My Five Favourite Things to Do on Pulau Penang
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The Chinese, Malay, Indian, and European heritage of Malaysia comes together on Pulau Penang (Penang Island), especially in the streets of Georgetown. This mixture makes Georgetown one of my favourite small cities.
Penang is one big melting pot. The early Chinese merchants intermarried with the local Malay population, and Chinese culture evolved into a hybrid known as Baba Nyonya. Later, European colonists and Indian immigrants added to the mix. The variety makes walking around Georgetown a treat, as you go from the shophouses of Chinatown and Little India to the stately colonial buildings along Beach Road and near Fort Cornwallis, past shops selling saris and food stalls offering fried rice.
That's my favourite thing to do, to walk around. These are my favorite things to do on the way.
1. Visit one of the restored Nyonya mansions
I recently toured the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, known as the Blue Mansion because of its dramatic, and authentic, cobalt blue exterior paint. It has been beautifully restored. The restoration was a long process, with much of the material and some of the craftsmen being brought in from China. I first saw the building in 1989, when it was a derelict inhabited by squatters, with laundry hanging from the balcony and barely a hint of its original blue paint. To me, this beautiful old building with its filigree screen and ottery mosaics seemed like a miracle. Another favorite Baba Nyonya building is the Peranakan Mansion. The excellent Penang Museum has displays that depict the development of Nyonya culture over time.
2. Ride the funicular up Penang Hill
Penang Hill was the original Malaysian hill station, a place for the English colonists to enjoy cool breezes, or at least breezes cool by Penang standards. I enjoy the breezes, and the views from the top. I walk along the road and stop at all the lookout points. Most of them are covered and have picnic tables. I must confess, thought, that like a kid, what I really like is the funicular ride. I always try for the front car coming down, and the last car going down, so I can look at how steep it is.
3. Stop in at a temple, mosque, or church
In Penang, mosques are next to Chinese temples, which are across the intersection from the Hindu temple that backs onto the churchyard. Many of these buildings are open to the public, and as you walk around Georgetown, you can pop in for a visit. The many Buddhist temples and mosques are differentiated by the origins and language of the people who founded them.
The Hainan temple, known for its decorated dragon pillars, was built for Hainanese immigrants, of course. It is around the corner from the Bengali mosque. At night I weave my way through the Bengali men who congregate outside the mosque to talk, then turn the corner to pass Hainan Temple. The red lanterns strung between the gate and the temple are lit, giving the site a party air. During festivals, giant slow-burning joss sticks stand just inside the gate. Often people burn joss paper in an outdoor furnace.
Other important temples and mosques are the Kapitan Kling Mosque, the Kuan Yin Temple, and the Khoo Kongsi. The Khoo Kongsi is a clan temple for the Khoo family.
4. Attend a festival
Penang is festival-mad. There seem to be one or two every week. They even have several different New Year's celebrations. The first four months of the year contain the standard international New Year, Chinese New Year, Thai New Year, Hindu New Year, and the Sikh New Year. The Malaysian New Year occurs at the end of Ramadan, so it moves around the calendar.
On Friday night, while walking back from dinner, I found a Chinese opera underway on a temporary stage erected in a parking lot, complete with elaborate costumes, live musicians, and a temperamental sound system. Yet another festival was underway. One weekend I tried to go back and forth between simultaneous Hindu and Chinese festivals, managing somehow to miss most of both.
5. Eat
Small hole-in-the-wall restaurants, hawker centers, and markets are the core of the Penang eating experience. In the evening, food carts and tables spring into life in front of stores that have closed for the day. Small alleys have five or six of these small, mobile restaurants squeezed next to each other. Markets offer fresh fruit, and even more opportunities to eat. At some stalls, Nyonya foods such as laksa (a spicy soup), are offered, while other provide drinks, claypot chicken, or curried vegetables.
Penang has beaches, a butterfly farm, and jungle trails to offer as well. It can be reached easily by train, bus, and ferry, and has an international airport.
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