Penang September

We no longer get strange looks when we go out to eat and are, in fact, greeted as regular customers – the drinks arrive with no sugar automatically so you know you are a regular! We try to get out for a walk but don’t always manage it, it can be very hot during the day and as it is the rainy season some days are literally a washout.

Last Sunday (Sept 9) we went for a very pleasant walk along the river and decided to prolong it by walking round the block and approaching the apartments from the other direction. When we got to the end of our road we found it completely blocked off by a huge marquee, baffled we first checked it was the right road then decided there was nothing for it but to squeeze past the side. We passed two guys barbecuing who offered us food, we smiled but declined, and then as we got to the end of the marquee another man offered us some fruit. Brian accepted some water melon and asked what the occasion was, at this point another man came up to us and said we were very welcome, he ushered us to a table, sat us down and brought us several plates of food and a drink! It was Hari Raya, the end of Ramadan and the party was a celebration, an open invitation to everyone, all religions, all nationalities. We ate very well, a variety of Indian cuisine, while karaoke and competitions went on at the front on a small stage. The man who had invited us in explained that his sister lived in the end house and was responsible for the event. We stayed an hour or so and then after thanking our hosts walked up the road to the apartment. Another example of the amazing Asian hospitality!

The day before my birthday we got a phone call from Juliet and Robert asking if we wanted to go out to eat and that they would pick us up at 7. We went to a Steamboat restaurant and were met there by Willi, Ying, Joanne and Ying’s cousin Lynn and her husband Sweehock, apparently to celebrate my birthday. Cameron Highlands is the home of steamboat and this was a Penang/Korean version that had a barbecue as well as the steamboat. Steamboat – on the tables is a gas ring with a divided dish on it in which are two different ‘soups’, a spicy one and a chicken one, around the dish is a ¾ inch ring of tin foil that acts as the BBQ. Everyone helps themselves from a huge array of meat, fish, seafood, noodles and veg, you then either BBQ it or cook it in the broth, there are also noodle dishes cooked to order, various satays that are cooked in oil, sandwiches, cooked meat, eggs and more, not to mention the deserts and drinks! Very, very nice and of course you can eat as much as you like so we were all stuffed when we left. We then went to sing a few songs at the Old Frees as Wednesday is karaoke night and got home at 1am after rounding off the night with a Beatles’ medley. At midnight Juliet gave me a birthday card and Peter and Jade informed me I had another 86400 seconds of my birthday to enjoy.

I was delighted to get birthday cards from Australia and the UK, thank you Malaysian Post, as well as the hand-delivered ones. Brian and I both had our hair done by Raymond, a young hairdresser just round the corner, and were surprised to find a head massage, face wash and enthusiastic shoulder and neck massage included. He was actually very good and at £4 for Brian and an amazing £10 for my colour and cut, well worth it. We received another invitation out to dinner followed by a visit to the night market at Batu Ferringhi, the big tourist area on Penang. We were again joined by Willi, Ying and Joanne, dinner at the No-Eyed Deer, very nice, Chili and Lime Barramundi for me and a grilled chicken salad for Brian. The night market is geared to tourists but well worth a visit and we will go back before we leave to shop in earnest! Unfortunately it rained so we had to pop into the Holiday Inn for a glass of red wine while we waited it out – an excellent birthday – thank you very much Juliet, Robert, Ying, Willi and Joanne for the treats.

Brian and I also tried the local Thai restaurant which was excellent but at R10 for the cheapest curry, twice as much as we usually pay so although we will go there again, probably not that often!

The rain then set in with a vengeance so that most days we have to wait for a dry spell and make sure we take the umbrellas out with us. One night when we came back from dinner I managed to get the key well and truly stuck in the door so that despite our best efforts we had to call in reinforcements in the form of the security guard, Velu, at least 70 and 6 stone wringing wet, it was no surprise that he couldn’t help, he did, however, offer to go and get the maintenance man – or so we thought – from the 5^th floor. When he returned he happily told us that the maintenance man had phoned the owners of the flat, Juliet and Robert, we had hoped he might have come down but no – he made a phone call. I called Juliet to apologise but they were already on the way and turned up on their motorbike 20 minutes later. No luck with the key though and no getting in the other door either as I had very conscientiously put the latch across! Juliet then phoned the brother of a friend who was a ‘handyman’ and 10 minutes later he arrived. Half an hour later having taken the door apart we are in the apartment and he promised to return the next day with a new lock and keys, meanwhile we had to put a chair against the front door. He duly returned the next morning at 9.15 (a time we don’t often see these days), fitted a new lock, lectured us on how to put a key in a lock and lock and unlock a door, complete with demonstrations, charged us RM70 (about £14) and left. We probably got off lightly – let’s see, in the UK a callout fee plus 30 minutes at night, a one hour job plus parts – bet we wouldn’t have seen much change from £100! At least I now know how to put a key in the lock so that it goes ALL the way in and straight before I try to unlock the door!

We have found much to our delight that we can listen live to all Saints matches on the radio. Evening games are no good as they start about 3 in the morning but the Saturday and Sunday afternoons start at 10pm so absolutely fine especially as our days have shifted several hours going to bed much later and getting up later – just fitting in with the locals! We can also watch the full match on the laptop next day – happy days. We were listening to the Worcester game when we became aware of noises from outside, drums, music etc. so at half time we went and had a look. It was a procession of floats and people including young children walking along the main road, apparently something to do with a new temple but it was very colourful with some very elaborate floats and went on for a good 30 minutes – at 11 o’clock at night – see what I mean about fitting in?

When Robert and Juliet came about the key they also gave us a DVD that Peter had copied for us – our very own karaoke video so that we could practice – no pressure then. We went to the karaoke on Wednesday after dinner at an Indian with Juliet and Robert. It really is good fun with no pressure on anyone, just a few beers and a sing song really. Peter and Jade are very keen to stay in touch when we are in Perth, they go every year as their daughter and her family live in Morley, and I’m sure we will. We are even being persuaded to buy our own karaoke machine as they are much cheaper here than in Aus!

After ghost month we then had the Moon Festival, moon cakes started to be sold some time before the actual festival which is September 30^th but leading up to it we also saw more large incense sticks being got ready and an even bigger stage than the puppet show being erected outside one of the temples. On the night of the 30^th we ate at the veggie restaurant then walked back via the stage. There were probably about 100 people sitting at tables with cloths on being served courses of food, we were invited to sit at the front on stalls to watch the show. We were told it was opera but they didn’t sing so I guess a play. The play was not for the people there though but for their ancestors and was performed by a travelling Thai group. We watched the first few acts and the actors at one time left the stage to go into the temple and pray but it was quite hard to follow and the stools were not that comfortable so after eating our moon cakes, fluorescent pink with coconut inside, and drinking the can of Heineken offered we went home.

Our house is now at lockup which means they have started on the inside fitting doors, shelves and cabinets, tiling the wet areas undercoating the walls, doing the paving and finally the carpets and blinds. We are allowing ourselves to get excited that we could be in for Christmas, that would be amazing.

A rainy day from inside the apartment

Thai meal - yummy!

Penang Hill

An Indian hawker - very relaxed style of cooking

The sign at Penang Hill

The view from a temple on Penang Hill

An elaborate carving outside the temple

The most elegant cup of coffee we experienced - at Penang Times Square

The 'opera' on Moon Festival night

The moon cakes - Brian said they look like boobs - don't know whose he has been looking at - definitely not mine!

Birthday celebrations at No-eyed Deer

The family room looking out on to the alfresco

Kitchen

Family room

The outside - the garage will be to the  right

Penang - August

We settled really well into the apartment and began to find our way around quite well. One day we caught the bus to Penang Times Square to top up the internet card and do a bit of shopping, on the bus back we rang for our stop and as Brian got up the driver braked sending him flying across the bus, he didn’t see the front door right next to us had opened and went to the middle doors,  then as he went to get off the handle on the toilet rolls broke so he had to go scrabbling across the floor to pick them up, we were giggling like school kids when a voice from the bus called after us and we had left one of our purchases on the bus- if they didn’t remember us for being the only non-Asians on the bus they would for Brian’s comedy routine, we just couldn’t stop laughing.

We were also introduced to Malaysian Karaoke by Robert (who is a professional singer) and Juliet, they took us to their club, The Old Frees, a school OBs association. The school, in Georgetown is called Penang Free School, the free relates to the fact that all religions are welcome and it is famous throughout Malaysia having educated many kings and statesmen. The building was a bit like the Freemasons in St Georges Ave with rooms for every occasion, they have ballroom dancing, line dancing, sing-along and karaoke. Never having been ones for karaoke at home we were very apprehensive especially as Robert kept telling us we had to sing for our supper! It couldn’t have been any more different from anything we had experienced. Everyone took turns to sing and people either joined in or carried on with their own conversations, it was really enjoyable and literally everyone was so friendly and welcoming. When we were dropped off at the apartment at 2.30 am we were buzzing we had had such a good time. We were then invited out again the next day this time to the sing-along which turned out to be – karaoke! We then went for lunch (at about 5.30) and back to Robert and Juliet’s apartment on the 24^th floor of a block overlooking the sea. They have the most beautiful apartment, originally 5 bedrooms they changed it around for themselves, very stylish, very modern and definitely worth a bob or two! They also had a 3D TV and we watched some of the closing ceremony in 3D – amazing – I want one! It was then on to the Old Frees second club house, much newer and much plusher with slot machines downstairs, some even had private rooms with an ensuite for those that didn’t want to be disturbed while playing! Upstairs was a gym, a couple of games rooms, a sauna, a TV room with a bar and a pool table where they were watching the first Premiership game (West Brom v Liverpool) and – a Karaoke room. Weird – this time it was like a private session with four of their friends from the night before and a couple of guys who dropped in to sing their favourite songs! We left at about one and went for a ‘bite to eat’ that turned out to be an Indian meal at a 24 hour restaurant. 1.30 am and it was packed, families groups, couples, all ages and it was still packed when we left an hour later. There are lots of 24 hour eateries here and most other places stay open until 1 or 2 in the morning, a whole new way of life.

Our 41^st wedding anniversary! We decided to push the boat out and eat in a smart restaurant, Salsas, very, very good AND we had a bottle of wine, a very decent red, so a very good night was had by us both. We’ll be eating at the Vegetarian restaurant for the next few weeks – two meals and drinks for under £2!!!

While we are on eating, I should describe where and what we eat, we have become so used to it that we take all the sights, smells and tastes for granted but they are certainly different to what we are used to. Firstly I never cook at the apartment for two reasons: the apartment has a great kitchen but absolutely no cooking utensils, probably because of the second reason, eating out is so cheap you couldn’t cook it for less or even the same.

We use two main places, one is a vegetarian restaurant, they have an array of help yourself foods, usually about 18 – 20 dishes, curries, sweet and sour, vegetables cooked in a variety of ways and some things that we have no idea about. You help yourself to rice from a huge pot, as much or as little as you like, then pile your plate from the dishes, you present your plate to the cashier who tots it up and you pay her – our two dinners average 8 – 10 ringgits, £1.50 -£2. The drinks are ordered from a separate waitress, an additional 3ringgits, 60p for 2 fresh lime juices with no sugar. (You have to really stress the no sugar bit as Asians have an incredibly sweet tooth and look aghast when you request it, usually with protests like ‘less sugar?’ repeated a few times. Although they are beginning to realise we mean it now! The food is delicious; especially the curry and we still can’t get over the prices.

The other place is a food hall of which there are literally hundreds if not thousands in Georgetown. The one we favour is a two minute walk from the apartment, 80 tables and 35 hawkers (food stalls) round the edge. The food is Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai and Western, go to a stall order your dinner and it is brought to your table, drinks from the drinks monitor as in the veggie restaurant. Our favourite here is a dish called Foo Kang Tau – you collect a bowl and put in whatever you fancy from a three-tiered selection of tofu, meat, fish, quails eggs and fresh vegetables, hand your bowl over and your selection is cooked in a broth and served with rice, again very tasty. Slightly more expensive, the meals and drinks generally work out to about 15 ringgits or £3! We have also tried the fish and chips among other things! Very civilised, four large TVs, one at least on a sport channel, fans and an open roof – about which Brian and I had speculated. I have said that when it rains in Asia, it really rains and we wondered if it was retractable, like Wimbledon or the Millennium at Cardiff but this building is a concrete base with no walls and a zinc roof, not exactly high spec. However, as we were eating one night, right under the open roof it started to rain and within seconds the roof glided shut, not a moment too soon as the rain increased and the din as it hit the roof was phenomenal – so loud you couldn’t hear your own conversation – amazing.

I have to say it took us a while to even try the food hall let alone some of the food but if you go to Asia it is really the only way to eat.

We decide it was time to explore more than the shopping malls so we set off at 2pm on a Monday afternoon to find the Penang Botanical Gardens, I had seen a bus several times at the bus station that said Botanical Gardens, a number 10 so we were fairly confident. A bus into Komtar (the station) was followed by an hours wait – we were about to give up when the bus arrived so on we got along with several other ‘tourists’. The bus took the strangest route, looping round in circles, doubling back etc. so that a journey that should have taken 15 -20 minutes ended up taking 45 minutes, never mind, a good way to see parts of Georgetown we haven’t seen! The Botanical Gardens were really good, peaceful, green, free to enter and full of interesting plants and trees with lots of paths. A very popular place for joggers, in fact the first time we had really seen any. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around and agreed it was well worth returning, with books and a picnic to spend more time. We also decided to buy some fruit from a hawker and opted for two that we had never experienced – jackfruit and dragon fruit. The jackfruit was a strange mixture of mango and banana taste with the texture of a nectarine, the dragon fruit was amazing, bright magenta in colour with black seeds, very juicy with a hint of blackberry, yummy. We had been told the bus back was at 6.15 and at 6.15 on the dot it arrived, excellent. 15 seconds down the road it stopped, the driver got off, we sat on the bus and waited, and waited… 15 minutes later he returned and off we went. The drive back was even more bizarre; we went past the same places at least twice, stopped for petrol, got stuck in traffic and arrived back at Komtar a full 95 minutes later! Luckily our bus back to the apartment was more direct and we arrived back at 8pm, 6 hours later, having spent most of that time either waiting for or on a bus! Next time we’ll be prepared, I spotted some familiar sights and we will get off much earlier and walk back!

Just like buses, not one outing but two in two days – when we got in from dinner after our day out Juliet rang to ask if we would like to go to Penang Hill with them the next day as they were meeting some friends there – of course, the answer was yes.

Juliet and Robert picked us up at 9.30am, the earliest we had been up for months, and off we went. Penang Hill is a huge tourist attraction, a funicular railway takes you to the top of the highest hill in Penang where the air is cooler and there are lots of flora and fauna and pleasant walks. It’s not that far from our apartment and there is actually a bus that goes from the apartment straight there. We met Ying, a long-time friend of Juliet’s, her husband Willie (an Austrian by birth but 50 years in America), and Ying’s step-mother, Joanna at the railway and after introductions proceeded to the train. Joanna and Robert paid 4 ringgits as senior citizens, Ying and Juliet 8 ringgits as Malaysians and Willie, Brian and I were charged 30 ringgits as foreigners!!!! We couldn’t believe it – can you imagine the London Eye – English £2, foreigners £15 please? Still can’t quite believe it and an email to the tourist office in Georgetown could be on its way! However, the ride up was good, if a little scary, especially when it stopped to let out locals at stations on the way up and slid back a little! It was lovely at the top, fabulous views, we could even see Robert and Juliet’s building on the coast and we had a walk around, looking at the trees and flowers, Ling is a gardener and knowledgeable about the local flowers and we all chatted as we went – very pleasant. The air is definitely cooler with less humidity which helps. Back down and I tried to video the steep descent, some good bits but blurred when we went fast, I’ll have to try and edit it. Lunch in a food hall and an invitation to dinner at Robert and Juliet’s made it a really good day.

On the notorious number 10 bus I spotted Lightning McQueen and his pal Mater outside Number One Academy so we decided to take a walk and take some pictures for JB. Only 45 minutes there but it was really warm. On the way back I suggested a short cut across a park, we hadn’t gone very far when the ground turned to bog beneath us, my flip flops sent up spray so that by the time we managed to get off it my shorts were soaked and the muddy water all up my legs – gross! Wasn’t expecting that in a country where the temperature rarely falls below 30! On the way back we bought some flowers to take to Juliet and then helped a girl whose car had conked out in the fast lane. Everyone else just drove round the poor girl who was only a teenager so I stopped the traffic and we pushed her to the side.

Ying, Willie and Joanne picked us up and gave us a lift to Juliet and Robert’s apartment.  Dinner was excellent, Juliet had gone to loads of trouble and made several dishes, some of them veggie for me and a first attempt at a beef  stew that Brian said was really good, Robert then demonstrated their ‘air fryer’ by making me fish and chips. A machine that fries without fat and even drains off fat that is already present on the food  - it tasted very good so one for the shopping list. Dinner was followed by fresh fruit and frozen Bounty bars – yummy. After dinner we all went to the Old Frees for karaoke. Brian and I were introduced to Pete and Jade whose daughter and son-in-law live in Morley, Perth. Apparently there is an Old Frees association in Perth with over 30 members! We agreed to keep in touch and see each other in Perth – who knows! Another 1am finish – dirty stop-outs!

One of our walks took us to the Racecourse and the Golf Club – strangely the same place, about 30 – 40 minutes’ walk away from the apartment. The golf course has the front nine onside and the back nine inside the race track, a similar set up to Warwick race course but on a larger scale. There are 3 race courses in Malaysia, Ipoh, KL and Penang so we have now been to 2 out of 3, they take it in turns for live racing and the next meeting here is the first weekend in October. However, when there is no live racing the course is still open and the locals flood in to bet on racing on the tele! The club house was quite nice so we had a beer before setting back – too good an opportunity to miss!

Dan and Jayden went to the house on Saturday (September 1) and we now have a roof, excellent, hope they keep going at this pace!

Juliet and Robert came to collect the rent – yes we have been here a month already -  and took us out showing us a lovely park, the Youth Park and another fabulous shopping centre, Gurney Plaza as well as introducing us to another Penang speciality, pasembur, an Indian dish. You choose the ingredients (hard-boiled eggs, crab sticks, peanut fritters, shrimp fritters, all sorts of tofu and fish balls) , and hand them over, they are cut up, cucumber and a celeriac-type veg are shredded over the top and it is covered with a spicy sweet potato sauce, actually very nice. There was also another similar dish, no topping, a spicier sauce with bean sprouts, cuttlefish and cows lungs! The sauce was really nice; needless to say I didn’t sample the lungs! We also called in at the Old Frees as Robert had a few jobs to do and while we were waiting we met Alice, whose daughter migrates to Perth next month – small world.

Hard to believe we have been here a month and away from the UK for nine and a half months, time definitely flies!

Brian with KT and Bee Yong trying Chendol

A windy day at Fort Cornwallis!

Brian at the Spice Gardens

The bus to town, just as the local school came out

Street art in Georgetown

The Buddhist temple opposite our apartment

The beautiful town hall in Georgetown

Our apartment - very nice

More street art

Outside the Peranakan Mansion - a surprising find!

The funicular railway up Penang Hill

Ghost month - fires and food to welcome the lost souls as the gates of hell open, an annual  Chinese festival

Brian helping to build a fire for the ghosts

More ghostly celebrations, giant candles outside the food hall

Penang Botanical Gardens - the path up Penang Hill

Penang Botanical Gardens

Penang Botanical Gardens - a very English border

Dragon fruit - yum yum!

Not a very good photo but trying to get the atmosphere in the food hall where we eat

The funicular railway

Willie, Ying, Juliet, Joanne, Robert, me and Brian at Penang Hill

The old railway carriage

Juliet and Robert

The racecourse/golf club in Penang

Langkawi to Penang

 The days on Langkawi were spent walking along the beach, looking round the shops, coffee, reading and listening to music. We went for a swim about 6.30 when it had cooled down a bit, have a couple of beers, wander out for dinner then back for a nightcap and bed. Not very exciting but very relaxing and enjoyable. We decided that as we are right on the beach we would treat this as a sort of holiday! Well, makes sense to us.

We had some very sad news on Sunday (22^nd July) – Dan said that they are taking Luca to the vet tomorrow and he won’t be coming back, he has lost the will to live really, he can’t walk, doesn’t want to go out or drink so it is the kindest thing to do but I will really miss him and the Aussie Barrons will all be devastated.

We’ve been feeling really sorry for everyone in the UK as it rained its way through May, June and half of July, we had quite a bit of rain in Thailand ourselves but when it rains in Asia it really rains and we had a monsoon-type storm in Langkawi. It flooded the roads and we had to take our shoes off and wade down the entrance to get to our room. It was still warm though and exciting to watch, I guess that’s the real difference from the UK.

We had an unexpected text from Dan, apparently Lisa drove past our block on Tuesday and the walls were practically complete! We were stunned, Dan and Lisa had waited ages from the slab stage to walls but our slab has only just gone down. Might be nearer 6 months than 8 then!

We left our beautiful beach location to go to Penang, another island in Malaysia. We planned to catch the 2.30 ferry which would take us directly there but it was full so rather than wait more than 4 hours in the ferry port we caught a ferry to Kuala Kedah, taxi to the bus station, bus from Aloh Satar to Butterworth, ferry to Penang and finally a taxi to the hotel – a roundabout route but we arrived much earlier than if we had waited – and it saved us about £6!!! The hotel in Penang wasn’t the best but it did have sports channels and that had been our aim, to watch the Olympics, however, the screens were small, even when they gave us a brand new tele so a bit disappointing especially for Brian who could barely see the tele let alone the action! Still, we could listen and feel a part of Team GB.

We decided that rather than face a ferry ride back to Langkawi we would see if we could find somewhere in Penang. I looked online and came up with a few apartments in our price range and sent off enquiries but only one replied. We went to look at the apartment in question and it was really good, on a bus route, close to shops and eating places and a very decent apartment. The agent and the owners showed us round and we agreed to take it asap if they could get us sport coverage which they managed to do and we moved in after only 6 days in the hotel.

What a bonus, a 32” television, 10 Olympic channels and a great apartment! Wall to wall Olympics – it works quite well, the morning events in our afternoon evening and the afternoon/evening events when we get up the next day. If you don’t look online at the results it is just like watching it live. We have tried the local food hall and had takeaway fish and chips, settling in very nicely with plenty of time to do the touristy bits later on.

We did have one day out however, when KT and Bee Yong, the apartment owners from Swiss Garden, came to Penang to collect their next tenant, an American, from the airport. They picked us up and took us for a culinary tour of the island. Penang is widely renowned for its food and there are certain dishes that can only be bought here and then only at certain places. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant followed by chendol, (ground rice, pandan jelly, kidney beans and palm sugar) – strange but quite refreshing. KT drove around the coast to Batu Ferringhi, the main tourist area, then through a Durian plantation up in the mountains. We stopped again for Siam Lakse, apparently the only place you can get it, a sort of fish noodle dish and a nutmeg drink. That was literally all they sold but it was packed and apparently at weekends and during holidays the queues are massive! It was great to see something of the island and I’m sure we will explore much more once the Olympics are over! They dropped us at Queensbay, a huge new shopping centre (they love their malls in Malaysia) and we got a couple of buses back to the apartment – a very nice day out – thanks KT and Bee Yong.

We loved the Olympics and probably watched more than anyone – we would get up and watch the evening session from the day before and as soon as that had finished the live coverage would start, worked out very well. Now that they are over we can start to explore Penang!

Walking on the beach

Brian taking a dip

Bananas growing by the side of the road

The view from our room in Langkawi

The beautiful sunset

The flooded passageway to our room

Found in a tea shop - union jack cushion

The fishing port

Para-sailing - very popular on the beaches

Coconuts grow everywhere, green, yellow and red

Look at that crowded beach!

Some exciting waves to play in

Just outside our room