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Published: June 18th 2006
Georgetown - the five foot walkway
designed to shelter pedestrians from the sun and rain Penang
Arrived in Georgetown, Penang after a not too gruelling ferry and bus ride from Koh Phi Phi. The first thing we noticed was what a multicultural society it is. Many different races, religions and cultures living side by side in apparent harmony. Everywhere you see girls in tiny miniskirts walking along next to Malay ladies in their traditional muslim dress, covered from head to toe.
Arriving at 9 o'clock at night, we were in no mood to traipse around looking for accommodation so we stayed in the same "hotel" as our minibus driver. It was to be our first taste of hostels and shared bathrooms!
The hotel was decidedly crummy looking from the outside and didn't seem much better when we walked into reception. We were having serious doubts. However, when shown to our room - thankfully not a dorm, but a private room with two double beds complete with wardrobe - we were pleasantly surprised. It was quite small and sparsely decorated but the room was spotlessly clean. The original Art Deco features were still clearly visible - apart from the odd new lick of paint every couple of decades, it seemed as if nothing
had been touched since the building came into being. We felt as if we had stepped back in time. We still had to share the bathroom with the other 20 or so people on our floor though!
Although it was very clean - all communal areas and the bathrooms were scrubbed several times throughout the day - I still couldn't get used to the idea of sharing a bathroom with a bunch of strangers. We went out early the next day to find another guesthouse with more private facitilies! The place we found was just down the road, the room was huge with what looked like original Art Deco furniture, a balcony and a private bathroom - hurrah! What we came to realise though later on, was that the guesthouse has it's own band which plays every night until 2 or 3am - right below our balcony - and also that we would be woken up at 5.30 every morning by the call to prayer at the local mosque which was literally 30 metres away from our window! We weren't to be put off though and we stayed there for the rest of our time in Georgetown.
The
architecture in Georgetown is a reflection of the different cultures that have come to settle there over the years. Starting out as Britain's first settlement in Malaysia, it had a mass influx of Chinese, Indian, Europeans and traditional Malay to the island. One of the most famous buildings in the area is the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion. This vibrant indigo blue house, constructed over a seven year period from 1890-97, was ostensibly Chinese, but incorporates architectural influences from across the globe - the internal cast iron columns were imported from Scotland, the tiles from Stoke on Trent. All this incorporated into the principles of feng shui.
Other architectural highlights include the traditional shophouses found all around Chinatown and all the colonial buildings such as town halls, cricket clubs, schools and museums.
We had a fab time in Georgetown. It was, friendly, welcoming, vibrant and the food was great.
Kuala Lumpur
KL is just another big city with impressive sky scrapers and the awe inspiring Petronas Towers. In the time that we were there, we didn't feel it had much soul. To be honest though, we didn't spend our time there like we did in
the rest of Malaysia - we didn't take as much time to explore and find out what the city was about.
We did however, take time out to visit the Batu Caves. This is the site for the annual Hindu festival of Thaipusam where followers pierce their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods - sometimes up to a metre long - and pierce their chests and backs with hooks in penance. The festival takes place in January/Febraury each year so unfortunatley we did not witness these feats ourselves.
Malacca
Malacca's main attraction lies in its past. The city is steeped in history, first captured by the Portugese then taken over by the Dutch and finally exchanged for Bencoolen in Indonesia with the British. This varied history has left its mark on the old port.
The Portuguese influence is visible in the city's architecture. As they did in other colonies, they taxed buildings relative to their width, so many buildings have very thin facades. This is deceptive though, as a building of no more than say 3 metres across can extend back as far as perhaps 70 metres, the hidden interior a linear succession of
high-ceilinged rooms and courtyards. And after nearly 500 years there is still an area called the Portugese settlement where the descendants still live and the Portugese language is still spoken. We spent an evening in the area after managing to get lost and then being guided there by an old Malay-Portugese man. He got down off his bicycle and walked with us for about 20 minutes and would not let us out of his sight until we were safely delivered. We had one of the best meals we've eaten in Malaysia there (the restaurant recommended by our guide).
A visit to Malacca is not complete without spending some time strolling around the antiques shops found on Jalan Hang Jebat (formerly Jonkers Street). Each shop is a veritable Aladdin's cave and the temptation to buy practically everything in sight is incredibly strong. We did resist though and in the end only purchased a small Chinese gong for all those traditional Chinese ceremonies we shall be performing when we get back home.
Also not to be missed is the Museum of Enduring Beauty which showcases how different cultures worldwide, at different periods of time, have interpreted 'beauty'. From foot binding
pretty impressive!
the Petronas Twin Towers - the tallest buildings in the world and head binding - yes, I kid you not - pointy heads were in fashion in some parts of the world, to piercing, lip stretching, scarification and tattooing. A real eye-opener and a must see if you are ever in the area.
Singapore
After crossing the border from Malaysia by bus it gradually became apparent that everything we had heard about Singapore was true. It was so clean!
On arrival at our hostel we headed out to explore the city. We used the very clean and efficient MRT for the first time and were shocked by how unblemished it seemed to be, bearing in mind how many people use the train everyday. Everything just looks brand spanking new.
The national past times in Singapore are shopping and eating which is pretty evident as you walk around the city. There are shopping centres and food courts everywhere. Also all very shiny and sparkly!
We feel that its reputation for being sterile is a little unfair. Yes, it is spotlessly clean, people abide by all the rules (what we saw, anyway) and you do not have cheeky little b*******s swearing at you and throwing things at
you when travelling on public transport.
If you take the time to walk around and explore the different districts, you will be pleasantly surprised by the diversity of things to do and see and by the fantastic food on offer. Our favourite places were the Arab Quarter and Little India - great food, great people. The architecture is amazing - from classic and traditional to unashamedly hightech and modern. The people are polite and extremely friendly and don't bat an eyelid at a mixed race couple walking down the road.
We spent one of our days on Sentosa - a little island to the southwest of mainland Singapore which has basically been turned into a playground for young and old alike. There are fake beaches to play volleyball on and sunbathe to your hearts content, an art gallery, restaurants and bars, wildlife gardens.... The highlight though was having a go on the Luge. Basically a hybrid of a sledge and a go-cart which transports you at pretty impressive speeds downhill around a 700m course. It was fantastic - made us feel like kids again!
Another thing that deserves a mention is the language - Singlish. The first
language of Singapore is English, however you have to do a double take sometimes when you hear locals speak. It is a mixture of English and their native tongue, be it Chinese, Indian, Malay. It was really funny hearing people saying "are you alright, lah?" - now what does that remind you of? When did they export Scouse over to Singapore?
We liked Singapore and will definitely be visiting again.
You may have noticed that at the beginning of this blog we wrote that the people of Malaysia live together in "apparent harmony". There are many cultures here who live side by side and have done so for many centuries, and on the face of it, get along OK. However, while in both Malaysia and Singapore, we read newspaper articles that commented on the fact that the different races of Malaysia view each other with suspicion and do not tend to mix much. Having spent time with local Malays of Chinese descent, they too spoke of the fact that the different cultures tend to keep themselves to themselves.
Next stop, Bali and the surrounding islands for a bit more R & R!
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Gray
non-member comment
but...
How much was it to travel through singnapore? I've heard it's quite expensive. I'm glad y'all are having a good time there, i haven't heard many good things about it, so perhaps Sarah and I will reconsider oneday.