Pearl of the Orient - Penang...

  Penang, Malaysia
Saturday, January 12, 2008

10th Jan 2008: Flying into Pearl of the Orient
 
We took the 11.10am flight from KL to Penang by Airasia and the fare was so unbelievably cheap - it costs only about RM80 per person! Could be due to the fact that I have booked the tickets back in November. The flight took about 50 minutes - perfect for us as we were trying to save our travelling time.
 
There are a lot of good maps and information on Penang given at the airport - make sure you grab some to help you plan your stay here. All the interesting places are listed and easily found on the map.
 
La Maison Blue:
It was a public holiday for Malaysia today and the streets of Penang were unusually quiet. Checked into our hotel - Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, also known as La Maison Blue and I must say, we were totally impressed with the building! The facade of the Mansion itself is enough to blow you over. It is indeed a really flamboyant building - with 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 windows (according to the hotel brochure). However, there were only a few rooms being rented out to guests, so you have to book early if you do not want to be disappointed.  
This masterpiece of a building was the Winner of the UNESCO Conservation Award in 2000 and it was built by an early Chinese immigrant tycoon, Cheong Fatt Tze. We were shown to our room Jolie (by a very ill-tempered and unsmiling staff - the only negative thing about the hotel) and it was simply adorable! It was a really huge room on the first floor of the building, with wooden flooring and a cute little dressing room which connects the bedroom to the modern bathroom. The room was full of character, this being essentially a boutique hotel - with no 2 rooms having the same characteristics. A stay in this hotel was in fact a highlight to the island itself.
 
Nasi Kandar:
We first ventured out from the Mansion by foot to look for food and found an Indian Muslim shop just across the road from the side of our hotel - selling the famous Penang Nasi Kandar which is essentially steam rice accompanied by various dishes on the side (usually about 20 - 30 varieties) of fish, chicken, beef, lamb, fish roe, curries, vegetables - all cooked in different styles and with a blend of different herbs. You just have to point to the dishes you want and the attendant will scoop them unto your plate of rice. A new experience for Argi, who is used to fine European dining, with different dishes set out on different plates, to be scooped by using different cutleries !! In Malaysia, it is normal to eat your Nasi Kandar with your hand- which was how I ate mine !! Yummy !!
 
Trishaw Ride:
After our sumptuous lunch, we found an old man with a trishaw just outside the restaurant and we struck a half-hour deal with him to take us around central Georgetown, where all the attraction lies. Prices are controlled by the Government, so you do not have to worry about them ripping you off as tourists. I think it was RM20 for half and hour.  
It was a fantastic way to see Penang, the experienced old man weaved in and out the narrow lanes of Penang effortlessly and you can stop at whatever places which interest you, but bear in mind that the trishaw-clock keeps ticking and does not stop just because you are not on the trishaw. We eventually extended our half hour to one hour and paid the old man RM50 as we realised that life is very hard for him. As usual, we like to talk to the local people we come in contact with during our journeys and with this old man, we found out that he has been a trishaw driver for the past 25 years and has seen Penang developed from a small village to what it is today. We got him to share his experiences and stories every time we stopped for a rest at interesting places. We find him to be most humble and honest - we always meet nice people during out trip, somehow !
 
Explore Georgetown by foot : a must !!
We decided to end our trishaw ride in Central Georgetown and explore it by foot. It was an exciting experience to walk through the narrow lanes and to get lost in the labyrinth of paths only to unexpectedly discover treasured pre-war buildings hidden at obscure places. Being in Penang is the quickest and easiest way to have one introduced to the mixed cultures of Malaysia. Georgetown itself is small and compact enough for you to chance upon the influences of all the 3 major races in the country within a few streets from one another.
 
The intentional preservation of the 1950's shop houses and the decor of some of the shops ala the said era can almost transport one back in time and for me, as a Malaysian, that was such a surreal feeling.
 
We also stopped at a wonderful place called Chin Jetty, which is a Chinese fishing village. You can walk through the wooden planks lined by houses of the fishermen and we were lucky to have a glimpse of how the villagers live by peeking (discreetly, of course!) into their houses through the opened doors.
 
Wet market & glorious food :
We discovered the local wet market and were amazed by some of the local snacks we found on our walking trip. Argi tried his first Yau Char Kuey (Chinese origin) and fell in love with it almost immediately. It was sold at a small shop cramped with burning oil and big fire at Chintra Lane. He then tried the Apam Balik (Malay origin), sold by an old Chinese couple at the street adjacent to Penang Lane. Then, we had the Chinese Herbal Tea sold by a nice lady by the side of a very busy street...what an experience for him!!  
We managed to find our way and walked back to our hotel - tired, full and satisfied with our action-and-food-packed day.
 
Gurney Drive :
For the night, we got the hotel to call a cab to take us to Gurney Drive, which is a famous stretch of road facing the seafront of the island. It is a great way to spend a nice evening by just strolling on the pavements facing the sea.  
Gurney Drive is also famous for its huge open-air food court where one will be spoilt for choices when it comes to food and drinks. Argi went absolutely wild here - stopping at every single stall to kill his curiosity about all the funny looking creatures and food that was being sold. It is not so much of the eating which makes a trip to Gurney Drive a must - it is more of the experience to participate in a part of the Malaysian culture, ie. open-air dining and outing with friends. Compare that to the English-way of drinking and meeting up in pubs and you will get the picture. In a nutshell, it is part of the Malaysian life.
 
And the place is breezy, it being just in front of the sea - a perfect way to end a hot and adventurous day in busy Georgetown.
 
 
11th Jan 2008:  Driving in Penang...

Telok Bahang: 
Today we decided to venture out of Georgetown to see the rest of the island, so we rented a car. Argi wanted to see some Malay traditional villages, so we set out to find a place called Telok Bahang. We were told by our trishaw driver yesterday that there are a lot of Malay villages in this area. With a flimsy cartoon-like map and me as the driver and Argi as my able navigator, we set out in our small rented car - the Malaysian made Kancil (deer in English) - which is just perfect for the narrow lanes of Penang. We saw some nice Malay houses alright but ended up at a Tropical Fruit Farm - with a short tour to get to know the local fruit trees. Had a nice buffet lunch of local fruits - hmmmm...absolutely delicious!!
 
Continued on the coastal road which led us to Batu Ferringhi - could not see the beach from the road though because it was blocked by the rows of hotels which lined the beach.

Kek Lok Si Temple, Air Itam: 
Ended up at Air Itam as we wanted to visit the Kek Lok Si Temple. It was quite a way out of Georgetown but the signs were good and we had no problem locating it. Stopped at Air Itam town for a while as I wanted Argi to try the sugar cane juice. It was so, so wonderful and sweet and a real thirst quencher for the very hot day! We also had some fried tapioca and sweet potato sold by the vendor at the food court in the middle of the small town. Argi is so great because he is always gamed to try out new food and stuffs!
 
The Kek Lok Si Temple
is situated on top of a hill and we drove all the way up and parked our car there. This temple compound is HUGE and they are still expanding!! We took an inclined lift to see the Bronze Statue of the Kuan Yin.
It was fun !!
 
Penang Hill:
Next, we drove to Bukit Bendera, also known as Penang Hill. This was a trip we wished we had not made! There was no parking space for you to leave your car while you go up the Hill on the train. We had to park in front of the residents' houses and out from nowhere, some guys came up to us to ask for parking fees!!

 
The trip up to the Hill was not really that exciting either, there were so many people and no system, ie. no requirement to queue up. When the doors opened, everybody just rushed to grab their seats - and there were so few seats in the small compartments of the train. They just squeeze you in and the train did not go right up the top of the Hill. We had to change trains half way through the journey and another scramble ensued. It was just not worth the trip up the Hill. There was not much to see from up there. If you want to see the whole of Penang, you can see it from the Komtar Building in Georgetown or even from the hill where Kek Lok Si Temple was located.
We ended up having a local Ramli Burger up the Hill and came down again - after having to endure another mad rush and scramble for a place to stand in the train!!
 
Back to Georgetown:
The drive back to Georgetown was a breeze and we stopped at a huge food court we found near our hotel - not quite sure of the location, though. Had our favourite Duck Rice and the ever-refreshing watermelon juice. We always seemed to be hungry when we were in Penang, I do not know why!!
 
Then the nightmare began...we could see the hotel from the food court but when we started driving, we realised to our horror that all the roads leading to our hotel was one-way and we could not seem to find the road to cut through the traffic to our hotel!! We spent about 45 minutes going round and round the hotel, repeated the routes a few times, trying this and that...and the atmosphere became tense as the engine began to heat up...hahaha!!! But Argi was so good and calm. His sense of direction and common sense was much better than mine. He managed to navigate me to the right direction to finally lead us back to our Mansion!
 
Phew!!! What an adventurous day we have had!! But it was always like this with our journeys..unexpected things always happen and we always ended up discovering beautiful places and friendly people along the way. At least now we know that Penang is full of one-way streets and in order to get to a place which is just on the next adjacent street, you have to weave in and out 3 or more narrow lanes (which do not appear on the map, by the way) before you reach your destination! But that is what made Penang so unique and our journeys so fun!!
 
Back to the hotel, it was time to pack for our next destination = Langkawi, the mystical island !