Penang

Monday 23 October

We woke this morning to a beautiful sunny day, although the bridge was a misty image in the distance from our 15th floor vantage point. The breakfast room was full of Malaysians, Indonesians, Indians and Thais, but no white people. We had difficulty finding a spare table, but once sat down, Colin set to, searching out cereals, cooked breakfast and toast and jam. We asked for China green tea and were given a teapot which poured a reddish liquid, along with large black thick leaves. It tasted earthy (and not delicious) and not at all what we were expecting.

We met Tim and Simone with Paul in the Lobby, but Warren was missing. When Paul phoned his room, Warren was just getting up! So the rest of us walked to the nearby Penang Museum, which had lots of exhibits and information about the history of Penang. In the 1760’s the Sultan of the area approached Francis Light, a leading trader with the East India Company and asked him to help stop the Thais invading the area. Francis Light agreed, but in 1786, he took over the country and brought justice and prosperity to the area through trade. People from many different cultures were already living and working in the area – Chinese, Indians, Armenians, Jews and Moslems, as well as English, Dutch and Portuguese traders. It resulted in a real amalgam of nationalities that united with the indigenous Malays to create the diverse ethnicity here today.

When we had seen all the displays, we found Warren outside, waiting for us. We had an impromptu meeting with Paul and he explained the itinerary for the rest of the week in some detail. It appears that every day we will see a different region of Malaysia, each with its own traditions and way of life. So there is much to look forward to.

Trishaws were waiting to take us on a tour round the Georgetown city streets. Colin and I had separate ‘carriages’, which are like back to front as rickshaws seen in London these days – there is a bicycle at the back – mostly they are ridden by older men – with a double seat balanced on two wheels at the front – hence tri or three wheels. The sun was now very hot and the shade of the attached umbrellas was very welcome. Some even had some of Uncle Ray’s fresh (or was that plastic) flowers attached to the sides!! We felt very 18th century as we rode around streets lined with colonial style buildings surrounding large green squares. You could easily imagine what life had been like for the well-to-do families here in its heyday. We went on along the coast road, past Fort Cornwallis, built on the north-east corner of the island. It had originally been built as a wooden stockade by Francis Light in 1786, to support of his ‘coup’, but a century later, after a fire, it was rebuilt in brick. Today it houses historic cannon, many of which can be seen hanging over the battlements, and an amphi-theatre.

Onwards again, past all the old godowns or trading houses that lined the harbour to the ‘house of Chiew” – a conglomeration of single storey wooden houses built almost touching each other, on stilts, along a jetty stretching several hundred metres into the sea. At high tide, the sea rushes in beneath the houses and jetty (and removes all the rubbished dumped there!). We left our drivers to explore on foot. Originally belonging to “Mr Chiew”, a prominent Chinese trader, to house his large family, these properties have now been sold on to other Chinese families. A few have been converted to local shops, but most of the people living here are fisher folk, scraping together a meager living to support their families. On the way back to the trishaws we spied a large iguana lying asleep in the shade under one of the houses – the tide was out. It resembled a smaller version of a crocodile (although it was still over six feet long), very scaly and with huge feet with long talons. There was a second, but he ran off very speedily at our approach, and as we were leaving a third peered out from under the jetty where we had been standing.

Back with our drivers, we continued our ride around the coastline, before turning off to an Indian settlement, with lots of shops displaying beautiful materials for saris in every hue imaginable, and hoards of market stalls already preparing delicious smelling foods for the parties to celebrate the end of Ramadan tonight. Other stalls sold traditional handicrafts, or offered electrical goods or car repairs. Then it was on to another Chinese settlement, more prosperous than ‘Mr Chiews’, with markets selling everything you could possibly want to buy. The stalls were bustling, the cafes doing a roaring trade and a lot of people were standing around watching as others worked, refurbishing freezers (maybe he could do something with ours(!?!?) now 35 years old - and the like. Many of these Chinese live in the old colonial style terraced houses, which until a few years ago they rented very cheaply. Rents of properties built before World War II were capped by the Government and could be as little as 5 or 10 GBP a month. Then about five years ago, recognizing that all these old buildings needed major refurbishment, which would cost landlords lots of money, they revoked the capping laws and landlords were free to charge what they liked for rent. Most of the tenants were issued with eviction orders, although the landlords did have to pay some compensation after some successful court cases – but only a few hundred pounds per family. Families who were still well off, could afford to start the renovations, but even today, many landlords have not, and these buildings are being left to decline even further. Some enterprising landlords have taken to leaving the windows open, so that birds fly in and nest, and these nests are collected and sold to China and Japan for the very popular birds nest soup! This is where we left our ‘carriages’ as the drivers rode off for a rest in the shade

One of the wealthy old families was the Khoo family – now in the 16th generation – whose buildings are being currently being restored to their former glory. They also have a beautiful temple, amongst their houses, dedicated to their ancestors who founded this dynasty. It is decorated with lots of red and gold icons, black and white intricate Chinese cartoon style drawings on the walls, and rosewood furniture inlaid with mother of pearl and even marble. There is a small room on the side of the temple dedicated to the ancestors, and from the door the altar looks completely gold, consisting of small plaques, each with the name of an now deceased family member. Round the wall are large plaques with the names of sons who have taken advantage of the scholarships set up by the family for further education.

We walked through the streets towards the large shopping mall, the Kolmar, in the centre of Georgetown. On the way we passed some Indian shops selling goods for celebrating both Hindu and Chinese religious rites and festivals, The Chinese shops sold pineapples decorated in gold leaf – these are placed on the small altars at home – “onglai” in Chinese in one of its inflexions means “good luck”. The Hindu shops sold many items made of paper, such as shirts, computers, cans of Heineken and Guinness, and even a cheque book and credit card. These items are considered to be necessary for prosperity and happiness in the next world and are burnt in remembrance of their departed loved ones. Very strange.

At the shopping centre we had lunch in Maccy Ds and visited the chemists to buy some more dressings for my toes – I think I will have to keep them wrapped up until the nails fall off!! Around the corner was a tall round tower that can be seen from all over Georgetown (a bit like an upright leaning tower of Pisa, though taller). We went up by lift to the 60th floor where there was an indoor viewing platform all round to see out over the town and harbour, to the bridge and hills beyond the town. Many high rise blocks of offices and hotels and currently being constructed going out of town, along the seafront, while streets radiate out from the centre. There is a lot of rebuilding going on and cranes are very much in evidence. We saw our hotel, distinguished by its rotating restaurant on the roof. Down again in the lift – just a few seconds to drop all that way! – and we were off to find taxis to take us to Penang Hill and the funicular railway. Warren decided not to come along, and took a taxi back to the hotel. Tim and Simone, Colin and myself went in one taxi and Paul followed on behind in another. It took some time to actually find a taxi, as Paul was not pleased about the inflated prices being asked – none of the taxi drivers will use their meters and all wanted to charge double or even treble the correct fare for the ride. Eventually a taxi driver and Paul agreed a price for our ride, but the taxi was not air conditioned, and the traffic was very heavy (everyone told us it was due to the holiday) and the temperature was high, so the journey to the hill was an uncomfortable ride, that turned out to be much longer than we had expected.

When we finally reached the lower station of the funicular railway, it was teeming with people, but we joined the queue to purchase our tickets. Luckily Paul arrived just as it was our turn at the ticket office, as we wouldn’t be able to catch a train until at least 18.30 – it was now 14.30 – no way did we want to wait four hours in the boiling hot sun – sitting round doing nothing. Paul went off to “see a man” but the best offer he could get was a train at 16.30, still two hours away. And then we would probably have to wait at least another two hours to get a train back down. We looked at the track going straight up the hill, and although it was impressive, there was no way we were going to wait so long. We all bought more water – we must keep drinking – and failing to agree a price with the taxi drivers at the station, walked a short way down the hill, where another driver pulled up and agreed to take us back to the hotel for 15 ringats – about 2.50 GBP. And, he would also drop Tim and Simone off at the shopping centre, as they wanted to do more shopping. The journey back was much quicker – it was amazing how the traffic had thinned out – to be almost non-existent going the other way now (very different to half and hour before).

As we were very hot and sticky when we got back to our room, we decided to try the hotel swimming pool. The water turned out to be quite cold, and the pool quite small, but refreshing. Colin joined me in the Jacuzzi – a large bubbling pool, behind some bushes at the side of the pool – where the water was hot – almost hotter than I would have for a bath. This warmed me up ready for another dip in the cold pool – and back again to the jacuzzi to warm up again. Feeling revitalized, we returned to the room to publish the blogs for the last couple of days. It was then time to ready ourselves to meet Paul, who was taking us for a “simple” Indian meal.

It wasn’t raining as we walked down Penang Road where we had been last night, but we hadn’t gone far when a bright flash of lightning lit the sky – was rain on the way?. We went into a fast food style establishment, close to last night’s restaurant, displaying a wide range of Indian food along the front that Paul assured us had just been prepared. We chose tandoori chicken with mint sauce and a tomato sauce that tasted a bit like Heinz, some okra in a spicy, but scrummy curry sauce, and a large ‘bread’ (it was very like one of our pancakes only twice the size and slightly thicker in the centre) stuffed with vegetables, served on a large silver tray with three more sauces – coconut pickle, dahl, and a sweet home-made tomato sauce. All the food tasted delicious, very light, and not at all oily. When we had eaten our way through this, Paul ordered us each had a chapatti, which came with more dips and a soft spicy potato mix. We drank pure lime juice with the food which was sour but cleansing, while Paul had a lassie - a fruit yogurt drink. By this time we had all eaten and drunk our fill and when Colin asked for the bill, it came to 21.40 ringats – about 3.30 GBP for the three of us!!! We had really pushed the boat out tonight. Unfortunately when we exited the eaterie it was raining hard again, so instead of wandering further along the road, to explore the town, we returned to the hotel, dodging the puddles and dripping overhangs on the way.

After a cup of tea, Colin turned on the television and surprise, surprise, not only was footy on the screen, but the weekend match between Arsenal and Reading was just starting, which Arsenal had won 4-0. So he got to see the goals. I just wrote this blog, even though I was not in a very creative mood tonight. We have packed our cases again today, ready to leave Penang in the morning for the Cameron Heights and more trekking!

I have always wanted to visit Malaya since I was 5 years old when my uncle had visited this area on his tour of duty with the Navy and regaled me with tales of rubber plantations and golden beaches. I don’t know when Penang became part of my dream itinerary, but it has been on the list for many, many years. I had always thought it would be a paradise island with beaches of pale sand lapped by turquoise waters (as seen in the films), with large estates, probably still rooted in the past. But the Penang I have seen today is nothing like I imagined. The old parts of Georgetown are in disrepair, and in danger of becoming another Havana – crumbling buildings that have disintegrated almost too far to be restored. A few are being renovated now – but these are mainly Government buildings like the town hall and the civic centre which have been recently completed, while work has started on court house.. They look very spectacular as the original architecture has been reinstated, but many of these old buildings are still in the hands of private landlords who do not wish, or do not have sufficient money, to the invest the large sums it would take to undertake the restoration. The newer areas of the town have been developed in sympathetic style to the old, and Penang looks prosperous in these regions. But we haven’t seen anything outside Georgetown, which is a shame. Its not my dream island, but I have enjoyed the short time we have spent here – the eclectic mix of races, foods and cultures that allows so many diverse peoples to live together harmoniously. I am sure there’s lots more for us to see, according to the blurbs we have seen, so maybe one day we will come back to see some more. I hope so.