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Published: January 17th 2013
A few hours after alighting from the ferry, the ringing in our ears stopped. Hearing was restored and we were able to enjoy a meal at the hawker market nearby. Walking past Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, we reminisced about our stay there in 2010, remembering that it is the second best place we have ever stayed at in our lives (Buninyong's Miners Church still holds top spot). Not that where we are staying now is awful, but it doesn't have quite the same atmosphere. What is does have, however, is a pool. We also overlook the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, where the O'Briens enjoyed some glorious holiday moments, also in 2010. Our humble room may lack the grandeur of the E & O, the historical beauty of the Blue Mansion, but the Filipino Trio singing the hits of the 70s with gusto in the lobby every night after 10 and a revolving restaurant (aka the 'revolting' restaurant - not that we've tried it yet...) might just make it somewhere worth staying.
Day 1
Our first full day in Georgetown saw us hit the Street Art Trail mid-morning. It was still quite warm but through the heat haze and dripping
Street art in Georgetown
A wonderful distraction from the heat and an interesting way to explore the little lanes and streets. sweat we were able to admire the playful murals painted by a Lithuanian artist and metal sculptures depicting early settlement on the island. It was a great way to refamiliarise ourselves with the area and we immediately decided to extend our stay here.
Dean's version of events: A minor incident occurred when Jane forgot to hold my hand when crossing the road. Possibly due to the lack of a clear noodle soup she had her heart set on for lunch, she wandered off to try and find her own way to cross the road. (Bear in mind, she wasn't that great in Hanoi either) All of sudden, I couldn't see her, even though we were standing in front of the walkover she had previously mentioned as a possible safe crossing point. She must have waited the obligatory 30 seconds for us to show up at her beck and call before storming off on a Penang winter's day. Eleanor and I spent the next half hour searching for her because we thought she loved us and wouldn't desert us. Little did we know, she deserted us. After our fruitless search and filling in a missing peron's report at the Penang
cop shop, we caught a taxi home. When alighting from our elevator on the 10th floor, there was Jane, sad and sorry for herself.
My version: Tone down Dean's story and you'll find the truth.
The afternoon was spent indoors out of the heat. Unfortunately the pool was out of action and wasn't scheduled to open until tomorrow. Eleanor could only look down upon the greenish tinged water with longing. We had basically chosen this place because of its location and the fact it had a pool. A small notice in the elevator promised that it would be in operation the next day, but looking at the colour of the water, I doubted the possibility. I wasn't going to tell Eleanor that, though. Fried Koay Teow for dinner and everybody was happy again.
Day 2
The morning's activities involved visiting a few art galleries and a nasi kandar lunch in Little India. We also dropped into the Sun Yat Sen Museum where we appeared to be the first visitors they'd seen in a long time. Greeted with enthusiasm usually reserved for royalty, we were shadowed by a young lady who politely explained various exhibits and then
her colleague proceeded to regale us with many tales of Georgetown families, clans and houses. When his phone rang, we were able to take our leave.
Back at the hotel, the pool was apparently in working order, although it was still really greenish in colour. The spa was heavily chlorinated and Dean commented that it would bleach your skin if you stayed in longer than a minute. Despite my misgivings, Eleanor and Dean spent a fair amount of time in the water and befriended a family from Brisbane and before we knew it, we'd made a date for the following evening.
We had to leave the pool by 4:30 because we had a blind date with a Swiss family from Travel Blog world. Discovering we shared similar interests, we arranged to meet at Straits Quay for dinner. We enjoyed a pleasant evening swapping tales of our adventures in South East Asia and Eleanor's babysitting career was resurrected. Over pizzas (not typical Penang fare, I know!) we marvelled at coincidences and similarities throughout the last few months and decided to meet up again. It was also interesting to see Georgetown at night from across the bay as it looks
Outside a clan jetty
Eleanor was not particularly impressed by the deteriorating art work behind her. like a completely different city.
The taxi ride home was almost a carbon copy of the ride to the restaurant, except instead of the driver's obsession with English soccer, this one was focused on a car accident which had occured the day before. Despite signs on the taxi's exterior declaring that haggling is illegal and taxis are metered, we are yet to find a driver willing to use his meter.
Day 3
Up earlier than usual, we had our usual breakfast of roti canai (for approximately 30c!!!) and then caught a bus out to the Tropical Spice Garden. Despite Eleanor's objections, we opted for a guided tour. Part of our group consisted of an obese, older man from Saudi Arabia with his young, nubile Phillipino 'niece'. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we were able to see a variety of plants, trees, monkeys and squirrels in this beautiful setting by the sea. A little morning tea in the Tree Monkey Cafe enabled us to watch a family of squirrels jumping from tree to tree. Western prices meant we didn't stay for lunch, but it was a nice coffee break.
A stop at a mall along the
A gardener's delight
Spice Garden, Penang way so Dean could purchase a pair of thongs was not quite where we envisaged having lunch, but we ended up in a hawker style food court and I found myself eating a reasonable interpretation of Nasi Lemak. Dean also found himself a pair of thongs, but not at a reasonable price.
Dinner at the Hawker's Market nearby with the family from Brisbane was lots of fun. We were anticipating an Elvis performance, but we had to make do with lots of lovely 'ladies' singing country, western and the usual 1970s parade of easy listening music. The highlight was young Mathew dancing 'Gangnam-style' in front of diners to a 1980s power ballad. Brilliant.
Day 4
We woke up pretty late and headed off to a different Indian eatery. We still ordered roti canai, however. A quick trip back to the hotel to pick up a few things and then we were collected by our Swiss Family Robinson friends for a trip to the Kek Lok Si Temple and a funicular rail ride up Penang Hill.
We had visited the temple a couple of years ago, although most of the shrine dedicated to Boddhisattva Tsi Tsuang Wang
was covered in scaffolding. Making our way through all the stallholders, we wondered who would buy children's bicycles, potted plants and other weird paraphernalia completely unrelated to the temple. Of course, on the way back, I bought a spoon. I was also concerned about the number of turtles in the enclosure. Are 456 turtles too many for a scungy pond with a circumference of 10 metres? The five turtles in the VIP section seemed mildly happier. As far as temples go, it offers spiritual salvation whilst providing an opportunity to purchase Angry Birds t-shirts. Having said all that, the view is spectacular.
The funicular ride was quite steep but I felt very confident because it had been closed for the past week for maintenance. It ran with the precision of a Swiss clock. Lunch at the restaurant was very 'la-di-da' and we had the petit fours in front of an English-style lawn overlooking the island of Penang. It was good fun to catch up with our Swiss friends again, who are actually 'us' living in a parallel world in Europe. We've met quite a few Swiss people in our travels, and they have all been wonderful. But Dean still
wonders, what happens at Swiss soccer game - is everyone neutral?
Day 5
A visit to the Christian cemetery after breakfast was an interesting experience. In a ramshackle state, it contains the graves of early settlers. I half expected to see bones poking out of subsided headstones. Dean wasn't that impressed, but it was a nice diversion before the morning's sightseeing kicked in.
Catching the free public bus around the UNESCO area, we enjoyed the respite from the heat before alighting at the quay area. Dean was keen to remind me about the time I deserted them, but I continued to ignore him and we made our way to China House. This was a place recommended to us by the very keen man in Sun Yat Sen's house and our lovely Swiss friends. We ended up having a very tasty lunch there before heading over to an art gallery nearby.
Dean had his eye on buying a painting but the lady was more interested in saving a dog than selling a dubious work of art (my interpretation of her lack of knowledge of the artist). Penang's equivalent of the RSPCA was busy rescuing a dog, so
Breakfast
A Chinese style breakfast by the roadside in Penang. we left there without purchasing anything. Probably for the best. Eleanor and I caught a rickshaw back to the hotel and it was a really educational tour. This pensioner enlightened us as to his life and that of other pensioners who cycle around the city carrying lazy tourists and I didn't feel so bad. He looked about 90 (as do most of the rickshaw cyclists) but seemed happy as Larry as he slowly carted us to the hotel. I'm sure we could have walked there in half the time, but it's about 100 degrees in the sun, so we were happy to sit back while he cycled in slow motion.
We caught a bus to
Batu Ferringhi to meet up with our new Swiss friends at their posh boutique hotel. It took about an hour on the bus but Eleanor and I got to sit next to a guitarist who began playing tunes about half an hour into the journey. Dean probably didn't feel as calm as us, sitting next to a young girl in a hajib, but we didn't care, we had muzak to keep us occupied. By the time we arrived, Dean was ready for his 14%!(NOVERB)
Eagle beer. We ate dinner at a nearby hawker market and all too soon, it was time to depart. We wished the Swiss well in Singapore and jumped into a taxi where the driver's limited English basically kept us to the topic of the metered blue taxis.
Upon our return, we decided to check out the revolving restaurant. Coffee and dessert while we slowly spun around seemed like a good idea at the time. The band had finished and were on their way downstairs to the lobby, so we were able to eat and drink with no soundtrack while Georgetown's lights twinkled in the background. After we had finished, we ended up in the lobby just to hear the Filipino trio's version of 70s standard covers before we called it a night.
Day 6
Checking out of the hotel where we had spent six nights was almost like leaving home. The pool had cleaned up and was now looking an enticing shade of light blue. Dean had a last swim while Eleanor and I watched an ordinary telemovie as we packed up.
Wheeling our cases to the Blue Mansion, we were very excited to be staying
in this historic Georgetown residence again. The Scholar's suite was massive and on the same side as the kitchen, where we stayed last time. We joined a tour in the afternoon and followed a very zany lady as she explained various features of this house. Not that we could understand much of what she said, but her expressions were very animated. We spent the day relaxing and enjoying every moment of what would be our last 24 hours in Penang.
For lunch we discovered the best dim sum/yum cha place. From the outside, you would not believe the culinary delights which await. Walking in to find tables where only men were seated, I felt that we had intruded on some private Chinese luncheon club, albeit one that has signs on the wall requesting that people refrain from spitting. And has plastic chairs. With tiles on the wall. A friendly waitress welcomed us and proceeded to help us order a range of dishes from the largest steamer I have ever seen. It was a barrel of dim sum. A plate of noodles and a couple of steamed buns completed the set. We rolled out of there wondering how we had
The Swiss Family Andrew
On tour with our Travelblog friends. missed this place in our travels.
We meant to eat dinner at a place recommended by fellow gourmands (the Swiss Andrews) but we didn't rouse ourselves from our compound until 7:30pm. It was too easy to once again eat next door, although we did order food we haven't tried yet (even though Dean was keen to have another crack at an oyster omelette). Listening to the blonde-haired Asian man belt out some easy listening 70s ballads while munching on satays, duck and crab, we all agreed that Georgetown has been a highlight of this trip.
Day 7
Breakfast in the courtyard didn't disappoint and we lingered over our food while discussing our itinerary. With only nine days left of our adventure, the highlands await our exploration. I'm looking forward to a bit of a break in the weather - the humidity is rather draining. Checking the plane tickets, I discovered we actually arrive in Melbourne in the early hours of the 27th - not the 26th as I originally thought. That gives us nearly two whole days before Dean and I have to be back at work. Excellent.
The car (upgraded to a 7 seater family
truckster) was delivered at 12 and we drove off the island on the longest bridge in Asia (I think) towards Taiping.
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Dim Sum place
Where was this? We are down for some fantastic dim sum :)