PENANG #3

Georgetown is on and the capital of the island of Penang. But it is only a short distance from the closest part of the mainland. It can be seen clearly across the strait -except when it rains, as it does.

The day I decided to cross by ferry boat, the weather was not that encouraging. Low clouds hung all around, but being ever hopeful I decided that if it did cear a bit, then I would get some great views of Georgetown from the sea.

The busy ferry terminal is generally known as the Jetty. Most buses route through its bus terminal at some stage and it is where the city's free shuttle service starts and also finishes.

The ferries themselves are some what 'historical' and as such are worth a ride on. The bottom deck is for vehicles and the top deck for walkon passengers. Rows of old seats are still functional.

The service runs like clockwork and as one ferry arrives the other departs. Across on the mainland the same routine is followed so that a 15 minute or so frequency is maintained. The trip itself only takes quarter of an hour. On the way there are good views of the mainland port and in the other direction – to the south- a view of the really impressive 8.5km bridge which provides a island to mainland road link.

The trip across is free although you have to pay to come back. I think the cost was MR 1.60 which makes it less than 80 cents NZ.

Ther mainland port is Butterworth of which the guide books usually say something like “pass though quickly”. It does have a wharfside bus terminal with many long distance buses competing for customers. The fares are pretty much standardise so they compete on appearance of the bus and most have hanging looped curtains complete with tassels.

As I left the shelter of the Butterworth ferry teminal, I was greeted by a deluge. The heavens openend and there was enough rain for Noah's Ark to have floated. In other words it was heavy serious rain.

I wandered past the parked coaches and the keen sales reps - “ bus to KL sir?” This despite the fact I had no bags.

Now in my morning confidence I had omitted to pack a rain coat – well actually I only have wo temergency plastic ponchos from the $2 shop. But even these were not included in my day pack this morning. The answer had to be an umbrella.

Walking quickly across the road attempting to avoid as many puddles as I could and not being completely successful – new ones seemed to form just as I put my foot down. I headed across to the large market building only to find that is was half empty and that it was a food market. OK I would try the little shops along the road. Crossing the next road I got even wetter and as I wandered along between the shops water running off their awnings all seemd to be draining down on the spaces I had to walk along. No shop sold umbrellas. What a lost opportunity I thought.

I went into a local coffee shop for a cup of hot or warm black coffee and it came complete with condensed milk. This coffee maker could not understand anyone not having milk in.their coffee. Being wet, soaked through actually, any cup of coffee was acceptable in the end. So I sat and watched the rain and I watched all the mostly empty long distance buses roll out for their 10:30am departure.

Finally the rain seemed to lesson and I quickly made my way back to the bus terminal. No one offered my a seat this time – I guess I looked to wet to be on their next bus. That suited me and actually in the end I decided the rain had not eased, I was just 'hoping'.

The result of the rain was tat the view of Georgetown was almost non existent thanks to the rain and low cloud or mist. Secondly all the seats near the open sides of the deck were wet and the passengers were all huddled in the drier central area.

As I past the toilet on the wharf I noted and attendant seated at the door. That would indicate payment required. Mostly this seems to be 30 seni. But I became aware of the women queing up at the free on board “Ladies' Loo” I decided that these women had made the trip often enough to learn the system.

In the light of my learning experience on this little outing I have to conclude that the guide books are right. Give it a miss. But then again I had an experience there that I will not easily forget and there was the condense milk as well. By the way the coffee cost MR1 whereas on the island without milk it is only 90 seni.

I also decided that catching a bus for KL in a few days I would do my best to catch one that did not require the the ferry trip to Butterworth

PENANG CONTINUED

Penang is the name of the island and the city I stayed at is Georgetown.

Leaving the Old Penang Guest House and turning left took me back into
the business of the commercial area. Here along Lebuh Chulia (Lebuh
means road), were a range of small business each in their own house shop
style of building. Few expanded into two spaces. There was a bread
bakery a 7-11, various hardware shops, guest houses (usually upstairs)
and cafes. By evening the side of the road was taken over by many food
stalls, often with tables and chairs set out. Others seemed to
specialise in the 'drive through' service. But here the car just stopped
and the traffic would pile up behind while the driver's order was served.

It is quite normal to walk along the road itself here and in many other
streets. The footpath often does not exist of carry on continously so to
avoid the large drain at the road edge it is easier to walk on the road
side of the parked cars. Incidently over my stay, I saw many traffic
wardens writing out tickets for parked cars, but it never seemed to
reduce the number of cars parked in that spot.

Generally during the day traffic moves at a slow pace along this road.
It was often bumper to bumper but no one seemed 'put out' by this state
of affairs. It was just normal. You could step out with some care of
course and cross the road bewteen cars, some would not only slow, but
stop to let you across. Of course there were some one way roads where a
couple of lanes of traffic would be moving more speedily and here
crossing needed to be more cautious or at light controlled corners.

During my stay here, I was contiously fascinated by the shops and
business I would pass. I did go down a fair number of busy and less
congested streets. Walking down Lebuh Campbell I was taken back come
across a security guard sitting on a chair at a shop front with a rapid
fire rifle of some impressive sort on his knees. Once I got over my
surprise I looked into the store and realised it was a gold merchant. I
came across perhaps another six such merchant stores with armed security
at the front. Some guards had the rifle behind their back but there was
no hiding the fact they were armed.

One afternoon I took a 50 minute bus ride to a national park. Much of
the ride was through urban areas along the coast north of Georgetown.
Much was along congested roads where the bus moved inch by inch. In time
we moved into modern suburbia with high rise apartments and flash hotels
which would fit into any tourist resort area. Then there would be a
local village before more resort areas. Finally the road left the
development behind and wove around a pretty coastal cliff area before
the road and bus rided ended in a small local village of Teluk Bahang.

This is descibed in the guide book as a sleepy little fishing village
and perhaps it is. I saw the small local fishing boats and long insecure
looking wharves which many were moored to. Out in the bay there appeared
to be a small floating settlement. There were groups of houses with
linking walkways between the groups.

Here to was the enterance to the natioanl park. It had an impossing
visitors centre which I had to sign in at and then a paved walkway lead
off along the coast and just above an attractive sandy beach. At stages
there were shaded picnic tables. I decided that walking in this park was
going to be great. However, having crossed a swing bridge and reached
the track junction, the paving stopped and the track suddenly took on
the meaning of 'track'. From then on it was a mixture of level gradient
with concrete and wooden steps up steep banks. In one place a rope was
provided to assist progress up or down a rock slope which was fairly steep.

Every now and again the route decended into a peaceful sandy bay – just
one of many opportunities for a pleasant picnic. Most of the track lead
through tropical vegetation. I don't think I would call it jungle
because most of the expected tall trees must have been removed for
milling. This was more an advanced second growth forest.

I was heading for Monkey Bay but either the map timing or my actual
progress where out of sync. I passed a group returning and they had not
reached the bay and suggested I was half way. At that stage my estimate
was that I had already been on the way for the time the map claimed it
would take to reach the bay. So after 75 minutes I decided it was time
to turn back. I had reached a large bay with a inviting sandy beach. It
had buildings and a long jetty belonging to the university and was a
research base.

Walking along the sand I was surprised and excited to find a large –
well about 1 metre long- lizzard hunting for food. We agreed not to
disturb each other and I took photos while it checked out tunnels and
holes in the sand. I sat down on a seat by the research centre and a
sound made me turn around to find a couple of adult monkeys sitting on
the high wall watching me. It was an interesting few moments before they
got bored and jumped off on the other side.

The walk back to the village was equally pleasant to coming. It even
seemed shorter. During the walk I often paused to be entertained by
groups of monkeys making their way along a couple of high wires. I
assumed that they were power lines but then again they may have been
installed just for the monkey use. Some times one monkey would decide to
stop and sit down on the upper wire blocking the way. So it was fun to
watch the following tribe swing down oneo the lower wire to get past.
All of this went on for quite a while and they sort of followed me as I
walked along. Finally they swung into some tall trees beside the track
and found their evening meal.

Back at the village I took the time to wander around a few side streets
and say hello or wave to the curious children crowding around the door
of their homes. Back at the bus stop and the rain began. A deluge.

No sign of the bus and it was getting dark, so I crossed the road to the
bar/cafe to discuss bus timetables. Well in time a bus did arrive and
the cafe manager flagged it down for me. At theat sage a further two
buses also arrived. I did not have to pay but along the road a kilometre
or so, I had to transfer to another bus and this time pay.

I was only going a few kilometres along the road to get off at a famous
night market, Which I did, except not only was it still raining but
there was a lake around the bus stop and I just had to alight into it
and get through the pond as quickly as I could.

Besides all of the usual stalls selling watched, clothing, electronics,
toys, cosmetics etc there was a very large food area. Around the edge
were various ethnic food stalls with a large area of tables and chairs
in the middle. It was busy despite the rain. Mostly local groups but
also a few tourists such as myself. My estimate is that the average meal
cost under $NZ5. I think my squid was around $NZ3.50

Well the rain didn't stop and I took my chance to jump on a bus and ride
back to Komtar, the central bus station and then walk from there to the
guest house. A very enjoyable adventure.

PENANG -THE BLOGS BEGIN AGAIN!

PENANG

The Malaysiaair 737 touched down smoothly on the tarmac. I had arrived on the island of Penang, of the coast of North West Malaysia.

Over all it had been a good trip. Admittidly the departure from Auckland had been delayed 50 minutes so that the 0015 departure actually became 0110, while the departure from KL for Penang was also a little late leaving.

I found the flight from New Zealand to be comfortable no doubt a result of my weight loss but also to the extra space Malaysian Air has between their economy seats - 34 inches is an inch more than I have ever had on Air NZ economy. With a centre block of five seats the sides were only two seats per row. This was were I was seated with my asle seat and it was a pleasant trip. I was next to an young Thai woman heading home for a holiday. She is studying in Wellington.

I found that the in seat video screen was lacking in colour for movies athough I did manage to watch one from Sweden, one from Belguim and part of one from the UK. Meals were ok although the service lacked somewhat. Coffee was with the meal delivery and if you didn't know to ask then you missed out. As also was the wine. Choice of two – one white one red. No inflight attendants walking around offering water during the trip either. In fact they seemed a little understaffed.

So a high rating for seating space but an average for the rest. It will be interesting to compare the return flight later on.

At KL there was a sort airtrain ride between terminals which gave a quick link up between domestic and international. I went through a quick immigration check here and had no customs check when my bag came through at Penang – well only an incoming xray machine and that was it.

I spotted AirAsia and FireFlyz planes on thePenang tarmac.

I found the bus stop easily enough outside the terminal. However there was about a 30 minute wait for the bus but I was not alone. The bus trip was about 35 minutes into Georgetown and gave me a good look at the length of the island. Mostly or totally we traveled through urban areas and passed some very modern expensive looking appartment blocks and conduminiums. Also new high rise shopping malls. There were also some very high appartment blocks with a less expensive look.

I had to get off the bus at the Komtar, the central bus station as the bus was doing a different route to normal from then on. Actually I was on a 401E instead of just 401. But the driver pointed out the direction to go and said trun right up there and the next intersection turn left and you are in Carnarvon Street. I knew I had to wander along here to reach Love Lane where the guesthouse was located. It was all quite straight forward with the guesthouse being easy to find just a 100 or so mtres along the Lane.

Mind you walking along from the bus with a trolly bag was not difficult but the rough ground and constant going up and down from the high pavement to the road to pass obstructions and roadways did slow me down. One of the most common obstructions was motor scooters parked on the pedestrian way followed by tables and chairs and hawkers' food stalls. Welcome back to Asia.

The Old Penang Guesthouse is widely roccommended in the guidebooks and I can understand why.

It is in an old, historic in fact, pre-war building which has been restored to an atmospheric and pleasant experience. Another similar restoration is in the ajoining building. Entering the guesthouse and you are greeted by a reception desk and a long airy and cool foyer with high ceilings and fans rotating. The original mosaic tiles floor has been retained. There are cane chairs and tables spaced around and a small table with the breakfast requirements and coffee and tea pots. Above the dining area is a balcony with wooden shutters adding to the old cololonial abience.

Shoes are left at the foot of the old wodden stairway. My single room was an acceptable size with a comfortable bed and small bedside table and not much else. There was air conditioning but no window which I suspect is common with most of the rooms. The bathroom facilities for this floor were built out off the side of the building.

I noticed that the upstairs coridor floor boards where also the bownstairs ceiling. Through the tiny gaps between the boards you see down below. I guess this was part of the authenticity of the historic building.

From the upstairs the passage partly formed a balcony looking fown onto the dinning and lounge area. There were open wooden shutters along it but these were more for decoration I assumed than actually functional.

Everything seemed clean and tidy and there were always pleanty of staff around for the whole of my stay here. A note attached to the reception desk noted that the Guest House had been rated the second highest in Malaysia by Hostelworld for May 2011.

Time to go out and wander in the humid warmth. Quite managable I thought. I wandered along Love Lane and realised how many little guesthouses and backpacker hostels were in the street. Most were small shops converted with their lounge area being open right onto the street. Works fine in a tropical climate such as Penang's. I assumed that these had at some stage been the typical house shop, which is a feature of Penang

This is the old historic zone of the and consequently many of the buildings are showing the signs of age and decay. All very photogenic though. Oposite the Old Penang GH is a small school and a larger and noiser one is a bit further along the lane. I hope my students were never as noisy as the ones I hear each time I pass.

Turning right at the end of the Lane and I passed a Catholic Church and then the St George Anglican Church which is historic and recently restored.The restoration was completed esarly in 2011.

In front of the church is a columned rotundra with a domed roof which is the Co. Francis Light Memmorial – he was the key founding figure of Penang.In fact he planted the British flag and built the fort which still stands how be it reconstructed into a stronger more secure brick and stone structure. Light's original was mad out of local palm tree trunks.

This is an area of the old colonial admistration so many of the buildings are 19^th century style and everything is painted a fresh white. Where the paint has been on for a while and weathered then it looks very drab but the key buildings were all perfectly white and cool looking.

So I continued just wandering around getting an idea of the area and getting my bearings.

It is all quite fascinating with every street filled with little businesses trading in every possible

product. Lots of small cafes and none looking like NZ standards but you soon become used to them and head in for a coffee. All coffee here seems to be pre sugared and I have to tell them no milk which if I forget, proves to be condensed milk and adds to the sweetness.

I later learnt tht Penang coffee is unique. The beans are fried in butter and sugar rather than roasted which is what we normally expect. I did find an Italian espresso cafe with good tradional espresso but I found the bill included a 10% service charge plus a government tax. The end result though was only what I would pay for espresso in New Zealand.

My first impressions of Penang were totally positive. I knew I was going to enjoy my stay here.

SWIDISH FOOD IN MELAKA

Melaka

My Melaka Angels who gave up their time to show me the way from a distant bus stop through a large shopping mall car parks etc to the Town Square where I wanted to be.

HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL