Penang

After leaving Hong Kong, Kristen was sent to Penang, Malaysia to visit a factory there.  She ended up getting to spend a weekend in Penang, so I visited her before returning back to the US.  (She was put up in an absolutely gorgeous colonial hotel called the Eastern & Oriental, which is where we stayed for the weekend).

Our trip was set up and planned by a very friendly person at the client named Nithia who had grown up in Malaysia, and was formerly the manager of the client’s plant there.

He booked us a driver, and set out an itinerary to tour the city.

The view of the Penang coast from our room at the E&O

Day 1

Kristen at the Penang Botanical Garden

The Chew Jetty in Georgetown

Kristen with street art on Armenian Street in Georgetown

On our first day in town, our driver took us first to the Reclining Buddha Temple, which is exactly as it sounds.  I’d never been to any Buddhist temples before, so it was a great experience for me.  We then walked across the street to a Burmese Buddhist temple, and were blessed by a monk there.

Afterwards, we headed to the Penang Botanical Garden, where we had a gorgeous walk through jungle trees, where wild monkeys were playing.

From there, we went to the Snake Temple, where live, venomous snakes are hanging around inside.  They also have a “snake farm,” which was sort of like a zoo.  The guide was so happy to have Americans in his farm that he took us on what amounted to a private tour of the place.  He took us into the python cage, got a viper to spit at him, and took out a king cobra (which absolutely scared the hell out of Kristen).

Our driver then suggested we head over to Georgetown, which is the colonial section of town.  We walked the Chew Jetty, which is a series of houses built out over the ocean (originally put there by Chinese immigrants to avoid property taxes), and then walked Armenian Street, which is famous for its Banksy-style street art.

After sampling some of the really excellent street food for lunch (Penang is known for its street food, such as char kway teow – something similar to pad see ew but with more curry flavor), our driver suggested a tour of the Pinang Peranakan House.  Peranakan apparently means mixed marriage, and the house was very interesting.  It was the mansion of a early 20th century Chinese gangster who had moved to Penang and married a local woman.  The house was extraordinarily ornate, and our guide told us crazy stories about the family that had lived there.  The house had been purchased and restored recently by a Chinese antiques collector, and was stocked full of interesting things.

And after an exhausting day, we went back to the hotel to hang out at the pool, and then got dinner at the best Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to, called Kashmir, right near the hotel.

Day 2

View of North Penang from Penang Hill

The Pagoda and Chinese zodiac horse at Kek Lok Si

Jeff in the Penang Spice Garden rainforest

The view from Batu Ferringhi beach

We woke up early Sunday in anticipation of another full day.  First stop was the overly-touristy but must-do Penang Hill.  We rode the cable car up from town to the top of a large hill with views of the city and the strait.  There were a couple of temples and mosque at the top, but not too much else.  We had actually hoped to hike the hill, but the sweltering heat and limited time turned us off of it.  Anyway, the views from the top really were very good, though the throngs of people were annoying.

Afterward, we went to the biggest and highest temple/buddha around - Kek Lok Si.  We got to walk up through a narrow market to the base of the structure, and took a short tram ride to the temple area.   Again there were nice views and cool pagoda structures.

For lunch, we went to a Nyona restaurant.  Nyona is the food from the Peranakan mixed-culture families mentioned above.  As it turns out, it’s not that good.  We would much have preferred street food again.

In the afternoon, our driver took us to the Northwest part of the island, to an area called Batu Ferringhi.  It was a gorgeous little beach town with lots of resorts.

First stop in the area was the Spice Garden, which is a botanical garden featuring a wide array of native jungle species and spices, including nutmeg, coffee, tea, and many others.  It was a really well laid-out and interesting place, and it was super fun to see all the interesting native rainforest plants.

After a stop at the local beach at Batu Ferringhi to feel the water (warm and clear), we headed again back to the hotel, since Kristen had to catch a flight to Jakarta.  I had dinner by the pool and enjoyed the view.

Penang is a really great place.  Everyone was extremely friendly, there was a lot to see (including ornate temples which I’d only seen in other people’s pictures before this trip), and the food was fantastic.  I’m really glad it was my introduction to Southeast Asia.