Hello there. Finally an update on Penang, a place that has fond memories in my heart. This trip is my third time there, for a friend's wedding as well as to visit a good friend.
The post will mainly speak of the cultural path that we embarked on with the information from the tourist information centre on Beach Street. But first up, my friend brought us to Pulau Tikus for a hearty breakfast and once again, I saw really nice street vendors who allow me to experiment making my own putu mayam using the most traditional tool!
Penang's ever friendly street vendor. You can find this uncle and his wife near the famous coffee shop and morning market at Pulau Tikus. And his putu mayam is awesome with just some gula melaka and dessicated coconut! :)
Penang is one of the most touristy states in Malaysia. In fact, its tourism industry is so matured that it has a well established website for visitors to discover more information pertaining to their heritage trails and walks.
We didn't sign up with the tour since the whole area is pretty much walkable if you can bear with the heat and humidity.
On the art front, if you head on to Armenian Street, you'll be sure to find street arts in the form of wired art, murals, and many more. You'll also be sure to find a lot of markers to tell you where you are.
Of course, I wasn't the only one roaming the street to take picture with the popular little children on bicycle art mural.
After another round of breakfast and to hide from the sweltering heat, we headed off to the clan houses in town. This is one of the many ones, with the popular one being Khoo Kongsi.
If you're not up for walking, then hire a bicycle.
You can get them just about anywhere.
One of the other highlights from such heritage walks is that you're bound to see some traditional items like these wooden clogs! It sorts of blast you into the past and you stroll past these streets, imagining the lifestyle decades back.
Penang is generally resided by the Chinese community and many of them are either merchants from the past or part of the residents who worked for these towkays.
These settlements are now very popular, particularly after some movie filming in the area.
Of course, local residents would soak up such popularity by converting their homes into small souvenir shops.
You could even find photo props prepared for tourists, and for just a small fee, you could utilise them to make your own memories in digital copies!
We walked on along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling and we finally stopped by the St George Church. It's a really beautiful structure, fit for occasions like a wedding ceremony. Next to it is the State Museum. Having been away from Malaysia for years, I thought I'd give the State Museum a visit to see how different it is from the museums that I've been to around the world.
We were first greeted by these vintage cars at the door. The museum seems to be managed by a small Malay family and the entrance fee was only RM 1.
There were quite a lot of exhibits given the building size. It explains the history of Penang and the cultural part of Penang based on its myriad of races.
One particular exhibit that caught my attention is the lotus flower feet. I knew about this from my grandparents though my grandma didn't have her feet bounded. But it never crossed my mind that the size of the shoes are this small! It must have been so torturous for the ladies in the past, thus allowing them to only make those dainty steps.
There were also old stationery like the typewriter which I've used when I was younger. This brings back some really fond memories. I recall I've one that's made by brothers (the brand).
Penang being a straits settlement like Singapore, also explains its history from way past during the times of colonisation. There is a nice exhibit on the second floor which shows paintings that depicts the scenes of the past as well as some cultural games like congkak.
After the short visit to the state museum, my wonderful host rejoin us after a day at work. We went for a simple dinner and proceeded to a cafe for some light snack and catching up.
Penang is now home to many cafes as well. Many of them are themed cafes and amongst the more popular ones is China House.
However, this time around we visited a new place for a special coconut dessert and "dragon's breath"!
The props in the cafe makes everything feel so cosy and homely!
This is the dragon's breath! Basically it's popcorn mixed with liquid nitrogen to have that smokey effect.
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