Eating our way through Penang
Sometimes on our travels we have found ourselves at the right place at the right time. Barcelona comes to mind as a great example of that.
Now, so does Penang.
Funny enough it also involved stumbling on a random parade.
Our first evening in Penang (February 24) began with a plethora of fireworks going off in every direction, which we had grown used to because of Lunar New Year (LNY). We then noticed about 800m (.5 miles) from us there was a parade of floats driving through the streets (we were staying on the 25th floor of an apartment/hotel building so had a good vantage point).
We weren’t sure what was going on and a quick Google and social media search yielded no info. Timing wasn’t great as we had just ordered food delivery and were awaiting the driver, but we decided to pop downstairs for a quick investigation.
Right outside our complex there were people gathered by the intersection but no parade to be found. We had two options: (1) wait for the food to arrive and then walk to the street where we could see parade floats (hoping we didn’t miss them in that time); or, (2) trust the people gathered around the intersection that they knew the parade would be by eventually.
We decided to trust the people…but with no floats in sight, and a general skepticism of groupthink, we weren’t about to sit out in the hot humid weather without a for sure bet. So we went back to our room and tracked the parade from our window. We wound up going up and down the elevator 4 times before we finally timed our arrival to the start of the parade (still beats waiting in the heat and humidity).
What was this all about? We had celebrated the Lunar New Year on Feb. 9th, which is marked by the first new moon of the calendar new year. Well, this was a celebration of basically the “close” of the LNY season (because while LNY is technically a singular day, it really is celebrated as a festival or season, similar to Christmas). February 24 marked the close of festivities because it was the first full moon since LNY.
What more could you possibly want! Whatever it is, Penang has it.
We were supposed to stay a week and we wound up extending our stay by 10 days. Partly because there was so much to do (read: EAT) but also because it was a good place to lay low while we actually did some planning for our adventure into Thailand. Here are some of our favortive things we did:
Batu Ferringhi Beach: Peneng is an island similar to Galveston (in that it sits adjacent to a very large port and is connected to mainland Malaysia via bridges). There are some beaches, mainly on the outer part of the island. Batu Ferringhi is one of them. A quick 30 minute ride from our side of the town we had a very pleasant evening watching the sunset and enjoying dinner on the beach. We took a Grab there but we were committed to taking the city bus back. On our Grab drive up there all we could think was “How the hell does a city bus make this drive?” ( it was a pretty winding and narrow road). We got to find out. It was downright thrilling. A mix between the Knight Bus from Harry Potter and the feeling of careening off the highway in a city bus (something we have also done…Chicago…) the experience was only amplified by the darkness and most of the lights off or flickering in the bus.
Penang Hill: A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve site , Penang Hill is a gem of a stop. We initially were going to plan a whole day around it but wound up doing it in tandem with the Kek Lok Si Temple. The only downside to that approach is we didn’t get there as early as we would have liked (11:00 am vs an ideal 9:00am to beat the crowds). While there were some crowds we only waited about 10 minutes each way to board the more than 1800 meter funicular up to Penang Hill (Penang hill is definitely more of a mountain by our definition). At the top there is no shortage of things to do based on your individual tastes. There are mosques and temples, photo ops, restaurants and bars, and hikes and nature centers. It’s ALMOST like a theme park but with more focus on the scenery and nature. We opted for The Habitat, a paid nature trail that included some cool architectural features amongst the Penang jungle. The best part, it was actually somewhat cool at the top of the hill. The coolest we have been in nearly 2 months at least. The other coolest thing, our proximity to nature. We had two amazing nature encounters worth calling out.
The coral snake: We had just rejoined the main path from some offshoot steps and a viewpoint. My glasses still foggy from the humidity and breathing up the steps so I was still adjusting to full details. All of a sudden I see the path seemingly move… It was not obviously the path melting but a beautiful blue and orange coral snake darting about the path. I think it had been on the path and only moved when I nearly stepped on it because i couldn’t see. I let out the biggest gasp (ryan will jokingly say scream but it was NOT a scream) just in time for him to see it slither away.
The Dusky Leaf Monkey: These are our favorite monkeys that we see regularly. They are very shy normally and have the cutest eyes and don’t at all attempt to steal food or things from people. Near the end of our trail excursion we came across one munchin on some leaves in a tree not far from the path. We stopped as we do to observe and lo and behold it didnt scurry off but actually got closer. Eventually it jumped from tree to tree right above our heads, and was literally the closest we got to the Dusky Leaf (even closer than when they were on our roof in Langkawi).
The Food: We can (and might) write a blog about the food (namely street food) in Penang. KL had great food, Penang had better. It is at the perfect crossroads of Malay, Thai, Chinese, Indian, and Halal food. Not just individual places but so much of the food culture mixes flavors and tastes from each. We even visited the Wonder Food museum, which has larger than life replications of the famous dishes and their history, which was very cool. The Museum was also our planned first stop to get a better grasp of the various foods that were unique to the area. We visited several night markets, hawker centers, and restaurants to get our fill of these delicious dishes. Here are some of our favorites:
Ochien: A fluffy/crispy oyster omelette with a tangy sauce.
Char Koay Teow: A stir fried flat noodle dish usually with seafood.
Nasi Kandar: A rice plate with wide array of sauces and gravies.
Mee Goreng: Another sautéed noodle dish, basically next level Asian spaghetti
Curry Mee: A white curry soup. Only in Asia can you come in from a hot and sweaty day and want to eat hot steaming and spicy soup.
Dune Part 2: Malaysia as a whole was THE place for movies. We watched a fair few in their very superior movie theaters, for very inexpensive prices. By happenstance we were in Penang for the Dune premier! So naturally weeks before we arrived we scoped out the best theater that would be showing the movie on IMAX. We caught it twice of course because…IYKYK. Amazing.
Other things we did:
Kek Lok Si Temple
Georgetown UNESCO Site & Little India
Street Art
Here is the link to our planning map if you are planning your own trip!