It was two days before New Year’s Eve. Recounting the past ten days spent in the island nations of Singapore and Malaysia, it had been the perfect conclusion to the year. 2019 was a year filled with many travels, meetings of friends and family, and shared celebration of all of the good fortune that surrounded us. As I started to organize my luggage in preparation for our flight back to the states, I decided to do something that I always do on the final day of travel. Rereading my journals and visiting the last remaining points of interest that had been reserved for the tail-end of our journey.
The Jewel
Just like a pearly necklace sparkling with a blinding shimmering light, the Jewel of Changi Airport surprised us with its grandiose scale. Jewel is a shopping center built inside the airport that houses a rainforest and impressive waterfall vortex simulating an oasis in the depth of a forbidden island. Jewel was quintessentially Singaporean with its impeccable presentation of reputable shops and eye-catching attractions. When Becca and I visited the skywalk bridge, we had no questions about why it had become a quintessential part of the Singaporean experience.
We saved Jewel for our last destination because we lodged at a hotel nearby for the last day in Singapore and it was relatively easy to squeeze into the action-packed schedule on our way back from Penang. After exploring and having lunch at Jewel, we took a taxi to check in to the hotel. Becca and I then ventured out to Chinatown for our last souvenir shopping.
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It was Sunday afternoon but we must have missed the rush hour of visitors as Chinatown was calm in its temperament. Strolling around the vibrant neighborhood felt relaxing under the somber grey sky. Markets and vendors all seemed to enjoy the slower pace of a sleepy weekend before a rainstorm that will inevitably tuck them under their canopies. Becca and I were on the search for sambal (Indonesian chili paste) and kaya (coconut jelly) to take back home. On our walk we drifted along the mood of the weekend’s end that had perfectly synchronized with the sentiment of the ending trip.
Watching the rain clouds from Five Oars Coffee Roasters on Tanjong Pagar Road
After bidding farewell to Chinatown, we stopped at Five Oars Coffee Roasters on Tanjong Pagar Road for a cup of coffee before heading back to Changi. We sipped on a coffee and nibbled on a chocolate treat as we reminisced about all of the places we had visited. Our trip to Singapore and Malaysia was something like a fresh stroke of a brush on an empty canvas, and we did not expect it to be such an amazing experience at the end. From the night stroll around Chinatown to the mystical rainforests gallery in Penang, we made some of the most unforgettable memories in great company. If my tired legs had been the result of the many miles of earth we had walked across in this previously unknown part of the world, each ache was not only worth it but well-deserved.
Thank you Singapore and Malaysia for treating us well. And… thanks to you, the readers, for sticking around with us on this special journey. Hope you stay well and that we see each other again very soon!
Waking up with the sun became routine during my latest trip. Each morning, I wiggled my way out from a double king sized bed that faced the ocean and saw a glimpse of amber and crimson light ascending over the Penang skyline. It was a new day in paradise.
The first sight of the day in Penang. George Town bathed in morning light.
Each morning I would hurriedly throw on some clothes, grab my camera and head out the door – careful not to wake the peaceful dreams of my roommates. When I got to the elevator hall, I saw the spire of a golden pavilion beneath the high rise apartments and immediately decided to make it as the first destination. My first morning stroll around the neighborhood offered an introductory glimpse of the numerous buddhist temples situated throughout George Town.
A few steps from the apartment, I found myself exploring the little corners of Thai and Burmese buddhist temples shimmering in gold. It was still early in the morning and there was no one besides myself, a few monks sweeping the streets along and a few street vendors setting up their tents, getting ready for the day’s business. It was a peaceful and meditative experience to explore vacant buddhist temples and admire their quiet gardens.
When I returned to the apartment, Becca and Michelle were awake and sitting in the sunlit living room. We made cups of coffee and enjoyed the birdseye view of George Town expanding outside the windows. It seemed nearly impossible to escape from the comfort of lounge chairs and the gentle caress of sunshine in order to plan the day’s activity but, eventually, our friends Kea and David invited us to join for lunch at Nasi Kandar restaurant just a few blocks away from the apartment.
If I were only able to choose one dish to write home about it would be Nasi Kandar: a Penang originated Malaysian curry dish that we had at Restoran Mohammed Raffee Nasi Kandar. Nasi Kandar is like a distant cousin to Indian curry, somewhat familiar yet not formally acquainted. This delectable northern Malay dish was incredibly savory and full of intricate spice notes. None of the spices overpowered the other’s flavor and there was a perfect balance and harmony in the combinations of different curries; this made it a pristine culinary experience.
The ordering system was quite simple. We queued and picked the main proteins and vegetables along with extra add-ons such as fish head and fried eggs. Then the chef poured large ladles full of curry gravies over the plate to complete the dish. I picked chicken and fish head as my main proteins and asked to garnish the plate with as many varieties of side vegetables as possible. Of course, I had to add a fish head and fried eggs as well. No holding back!
After we filled our stomachs with incredibly delicious nasi kandar (that I will dream about every single day from here on), we hailed some taxis to the art district of George Town where our friends’ uncle (i.e., an older friend) runs his workshop and a gallery. It was a quick few minutes drive to reach the main art street of Lebuh Armenian where we strolled down a narrow historical street. There were many iconic art installations including the works of Ernest Zacharevic.
Shop Howard was located in the center of the art district surrounded by many iconic street arts and quintessential Penang scenery complete with the pedicab stalls. We entered the shop and were greeted by Howard, who photographs and publishes photo collections highlighting everyday life in Penang. He guided us to a satellite gallery established inside an old Peranakan style house. Here are some shots from the excursion.
The art district in George Town showcases an interesting amalgamation of the old Penang lifestyle and a young creative energy. This neighborhood is surrounded by many buildings that are getting on in their years, one could say ancient, yet enlivened by inciting and inspirational street art and a feeling of true, uninhibited culture. It was very interesting to see modern cafes and boutique shops operating next to old storage and office spaces – like bright young children walking joyfully, hand-in-hand with their grandparents. The state of this amalgamation revealed the contrast of economic evolutions that Penang is going through today.
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China House was a fantastic stop for a coffee break and to treat ourselves with tasty cakes. This traditional compound, made of three heritage houses, has transformed into an international tea house for locals and travelers to rest their weary wings. In this long, narrow and busy cafe people gather for quality conversation over sweet treats and kopi (Malay for coffee). In the back of the cafe there is a quaint outdoor space where we found the perfect table to enjoy the passing time. We tried the cafe’s popular cheesecake, pound cake, and chocolate cake and washed them down with a few cups of latte. After the coffee break, we continued our adventure through the art district.
“Boy on Motorbike” by Ernest Zacharevic
We strolled down Lebuh Ah Quee and admired the multi-medium mural work by Ernest Zacharevic including his famous “Boy on Motorbike.” We made a turn to cut through the Little India of Penang and detoured back to Uncle Howard’s shop. Along the way, we had a quick glimpse of a day in the life of Penang.
George Town is also an exciting place for nightlife. There are some great options for regional fancy drinks. In the evening, Becca and I ventured out to meet our friends at Good Friends Club next to Hin Bus Depot, a famous art center for Sunday flea market and industrial art installations. We started the evening at Good Friends Club and eventually found our way through the backdoor to the speakeasy bar. Backdoor Bodega is Penang’s best kept secret (hopefully I won’t be banned from re-entry after sharing this). Whether by friend’s invitation or a pure happenstance, if you ever find your way, you will be pleased to find yourself there.
Good Friends Bar motto: “Good friends never bojio.” Bojio means not invite.Good Friends Bar stands next to Hin Bus Depot. You can wander outside the bar to see the murals on the industrial buildings.
Backdoor Bodega is a dimly lit cocktail bar in the back of an apparel store that serves many varieties of original Penang cocktails. One of the most unique flavors that I tasted was Lao Hao Peng made with a nutmeg cordial that was tangy, aromatic, and for lack of a better word: adventurous. The evening at Backdoor Bodega was a wonderful time spent with friends both old and new. The bar also had open access to the apparel store where we played foosball and had a good chat with newly made friends that are also regular customers of the bar.
Backdoor Bodega is a speakeasy bar in the back of apparel store.
Thank you for reading this blog post. Hope you enjoyed it!
In the next post, we will take our journey to the western region of Penang Island -flourishing with vegetation and an art gallery in nature. Please stay tuned.
Singapore, being an island nation that used to be part of Malaysia, it seems natural to think that there must be many intersections in the underlying cultures and to expect some similar experiences when traveling to these places. A short flight from Singapore to Penang revealed the dramatic differences between the two nations: Singapore in all of its well curated splendor and Malaysia as the more earthy and earnest sister of this corner of Southeast Asia.Penang is the spirit that runs like a current of electricity through Singapore.
We spent the morning at the Jewel in Singapore’s Changi Airport (a report of that experience to be shared in a later post), and took a one hour and thirty minutes flight to Penang. Penang Airport, unlike Singapore’s magnificent piece of art, was modest in size and resembled many small city domestic airports in the United States. There was no intimidating excess of shopping and the airport’s arrival terminal was designed for travelers to quickly diverge their paths as soon as they hauled their luggage. Becca, Michelle, and I exited the airport smoothly and used the Grab app to hire a taxi to reach Gurney Drive where we had booked an Airbnb for our 3 nights stay in Penang.
Our taxi driver was very conversational and shared many good recommendations for food to eat in Penang. He also plugged in a few questions about the price of electronics in Malaysia and mentioned how he is a proud owner of the latest iPhone. Somehow it didn’t occur to me that Penang is one of the up-and-coming hubs for technology companies in Malaysia. There are many people working at startup companies full-time while also driving ride shares for extra income – much like back in California! I watched the buildings of tech companies, a scenic Jerejak Island floating in the distance and Penang Bridge extending to mainland Malaysia as we drove up the coastal highway to George Town.
Ocean view from our Airbnb on Gurney Drive.
Gurney Drive is a resort center in Penang that stretches along the expansive beach shoreline and offers incredible ocean views from almost every 2 storey+ building. We stayed on the 10th floor of an apartment building a few blocks away from the beach and basked in 360 degree views of the Pacific Ocean from the windows. DEspite the fact that the beach outside the apartment was still under maintenance from the aftermath of the tsunami a few years back, we fully enjoyed the changing view of Penang in day and night from our resort accommodation.
Twilight hour from our Airbnb.
Our first day in Penang was spent relaxing with takeout curry from the hawker stalls (thanks to Grab app delivery). In the evening, I ventured out to Gurney Drive Hawker Center to join the wedding party for the first contact with Penang delicacy.
Gurney Drive Hawker Center bustling at night.
My experience at Gurney Drive Hawker Center was quite different from the previous night spent at Newton Food Center in Singapore. The place was bustling with energy, and people were wandering shoulder to shoulder with little to no space between passing! I also noticed there were significantly more varieties of Malay cuisine that I had not seen at the other hawker centers we visited in Singapore. Kudos to my friends for securing a full size table amidst this madness!
Chicken satay from the hawker stall. Penang Rojak! a.k.a. Malaysian salad.Newlyweds!Chee cheong fun. A delightful rice cake with sweet and spicy soy paste.
Just like in Singapore, our table was filled with a bountiful rotation of regional flavors. I got really busy trying different types of noodle dishes and analyzing the flavor notes in each bite of exotic salad dishes. Street food culture in Penang was a poignant culinary expedition and I needed to use my taste buds as guidance to navigate through the intricate maze of flavors.
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Gurney Drive Hawker Center was a great introduction to the Penang culture. Not only did I have a chance to appreciate many incredible foods, but I was exposed to the authentic Muslim culture that exists in Malaysia. Rojak, which is one of the Muslim culinary experiences, was definitely one of the more shocking encounters I have had on my curious walks around the hawker centers. I had no preliminary knowledge about this Malaysian style salad, but one particular stall named “Disco Pasembur Rojak” lured me into the depth of this mysterious delicacy. Like a moth to flame, I joined the winding queue of the festive stall that blared awesome 90s dance jams (somehow it was not disco music). Immediately, I saw many people smiling and enjoying picking from the selection of toppings for the salad.
I was a total noob and had no idea how a rojak stall works. I just followed the queue and did what everyone else was doing: took a green plate and used the tongs to pick up what appears to be fried fish cakes and tofu, all the while bass heavy music was bumping from the overhead speakers. At the very end of the line, a gentleman with a big knife collected my plate and chopped the fried items into tiny bite size pieces. Once the pieces were reasonably diced down, he added bean sprouts, fresh green vegetables, and finally poured a heavy dollop of mysterious red sauce.
Rojak!
Unfortunately, I do not have a good comment to provide for rojak as far as flavor is concerned. It was strangely sweet and dense! I can say this would be a perfect meal to eat after only having a bowl of cereal for breakfast in the morning as it will definitely fill you up. It was by no means a substitute for a fantastic bowl of laksa, which I followed up with to cleanse my taste palette.
Penang-style laksa was quite different from Singaporean-style. Penang laksa I got from the hawker stall was tangy, acidic, and fishy. It had a very strong flavor. This dish is definitely not for everyone, but I liked it a lot!
Evening seemed to calm down as the dinner crowds started to part ways with their respective happy bellies. I took a taxi back to the apartment with takeout chicken satay and Penang-style laksa. After settling down for a few minutes at the apartment, I took the elevator to find a fancy cocktail bar with a view on the top floor of the apartment. Here’s some shimmering views of George Town at night from the sky room:
Thank you for reading my blog post! Next we will explore the art districts of George Town and some reports on hidden gems of nightlife. Please stay tuned!
