Penang was one of those cities that I've heard once or twice in my life and then I go "meh," but that was until I came, saw, and ate my way through it. In a span of two days and two nights I managed to be giddy at every little turn. As an artist and a lover of food, it felt like being in the right place in a really short time that it took a lot of energy to overcome long hours of endless walks.
At first glace, the ramshackled buildings reminded me of the old quarters in Hanoi, only that it was two floors instead of three. The outskirts resembled a bit of the outskirts of Hong Kong with roadside treelines and high-rise buildings jutting out in between. The food and people reminded me of Singapore with the ethnicity ratio of Chinese-Indian-Malay present in the city, it came to a funny surprise that there was the "la" expression as well. The street-art is one that I dream of BGC to become, murals big and small at almost every corner. Urgh! Take me back to Penang!
With so much to see and a lot of picturesque scenes, I had to collage the images I want to share just to fit it in an entry that's not overly long to scroll down to. My initial disinterest to overdo picture-taking on the trip was soon overtook with the urge to snap photos at anything pretty...which ended up to over 500 shots by the time we left Penang. That is to say, I did it with some sort of restraint. I classified the collages into three: The Street, The Food, and The Art.
The Street
 |
| Subtle touches that make every alleyway interesting. |
 |
| You will walk and get lost. A lot. Most of our conversations went something like, "hey, isn't this the same street we passed by earlier?" |
 |
| There are a lot of oldies in Georgetown, but smile at them and they smile back. |
 |
| Around Chew Jetty. Not much but planked walkways and cheap souvenirs. |
 |
| This is what's waiting at the end of the jetty, nice quaint houses. |
 |
| Typical narrow streets with cars parked on the side walk. |
 |
| At Beach Street...a street that made me feel like I was somewhere in Europe. The center photo is their city hall. I have a thing for art deco architecture, and I loved the detail on the awning. |
 |
| Pinang Peranakan Masion is one of the worth-it museum visits we went to. The place is beautiful inside, and they're not as strict as the Blue Mansion one. -_- Some tour guides are also Pinoy. The place is huge and you can just hang around. |
 |
| The Blue Mansion is the most overrated place we spent on. You don't have to go through the tour because it's a 45-minute talk and you will only see three rooms. You are not allowed to go around on your own and take photos...the one on the center is a ninja-shot. Before booking for a tour we asked the guard if I could take a photo from the outside, he said no because I need to be in the inside to get the photo. And we are not allowed to step anywhere close near the inside. Crap! But you can book a room. |
 |
| Kek Lok Si Temple on Penang Hill has got a pretty view and lots of Buddha statues. The inside of the temple also has a collection of books and resident monks. |
 |
| Penang Hill...we didn't ride the tram because we're cheap like that. The hall of the hostel where we stayed in. I recommend it for the chill feel and free water. You could also use their bike for free! A little noisy, but great stay overall. You can find them at airbnb labelled as "Loft with Private Attach Bathroom" it's not that expensive either! The huge unfinished statue at Kek Lok Si temple was a really steep-tiring climb to reach. It's both beautiful and closed when we got there. Boooooo!! |
 |
| If you see this pink tank STOP and find the entrance to China House. So...pretty. |
By the way, Georgetown is a UNESCO Heritage Site, so it's no surprise that there's a lot of tourists in the area. It's best to go around the place by foot or on bikes because the streets are narrow and you'd not want to miss an awesome street art in a couple of small alleys just because you zoomed pass it in the bus. The buses are also easy to understand...and certain buses that you could ride for free. One funny experience there is that we asked a local what bus we were in line for (because we're
Another funny story happened in Komtar building, the tallest building in Georgetown. My genius brother wanted to reach the top floor, so we casually went in pretending to know our way, got in the elevator and told the elevator guy, "Top floor." He looked at my brother in particular and in his Indian accent asked, "Are you the owner of the building?" By the tone of this voice, it wasn't sarcasm. A long pause, then my brother uncomfortably said, "No, but can we go to the top floor?" The elevator guy said okay, pushed the B1 button. We had time to ask ourselves, "Are we going to the basement to transfer to another elevator that will take us to the penthouse or are we getting arrested?" The door opened and the guy said, "left side, thank you." So we got down, went to the left hall and saw the exit. Crap!
The Food
 |
| This is right across the cafe of where we got the coconuts. It wasn't very tasty, like gulaman flavored snowballs and an ice cream on a sliced orange. Hmmm. |
 |
| A small cafe at Lebuh Cannon St. where is Boy on Chair is located. Their coconut juice is refreshing and the ice cream spot on, except for the peanuts. |
 |
| Typical street food in Georgetown. The char koay teow kinda reminds me of a good pad thai. Best eaten immediately when served and on the street. When you choose to sit on a table make sure you order in their stall because there's an imaginary demarcation line, and they're pretty territorial about it. I got shooed once, but another seller said not to stand up...so I got confused and kept on eating. |
 |
| Funny story on Nasi Kandar...we arrived late in the city coming in from Penang Hill, we were walking-hungry-zombies and the shops were closed...so any food stall will do. The first we found is this small food stall in front of a tire shop, we said "food" and the Indian guy said, "What meat?" I pointed at the beef. He took a heap of rice and arranged it in the middle of the plate with his hand (O_O) Then he scooped the beef, placed it on top of the rice, took some sauce and drizzled it on. I though that was it...but then he started taking the sauce of six other meats and in my head "what the heck is happening?!" (o_0) then he gave it to me in a sloppy mess as you can see on the lower right photo. What else is there to do but eat? I tried it and it was a burst of curry flavors and spices. I, in true Bourdain-fashion, liked the mess I was eating. |
 |
| Tai Tong Dim Sum is A MUST EAT place because it's so darn good...huhuhu... You sit at a table and the ladies will put food your table without you ordering it, and it's not free. You point at the food on the tray that you like and pay on the spot. The ladies who serve don't have smiling faces, but the food is a tasty compensation. We ate here for breakfast because our host said there is a tendency of food to run out before lunch time, so we got there at 9am. |
 |
| China House is my piece of heaven in Penang. Thanks for the tip Balerie! ^_^ |
Thankfully enough, the host of the hostel we stayed in was a foodie, one so enthusiastic that he took a map and turned it into a food map. We were basically full throughout the trip because of that.
We ate from restos, to canteens, to cafes, down to the streets for the food. It was a divine foodie paradise. The photos you see are just a fraction of what they offer because we can only eat so much in one day on a budget, but mostly it reminded me of the Singaporean hawker food, except that it's cheaper here yet really good as well. I love Penang.
If there's one place that I can point out among all others, I'd say it's China House right off the bat, if you're a sweet tooth like me that is. The cakes there are the cakes I could only dream of being served here in Manila. Whyyyyyyyy? It's table full of desserts and you just point at what you like and cry in your table in frustration for not existing in your city. They provide crayons on your paper-table-cover so you could draw while waiting for that slice of heaven to be served...I managed to draw Cake Monster. The wrongest idea was that we came here after eating two other sweets prior, so we were basically full and still on a sugar rush...so yeah. Other than the cakes being served in China House, they also have a collection of other cafes and local shops for you to choose from--Plus it's an old building restored to become this hip joint.
The Art
 |
| They have a thing with cats...there's a whole bunch of cat images throughout the city, |
 |
| There are a lot of "owl'standing" work! ( |
 |
| Trishaw Man |
 |
| There are 52 iron art found in total, and it's cool when what you first thought was line art is actually wire sculpted in cartoon characters depicting Penang life in a nutshell as based on comic strips done by a local artist. |
 |
| Kids on Bicycle and Children Playing Basketball |
Did I mention I love Penang?
No comments:
Post a Comment