The sights, sounds, and tastes of Penang

We always had Malaysia on our itinerary, but WHERE in Malaysia was always a question. We knew we’d fly into Kuala Lumpur and had Borneo on our list because of the opportunity to spot orangoutangs, but hadn’t looked at much else. Some times where you decide to go has a lot to do with where you just were and what you feel you need next.

In our case we had just come from rural Sri Lanka, and the “see water on both sides of you” Maldivian island of Rasdhoo. Some of us felt like we needed a city – some city living, city amenities, cultural variety, and to settle back into a place of our own – an apartment with a kitchen that we could make our own.

Research along the way kept pointing to Penang, Malaysia. An island-based city in the north of the country which through a storied past had an amazing mix of Malay, Indian, and Chinese cultures, while also holding on to some quaint colonial-era British architecture. That was enough whet the whistle. Add to that, a Worldschooling Pop Up just finishing up with some families sticking around the area AND learning that Penang island is THE place to be during Chinese New Year (Feb 10 -24) because of its majority Chinese descendent population, and we had our next spot.

We had a great three weeks in Penang. It’s remarkably photogenic, so forgive the extended gallery. Chinese New Year was a sound to behold, with the most impressive community display of fireworks over the two week period, we’ve ever experienced, and Penang’s street food scene was what we had been missing – an embarrassment of riches having to choose between authentic Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Malay … rendering the kitchen we had in our apartment useless.

Georgetown, on Penang Island, is designated as a UNESCO world heritage site, which with it comes the mandate to let buildings age in place. That means that you cannot change the facade of any of the colony era buildings. That makes for a deeply textured center city and unique cityscape, which blends those areas that must remain untouched, with high-rises in other parts of the island packing high density housing in to compensate.

We were lucky enough to get an apartment in one of those high rises, within biking distance to the Georgetown area. In addition to having city-type amenities that we’ve never really enjoyed – like security guards, a pool, studio, and gym for occupant use – we also had height and a gorgeous view from the 21st floor. This made from beautiful views on most days, but during Chinese New Year it made for an extra special 360 degree of view of the extravagant firework displays throughout the city. We’re not talking one or two neighborhoods or municipalities getting together to fire off a bottlerocket or two… we’re talking full on “shock and awe” type displays raging for hours, multiple nights a week. It was amazing!

While it might become old news if you experience it every day for your entire life, it’s hard to understate how fun it is to eat food in a place like Penang, where the food is delicious, the variety is plentiful, the energy is high, and the price tag is low. It brought Annie had I back to our days in Hanoi Vietnam, where we first experienced street food … it was such a joy to try all sorts of new dishes, find what we liked where, become repeat customers, get to know faces, and get acknowledged by these proprietors.

For these reasons and a few others (see Grant’s previous post), Penang was a great stop of us … just what we were looking for. Living in Penang was easy, compared to many of the communities we have traveled through, and it was welcomed. We learned a ton about Chinese New Year, a ton about Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic and Penang’s street art, and a ton abo

We have met some wonderful folks along our journey. Malaysia was no different. We met Kiki and Teng on our train ride from Kuala Lumpur to Penang … then met up with them for dinner one night in town. Kiki is a retired school teacher. Teng loves Japanese culture and reads lots of Haruki Murakami. Lovely people everywhere in this world.