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Published: October 18th 2011
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I’m pooped! There was a lot of walking today and I am ready to hit the sack. It was a good day though.
I went to bed quite early last night so had an hour or two in the AM to get organized and ready for the day. I decided to spend my morning doing a self-guided walking tour of the historical and cultural highlights in Penang. Penang is night and day different than Langkawi but it grew on me today. The streets are narrow and filled with people the architecture is still very colonial. There are all types of people around. I like it.
I started off at the Penang History Museum: The museum, as you can imagine, details the history of Penang. As I mentioned yesterday, Malaysia is strategically located as a middle point for sea trade between India and China. Penang also happens to be a deep water port. So back in the 1700’s it was claimed by a Brit and then subsequently given/taken/traded by the Spanish and Japanese. Penang therefore has a very rich and unique ethnic population. Over 90% of the population is either Chinese, Indian or Malay.
After the museum I walked to
the waterfront area and pictured what it was like back when it was a vibrant trading port. I then went across the street to Fort Cornwall, which was the fort the British has built.
Across the street from that was a Malaysian style food court. This is basically an open area (maybe the size of a cultural hall) (with a tin roof) with about 10 different stands. I went to one that had buffet style and just chose what looked good. I ended up with vegetables in a curry coconut sauce, an egg, liver (I think) and some beef. All was okay. The real reason I ate was so I could justify a dessert. I had Ice Kacang. It is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ais_kacang. Basically it is shaved ice with sugar syrups poured over it and then red beans (I know!), corn (I know!!), and palm fruit over the shaved ice. And then a dollop of ice-cream on top. It was delightful.
After lunch I went to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. A unique culture of people developed when the Chinese and Malays intermarried. They were known as the Baba Nonyas and they lived rather wealthy extravagant lives. The mansion recreated a typical
home. It was very interesting.
After having a morning of history, I decided to change it up and go to Penang Hill. During the colonial era the British used it as a rest station because it was quite a bit cooler than the rest of Penang. To get up the hill they built a funicular—which is basically the first version of a railway car up a mountain. I waited for an hour at a bus stop before I realized that I was at the wrong one. Oh well, it was interesting people watching and I ate the Baba Nonya sweets that I bought at the museum. Got on the right bus and took the half hour bus ride there. My favorite part of this was going through the residential parts of Penang and getting a glimpse at daily life. I took some sneaky pictures of street scenes and houses—I hope they turned out. The hill itself had a nice view of Penang and I spent an hour walking around.
I took the bus back and the bus dropped me of about a mile and half from my hotel. It was a nice early evening walk though. I stopped
and got some Indian food for dinner. Juice of the day; Star Fruit juice. Good.
It was a good but exhausting day. I am going to tour some more in the AM and then catch the 2PM bus to Cameron Highlands. It is a five hour ride, so I will get there early evening. I have a feeling that it will be very different from both Langkawi and Penang.
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