July: Penang, Malaysia

Karen and I decided to get adventurous. Backpacking, for people who new nothing about packing light. But we kept up with the challenge and, with some trepidation, set out for our first Malaysian Trip.

Leaving Manila with only the stuff on our backs

The challenge of this trip wasn't just in packing light, of course. We were also scrimping, which meant choosing cheap flights. Our hotel stay at the three star Naza Talyya  was coming free from a promo we got buying our point and shoot to begin with, but the more we could save the better.

Cheap flights meant less than ideal flight times and the less comfortable Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).  We left Manila at 8 pm on July 6, coming straight from work. We arrived in KL at 12 midnight, and had to sit at a chocolate shop until our next flight at 7.20 am.  We were like sleepless zombies then, and fell right to sleep as soon as we found our plane seats.

Waiting at the Chocolate Lounge. Bruno Mars in the background.

We got to our hotel less than two hours later, and found to our dismay that check in was strictly after 2 pm, at least 4 hours more to go. We were sleepy and feeling sticky, and wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a nap. But Karen fortunately decided to make the most of our time, and insisted we visit one tourist site while waiting for the room to be available.

We asked the front desk to check for any available tour operator, but were informed that they were all fully booked because it was Arab season. Apparently, it was a high season of sorts with the holidays in Saudi Arabia, and we would likely have to show ourselves around town on a regular taxi.

Undeterred, Karen and I walked out the hotel to look for a taxi and realized that our hotel was out of the usual way, and it was looking like it was going to be a challenge finding one.

By pure luck, a private taxi happened to pass by, passing our way because he needed to bring something to his daughter who happened to be nearby.

We found out that our driver, David, offered tour services, and that he had lots of brochures and tourist materials in his car for our reference. We quickly drew up a full-day itinerary, and what was supposed to be a simple commute to nearby Georgetown ended up as a full blown city tour.

Our driver and tour guide, David

David's tour rate of 30 ringgit per hour sounded reasonable enough, considering the one way taxi fare to Georgetown would have been 40 ringgit anyway.  And we were pleasantly surprised to discover just how superb David's service was! (see this post for details)

We started the tour with the Penang specialty stores for chocolate, batik, coffee, tea, and other local produce. We would've wanted to take more pictures of these places, but they didn't allow photos, so we ended up taking home souvenirs of a different sort.

The chocolate factory had all minds of exotic flavors. The interesting ones we liked (and bought) included coconut flavor, chili flavor, mint flavor, and coffee bean flavor chocolates. Some were a bit too exotic for our taste, like the durian chocolate.

The batik store showed guests how the prints on sarongs were made. Though we were not as captivated with the process, Karen ended up buying a cool pair of tie up pants.

The coffee and tea stores were a frenzy of taste tests. We must have tried more than twenty different flavors of coffee and tea, and ended up buying more than ten packs in total. If we managed to start the trip on backpacks, there was no way we would manage the same going back home!

The last store was an assortment of other products from the region. We ended up buying some chinese medicine and food stuff to take home.

After the stores, we headed to the Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple. Over 120 years old, I would have to say this was my favorite temple for the trip.

Besides the usual large statues of Buddha, the temple's main room featured what must have been hundreds, even thousands of small, gold Buddha figurines covering the surrounding walls.

 Karen and I took a moment to offer some wish ribbons to pray for family.

The temple also featured a gigantic statue of the Mother of Mercy, which surprised both Karen and myself with its sheer scale.

From the temple, we were supposed to go to Penang hill. But the train which took visitors to the top of he hill had such a long queue that we decided to postpone that visit for early the next day. Instead, David took us for our first taste of local hawker food at a food court in the heart of Georgetown.

We had spicy rice noodles (Char Koay Teow) with fried oysters and iced tea. The noodles cost us 4 ringgit a plate, which was pretty cheap for the amount of food, while the oysters were slightly more expensive at 7 ringgit a plate. The tea cost less than 2 ringgit per glass.

Satisfied with our quick but filling lunch, David took us for a car tour of Little India and China Town in Georgetown. Like many other old asian cities, the streets were narrow and congested-- and brimming with the flavors of local culture. We rolled our windows down in Little India to listen to Indian music while looking out to large posters of Bollywood stars. And China Town was reminiscent of our own Binondo in Manila, with shops selling any and all types of goods, probably offering the best deals this side of town.

We stopped at the restored Nyonya house, which David explained as a mixing of Chinese and local lineages. The house, which used to be in a desperate state of disrepair, was excellently restored and featured a glimpse into high living in a time past.

Furniture featured intricate inlay of mother of pearl, while archways and banisters showed metal craftsmanship that must have cost a fortune.

The mansion also had a court dedicated to the reverence of ancestors, and featured colorful dioramas of their version of heaven and hell.

Leaving the mansion, Karen and I revisited a brochure we picked from the airport about the month-long Georgetown festival. Among the events lined up for the festival, a performance called The Mangayinar Seduction caught our attention. It was a musical performance inspired by the Muslim faith, and it happened to be playing for the next two nights. We told David we wanted to watch, and he promptly made calls to find out where we could pick up tickets, and he even managed to get us a discount, with tickets costing us 50 ringgit each only. The only catch was, we would have to wait for 4 pm to pick the tickets up.

With time to kill, David took us for our second helping of Penang food. He took us to a road-side hawker stall selling what must have been the most unhygienic and delicious (the two are inseparable) laksa we've ever tasted. We finished it in 30 seconds, flat.

After picking up our tickets, we had until 8 pm before the show would start, so we went home for a quick shower and a short nap after 32 hours of practical sleeplessness.

We were a bit worried on our way to the show that we might fail in warding sleep off at the performance, but oh boy. We could have not been more wrong. The performance completely blew us away!

The show featured 43 musicians and singers in stacked red boxes on stage. Curtains drawn closed, the boxes gradually opened and lit up one by one as the performance picked up.

We did not understand the words of the songs, but the emotion and devotion in each note, each instrument, kept us at the edge of our seats. The language of music and faith captivated us, and when the conductor turned and invited the audience to join the rhythm by clapping, it came naturally to everyone. It was, simply put, a joy to watch and be part of.

David insisted to drive for us to and from the show with the threat of rain looming, knowing it would be hard for us to grab a taxi late at night. We grabbed a quick dinner of a burger and steak at a restaurant called Brussels and got home almost at midnight.

We had an early start the following day, heading for Penang hill with David by 8.30 in the morning. It was a good call for us to postpone this activity, as we found ourselves at the front of the line when we got there.

On the train that goes 833 meters up and down to Penang Hill

The view from atop the hill early morning was spectacular. We were literally above the clouds, and underneath the cover of fluffy white was the city. We took our time strolling around the hill, and were treated by an equally spectacular view of the city with clear skies shortly after, as the suns heat dissolved the clouds away.

We made a quick stop at the Penang Botanical Garden, where Karen posed with some monkeys and we saw lots of huge trees. Of course, coming from a tropical country, these weren't entirely new to us, but the thriving nature was relaxing nonetheless.We followed up the Botanical Garden with visits to the Thai and Burmese Buddhist temples, which featured the reclined and standing Buddhas, respectively.

By the time we left the temples, we were starting to get hungry, and we asked David to bring us to where locals went for their Malaysian food. He took us to an out of the way eatery, bustling with locals who were eating rice, various kinds of curry, and other spicy stuff like there was no tomorrow. 

Getting in on it, we ordered ourselves some fried sambal chicken, fish curry, and ulam (vegetables dipped in sambal chili) on top of rice. I'm not usually a fan of curry, but boy did I eat a lot. This was, hands down, my best meal this trip! And its one that will surely make our foody friends envious!

We were curious about the local beaches, so David took us to see Batu Ferringhi, the best beach on the island, and some resorts after lunch. The resorts were obviously five star, but the beaches were just average. The sand is definitely finer in Boracay, and the water was somewhat murky.

After 6 hours of touring, Karen and I decided to take it back a notch and relax. We swam a bit at the hotel and met Samuel, a salesman from Jakarta, and his family. We then walked over to a spa next door for a 2 hour massage, scrub, and rose bath session that was completely at odds with our backpacker's budget. But we couldn't help it! We were out to have a great time, first and foremost, after all.

Dinner on our last night was at the hawker food court right in front of our hotel, where we tried all the other local delicacies we could get our hands on. We had dry Wan Than Mee noodles, tom yam, rotti, fried mantis shrimps and horseshoe crab eggs, washed down with some teh tarik. We retired for the night happy and full.

We woke up early and packed the following morning, thoroughly satisfied with everything we accomplished this trip. True to the habit we formed over our short stay, David was calling our room by 9 am to make sure we didn't oversleep. On our way to the airport, the thoughtful driver surprised us yet again with a gift: a collection of Malaysian coins to remember our trip by.

With fond memories and plenty of stories to tell, I find myself now happily typing away on a touch screen keyboard in an airplane, already excited about whatever next adventure Karen and I eventually find ourselves in.
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See Also:
Planning July - Penang, Malaysia
Going to Penang? Find David Yeoh.