13 March George Town, Penang
Thunder crashed and heavy rain fell when I got up early to get ready for the
flight to Penang. This seemed like a morning to stay in bed, which most of the
Grab taxi drivers seemed to do! I managed to call a regular taxi for the ride
down some flooded streets to the airport. Air Asia didn’t have any check-in
agents, so I went to a machine for the boarding pass and baggage ticket, which I
attached and dropped off. Curiously I had to go through immigration even though
this was a domestic flight, though the officer stamped my boarding pass, not the
passport. By the time the Airbus A320-200 of Air Asia’s Flight AK 5433 took off
for the two-hour flight to the northwest, the storm had faded to light rain.
After a while clouds thinned out for views of the South China Sea and the
Malaysian peninsula, where I could see Kuala Lumpur’s clusters of tiny
skyscrapers. I had paid a bit extra for a good window seat and a surprisingly
good tofu-biryani lunch.
Penang has a completely different weather pattern than Kuching, and here a hot
sun was out in full force from a slightly hazy sky. I easily got a Grab taxi
from the airport in the southeast part of the island to George Town, Penang’s
main city, in the northeast. My Airbnb accommodations, Khim’s Heritage Home, is
in the historic district that’s full of wonderful old commercial buildings that
have a mix of Oriental and Western architecture. As is usually the case with
budget accommodation in heritage buildings, the bathroom is down the hall, but
everything was neat and clean. A budget hotel would include a private bathroom
at a higher price, but a look at reviews showed that these accommodations
probably wouldn’t be as clean and pleasant; also cigarette smoke might be a
problem.
This is my fourth visit to Penang. I came here with ol’ Bessie the Bicycle in
1981 on a ride of both coasts of Malaysia and in 1983 when I rode a loop around
Penang, then pedaled north to Thailand and Bangkok. Next I visited in 1991 on a
backpacking trip, but haven’t been back since despite the appeal of the island.
Now I look forward to visiting some of George Town’s many museums and historic
sites. Great food is another attraction of this multi-cultural place, and I
found my way to Karaikudi Restaurant (20 Market St.; daily for lunch and dinner)
for a South Indian thali. I hung out in my room’s air-conditioning the rest of
the day.
14 March George Town, Penang
A tiny mouse made an appearance in my room last night, so this morning I changed
rooms and a little cat got my old room. Again, weather was hot and hazy today. I
did some writing and internet stuff then returned to Karaikudi Restaurant for
another South Indian feast. I spent most of the afternoon at one of the top
sights, Pinang Peranakan Mansion (www.pinangperanakanmansion.com.my/
daily 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 29 Church St., RM20). Chung Keng Quee, one of Penang’s
wealthiest 19th-century merchants and secret-society leaders, built this lavish
home that’s now beautifully restored and filled with treasures of that time. I
joined a tour led by an enthusiastic Chinese gentleman, who explained about the
family and their customs over the generations that they lived here. The original
family not only had body guards, but opposing mirrors in the downstairs meeting
rooms that allowed them to keep an eye on who was coming and going in adjacent
rooms. One of the rooms had furnishings to cater to visiting Europeans and
another, set up for opium smoking, served Chinese. Upstairs rooms now display
dazzling European glasswork and Chinese ceramics. About 100 servants attended to
the family, and their quarters now house exhibits of glittering jewelry and
finely crafted textiles. Even things like slippers have incredibly ornate
beadwork. If anyone got sick, they could get medicine from the Chinese herbal
pharmacy in the enormous kitchen. A large ancestral hall adjacent to the mansion
has intricate tableaus of carved wood; descendents of the family still come to
pay respects here. After the tour I wandered around on my own for a closer look
at the fabulous furnishings and exhibits.
15 March George Town, Penang
Lots of clouds today, but still hot, and a bit of rain fell late morning. Today
I visited the Blue Mansion (https://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/
tours 11 a.m., 2, p.m., and 3 p.m., 14 Leith St., RM17), named for its
indigo-based limewash exterior. Chinese immigrant Cheong Fatt Tze, who embodied
an epic rags-to-riches story to become one of the greatest capitalists of his
time, built this family home in the 1880s. Like the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, it
has grand rooms and multiple courtyards decorated with ornate cast ironwork
imported from Glasgow, Chinese furniture, porcelain piecework, Art Nouveau
stained glass, and European floor tiles. When the last family member in then
dilapidated mansion put it up for sale in 1990, a local family bought it with
the goal of achieving an authentic restoration. Otherwise a developer would
likely have torn it down to put up a high-rise. Visitors must join one of the
three daily tours, and the one I went on happened to be led by an enthusiastic
woman of the family who purchased and restored the mansion, so she had many
stories of the hard work and challenges of the project. We visited the large
central rooms, but not the wings, as they now house hotel guests, nor the former
servants’ quarters across the street because they now belong to different
owners.
I enjoyed a late lunch of South Indian snacks—tomato uthappam and Mysore masala
dosa—along with tomato soup, mango lassi, and masala tea at Woodlands Vegetarian
Restaurant (60 Penang St.).
16 March George Town, Penang
On hot sunny day, billowing clouds moved in late afternoon for a little shower.
For lunch I tried the South Indian vegetarian thali at Chettiar’s on 39 Penang
Street; it was good, but vegetarian restaurants on the same street have a
greater number of veggie offerings. I strolled to House of Yeap Chor Ee (http://houseyce.com/visit-us/
Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., 4 Penang St., RM13). This restored shop house
illustrates the history of Chinese immigrants to Penang through the
rags-to-riches story of Yeap Chor Ee. He arrived in 1885 and worked as an
itinerant barber until he saved enough to open a small provisions shop, then
expanded his operations to become a wealthy trader and banker. He later moved to
a great mansion called the ‘Homestead,’ now a school, and many pieces of his
fine furniture and decorations have been brought here for display.
I walked past a 60-foot-high clock tower built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s
60th birthday, then turned in at the British-built Fort Cornwallis. The fort’s
namesake is the Charles Cornwallis who surrendered to George Washington after
the Battle of Yorktown, ending the American Revolution. A wooden stockade went
up in the late 1700s, then convict laborers from India completed this stone and
brick star fort in 1810. The RM20 entry seems high considering how little there
is to see. Old cannons still peer out from the fort and include the famed 1603
Dutch East India Company’s massive bronze ‘Seri Rambai.’ A picturesque old
lighthouse and a second non-functioning light atop a sail-ship mast stand just
outside the fort.
I walked south along the docks—not a good idea as there’s no sidewalk—to a
series of old clan jetties with stilt houses and docks built out over the
shallow water. People still live in the houses and maintain small Chinese
temples. Chew Jetty is the largest community and the touristy shops line the
main elevated wooden pathway.
For dinner I had a Bombay thali at Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant, though
several of the dishes were too oniony for my tastes.
17 March George Town, Penang
Although the morning had bright sunshine, I stayed in to finish the Sarawak
text. In the afternoon I headed out to visit Chinese clan houses and temples,
starting with the most exuberant—Khoo Kongsi (http://www.khookongsi.com.my/
daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 18 Cannon Square, RM10). Incredibly intricate carved wooden
panels and statues of mythical creatures decorate the interior and are tucked
under the eaves. Stone pillars on the porch also depict dragons, lions, and
other wildlife, and the roof displays extravagant multi-colored porcelain
piecework. Wall paintings portray celestial guardians and famous scenes from
Chinese myths. There was so much to take in! Downstairs, a museum explains
architectural details and tells about the clan and its leaders. Oddly the clan
house had to be built twice as the first one burned down just after completion
on Chinese New Year’s Eve in 1901, then the current structure opened in 1906.
A short walk away I swung by the 1924 Yap Kongsi (daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 71
Armenian St.), a much smaller place and with altars housing many ancestor
tablets. Also nearby, Cheah Kongsi (daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 8 Armenian St., RM10)
is home to Penang’s oldest Straits Chinese clan association and has a few museum
exhibits in a separate building.
I took a break at Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant for a tomato uthappam, a pair
of veg. samosas, tomato soup, mango lassi, and masala tea. Then I turned west to
a large Chinese Buddhist temple, Kuan Yin Teng (Jalan Masjid Kapital Keling),
with a crowd worshiping at multiple altars in the complex. Although the Goddess
of Mercy, Kuan Yin, is the temple’s namesake, the Buddha, Chinese gods, and
other notables have places of honor as well.
Farther west I reached the Hainan Temple (daily 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Jalan Muntri),
where people had filled the assembly hall for an event. Ancestors came from
China’s Hainan Island, so it’s appropriate for the temple to honor Mar Chor Poh,
the patron of seafarers. Originally completed in 1895, it received an ornate
stone façade for its centenary in 1995. Potted bamboo in the central courtyard
added greenery. Clouds billowed high in the afternoon, but only a trace of rain
fell. I returned to my room to work on journal writing.
18 March George Town, Penang
On another hot and sunny day, I headed to nearby Asia Camera Museum (daily 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m., 71 Armenian St. next to Yap Temple, RM20) to see its
huge collection. Exhibits show just about all the world’s famous cameras and how
each make developed over the years, everything from finely crafted bellows
studio cameras to the tiny Minox models favored by spies. I also saw old Leicas,
twin-lens reflexes, and Graflex cameras that were very popular with photo
journalists of the past, along with famous photos taken by them. There’s a
darkroom as well, which must seem a strange place to the younger generation who
grew up in the digital age. Three cameras—two film and one digital—have been
disassembled down to the last tiny screw and mounted on a large panel to show
the innermost workings.
For lunch I returned to Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant for a very tasty and
filling South Indian special thali, then stopped by a money changer to cover
expenses of my last days in Malaysia. In the afternoon I aimed for the
heights—the 821-meter Penang Hill, reached by a speedy funicular. Technical
problems had plagued the first funicular, begun in 1901 and the system didn’t
open until 1924. Sleek modern enclosed carriages have replaced the old wooden
ones. Cables pull one set uphill while lowering the other, with dual tracks for
passing in the middle. A Grab taxi brought me to the terminal for the
2-kilometer-long rail line. A longish wait ensued as this was a Sunday
afternoon, but I had plenty to read. My ticket cost RM30.
Air felt pleasantly cool at the top. A troupe of dusky leaf monkeys
(Trachypithecus obscurus) romped in a large tree, pulling off leaves and
stuffing their faces with them. They’re a ridiculously cute species of langur
with white ‘spectacles’ around their eyes and white mouths. One mother held a
newborn that stood out with yellow fur and a pink face, which will change to
gray/brownish fur and dark face after about six months.
I also enjoyed the panoramic views of George Town, other parts of Penang, and
across to the mainland. I left the crowds of the very touristy summit area and
strolled south on the Summit Road to enjoy the views and exotic flora. The
actual summit isn’t accessible, but I visited a nearby park that has a mosque
and Hindu temple.
Another longish wait, then the downhill run, a bit scary when seen from the
first car as the grade is so steep! Then I caught a Grab taxi to the old part of
town and one last meal at Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant, this time a snack of
a tomato uthappam and curd vada (savory doughnut in yogurt).
19 March Kuah, Langkawi Island, Malaysia
Because Thailand gives most visitors a 30-day permit, and extensions are costly,
I had to time my arrival to stay within that period. So that meant one more
night in Malaysia. The idea of traveling by boat between Penang and Thailand had
long intrigued me because it seemed a far more interesting way of travel than
taking a minibus on the highway. Three days ago I bought a RM60 boat ticket for
the first leg of the journey, to the island of Langkawi. On a beautiful day I
got up early to pack and get a Grab taxi to the dock, located near Fort
Cornwallis. On check-in I asked for and got a window seat, though the very
heavily tinted glass made photography impractical. The catamaran cast off at
8:30 a.m. and headed north over a gentle sea for the three-hour ride. The
coastal high-rises of Penang gradually faded into the distance. I greatly
enjoyed my visit to this island and hope to return again! The boat stopped at a
small island on the way, but few people got on or off. The large boat terminal
at Langkawi reminded me of an airport with duty-free shops and long concourses
out to the busy docks.
I bought a ticket for tomorrow morning’s boat to Satun in Thailand, got snacks
at the 7-11, then a Grab taxi to my hotel in nearby Kuah, the main town of
mountainous Langkawi. The island paradise is famous as a resort area and for
duty-free shopping. The only thing that appealed was the cable car ride to a
708-meter summit, but this was on the far end of the island and only reachable
by a pricy taxi ride, so I didn’t go
My room at the Chomelle Hotel was a bit small and lacked a desk, but was clean
and had a private bathroom. I had reserved it with Booking.com and paid RM65 on
arrival plus the RM10 foreign tourist tax. Lots of shops and restaurants line
nearby streets, and I had a good thali of palak paneer, dal, curd, and briyani
rice at the Pakistan-cuisine Oasis Restaurant.
On to Thailand: Koh Tao scuba diving
Back to beginning of Southeast Asia Backpacking Jan.-April 2018