Malaysia 2011

We touched down at Penang International Airport from Hong Kong. The evening rain shower had finished when we jumped off the bus in Georgetown. Vague recollections from previous visits guided us to our guest house, spooking a few rats back into the gutters, that were searching for an evening meal.

Georgetown, Penang oozes with atmosphere. Whereas much of Penang island is dotted with modern apartments and shopping malls, the historic area of Georgetown has escaped redevelopment. The two historic cities of Georgetown and Melaka attained UNESCO World Heritage status in 2008 which has triggered additional restoration efforts. Once crumbling buildings have been restored to museums and boutique hotels. While Georgetown is in transition, it still has a scruffy edge to it, bicycle rickshaw drivers sleep rough and it suffers from a lack of sidewalks, it is changing. The new Georgetown will no doubt be a fascinating place, but you better hurry if you want to see the old Georgetown.

We stayed at Old Penang Guesthouse, a former shop house that has been simply renovated. We booked two nights and stayed for six. Like the rest of Malaysia, Penang is enriched by three major cultures; Malay, Chinese and Indian. Although the Chinese seem to dominate the island of Penang, the Georgetown Little India is a major facet of the city. We visited restored heritage houses and were soon "templed-out" by the fascinating Chinese temples. It's all about soaking in the local atmosphere.

Penang is mostly about the food. Talk to a local and invariably the conversations turns to food. Some restaurants are open during the day and not in the evenings, while others are open 24 jam (Malay for hour). Hawker stands often appear at dusk and do a thriving business. Our days seemed to be planned around meals; will it be Indian, Chinese or Malay? We have our favorites, all of which made our visit special.

We pushed onto Pangkor island, which we hadn't visited on previous Malaysian visits. It is less of an international destination and more of a weekend or school group place for Malaysians. Groups of nationals would board banana boats or go on snorkeling trips, all wearing life jackets as so few know how to swim. The beaches were fine and although the food doesn't match the standards of major centres, we had some memorable meals there too.

Our previous visit to Melaka was 25 years ago so we were pleasantly surprised by the gentrification of the heritage city. Malaysians and Singaporean tourists flow in and out of Melaka, particularly on week-ends. The old Dutch buildings provide the foundations to the tourist status, a riverside walk has been developed, river cruises are especially popular in the evenings, the Sultan's former palace houses a museum and the Chinatown streets can entertain inquisitive travelers for days. It's about atmosphere and food. Our once favorite tandoori restaurant, Kapitans of Georgetown slipped behind Melaka's Pak Putra, though we still prefer Kapitans' naan bread.

Our next stop was Seremban to stop in to visit Tony (Nepal 1984) whose first book "Free as a bird" has just been published. Yes we had some terrific Indian food too!

We really enjoyed Malaysia and wish we had more time there, but we had an appointment with bed bugs in Makassar and didn't want to miss our flight to Indonesia.

BANANA INDEX

Malaysian Banana Index: a surprisingly low 6 for 1 USD, not representative of the reasonable cost of living.