Penang - Part 2 - Heritage

Choeng Fatt Tze Mansion - Looks like a blue version of our old Singapore house
The tour is about to begin.
Indigo - great word, great color.
Detail of the work made from broken dishes.
Click to make it big.


No photos in the house - but here is the entry way.
Rickshaws from back in the day.
The lady of the mansion?
A tourist disguised as a tourist.
The Hainese Buddhist Temple and our guide, Joann.



Passing politicians extolling the virtues of their hometown.
The shrine outside is for Gods traced back to Islam. Can't be inside because pork is served their on occasion.
Even the ceilings tell a story.
The dragon guards the gate.

Stone, hand carved in Hainan and shipped to Penang.

Tools for the Buddhist fortune telling ritual. Stones to determine if the Gods want to answer your questions and sticks with numbers that lead to detailed answers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kau_Cim
A shop house in the Straits Eclectic style (1890-1940)
In need of repair but still very beautiful to see.
This (and many other) shophouse is used solely for allowing the owner to collect "bird's nest" or swallow spit. Very profitable. The entire house is closed except for small holes where birds enter and exit. They say there can be thousands of birds in the house. Think of the poop! Think of the neighbors!
Local kopi roaster. They add sugar, nutmeg, chocolate, salt and even sesame seeds to give their blend a distinct flavor.

Drying Joss sticks outside the Joss Stick maker's house. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joss_stick

Real Joss Sticks are made from sandlewood powder (great aroma), sticky powder and sawdust.
Mr. Lee is the last joss Stick maker in Penang and one of the few old time Joss makers in the world. Now most are made cheaply in China.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee and their "factory".
Joss stick come in many shapes and sizes from tiny to jumbo temple sized.

Penang is kind of like what Singapore would be like if they hadn't torn down most of the interesting and historic buildings to make way for modern boring buildings which have already been torn down and replaced by even more modern, more boring buildings.

In Penang there are still many shop houses, old Buddhist and Hindu Temples, mosques and hawker streets. There are also some very cool restored old homes built by people who arrived in Penang and made their fortunes. Georgetown, along with another Malaysian city, Malaka have been given the UNESCO "World Heritage" designation. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1223

Our first stop was the Choeng Fatt Tze mansion. http://www.choengfatttzemansion.com/

Mr. Cheong left China at age 16 penniless and built himself a huge empire. He had many homes and many wives. The Penang home with it's classic Chinese style adorned with many Western eclectic touches is said to be one of only two such buildings found outside of China. We took a tour with an excellent guide, Joann. She was extremely well versed in the history of the home, the architecture and more importantly the fung shwei. It should also be noted that several movies, including Indochine http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104507/ were filmed on location in the mansion.

After the tour we learned Joann was a heritage tour guide for the city of Georgetown and we promptly signed up for her walking tour scheduled for the next morning.

Saturday afternoon, as the rain ranged from a drizzle to a monsoon, we trudged around the city look at buildings, popping into temples, eating and exploring Penang's Little India.

Sunday, while it was still very cloudy and gray, at least it wasn't raining. We met Joann and the small tour group at 9AM and we were off on an extremely interesting and informative 3 1/2 hour tour of Georgetown. We learned so much about shop houses, Chinese architecture, Victorian architecture, the rituals of some of the Chinese Buddhist religions, joss stick making, food, kopi making and bird's nest harvesting that I am hoping to apply for some college credit for it.

More pictures posted soon!

Soggy Penang - Part 1 - Lodgings

Welcome to Malaysia!
Stately and Elegant - the E&O
Nice pool, too bad it rained the whole time.

Protected by her umbrella she steps onto the veranda.
Our view. Attacks by sea strongly discouraged!
It was dry inside.
But freezing with the aircon. Needed the soggy warm outside air.
Tempted but I didn't steal one.

So much going on - so little time to write.

While we have lived in Singapore for over 2 years Sophia has never been to Malaysia. It is not only Singapore's closest neighbor, but as many of you know Singapore was part of Malaysia until 1965 or so. So in anticipation of a possible move out of here we are trying to see some places we've passed up so far. Last week was Penang.

Penang is an island in the Northwest part of the Malaysia peninsula.

http://www.tourismpenang.gov.my/ It is the site of the second largest city in Malaysia, Georgetown. It's an old colonial port so there is a bit the colonial era mixed in with the cultural and architectural flavors of Malaysia, China and India. It's about an hour and half flight from Singapore.

Not being resort people we stayed at the oldest grandest hotel in the city the Eastern and Oriental. http://www.e-o-hotel.com/eoh/index.htm The hotel was built and run by the same people who built and ran the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

While the food at the hotel was average at best, the location, room, grounds and view were outstanding.

Now if only it hadn't rained like a monsoon the whole time we were there!

Gimbels in Asia - Pt. II

Dad changes some US for some play money.
Already warm and the walk has just begun.
A sweaty Saturday
Still smiling after the long march.

Noah and Sweet at Chef Kang's
Ready to gobble up some chicken feet?
"Mmmmm - more please"
It wasnt too great but we ate it.
Having a laugh?

Mr. White Pants preparing to address his spill.
"No one will notice"
Saying goodbye after an ammusing meal - note the Chef himself standing behind the car on the left (not the sign, the real guy).
"I'm Just a gigolo..."

Myrna finds FMG hilarious

Close your eyes, you'll think it's Sinatra....
Tiger beers make everyone sound good.
Sonny and Cher..........NOT!
Peaches and Herb...perhaps.
Nothing like Teka on a Sunday

Noah and his fellow travelers checking in at Air India.
Myrna, our delicate flower.
Dad messing up all of Anne's packing.
"I must be in the front row!"
Time to head home :-(

Well, the family visit has come to an end. It has taken me a little time to recover enough to write. First of all let it be said that we had a really great time with my Dad, Anne and Noah. It was really great to have them here to see how we live and to give them a real taste of all that is Singapore and Southeast Asia. From the the culture and quirks of Singapore, the tropical heat, the hawker centre foods, the many languages and accents, the efficiency of the airports to the great cooking and laundry service from the multi talented Myrna, I really think they all had an experience to remember.

After we all returned from Bangkok Dad and Anne took a separate side trip to Bali. They were wowed by the lush and plush Ritz Carlton. http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Bali/Default.htm They stayed in a beautiful Villa and said the service and attention they received was enough to make them think about staying forever. When they returned for their last stint in Singapore they came back to earth by moving back into the Mercure Hotel, a few blocks from our house. http://www.mercure.com/mercure/fichehotel/gb/mer/3610/fiche_hotel.shtml

The last days they visited the botanical gardens, the Art museum and a few other spots.

On Saturday we took a walk along East Coast Park. http://www.visitsingapore.com/mysingapore/#East%20Coast%20Park Fortunately for our visitors, during most of the visit the temperatures were abnormally comfortable. Cool breezes and clouds instead of the usual sun and oppressive heat and humidity. Saturday it was normal and our walk became more of a death march. The sun was out and the air was hot and sticky as we walked the few blocks to the park. Once there it became evident that it was not a great day for a long walk, but I pressed on and took the gang along. After about 30 minutes Anne was clearly wilted, Sophia was giving me a look and Dad and Noah were trooping along but clearly schvitzing a bit more then usual. By the time we reached the hawker center for a cool sugar cane juice and a snack of wings and sate I think everyone was a bit on edge. We put Dad and Anne in a taxi and Sophia, Noah and I walked back. I must admit, the heat took its toll on me and I suffered from a headache most of the afternoon.

That night we walked to a nearby Cantonese restaurant that had gotten good reviews in the most reliable Singapore dining guide, the Makan Sutra. http://www.makansutra.com/index.php "Makan" is the local word for the food people eat. So we went to the Canton Wok by Chef Kang. We had Myrna and also our friend Sweet along with us. The place is pretty plain for a mid scale restaurant. It's in an odd shaped building set back from the street. We had to navigate between parked cars to get to the door. Once inside our big round table awaited us. the room was packed with local families. The noise level was high. There was a menu but there were also a bunch of set meals with dishes listed like shark cartilage soup, fried brinjal, and yuan yang ribs. We opted for one of the meals. Dad selected a fine red wine, OK the only one they had. I think it was from somewhere other then China but not too far off.

First up was the soup. We all immediately noticed the aroma - kind of like wet towels mixed with old sneakers. If the smell wasn't bad enough the contents were enough to scare the 5 of us Westerners away. The soup was laden with lovely little yellowish multi digit chicken pieces - i.e. feet! They looked like little human hands. While Myrna and Sweet grew up in Philippines as chicken feet aficionados, even they were reluctant to gobble on them at our table. Noah reluctantly tried a minuscule bite of one. I don't think he will be back for more anytime soon. the shark cartilage component is supposed to be an aphrodisiac. I think it would be difficult to feel amorous after consuming such a stinky bowl of soup. http://www.aphrodisiology.com/shark-fin-soup

The next dishes were equally below average or unappealing although the fried brinjal (eggplant) was alright. the chili crab (a Singapore speciality) was only average. Myrna, our resident seafood expert told us the crab was not fresh. The steamed fish was catfish and once again, Myna, who comes from a family of fishermen was loathe to eat any fish not caught in the sea. I thought it was OK.

The "coup de gras" was the dessert. A hot soup tureen was placed on the table.

We learned that it was a concoction of papaya and fungus. Mmmmmm nothing like hot sugar water with boiled papaya and crunchy fungus to top off a meal!

We had a lot of laughs and especially cracked up when Dad, wearing white pants in true Schmenge style learned that he had spilled a large glob of orange chili crab sauce in his lap. His antics in trying to remove the stain from his crotch had everyone in stitches. As we were leaving I do think I saw the very staid multi generational Chinese families sitting at the other tables looking at us, puzzled, amused and insulted at the same time.

While Chef Kang did stop by the table to chat with us and the service and attention was very nice in spite of the fact that no one on the staff spoke English, I don't think we will be returning anytime soon.

After dinner we walked back towards home and stopped at a small karaoke bar that Noah and I discovered a few weeks back. It's a friendly little local pub and looks like almost any small bar in the US except they have a huge video karaoke catalogue and a small but very engaged clientele. You pick you song, turn it in and wait until the mike works its way to your table. The crowd was small and first time through we were treated to Sweet singing the Frank and Nancy Sinatra song "Something Stupid" and me trying out Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual". The round was highlighted by Frank singing "Just a Gigolo". Apart from the fact that he was about 5 words ahead of the lyrics and the beat he was very well received by the crowd. Myrna, afraid to take the mike was loudly singing along to all the songs. The crowd ranged from off key yokels with really strong Chinese accents to pretty decent Elvis, Sinatra and Engelbert wannabes.

Next round, Frank and Anne did a dysfunctional duet of "I've Got You Babe". By the end of the song I think they were on the verge of having their marriage go the way of Sonny and Cher's. Noah chirped in his fine tenor voice to a Beatles's tune and I topped off my singing night with a probably censored in Singapore if the government actually heard the lyrics - "The Harder They Come". I'm no Jimmy Cliff, more like Cliff Claven.

We headed home pleased for the most part with our evening.

Sunday we visited the Teka market for bryoni, murtabak, prata and lassis as it was Noah's wish to have one more Singapore Indian breakfast before he headed to the real India.

Our last night together Myrna made a spectacular dinner of steamed sea bass, fired prawns, mixy mixy veggies, rice and more. Best meal we had in a long time.

We then said adieu to Frank and Anne as they headed back to the US. Noah had already left for India and but for a very brief pop in to pack and sleep a few hours, his visit with us is also over. So happy they were all here and so sad they have now all gone home.