Street Art, Penang

Along the narrow back lanes of Penang there are surprises in store.  Crowds of students and tourists alike pose for photographs and we were no exception. 

                                                       Hi  Goldies!!  Good to see you!

In fact this was what I wanted to see for myself, having seen pictures of the very famous one of a bicycle and a pair of siblings.




So here they are, those that our tour guide led us to, through the lanes near the Chew Jetty.
                                                       

                                                    Hey!  We want some pau!!

                                                     Bye, kids! Be careful of the cars!!

                                                    Hello, Puss!  Don't be so sombong!!

                                                 My!  What a big fella you are!

 

                                         You won't see me pulling this nowadays!

                                                 Louder please?  We're seniors!!

I'm sure there must be more but these were the ones our guide led us to that were in the vicinity.

Places of Interest in Penang

Our friend took us to Gurney Drive in the early morning. However the tide was out.  I was surprised to see so many high rises, both offices and private condominiums. Some of their designs were very attractive.

 Later our tour guide took us to Chew Jetty where small wooden houses with small businesses  erected on either side still flourish.

 He pointed out the barnacles growing on the pillars of the wooden houses and he said that they were oysters.

 Another place we went to was the Perankan mansion museum which is a treasure trove of beautiful antiques some of which are more than 100 years old.  I'm just showing some of the many photos which I've taken.

The above headgear and ornaments shown in the above picture are painstakingly woven from the feathers of the Blue Kingfisher pictured on the left.  These are more than 100 years old. It's amazing how they are as beautiful as ever, the color intact.

A Weekend in Penang

It’s been two decades since my last visit to Penang.  There have been many changes in this heritage status city, Georgetown.  Penang is the island and Georgetown is its capital. We flew in, arriving only in the evening because of a flight delay.

The hotel, a heritage hotel by virtue of its building, was clean and passed muster. Facilities were very basic.  My only grouse was that it didn’t have a mini-fridge so I couldn’t keep my eye drops chilled. Fortunately it was only for the weekend after which I had to dispose of the eyedrops.

Our visit there was made a very happy and delightful one by a wonderful friend who not only took us to see the sights in Georgetown but arranged inbound tours for us too.  He also took us to places which had the best local cuisine. Only the locals would know which places serve the best of the famous signature dishes for which Penang is renowned for.

We had the Oyster Omelette or O chien and there were lots of succulent oysters in the omelette. It was very well cooked, not oily and very tasty.

Then we had the famous “char kwey teow” ( flat rice noodles) as well on our first evening in Georgetown.

Breakfast was Penang Prawn Mee (Har Mee) which was very tasty with is prawn based spicy soup and banana pancake. So engrossed was I in tucking in that I forgot to snap photos!! However lunch was Assam Laksa (noodles in  spicy sour sauce) and cendol ( dessert with palm sugar and coconut milk)

 Saturday night dinner was at the Penang Swimming Club which had a fantastic view of the sea.

The dinner comprised fish maw soup, taufoo, fishhead curry, spring rolls and spinach. 

My classmate (class of ’59) joined us for dinner and we had a good time reminiscing over old times.

Sunday breakfast was just a short distance away from our hotel, “Kueh Teow Thng” ( Flat rice noodle in soup, with chicken and fish balls).

Sunday lunch was in Balik Pulau, an area famous for its durians.

 We had laksa lemak which I didn’t really like but the sotong kangkong ( cuttle fish and a vegetable) and Hakka Yong Tauhu ( veg stuffed with fish paste)

Then our friend took us for delicious steamboat dinner on Sunday night which also happened to be Mother’s Day. The restaurant was housed in a large bungalow and all the tables filled up very quickly.

 We flew home on Monday morning after a warm soupy breakfast at the airport which was very cold.
That plus a hot drink warmed me up.  Perhaps it has to do with growing old.  One feels the cold more.


Our friend said that this visit was too short as we hadn’t tried out all the good eating places Penang had to offer and we hadn’t seen all the places that we ought to have seen.  So we were told to make another trip and to stay longer next time.  Hopefully we’ll be able to do so sometime.