36 Hours in Penang, Malaysia

After an epic ten days in Myanmar over the holidays, we were both worn out on adventure travel and busily settling into life in Singapore. I was working around the clock on a local project for a few months, and we suddenly remembered what it was like to be real people with limited days off. This period also coincided with the local rainy season and Chinese New Year, which is when everyone in Asia takes vacation, and prices for flights and hotels soar.

None of this was going to stop us from exploring, though. Our solution was to plan a few close-range trips. One weekend we took the ferry to Bintan, Indonesia (not chronicled here as we mostly sat under a mosquito net in our beach shack as it poured rain). But another, far happier weekend in February, we spend the last night of Chinese New Year on Penang island, just off the west coast of Malaysia. We took the expat weekend warrior title seriously, flying in early on a Saturday morning and out on a Sunday night. New York Times Travel Section, eat your heart out.

Penang, like Singapore, has a long history of Straits Chinese settlement as it was a strategic shipping port between India and Asia. The result is an island anchored by a capital, George Town, that is more Chinese/Buddhist influenced than most of Muslim-majority Malaysia: it has beautiful temples, colorful shophouses, lots of street art, and an amazing blend of cuisines. The entire George Town downtown is one giant UNESCO World Heritage site. It felt like a friendlier, quirkier, and much cheaper Singapore.

Our guesthouse, Carnarvon House, was a classic George Town shophouse run by a friendly Malaysian family. They also made us a delicious curry in the morning for breakfast! I guess you know you live in Asia when that sounds appealing.

After dropping our bags, we walked around taking in the main sights: entire villages clustered on jetties in the harbor, beautiful Khoo Kongsi temple, street art, cute shopping areas, and Chinese New Year decorations and offerings.

Khoo Kongsi temple ranks among my favorite temples I’ve been to (and readers will know… we’ve been to a LOT of temples). The incredible hand-painted lanterns and detailed murals are worth the trip to George Town alone.

Penang is famous for its street food, so that night we headed to a local hawker and had our fill of dumplings, laksa, and satay washed down with some Tiger beer. Alcohol was cheaply available everywhere, which is a big difference from much of the rest of the country and added a (tame) backpacker bar scene that we weren’t expecting. After dinner, we walked to George Town’s most famous coffee shop, China House, where they have literally about a hundred kinds of cakes on display. For those that don’t drink, coffee shop culture is huge. And have I mentioned that sampling food is a national pastime in Malaysia?

In the morning, we strolled through the local Sunday market before checking out the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, a lavish Straits Chinese house museum. This outrageously gilded house of a wealthy Chinese family from the turn of the century did not disappoint. Highlights included “old-fashioned CCTV,” a system of mirrors set up around the house so that the rich/corrupt head of the family could always see behind him. It was pretty much the Scarface mansion of Penang, complete with the balcony and pool.

Before heading to the airport, we had time for one last meal, so we chose a Peranakan café, Jawi House, for lemuni rice (cooked with blue tualang flowers) and prawns. Lazat! Properly stuffed, we (reluctantly) flew back to Singapore.

Penang has a great mix of colonial charm, local food, and international savvy, not to mention some great hikes and beaches outside of George Town. After living in super-sterile Singapore, it was also a welcome reminder of how art and music can breathe some life into a city, and how heritage can be preserved while still making way for modern life. Weekend warrior rating: 5/5 bowls of laksa.

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And by the way… time for a life update! We left Singapore a few weeks ago (in July) after Andrew’s year-long contract ended. Due to some corporate merging, we found out that his position out here wouldn’t be renewed. He considered staying on in a new role at the Singapore office, but ultimately, we felt like the timing was right to leave at the end of our lease, focus on travel, and (slowly, reluctantly) make out way back to the states. We’re both open to other opportunities in Asia, but it didn’t make sense to keep our very tiny and very expensive apartment in Singapore while we figured it all out.

Therefore… we’re now mobile until at least the end of September! We have a lot of travel planned, which I will eventually chronicle here. In the meantime, I’m working on a few remote projects and hope to also blog through the travel backlog as I go.

Here’s our travel calendar:

• Mid July: Borneo and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Late July: Sri Lanka
• Late July / Early August: Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Early August: Hanoi, Bai Tu Long Bay, Ninh Bihn, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Mid August: Yogyakarta, Lombok, and the Gili Islands, Indonesia
• Late August: Singapore
• Early September: Hong Kong
• Mid September: Japan (itinerary TBD, but starting in Osaka, Kyoto, and ending in Tokyo with maybe a few other stops)
• Late September: a soft landing in Hawaii, followed by a one-way ticket to San Francisco, California…
• ?