Day 55 – Penang, Malaysia

Oct 22nd

Tendering
Since there was no diplomatic briefing, we were allowed to start tendering (taking small boats to shore) early in the morning. The weather was rainy and cold, so the waves rocked the little tender boat a great deal. The seasick students had a very hard time enjoying the ‘selamat dating’ (welcome) to Malaysia, but the rest of us found it to be a fun ride in the morning. Armed with our rain jackets and umbrellas Goldie, Falyn and I boarded a motorcoach for our FDP (Faculty Developed Practica) with Professor Scott. We spent the morning visiting the array of ethnicity communities in Malaysia, since Malaysia’s population consists of 60% Malay, 30% Chinese and 10% Indian. Once Malaysia became the largest producer of rubber, tin and palm oil in the 17th century, the British brought in Chinese and Indians as their main source of labor. Many of them stayed and settled permanently, leading to the three distinct groups that thrive there.

Little India
Our tour guide May Tan was an enjoyable Chinese woman who was still beginning to grasp the English language. While at our first stop in Little India, May Tan told Goldie: “We can share umbrella. It’s a double decker.” We continued down Lebuh Pasar to taste the fresh samosas just out of the hot oil, to smell the drifting scent of incense and explore the plentiful fruit shops along the way. There were numerous, wide-open meat shops that proudly displayed dead, stripped chickens and what we think were goats. Although you felt like you were in India again, the narrow streets were swept clean and not overcrowded. It felt much less chaotic. The place of life on the island proved to be much more laid back. Before heading back to the boat, we visited the Hindu Murugan Temple on Lebuh Queen. We were greeted by a man wearing only a highly decorated loin cloth and bindi on his forehead. The temple was elaborately decorated with multi-colored figurines adorning the roof and ceilings.

Chew Jetty
Next we headed to the Chew Jetty Kongsi in the Chinese area of Pulua Pinano. Established in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants from the Fujian Province of China, the area consists of houses, shrines and food stores built along a wooden pier. This area was a little more crowded, but still felt remarkably peaceful seeing as all the houses were over the water and had great views of the passing boats. Two large Chinese shrines occupied the entrance to the jetty. There were many people gathered around lighting candles and incense and stirring large pots of food offerings. We stopped in the make-shift convenience stores to taste a dried-plumb covered sour powder candy. It was gross. Something I grew to know was that Asian love sour-sweets more than Americans.

Fisherman’s Warf
Then we had lunch on Pinang Fisherman Warf, which ironically had a large, white Statue of Liberty prominently outside the restaurant. It was our first traditional Chinese meal. The banquet hall was set up in 80s wedding décor with tacky pink table clothes, fake flowers and a glitter sign that read “Wedding Dinner” on the stage. There was a long buffet line of mixed sea foods, fried rice, glazed pork, chili chicken, bok choy, spring rolls, worm-looking noodles, fritters and soups. It was so difficult to taste test everything, but we certainly tried. For desert we tried the papaya, juicy watermelon, a blue rice pastry with pistachio-sugar glaze, sweet rainbow-colored gelatin, two cake pastries, neon jello and vegetables with crushed nuts. I surprisingly loved the uncooked veggies with nuts the best. While we were digesting, we explored the area to take pictures of the boats and play with horseshoe crabs and prawns that we found in buckets outside.

Kampong Malay community
Lastly, we headed to Project Kelompok on Jalan Bharu were a small Malay communities prospers. During the drive we saw the rice paddy fields and the rolling jungle hills of Penang. Along Jalan Bharu, the wooden houses sat on tall stilts while chickens ran around the yards. Beautiful and unusual flowers ran down the length of the curbs, which were made by half-buried water bottles. A gathering of adorable, small children stared at us in curiosity while we walked around. They were too shy to leave the security of their houses though.

Rest of the Day
Back at pier, I lost Sara to the horrible tendering process and headed out with Bridget to see some of Georgetown. Georgetown is the capital of the island of Penang, which is one of the largest islands in the Strait of Melacca. It was once a hideaway for pirates, but later became a base for the British East India Company (hence the name). We headed in the direction of Gurney Plaza with the intention of meeting Goldie and Falyn, and saw both Fort Cornwalis and the statuesque Clock Tower along the way. Fort Cornwallis marks the original spot where Captain Francis Light landed in 1786, and consists of wonderfully maintained white colonial buildings. It seems like everywhere we go (ie, Cape Town) there always seems to be a Clock Tower to match. When we finally reached the plaza, Goldie and Falyn were no were to be found. (I finally realized how impossible life must have been before the invention of cell phones.) Then we headed back to the pier to regroup before heading out to Jalan Penang for dinner and drinks. We spent the majority of the night at Slippery Senoritas enjoying Wednesday’s ladies night before crashing at Hotel Malaysia across the street. Goldie, Sara, Britney, Falyn, Becca, Molly and I comfortably (although against Hotel policy) fit seven girls in two beds for the night.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was taking five showers in my first night in Malaysia and waking up spooning with Falyn. My “low” was the tendering process that mixed up everyone and made it impossible to meet up. (After that day, we swore not to use it again until we came back from Kuala Lumpur!)