus stops depending on who you talked to, but buses nonetheless.
So I waited. And waited. And waited. An hour goes by, and still no bus. Meanwhile, my bus driver from before comes by again on his route and chases me down the street with the horn blaring to find out where I want to go and wants to whisk me safely back to Georgetown now that I look like a rat that got caught in a trap and drowned. I turn him down and wait for the Penang Hill bus. Now it's 5:30pm, I've had a lovely chat with three Canadian girls who gave up and shared a taxi back to town (yes, they offered, but I persevered!) and a brief chat with a Roman Catholic Malaysian who was ranting about how things in Malaysia are wrong and the Muslims shouldn't have control of the government. I
Inside Khoo Kongsi
Lanterns and other household items think he'd been hitting the bottle a bit. The crowd at the bus stop grows, and I've had enough. The next bus to either Penang Hill or home is going to be the one I get on. The winner is: Georgetown.
I couldn't help but laugh. Everyone on the bus stared at my knee and at me. Not only was I the only foreigner on board with a bunch of weary commuters making their way home, I was also wet and bleeding. It was ridiculously funny. Grace & ease!
After a hot shower and wound care, I treated myself to some delicious Nonya cuisine and a very cold, large beer at the Nonya Cafe inside the New World Park which is a shopping center/food court. Nonya (pronounced nyoh-nyah) stems from the Chinese who settled in the area during the 1800s. It is a unique fusion of both Malay and Chinese cuisine and there is a nice explanation of its origins at this link
here .
I had a tough time convincing the waitress I didn't want any 'safe' dishes, but wanted something regional and if it was spicy that would be even better. I ended up with Kerabu
Restored Ceiling
Check out the detail in the painted landscapes. Bihun which is a dry noodle dish with delicate heat on the surface of your tongue that warms things up just enough to activate loads of other flavors. Tastes kept on popping up on different taste buds and I had trouble keeping track of what I was actually tasting. Garlic chives, basil, mint, shallot, lemongrass, boiled egg (there's that incredible edible egg again), small prawns (shells off), chili/shrimp paste and a very thin rice noodle that is thinner than vermicelli. A perfect ending to my crazy day.
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