I began my time in Malaysia after my longest bout of travel yet (besides the 15 hour flight to get to this region). I had been in Koh Tao, Thaiand, which is on the east side of Thailand and I was going to Penang, Malaysia which was on the west side of Malaysia. Luckily on Koh Tao there are plenty of travel agencies where you can say "I want to go to Penang on this day" and they'll give you a ticket for every different transport that you need to get there. My route went something like this: Koh Tao overnight ferry to Surat Thani (mainland) > then a tuk-tuk to where my bus to Hat Yai was picking people up (tiny/packed bus) > Dropped off in Hat Yai separate from anyone else on the bus (all in who you book with) and then got on a new bus that took me all the way to Penang.
The border crossing was very simple and a really nice facility (different than most of my other land-border crossings), and it was also not busy AT ALL, nearly empty. Once we crossed the boder, it started raining really hard and I was a little scared of our bus driver - driving way too maniacally for my taste. Luckily though, we made it over the long bridge to Penang, and the bus dropped me off in Georgetown. Here is where I used my first Grab ever (it's Uber, but in Asia) and it was great - it took me to the Dalat International School where I would be staying with my friend's mother and wonderful host, Jan.
Since I was mostly just incredibly exhausted from all the travel, once I got there I just hung around with the cat (who I later learned was named Effie) and read up on Georgetown and what there was to do. Her place is beautiful and overlooks the harbor, pretty cool! Once Jan got home, she took me across the street to a little market area (It might have been Mutiara Food Court, where we had nasi kandar - an Indian Muslim dish that tasted pretty good and the portion-size was massive for what I think was only about $2. Gosh, I love Southeast Asia :) We brought it back to her house and ate it on her patio while chatting.
Sometimes on a trip, you need to relax and so I slept in until my heart's content, ate some light breakfast and then once Jan was back when we over to the pool at the hotel next door to lay around and relax a bit. We went to a lunch at their family favorite restaurant (that I can't remember the name of) where we at Hainanese Chicken & Rice. It was a cute/kitschy little place and it was pretty tasty! Our next stop was to go to the Blue Mansion (Cheong Fatt Tze) in Georgetown. It was very beautiful and a neat mixture of Chinese architecture with British vibes. Obviously there is a reason for that as Malaysia was a British colony until it's independence in 1963.It's called Blue Mansion because of it's brilliant blue exterior. The entrance fee was very affordable to get in, so I would recommend visiting for a taste of how the rich people lived in the last century.
After visiting the Blue Mansion we went to an area that I'm not sure I would have immediately thought of to visit if it hadn't been for Jan, and I'm thankful we checked it out: the Clan Jetties, specifically Chew Jetty along the harbor. These are part of the Penang Heritage Trail and they are a clan/neighborhood of houses and businesses/stores on stilts that you can walk along the dock past. These jetties have been there for quite a few years and they were established by Chinese immigrants who moved to Penang. it's always fascinating to see these little enclaves of how and where people live. I will say be prepared to for the smell a bit as it's pretty fishy since you are walking right over the harbor. Also, with all of the little shops there, there's a number of places selling durian (it's incredibly popular in Malaysia), and it's the most foul-smelling thing you'll ever encounter (taste-wise too, but that's for later).
Our next mission was walking along the pedestrian street, Armenian Street. Here you can find all sorts of road stalls selling jewelry and handicrafts and such. Another important thing to note is that there are a lot of really cool murals in Penang and this street and area have quite a lot them. My favorite murals were the ones that you could place yourself into - here are some examples below:
The restaurant was near Little India, so we walked around there just to experience it and walk into some of their shops that ranged from a shop just for shoes or a fancy jewelry shop, from the extravagant to the humble markets. Pretty interesting as I've never been to India period, and not even a Little India anywhere else that I can think of. I also loved how hopping and busy it was and Indian music was playing all around the streets.
Our last stop before heading home was to China House - a super weird name because they actually specialize in AH-mazing desserts and is the most hipster thing I've seen in quite awhile. It was SO cool. It spans a whole block and is seriously so long and you can go deepre and deeper into different rooms and they all have a different vibe/feel. Some with live music, some more of a cafe/chill area, and one even with an outdoor patio/garden. Then you can go upwards where there are some art galleries. I know what you're asking though, are the desserts actually worth the wait you'll probably have to endure? 100% yes. There were so many choices, but I ended up with what essentially was a peanut butter pie (which reminds me of my girl scout camps days) and it was so rich and yummy. Plus, while waiting you can just walk around the whole establishment and explore. Definitely put this on your list when visiting Penang.
We very luckily got back to our just as the skies opened up and it absolutely down-poured and was really flooding the roads for the drive back. But we made it safely and went to bed after an awesome day of adventuring.
This morning, we woke up earlyish to go to Jan's local market for fruits and veggies for her house and I really loved how she had her exact stalls she always goes to and it was neat to see that it really felt like a community place. Attached to this market was a food hall that had about 20-30 stalls of different local specialties and Jan knew I wanted to try more local dishes - so we got an assortment of things.
Here's a quick bit about what Malaysian cuisine is like - especially in Penang. So many cultures come together in one city and so many of their foods do as well to make new dishes and it's awesome and incredibly unique. Check out this article on a history of Penang through specific dishes - it says that all of these cultures help to create Penang's cuisine: Malays, Indian Muslims and Hindus, Thai, Chinese Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, and Hainanese, and of course British colonialists. Whoa that's a lot! And it is so fun to seek out the many dishes. I ate A LOT in Penang, and I didn't even scratch the surface.
Alright, now back to what we had at the hawker stalls (food hall). Yet again, Jan had her specific stalls she always goes to and some of them she has been going to for years and were even here back when she lived here when her kids were younger - crazy! We had wantan me (Malaysian noodles), char kway teow (another noodle dish), and then Chinese hand-folded pancakes. It was all really good! I feel like there was more that I ate too, but I can't remember it all - you know, it being over a year ago, hehe!
Oh wait, there was one more thing that I tried while at this market and I will never, ever forget it. Can you guess what it was? If you guessed the King of Fruits, that stinky durian, then you are correct! So the rest of Jan's family all loves durian, but she doesn't so we didn't want to buy any. Luckily, Jan asked a couple who was buying a giant thing of chopped up durian and asked if I could try one. I have a video of it and, oh man it's so self-explanatory to see my reaction. I really wanted to be one of those rare non-Asian people who like it, but nope. It smells rancid and even the first touch to my teeth was horrible.
After our yummy breakfast (and not so yummy bite of durian), we drove over to Penang Hill to take the tram up to the top. Right away you could see the awesome views of all of Penang - the city, the harbor, and the very forest-like rest of the island (super green). We walked around a bit and decided to go to this new part called The Habitat. There was a nice pathway up there where we sat on a huge swing and just basked in the calmness of the rain forest. Also on the path we saw (from a distance) langurs, a type of monkey, jumping around from tree to tree chasing each other. The path finally leads to a giant elevated walkway called Curtis Circle - giving you 360 degree views. It was beautiful. Apparently, now they have even more pathways and also ziplining. I'd say it's a good place to visit if you have enough time to make it worth the price tag - it's not super cheap.
Once we took the tram back down the hill, and decided it was time to get a bit of history and food, so we went to the Suffolk House. It's a beautiful old house/mansion that offers a high tea. I haven't had a real high tea since I was younger and it was so fun and fancy, and the amount of food you get is definitely as much as a full meal. The Suffolk House is also used as a wedding venue, so we walked around and explored the property a bit. I know there are quite a few places to have high tea in Penang, so I can't say definitively this is the best - but it was delicious and I'd highly recommend checking it out.
After tea, I went back to relax and hang with Effie, the cat while Jan went to play tennis. When she came back and we were ready to eat again, we went to another hawker center and got some more delicious popular Malaysian dishes: nasi lemak (rice dish with coconut milk and pandan leaf), ice milo, or chien (friend oyster omelette), and finally had some satay with peanut sauce! Not surprisingly, my favorite was the satay. Once we were done eating, we went back to Jan's place where I went to bed so I could get up early-ish to grab a bus down to Kuala Lumpur, the capital. More on that in another post.
Overall, I supremely enjoyed my time in Penang. The food, history, and beautiful of the island is absolutely worth exploring.