Georgetown Penang – saskatoonie.com

December 2, 2022December 3, 2022

Peranakan

The Peranakan Mansion

Today we walked to the Peranakan Mansion, It was only a few hundred metres from our hotel. An easy walk with our umbrellas.

The admission is reasonable at 25 MYR a mere $7.40 CAD each. We have been here on a previous trip so we opted to not take the guided tour. We wandered around refreshing our memory of this really cool place.

The Peranakans, also known as the Baba’s and Nyonya’s, was a prominent community of acculturated Chinese unique to this part of the world, especially in the Straits Settlement referring to the Straits of Melaka Settlements (Penang, Malacca and Singapore) hence its other name, the Straits Chinese. Adopting selected ways of the local Malays and later, the colonial British, the Peranakans had created a unique lifestyle and customs which has not only left behind a rich legacy of antiques but its cultural influences like cuisine and language are still evident in Penang today. If you look at a map of Penang on the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula you will see the proximity of Penang, Melaka (Malacca) and Singapore. The Straits of Melaka have been a huge shipping route for hundreds of years. Over 94,000 vessels pass through the strait each year (2008) making it the busiest strait in the world, carrying about 25% of the world’s traded goods, including oil, Chinese manufactured products, coal, palm oil and Indonesian coffee.

At the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, the typical home of a rich Baba of a century ago is recreated to offer a glimpse of their opulent lifestyle and of their many customs and traditions. With over 1,000 pieces of antiques and collectibles of the era on display, this Baba-Nyonya museum is also housed in one of Penang’s heritage mansions of eclectic design and architecture. Built at the end of the 19th century by one of local history’s famous personalities, the mansion features a Chinese courtyard house. It was much like a typical large Baba home of eclectic style, incorporating Chinese carved-wood panels and English floor tiles and Scottish ironworks. Having survived the many decades of neglect and decay, the mansion has now been restored to its former glory of a stately home. It is truly an impressive building!

When we were all done it was starting to spit rain so we took shelter in the adjacent coffee shop which has a balcony overlooking the mansion. By the time we took cover in the coffee shop balcony it proceeded to dump rain! We ordered two Nyonya coffee, they tasted great! We paired that with the recommended Pandan square. While we were enjoying our coffee on the sheltered balcony we watched the rain pour down in real tropical style. It finally let up after 45 minutes and we paid our bill and made a dash for our hotel which was about 4 blocks away. The rest of our day was spent indoors looking at the rain.

We headed out for supper with umbrellas in hand, thankful that the rain had let up some. We ate at a restaurant named Bhai Biryani Authentic Indian Muslim Cuisine, a big name for Indian food with no beer. The food was better than expected and we had real fresh mango lassies. Our waiter was from Pakistan, lived in Dubai for 4 years and now works in Georgetown Penang. He spoke very good English, and we chatted lots about his dreams to get to a better country. Malaysia is just a means to and end for him. He is looking to get to Australia, Japan or Canada.

After supper we walked back to the hotel without needing our umbrellas!

November 30, 2022November 30, 2022

Driving around Penang

Penang Island

After our day of hill climbing and temple mountain climbing on Monday we decided to be a bit less physical for a day or so. We hired a driver named Zuri and he took us around to different places on Penang Island. Places you can’t see without a vehicle. For 200 MYR ($60 CAD) we hired him and his car from 10 am to 4:30 pm.

We toured around the Eastern side of Penang heading North to the resort area of Batu Ferringhi. This is where the best beaches are on Penang. There are some white sand beaches but at this time of year they are not suitable for swimming because of waves and undertow. We walked in our bare feet on the sand in the sun. It was pretty nice.

We then headed to The Tropical Spice Garden and toured around the rain forest looking at waterfalls and spice plants growing in this lush tropical paradise.

Our next stop was the handmade batik store and factory. It was a quick stop but very interesting. We saw how the designs are hand drawn on the fabric, some are stamped onto the fabric. It’s a process of using wax to block out colours and then dying the fabric.

Our next stop was the Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm. Its a huge domed building that contains a forest and walkways with butterflies floating around everywhere. It gives you no protection when it rains as we found out during a brief shower. It was an entertaining experience although the cost of admission was not a real great value, mostly because we had no interest in the indoor exhibits. We were there to see butterflies! The upkeep cost of such an enormous structure must be huge as the large indoor area is fully air-conditioned and the outdoor area is a rainforest and garden in a dome. There were many indoor exhibits which we zoomed past. This is an ideal place for kids to learn about nature and we ran into a few little kids there on day trips.

After leaving the butterflies we drove by the Western edge of the island and looked out onto the Malacca Strait. With some imagination or a very clear day you might see the North end of the island of Sumatra. We were almost level with Banda Aceh Indonesia where the huge tsunami hit on Boxing Day 2004. Probably about 250 km East.

We traveled along the 2 lane winding mountain road until we came to the Tropical Fruit Farm where we turned off and headed straight up the mountain. It was a really really steep hill! Once we levelled off from the vertical climb we stopped in a small parking lot. The store is basically a fruit stand and gift shop. We ordered a pineapple and passionfruit smoothie and a cup of dragon fruit for a snack. We sat looking over the steep drop from the patio as we enjoyed our treat.

Back on our adventure again we headed to the South Penang bridge named Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. Construction was started on 8 November 2008 and completed on 3 October 2012. It is the second Penang bridge. The overall length of the bridge is 24km with 16.9km over the water. It is also the first bridge in Malaysia to use Seismic Expansion Joints, Noise Reduction Seismic Expansion Joints and incorporated the High Damping Natural Rubber Bearing (HDNRB) that enables the bridge to withstand an earthquake of more than 7.5 on the Richter scale. The project team gave the bridge several S-shaped curves along its 24km length. This was intended to keep motorists’ attention on the road while driving and reduce accidents.

We shot a video over the entire bridge. It’s combined with the highlights of our day touring Penang Island. Check out the YouTube video below. There are chapter markers in the video description.

We continued North on the mainland of Malaysia towards the North and original bridge back to Penang. This bridge is 13.5 km long. The cable-stayed structure was the first road connection between the peninsula and Penang island and was built in 1982. There is still a very inexpensive ferry operating between Butterworth on the mainland and Georgetown on Penang Island which is used by travellers arriving by bus or train.

Back at our hotel we got cleaned up and walked to Kapitan Indian Restaurant for supper, the meal cost less than $10. The cool thing about the restaurant is that a robot brings your drinks to the table. It speaks in Malaysian and expects you to pick of your drinks from the tray and press the green button on the screen. We guessed what to do and after tapping the green button on the screen the robot toddled off bleeping and chirping.

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022

The Habitat

Penang Hill

This morning we decided we’d head to Penang Hill. We thought a week day would be a better option and hopefully not as busy as the weekends.

We had our breakfast and headed out just after 10 am via Grab to Penang Hill. The cab driver we had was a chatty guy and we enjoyed our 20 minute drive with him. He did tell us that it was very last minute but the government announced yesterday that today (Monday) would be a holiday. Our cabby said some government offices were closed and some people had taken the day off but many were working because of the short notice about the holiday. We had some concerns what that would mean for long lineups at Penang Hill. Thankfully when we arrived the ticket line up was quite short and once Gary had the tickets we only had a short wait to catch the funicular up the hill. Even better we got directed to the front of the funicular and although we were standing had prime spots to watch our trip up the hill. It’s a little disconcerting how quick the funicular goes up the hill. You watch the cables and wheels/pulleys that bounce around and you wonder if there is an accident just waiting to happen. We were at the top in about 5 minutes.

Once everyone disperses at the top of the hill the crowds seems very manageable. There are so many areas and trails you can take that everyone kind of spreads out and disappears. We took some photos of the Georgetown skyline and enjoyed the view. Although it had rained first thing this morning by the time we arrived it had cleared and our view was quite good. The peak of Penang hill is 833 metres, the viewing point was somewhat less at 712 metres.

We decided to have a bite to eat before we headed to The Habitat a park on Penang Hill that has suspended walkways and trails through the rainforest. We barely made it to the restaurant and it started spitting rain again. We shared a pizza and had a couple of cold soda water. About the time we finished it was raining fairly heavy so we waited a few minutes and it eased off. Good thing we brought our trusty umbrellas. We felt like Mary Poppins, snapping them open and closed again as soon as the rain let up!

It was a short walk from the restaurant to The Habitat Penang Hill. The Habitat Website The park offers an authentic and diverse experience of the rainforest. The park sits on the fringes of a forest reserve protected since 1911 and consists of a 1.6 km nature trail that was built by the British East India Company in the early 1800s. There are breath taking views of Penang and surrounding areas atop the 13-meter high Curtis Crest Tree Top Walk, the highest public viewing point on Penang island, 800 meters above sea-level.

We stood and watched Dusky Leaf Langurs (monkeys) eating leaves which was followed by the monkey sitting on the tree with his back to us – taking a poop. Gasp!

Did you click on the video above to see the Dusky Leaf Langurs?

The Habitat Park also features the Langur Way Canopy Walk, the longest two-span stressed ribbon bridge in the world and the only one that sits within a pristine rainforest.

The Habitat is one of our favourite spots and was part of the reason we came back to Penang. Several hours later we felt like we had covered all the trails, walkways and sights and we headed for the funicular to take us back down the hill.

The Curtis Crest Tree Top Walk is a 13 meters highest public viewing platform located on the plateau just above the Mid-Point Rest Area and Museum. In the 1890s this plateau was used as one of the first English tennis courts in Malaysia by people holidaying on the hill.

Not far from Penang Hill is the Kek Lok Si Chinese Temple. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia and is also an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia. The entire complex of temples was built over a period from 1890 to 1930. We caught a Grab there.

The temple and surrounding building are spread out over a steep hillside. We started walking up the winding driveway to the temple. It started raining again and walking became slightly treacherous as there are many tiled walkways and staircases that become like skating ice when wet! We made it up to the main temple and had a look around. There are a number of other smaller buildings/shrines or temples. The colourful buildings and beautiful landscaping are something to see. We finally found a funicular station and bought a ticket to the 36.57-metre-tall (120 ft) bronze statue of Guanyin (Kuan Yin), the Goddess of Mercy. By then it was almost 4:30 and we were fading fast. We caught the funicular back down and then started to find our way back. We noticed a buggy and inquired and you could take it to another funicular station that then took you down to to base of the hill to the main parking lot. We opted to pay for the buggy ride and another funicular ride rather than spend another half hour or more walking back down the steep hillside. Besides, we weren’t confident that we wouldn’t get lost in the maze on our way down.

We headed back to the hotel where we dropped our stuff off and headed out for supper. We ended up back at Holy Guacamole again. On the way home we picked up more water and beer to restock our hotel room fridge. It’s important to stay hydrated!

We walked 11.1 KM and up 35 floors. We definitely got our exercise today.