Saturday 1st October
Georgetown. Indian food for breakfast. Had a look in some bookshops and also looking for somewhere to watch the football tonight. Penang is very clean and modern. I walked up to the coast, where a few guys were fishing. Further along I came to the colonial-style Town Hall and City Hall.
Across from the playing field is Fort Cornwallis. This old English fort, named after the then-Governor of India, was first established by Captain Light when he landed here in 1786. It was built for administration and trading as much as for military purposes. There is not really much to see but the old outside wall is still there and there are some canon lining the wall, including a big one dated 1603 that originally belonged to the Dutch.
I left the fort and walked past the Clock Tower that was donated by a Chinese merchant to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. I met 3 locals dressed in traditional Malay clothes; I walked with them as they went to an outdoor film set where there were others dressed up too. (I should have gone back later but kind of forgot).
After big Indian lunch in a packed restaurant I came back to the hotel and watched England v Scotland on the TV. In the evening I went to look for the football. I tried Little India first but of course that was pointless because most Indians don't really know about football so I walked up to Red Garden Night Food Market, and there they had lots of TV screens and one huge screen - showing the football. Joy. The food there is great, though you only get small portions, but that is ok, I just ate twice. During the first game I had Penang Laksa, and during the second game I had Thai food. Not many people were watching the football, but there were lots of people there, mainly Chinese, and there was some live music too. The place was still busy when I left at mignight.
Sunday 2nd October
It rained heavily last night because it is that time of year. Murtabak and chai for breakfast at the same Indian restaurant. I followed the LP's walking tour, past some of the places I went to yesterday. There are many shop houses here and some Chinese temples which is fine but I have seen those in Kuching so I only have a passing interest.
The Penang Museum was pretty good, lots of stuff about the different ethnic groups that settled here (Chinese, Indian, Malay, European) and some old clothing and furniture including opium beds, where guys would lounge around and get high, which was acceptable before WWII. Most Indians here are South Indian muslims, also known as Chulias; hence Chulia Street (where my guest house is). I also learned that calligraphic Arabic writing is called Khat.
I went to a local's coffee shop hoping for Malay coffee which, the museum display told me, includes butter as well as sugar; but if they had it that's not what I got, despite trying to emphasise that I wanted Malay coffee. Still, it was good to watch the Indian and Chinese guys chatting about weddings and birthday parties while topping their coffee up with whiskey.
For afternoon tea I had chicken and naan bread and a declious mango lassi. I got back to the hotel for the second half of the NRL Grand Final; I sat next to a snoring Chinese man, who was sat next to a Kiwi, great game.
In the evening I headed out to the Red Garden for dinner and football again. It was raining heavily but the tables are under cover and the big screen didn't seem to mind getting wet. I chatted to a nice old Chinese guy who was born here, but I couldn't really understand his English very well, especially with the live music and dance show behind us.
I had Chinese noodles for first dinner. The lady said it was a Penang speciality, but when it came it was just noodles with a couple of bits of chicken and some pork fat; the noodles tasted of pork fat. I have to say that I'm really not a fan of Chinese food. So for second dinner I got veggie jalfrezi with garlic naan and that was much better.
Once it dawned on me that the second game was not being shown, I walked back to Chulia Street and soon found a group of Indian and Chinese guys watching it on a big TV under the cover of a shop porch, with a guy serving tea; so I sat there and enjoyed watching the game with the locals.
Monday 3rd October
Lazy lie-in, partly because I thought it was going to rain. But it didn't, so after breakfast I hired a decent bike and headed out of town (I asked the bike-hire guy for a helmet and he gave me his motorbike helmet!) After half an hour I arrived at Kek Lok Si temple, which is apparently the largest Buddhist Temple in Malaysia. I cycled up the hill a bit and then left my bike locked up in the car park.
There are a few different parts to the temple, including a 7-tier pagoda and a courtyard with lots of small Buddha statues. There are a couple of smaller temples too. Then I went up the short cable car to an area that looks out over the town and where there is a 35 metre high statue of the Goddess of Mercy. Well, it was all very good but I have seen many Chinese temples in the last few months (well, before I went to Indonesia) so I had a quick look around and moved on.
I cycled a short way to the foot of Penang Hill. From here there is a funicular 30 minutes to the top of the hill and, apparently, a great view of the island. Well, when I got to the ticket counter and saw that it was more expensive than I expected, there were quite a few tourists there and that it looked cloudy up on the hill, I decided I couldn't be bothered and decided to just ride my the bike around the island a bit more.
I headed south towards Relau along a busy road; but soon there was a steep hill and I had to get off and push the bike. The road reminded me of the one up to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong; there was forest on either side, tall buildings and the sea in the distance. I was dripping with sweat by the time I was able to cycle back down the other side.
I carried on through Bayan Lepas, past the airport and tried (not very hard) to find the fishing village near Batu Maung, without success. So I decided to head back towards George Town, partly to get back before the rain. The quickest way is along the expressway which runs parallel to the sea. The road was sometimes a dual carriageway and sometimes three lanes and not really intended for bicycles so it was a bit of an adventure, but the traffic wasn't too heavy and the other drivers were good. It didn't rain and I got sunburned, because I had the helmet on and not my sun hat. Doh!
Georgetown. Indian food for breakfast. Had a look in some bookshops and also looking for somewhere to watch the football tonight. Penang is very clean and modern. I walked up to the coast, where a few guys were fishing. Further along I came to the colonial-style Town Hall and City Hall.
Across from the playing field is Fort Cornwallis. This old English fort, named after the then-Governor of India, was first established by Captain Light when he landed here in 1786. It was built for administration and trading as much as for military purposes. There is not really much to see but the old outside wall is still there and there are some canon lining the wall, including a big one dated 1603 that originally belonged to the Dutch.
I left the fort and walked past the Clock Tower that was donated by a Chinese merchant to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. I met 3 locals dressed in traditional Malay clothes; I walked with them as they went to an outdoor film set where there were others dressed up too. (I should have gone back later but kind of forgot).
After big Indian lunch in a packed restaurant I came back to the hotel and watched England v Scotland on the TV. In the evening I went to look for the football. I tried Little India first but of course that was pointless because most Indians don't really know about football so I walked up to Red Garden Night Food Market, and there they had lots of TV screens and one huge screen - showing the football. Joy. The food there is great, though you only get small portions, but that is ok, I just ate twice. During the first game I had Penang Laksa, and during the second game I had Thai food. Not many people were watching the football, but there were lots of people there, mainly Chinese, and there was some live music too. The place was still busy when I left at mignight.
Sunday 2nd October
It rained heavily last night because it is that time of year. Murtabak and chai for breakfast at the same Indian restaurant. I followed the LP's walking tour, past some of the places I went to yesterday. There are many shop houses here and some Chinese temples which is fine but I have seen those in Kuching so I only have a passing interest.
The Penang Museum was pretty good, lots of stuff about the different ethnic groups that settled here (Chinese, Indian, Malay, European) and some old clothing and furniture including opium beds, where guys would lounge around and get high, which was acceptable before WWII. Most Indians here are South Indian muslims, also known as Chulias; hence Chulia Street (where my guest house is). I also learned that calligraphic Arabic writing is called Khat.
I went to a local's coffee shop hoping for Malay coffee which, the museum display told me, includes butter as well as sugar; but if they had it that's not what I got, despite trying to emphasise that I wanted Malay coffee. Still, it was good to watch the Indian and Chinese guys chatting about weddings and birthday parties while topping their coffee up with whiskey.
For afternoon tea I had chicken and naan bread and a declious mango lassi. I got back to the hotel for the second half of the NRL Grand Final; I sat next to a snoring Chinese man, who was sat next to a Kiwi, great game.
In the evening I headed out to the Red Garden for dinner and football again. It was raining heavily but the tables are under cover and the big screen didn't seem to mind getting wet. I chatted to a nice old Chinese guy who was born here, but I couldn't really understand his English very well, especially with the live music and dance show behind us.
I had Chinese noodles for first dinner. The lady said it was a Penang speciality, but when it came it was just noodles with a couple of bits of chicken and some pork fat; the noodles tasted of pork fat. I have to say that I'm really not a fan of Chinese food. So for second dinner I got veggie jalfrezi with garlic naan and that was much better.
Once it dawned on me that the second game was not being shown, I walked back to Chulia Street and soon found a group of Indian and Chinese guys watching it on a big TV under the cover of a shop porch, with a guy serving tea; so I sat there and enjoyed watching the game with the locals.
Monday 3rd October
Lazy lie-in, partly because I thought it was going to rain. But it didn't, so after breakfast I hired a decent bike and headed out of town (I asked the bike-hire guy for a helmet and he gave me his motorbike helmet!) After half an hour I arrived at Kek Lok Si temple, which is apparently the largest Buddhist Temple in Malaysia. I cycled up the hill a bit and then left my bike locked up in the car park.
There are a few different parts to the temple, including a 7-tier pagoda and a courtyard with lots of small Buddha statues. There are a couple of smaller temples too. Then I went up the short cable car to an area that looks out over the town and where there is a 35 metre high statue of the Goddess of Mercy. Well, it was all very good but I have seen many Chinese temples in the last few months (well, before I went to Indonesia) so I had a quick look around and moved on.
I cycled a short way to the foot of Penang Hill. From here there is a funicular 30 minutes to the top of the hill and, apparently, a great view of the island. Well, when I got to the ticket counter and saw that it was more expensive than I expected, there were quite a few tourists there and that it looked cloudy up on the hill, I decided I couldn't be bothered and decided to just ride my the bike around the island a bit more.
I headed south towards Relau along a busy road; but soon there was a steep hill and I had to get off and push the bike. The road reminded me of the one up to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong; there was forest on either side, tall buildings and the sea in the distance. I was dripping with sweat by the time I was able to cycle back down the other side.
I carried on through Bayan Lepas, past the airport and tried (not very hard) to find the fishing village near Batu Maung, without success. So I decided to head back towards George Town, partly to get back before the rain. The quickest way is along the expressway which runs parallel to the sea. The road was sometimes a dual carriageway and sometimes three lanes and not really intended for bicycles so it was a bit of an adventure, but the traffic wasn't too heavy and the other drivers were good. It didn't rain and I got sunburned, because I had the helmet on and not my sun hat. Doh!
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