Penang

Penang Rickshaw

Prior to leaving for Penang, I had done my usual pre-trip planning and packing. An essential piece of equipment I have come to rely on very much is my cell phone. Unfortunately, we had also upgraded our power bars and gone all upscale and got one where we could turn the power off and on to specific outlets. More than once I had made the mistake of plugging in the phone only to discover, usually as I was about to head out the door that I had not turned the power on to THAT switch. And this day was no exception, so I had headed out with the cell phone power on the red line, but had packed my power supply, so I planned to just charge it once I was checked in. For some reason it had not occurred to me that while the power may be the same, the power outlets would not be.
Not news to me as we have a kit with about 20 different international plug adapter....which I had left in Phuket. So I could not charge up the phone, or my iTouch, or cameras. Lucky for me it seems many people do the same thing, so I found an adapter easily enough in a store. Which I must now remember to pack in my camera backpack for future trips.

I had planned on the use of a different currency, and getting an ATM was easy, as the other nice feature was upon arrival, before the taxi stand are many ATM's. One difference I discovered, as in Taipei when I was there, is that some of these machines require a 6 digit PIN code. The card is useless in those machines, but there are still some 4 digit machines around. So I could draw out my Malaysian Ringgit, which is the currency, and closer to Canadian money in that it is in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 etc, instead of the Thai Baht with it's 20,50,100,1000 etc. The Ringgit also converts easier for me with the 3.16 Ringgit equaling about $1 CDN.

Prior to leaving I had chatted with people who had been to Penang before and they all said that it was a very unattractive and dirty place. That is not my experience. It has the usual big city issues of litter, which I view more as a people problem. I was also aware very quickly that when I bought something, they never gave me a bag for my purchases. I did finally notice at one store that you could get a bag, if you asked for it and paid extra. So there was certainly no evidence of large volumes of empty plastic bags blowing around I have seen in many other places. And more importantly to me, certainly not in the ocean or waterways, where as an example just recently a leather-back turtle was found dead off the coast here, and it is believed he died at a very young age (for a turtle) from eating plastic bags, which in the water resemble their favorite food, box jellyfish. So I was happy to see somewhere in the world where the use of plastic bags is so strictly controlled as it was in Penang.

I had expected a small city type area, with an historic quarter, as Malaysia had been colonized by the British, the road systems are very well laid out. I stayed in the Georgetown area, which is close to the historic district. But to get there, you go through a very modern large city with many shopping malls, high rise apartment and hotels. Georgetown is a good location, as most of the historic sites are easily walked. Penang itself is connected to the mainland by a 13.5 kilometer, six lane bridge. In addition there are numerous ferries that traverse the waterways.

English is very much spoken and understood with a government emphasis on the importance of English as a second language. Most signage has English wording and there are local magazines and newspapers in English, as well as radio and TV. In a 2005 report the Test of English for International Communication, amongst school students, the results ranked as follows:  Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Burma and Indonesia (tied), Vietnam, P.D.R. Lao (Laos), Thailand and Cambodia. So English speaking visitors should feel comfortable that they can get pretty decent service and information in English when they travel to Malaysia.

I spoke with my friend about the road traffic, as it seemed more fast than I had for the most part experienced in Phuket. He told me that he had been to Phuket and thought they drove very slow here. I do not necessarily agree, especially on a Friday night on Chaofa road West. So my perceptions were correct. They did drive faster in Penang. Street crossing was a bit more hurried. But I was also happy to be somewhere that they actually have pedestrian crossings with traffic lights and people actually DO stop for you. I even had the opportunity to go for a ride on the back of his motorbike, and I must admit that at times, I simply closed my eyes, as keeping them opened from tiem to time made me tense up and wonder how we were ever going to navigate the spaces he though he would. But he did and he is a very good rider. I had initially been hesitant given our body mass differences, but he assured me he was used to driving fat white people around.

Penang is also famous for it's outdoor food carts. One article I had read talked about these carts having, in some cases, been passed on by generation upon generation of families, and I noted some had signs like "since 1976". The variety of foods is incredible. The mix of the Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures brings out some great food combination. But consistent with them all is the little tiny side dish they serve the food with, equal to about 2 tablespoons. I thought the Thai's had the market cornered on spicy chillies. I was mistaken. The little side dish is little, I am sure because if you consumed more than that amount, I am sure you would experience spontaneous combustion.

While my trip had been meant to be a short one, to get an orientation, it was even shorter when I underwent a hernia attack at 4AM on my second day. Lucky for me, like Thailand, a wander to the closest Happy Mart or 7-11, they have a medication section, where you can dose up on things to manage acid reflux and pain. After 24 hours, my friend decided I needed to go to a pharmacy, where I met with the pharmacist for a consult and he gave me behind the counter medication. So the last of my time was spend mostly in bed and soaking in hot baths (apparently part of the Chinese treatment plan), which relieved the pain quite a bit. My trip back to the airport was uneventful, and the fare was the same as when I had come to the city. Penang Airport is a small place, but efficient, and I was processed through check-in and immigration in no time flat. Oh yes, I almost forgot, in case you did nto get your fix of McDonalds (is there anywhere in the world they are not located?!?!?!), they have a very large outlet at the Penang airport.

The flight boarded on time and soon my trip was over. I will be back, most likely in November, as Clive wants to run the half-marathon there, and I still have much to discover!