Penang

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Getting to Penang was a bit of a mission. It was only one boat and yet between the delays, the overcrowding (including bags against emergency exits) and the total failure of the air conditioning it was grim. Nevertheless onwards to the old colonial madness of Penang. Its a strange but interesting place, with Little India, Chinatown and the colonial areas. The place seems frozen in time around fifty years ago, filled with little garages sporting tin 'Shell' signs from yesteryear and dilapidated Bitish buildings everywhere. There are some backpackers and also a few older expat dropouts playing draughts with the locals in the stifling heat.

We had lovely food at a Chinese restaurant called Opera on the first night on one of the renovated streets in the centre. You start to get a feel for just how multicultural Malaysia really is- Malay, Indian, Chinese mainly, but also scores of others are drawn here.

The next day we had a 'Tiffin' lunch (many small dishes served in a stack) at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel which has recently been restored to its former glory as founded by the Armenian Sarkies brothers, previously frequented by Noel Coward, Douglas Fairbanks, Hermann Hesse, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham... Cool. We even had afternoon tea!

After that we went up the Kek Lok Si Temple overlooking the town like some religious disney land. Strange but good.

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