I awoke to a delightful Malay breakfast at the Seven Terraces on my first full day in Penang – Nassi lemak. Steamed rice accompanied with crispy anchovies, spicy tomato chutney, a side of creamy chicken curry and an egg on the top. My soundtrack was “the girl from Ipanema and i bopped away while eating up, reading my book and plotting my weeks activities in Penang. I had heard great things so was trying to work out what to do first.
Indian Man street art Penang, just around the corner from the hotel off Stewart Street
It was easy to stumble across all sorts of treasures just going on an absent minded stroll around Georgetown as the hotel was right in the thick of the UNESCO word heritage site and is littered with street art, historic heritage buildings, incredible food and local crafts to buy. I spent my first full day in Penang just wandering round soaking it all up. I set out to head to the Blue Mansion up by Leruh Leith, but didn’t manage to make it that day instead spending time at the small but perfectly formed Camera museum (the first in South East Asia apparently!) on Lorong Stewart for only 20 Ringit (£3.80) It had exhibitions of local young photographers as well as all sorts of different types of cameras from spy equipment to old instamatic cameras just like my first one!
The afternoon was packed learning more about the town’s heritage at The National Museum a bargain at only 1 Ringit (20p) to enter. Where again i learnt a lot about the UK alongside the stories of Baba Nyonya, Indian and Malay cultures flourishing here. In fact
Camera Museum, Penang
the British drew up an agreement to “look after” Penang, but the never signed it so technically never agreed to the terms. Which sadly doesn’t surprise me. The evolution of the Nyonya culture in particular is fascinating, a lot of the detail of how they lived is very well documented due to the sheer wealth that was amassed by these families. There are various houses around the city that were lived in by the Chinese Baba’s and their local Malay wives. The resulting families and associated cultural traits and styles were called Baba Nyonya. A merging of Chinese, English and Malay influences which is really quite magical. Foods are similar but different to any that i have seen or tasted from either three, as well as fashions and traditions.
Clothes for example, look Chinese to the untrained eye. But they are Asian influence in style only, the handicraft and materials were all mostly European and driven by what could be procured from other straits settlers. There is a very strong tradition for afternoon tea here as well but it’s unlike any afternoon tea that i have ever seen before. I can’t wait to get more stuck into that and understand a bit more about it.
Georgetown Protestant Cemetery, Penang
I zig zagged across Georgetown a bit and didn’t make a logical journey through the streets, heading next to the Protestant cemetery. It’s another UNESCO protected site that was established in 1786 to house the final resting places of Christian straits settlers, and is spectacularly beautiful and peaceful. It was being refurbished when i popped down there. But the setting is still very tranquil with creeping trees shading and protecting the graves from hundreds of years ago.
More street art, Sas and Sesay have clearly been here ahead of me!
It was nearly closing up time for museums and monuments and the important sunset chasing time was approaching so i started to head back into the town via a bit of sightseeing at the Eastern & Oriental, the first Anglican Church in Penang (which you are not allowed in, i don’t know why!) and intended to head down to the clan jetties further down the harbour front. But as i was starting my walk a tropical storm came in and put paid to that idea. Leaving me stranded in a very nice cafe for about 2 hours. It was showing no signs of stopping so i did an MTFU and ran out in it much
St George’s Church, Penang – otherwise known as the Anglican church
to the amusement of the cafe staff. I made it to the end of the road before i gave in an ducked into another with rain running down my legs and dripping off my hair. Hmmmm time to rethink this plan! There wasn’t going to be much of a sunset with the cloud the way they were so i settled in for more cafe treats.
I finally made it back to the sanctuary of the hotel and their stunning shower, it is a room consuming affair with a rain shower coming down from the vaulted ceiling and spilling into the Nyonya style flooring. The perfect recovery from a rain and mud splattered afternoon. So i was ready to go on the hunt for more delicious Penang food. The beauty of Georgetown is that you can taste different types of cuisine every night of the week. So tonight was Chinese for me.
But first i decided to go storm chasing instead of sunset chasing, remembering the swirling storm clouds of Koh Samui i decided to go back down to the Jetties once the rain had subsided to watch the clouds drift away into the sunset. I picked the QEII bar as it’s supposed to have one of the best views in Penang. Which i guess depends on what your
Stormy skies in at QEII in Penang
definition of good is really! As it is right on the water, but all you can see is the ferry terminal and industrial buildings across the other side of the bay! Not really the kind of view that i was after. I did manage to capture some moody shots over a glass of wine, but soon hotfooted it over for my Chinese feast.
The QEII os on Church Street Pier Penang – just like Cake Towers local… 😉
A short stroll took me to Tek Sen on Lebuh Carnarvon, famous for their double roasted pork. I grabbed what i thought was a free table only to realise that there was already a Chinese man sat there, he had stepped away to order a drink (you do that separately here in the Chinese places) he beckoned me to sit down anyway as we were both dining alone and we ended up having a really good chat over dinner. We ordered a bit more so we could share some dishes, that’s one thing about dining alone in Chinese restaurants i can’t really make the most of the variety of foods available as portions are too big for more than one dish at a time. Even for me!
He was from Shangai and retired with no wife or kids, and spends 10 months of the year living in various countries in South East Asia doing a circuit of Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia depending on what Visas each will let him have.
DOUBLE ROASTED PORK FROM TEK SEN, sorry for the shouty caps it was just so blaming good!
Going back for Chinese New Year every year with his mother. He said it was better for his health as he has bad asthma and the smog in China makes it worse. I makes a lot of sense if you have no family ties anywhere, i don’t think i could live like that though. A looooong holiday is enough for me!
We tucked into the delicious and renowned double roasted pork, clay pot chicken & fish with some tamarind prawns with some fresh lime juice that was just like a non alcoholic Mojito. All soft drinks come laden with copious amounts of sugar here so beware! The pork was perfectly sweet, soft in the middle and then with a light crisp on the outside. With perfectly cooked and prepared prawns, i didn’t even have to get my fingers dirty, i just pulled them out of the steamed shells. We were both ridiculously full of tales and tastes by the time we finished and wished each other on our merry way. That’s the beauty of solo travel.
A full cake lady, signing off for some rest before a big day out tomorrow…
Baci a tutti x x x
