C & C globetrotting around the world…

From Bali we flew to KL and then a few hours later we had a connection to Penang. It was actually cheaper to fly than take a bus, so we went with the time-saving option. Arrived in town, we were picked up by Rudy, our CS friend from Brunei. We stayed with him and his girlfriend in Penang, which was great. The island of Penang in the Strait of Melacca has a similar history to Melacca, influenced by trade and settlement of the British in the 18^th century. The historic city of Georgetown which was granted UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site status in 2008 has grown to encompass the entire island. The city has a rich collection of historic buildings in colonial, Chinese and Muslim styles to name a few, making for an interesting tour. They reflect the various ethnicities making up Penang, but also Malaysia: Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Malays as well as Indonesians, Siamese, Burmese and Europeans. It has grown from a swampy town to a bustling trading post and is now an important economic hub as well. Malaysians like to eat, but nowhere is it as evident as in Penang. There are many local specialities and the people take pride in being the food capital of Malaysia. It seems like all activities one does are just sprinkled between the tasting of various dishes.

On the first day we went to town to walk around a bit. For dinner we went to a Baba Nonya restaurant with Rudy and Amelleia. The place, in a traditional Baba Nonya house, was fancy and the food delicious. Rudy ordered a bunch of different dishes, complementing each other in taste and texture. Really good!

On the second day, we visited Fort Cornwallis, built by Francis Light immediately after his landing on the island and was used as an administrative centre. We then walked along the promenade past Town Hall, City Hall and Padang Kota Lama. This green space is where young girls were shown off and threw oranges into the ocean to find a suitable partner. With the backdrop of the nice colonial buildings, “Anna and the King” was shot around here as well. We also saw the Leaning Clock Tower, a 60-foot clocktower built by an opulent Penang millionaire to show off his wealth. It was completed in 1902 to commemorate the 60^th year of Queen Victoria’s reign. Because of a bomb that fell close-by during the war, the tower is now leaning. We also visited St George’s Church, an Anglican Church completed in 1818 and with a very simple interior, typical of Anglican churches. Along the same street is the Cathedral of the Assumption which is almost as old as Penang itself. We then went to the Christian Cemetery, the resting place of many pioneers of the island. We walked under the frangipani trees and found, amongst others, the tomb of Francis Light, founder of Penang.

From there we just made it in time for the 3pm tour of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, dubbed “La Maison Bleue”. This is a flamboyant masterpiece built by one of the wealthiest businessmen of Penang at the turn of the 20^th century. He had arrived penniless from Guangdong in southern China at age 16 and slowly built an empire. He was seen as one of the most historic and colourful personalities of the era and inspired many to follow in his steps. The floorplan of the house is typical Chinese with a beautiful courtyard, but there is some Western influence, such as the Gothic louvered windows and Scottish cast iron works. There is very intricate Chinese cut-&-paste porcelain work decorating the roofs, the most beautiful we’ve seen so far. Unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures inside, but it was quite a sight. The Mansion is not open to the public outside the guided tours as it serves as a “historical hotel”. We then walked through the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, a fancy hotel opened by the Armenian Sarkis brothers in a series of other elegant hotels throughout Asia, such as the Strand in Yangon. We found out that Hermann Hesse and Karl May were here too. This time, we cooked for dinner. Rudy and Amelleia asked us to cook something European, so we decided to make Romanian “Sarmalute in foi de vita”, the summer version of cabbage rolls. They turned out pretty good and we were very happy that our hosts liked them.

Penang is really all about food. We even stayed a day longer in order to have more time to try the local delicacies. We did a few things in between, but it just felt like we ate all day. We started off with a snack of “char kuay teow” – stir-fried flat rice noodles. Afterwards we walked around a bit, passed the Kapitan Keling Mosque by the Indian Muslim community, then admired the typical Chinese shophouses of Penang. We visited Khoo Kong Si, a showcase of the prosperity of the Khoo clan. Built around 1900, it is one of the most ornate clan houses outside China and probably the most beautiful we have seen on our trip. Before going back to our hosts’, we had a few more snacks, of course.