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Published: March 10th 2010
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Chinese people burn incense at Kuan Yin Teng The rough plan I had in my head for my time in Malaysia involved finding a nice tropical island and relaxing for a while. I wanted to go to the Perhentians on the east coast, but all the info I could get said they were still closed for the monsoon season and wouldn't open until 1st March (info which was actually totally wrong!). So instead I decided to head to the island of Penang on the west coast to kill a few days, and to sample the culinary and cultural melting pot of Georgetown. Sadly, a combination of ailments made it painful for me to walk, and my head spun in the heat... so my visit to Penang wasn't quite what I planned when I set off!
Penang island has an interesting history, being one of those oddities shaped largely by colonial intervention. Georgetown was essentially created by the British East India Company when they sailed down the Melacca Straits and claimed Penang as a means of breaking Dutch domination of the area. Which I suppose is like Goldman Sachs sailing over and sticking a flag in the Isle of Wight... how did we get away with it?! The town
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Khoo Kongsi quickly grew into a trading hub, and it remains a somewhat busy port city today. Georgetown has an established backpacker district in the old part of town, around the very Malay sounding Love Lane (!). I found a cheap dorm bed and a cold shower... so welcome in the stifling heat and humidity.
The old part of Georgetown is a characterful place, reflecting the cultural make-up of the island as well as it's history as a colonial port. The streets are lined with Chinese shophouses, amongst which are scattered Buddhist and Hindu temples, mosques and churches, as well as a grand old City Hall, clock tower and a string of mercantile offices along the waterfront. There's some decay, but generally the old town is still very much alive and part of modern Georgetown... which spreads behind the old town with a string of tower blocks along the coastline.
I went for a walk around the old part of town, past incense burning at the Kuan Yin Teng Buddhist temple to Khoo Kongsi, one of the best preserved Kongsi's in town (and I bet it's a while since you saw a good Kongsi... it's a 'clan house' btw). Entrance
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Food offerings at Khoo Kongsi costs about RM5, but it's worth it to see the beautiful painted carvings on the outside of the main building, inside of which are a number of shrines, some containing Buddhist images with devotional offerings of food and drink set out in front (including some mouth watering cups of tea and chicken... I nearly tucked in), others epitaphs to clan members passed away. Interestingly, many of these showed that numerous clan members worked at Temple Bar in London!
The best thing about Georgetown is how visibly the town wears its cultural make-up. Chinese dragon dances play out to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer, Indian women in saris snack at dim sum street cafes and Malay cuisine displays itself at satay stalls, all within a few hundred yards. I've rarely been to a place with so many varied cultures exist so closely together. It makes for a fascinating mix, although for one horrible moment I thought I was back in India, but then I saw that the streets were clean so I knew I couldn't be. My exploration of town was hindered, however, by my feet and my drowsiness, so I spent much of the time lying
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A reminder of colonial times on my bed - very disappointing!
I did get the chance to sample some great dim sum though, and witness celebrations for Chinese New Year, including a street parade and much incense burning. But without the will to take a bus out to one of the nearby temples, and with the old furnicular railway to the top of Penang Hill out of action for a year (I couldn't wait that long!), I hopped on a ferry back to Butterworth on the mainland and boarded a bus to Kota Bharu, from where I could get to the promised Perhentian Islands.
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deleted_155398
wow im a malaysian largely based in KL and I travel to Penang almost annually.. these pics are great, I actually have to visit some of these places during the chinese new year period next time