Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
Staying at “The White House Hotel” tonight 8/26 (picture Washington – NOT!), and moving across the street to the Oriental Hotel on 8/27 www.oriental.com.my
Penang is an old town, settled mostly by the Chinese Malaysians. They seem to have resisted the type of modernization we saw happening in KL. During the day, we struggled with the heat and humidity, as we wandered around the narrow streets. At night, the city really came to life. A large pedestrian street had been converted into an outdoor heavy metal rock stage. Adjacent bars competed for your attention by pumping out their own selection of music. Inside one of these bars, we watched an Asian cover band dancing and singing American pop songs. You definitely see a lot of American style and hear a lot of American music in Malaysia.
It was here in Penang that we first discovered, and fell in love with, the cheap Islamic breakfast consisting of Roti Telur (Roti Chenai with egg) and Teh Tarik. Roti Chenai is a light, flaky hand tossed and fried flat bread, which you break into pieces and dip into a bowl of curry. Teh Tarik is a hot black tea made with milk (either evaporated or sweetened condensed), hand frothed (stretched). Malaysians prefer it sweet, but sometimes we luck out and manage to order it without the added sugar.
On our second day in Penang, we met up with a couple of local engineers (Yinling and Andrew), who took us to the top of Penang Hill to take in some views. It rained on us most of the time, but when the rain clouds cleared, we did get a spectacular view of the island. The cable car ride up was pretty hairy. After the long cable car wait (Sundays are very busy), we got back down into town and were treated to a fun Steamboat dinner with a group of Yinling’s friends.
