My Malaysian Meanderings – Day 1: Penang

Only two weeks after my return from Indonesia, I am on the road again. I never planned to travel as far and as often as I am right now, but the circumstances have aligned to make it both possible and desirable. Firstly, Thailand is holding a holiday for yet another royal anniversary: this time, it is the Queen Mother’s birthday. Secondly, most of Southeast Asia is quickly heading into wet season, threatening to make travel more unpleasant in the coming months. Thus, it is imperative, as the Romans say, to carpere as many dies as possible.

I arrived in Penang on a Friday evening after an unusually turbulent flight and shaky landing. Despite planning my trips according to the seasons, it seemed I had caught a spell of bad weather anyway. Still, there were more important things to worry about. As I made my way towards the immigration booths, I passed by signboards with QR codes for filling in arrival information. The instructions were written a little unclearly, and for a few minutes, I convinced myself that I should have completed the form before arriving in Malaysia, and that I would be sent back to Thailand on the very next flight. My consternation strengthened even further when I could not submit the form because of a website malfunction. Upon showing my phone to an immigration official, however, I was only met with a relaxed smile, and the gentleman stamped my passport as he quickly waved me through.

Nothing very noteworthy happened that evening. My Grab driver, it is true, did not have change for my 100-ringgit note, but my stop by an ATM close to the hotel is hardly worth mentioning. The building was quite shabby, and the elevators clad in wooden boards did not alleviate this unfavourable impression. The sole reason why I had chosen it was the view. When I woke up the following morning and saw the sky take on a cerulean hue, I packed my bags and – before even eating breakfast – took the janky elevator to the rooftop restaurant. The abandoned terrace faced Kek Lok Temple just a few minutes to the west, while also offering a distant view of George Town rising from the eastern mist.

I proceeded to visit Kek Lok Temple right after eating breakfast and checking out. The complex was big and built on the slope of a hill, much to the detriment of my quickly dampening shirt. I found several shrines on the way to the pagoda at the very top, some of them occupied by monks who were already busy producing calligraphy to sell visitors. Despite the abundance of statues and tablets, the most impressive part of the temple were its gardens. Well-kept and all abloom, they were tended to by dozens of gardeners and caretakers. Since I had had enough of climbing, I took the funicular to the second and higher peak of the hill, which was topped by a giant statue of Guanyin with an octagonal, multi-tiered roof protecting her head.

Once I had made it all the way down again, I called a Grab taxi to Penang State Mosque, which lies about halfway between Kek Lok Temple and historic George Town. There is not much to see at the mosque itself, but the exterior is quite impressive. Its golden, bulbous dome sits atop what I can only describe as a billowing roof, its eighteen arches fanning around the building in a circle of perfect symmetry. Inside, the building is a typical mosque, though the ceiling is worth seeing.

I started my tour of the historic centre of George Town by the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower, which was built in 1897 to commemorate the empress’s 60^th jubilee. The clock tower stands right beside Fort Cornwallis, which served as the first British foothold in Malaysia. East India Company Captain Francis Light founded the fort after being granted the island of Penang by the Sultan of Kedah. The latter had made this agreement under the understanding that the East India Company would back Kedah in military disputes. However, the EIC subsequently refused to authorise this promise, and when the sultan demanded the return of Penang, the British razed his nearby forts and forced him to back down.

From Fort Cornwallis, I made my way to the rest of the colonial architectural ensemble by the sea. Walking past the Penang State Legislative Assembly, I reached the giant field by the esplanade, which is bordered by the city’s Town and City Halls. Farther inland stands Saint George’s Anglican Church, celebrated as the first Anglican church in southeast Asia. Its gardens are still home to several mahogany trees planted in 1885.

I spent the next few hours crisscrossing Penang’s ethnic quarters, starting at the Chinese-owned Peranakan Mansion. I found its lavish furnishings borderline kitschy, and I imagine many of the items on display were also for sale at the souvenir shop. From there, I walked to the Guanyin Temple, which dates all the way back to 1728 when it was built to honour another female deity, the Goddess Mazu. The Chinese quarter was relatively quiet and much less commercial than Little India. As soon as I approached the latter, I could hear the shops blasting Indian music into the streets, and drawing nearer I could smell the flavours of southern Indian cuisine. Had I not just eaten a vegetarian laksa in the Chinese quarter, I would have been tempted to sit down at one of the streetside restaurants.

Walking towards the sea from Little India, one quickly reaches an area known as the “Clan Jetties:” collections of houses built on stilts above the water by Hokkien immigrants. While people do still live in these houses, the walkways between them have become major touristic areas, with numerous small shops lining the sides with an offer of souvenirs, fruits and ice cream. Chew Jetty, which was the jetty I explored, begins with a temple and has another temple at the very end of its walkway, facing the sea. From the platform in front of it, one can see some of the nearby settlements and temples, as well as the city of Butterworth across the sea.

Back in the direction of historical Penang, the area around Armenian Street features an interesting mixture of attractions and architectural influences. At the end of a road that intersects it stands the pastel-coloured minaret of Lebuh Aceh Mosque, and inside the block between them is the Khoo Kongsi, a massive Chinese clan house with a temple and several associated buildings. The area is also known for its graffiti, which generally depict children and other naïve themes. I made a quick visit to the gardens of the Kapitan Keling Mosque before deciding that I had better start heading to the train station.

Although Penang is an island, it is connected to the Malay mainland by two bridges. Still, the railway does not cross either of them, which means that the trains to the rest of Malaysia depart from Butterworth. After briefly contemplating whether I should order a Grab taxi to the other side, I decided that taking the ferry would be more adventurous and walked over to the Georgetown Marina. The only adventure I met with, however, was purchasing my ticket: with only five minutes to spare, the people queueing in front of me were taking their sweet time asking questions and chatting to the saleswoman, who did not seem very fussed about the time either.

Conveniently, the ferry terminal connects directly to the train station, but the walk between the two can take a while. After a half an hour’s wait at the packed air-conditioned lounge, with the water from the air conditioning dripping onto my left calf, the train was ready for boarding. The journey passed comfortably enough, though it got drawn out by very heavy downpours. Instead of taking four hours, it took closer to four and a half, and I arrived in Kuala Lumpur at around half past eight. At that point, I was tired and hungry, as the dining car had no vegetarian options or snacks. I could not find any open restaurants near my hotel either, so upon the recommendation of a man restocking a vending machine, I ate salted-egg-flavoured crisps for dinner.