Highlights of George Town, Penang
Penang’s vibrant capital, George Town, is a city with a rich diverse cultural heritage that sits nicely alongside a contemporary café culture and eclectic art scene.
The first thing that strikes you about Penang is the rich diversity of culture. In the words of one of my taxi drivers, ‘Penang embraces everyone, one day we’ll go and celebrate Chap Goh Meh (end of Chinese New Year) and the next we’ll celebrate Thaipusam (Hindu festival). We love it all here’.
Such refreshingly simple words, but words that epitomise a population that truly embrace and celebrate diversity, and words that made my stay so special.
Little India
Situated in the heart of the George Town, Little India blasts your senses with a riot of vibrant colour, heady incense and blaring Bollywood beats.
As you wander the busy streets lined with stalls, hawkers and shop fronts displaying everything from jewel like sweets piled high dripping with rose syrup, cooking pots of aromatic simmering spices, flamboyant silk sarees and delicately strung flower garlands you could be forgiven for thinking you’d just been transported to a town in India or Sri Lanka.
This Indian enclave is the oldest in Malaysia. I spent many evenings wandering and savouring the atmosphere, and occasionally stopping to satiate my taste buds.
Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant, usually packed with people, became a firm favourite, not because it’s vegetarian per se but because the food was mouth wateringly delicious and great value for money.
China Town
It’s hard to say where Little India ends and China Town begins. As you meander through the narrow winding streets the scent of sandalwood continues to waft in the air, but dragon topped temples, strings of red lanterns, parasol topped rickshaws and beautifully restored heritage buildings replace the glittering array of sarees.
Armenian Street is one of the most renowned in the area and much of the famous street art can be found either on, or close to this street. It’s therefore a firm favourite for selfie hunters, and if you’ve jumped off a cruise ship and have a few hours to spare this is where you are likely to head!
The area bustles with street musicians, boutique shops, art galleries, cafes and restaurants. China House is a particularly cool place to hang out. It’s comprised of 3 heritage buildings interlinked with a pretty courtyard. You can breakfast on delicious coconut black rice porridge, enjoy coffee and cake whilst browsing through the arty book shelves, sample the daily bento box or enjoy late night music.
Clan Jetties
Chinese Penaganites make up a large percentage of the George Town population and the Chinese influence can be seen everywhere, non more so than on the Clan Jetties. Located on the edge of China Town near the harbour, 7 floating villages on stilts rise out of the sea. They were created in the 19th Century by Chinese immigrants and each jetty is home to a different clan.
An urban redevelopment programme almost led to the jetties being demolished, but in 2008 when George Town was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site they were thankfully saved for conservation, thus preserving a very distinctive way of life.
Chew Jetty is the most visited by tourists as enterprising locals have turned their house fronts into cafes, souvenir shops and speciality ice cream parlours where you can sample the delights of iced durian.
However, for a more authentic insight into everyday life on the jetties I’d also recommend exploring at least one of the others. Here the wooden boards hum with kids returning home from school on the back of mopeds, washing is strung precariously between houses, dogs chase in amongst the muddy stilts, potted plants are watered and temples are prepared for daily worship.
Coffee, Vintage and Cool Places to Hangout
Coffee
George Town is a coffee lovers dream and there’s a profusion of gorgeous cafes to idle away time whilst indulging in your favourite brew. Roam and you shall find!
A particularly delightful discovery was the Lunabar Café & Roastery. Situated in a gleaming white art deco building, you are greeted by the luscious green of a rain-forest in minutia, as you enter the serene minimalist interior. Relaxed and friendly, the coffee here is perfect.
Amongst many others, I also enjoyed 2F – a café & roastery located in Jetty 35.
Jetty 35 hosts heritage arts and cultural events. It’s a great place to learn more about Penang’s rich cultural history and enjoy local arts. During my stay I was treated to a fascinating photographic exhibition ‘Eye on Jetties’ which documented the history of the Clan Jetties.
Vintage
If you love vintage clothes, then you’ll love Fujiyama Jeans/Tokyo no.18. My son was so excited by this place, I thought he’d won the lottery when he called to tell me about it! He returned with several bags of clothing and then insisted I visit the next day.
He was right, it’s a treasure trove of second-hand designer goods and brands imported from Japan at fantastic prices. Within minutes I had a pile of bags, clothes and shoes ready to purchase, until I remembered they had to fit into my suitcase! I narrowed it down to one dress. Luckily for my son, he’d had the foresight to pack very lightly and had ample room for his many purchases. Lesson learnt. There’s also a cute little café here should you need a rest from rummaging through the rails.
Hin Bus Depot
Hin Bus Depot is a great place to chill out on a Sunday afternoon. An old bus depot has been transformed into a vibrant outdoor space, run by the local community in support of up and coming artists.
There’s a lovely festival atmosphere and it’s a great place to escape the bustling sweaty city.
Hin is open all week but on a Sunday, it comes alive with musicians, a craft market selling locally produced goods and delicious eateries (tip: try Mama Goose’s dumplings). You can also lounge on the grass whilst sipping an iced cool homemade ginger beer, the kids can play and if you feel like practising yoga, you can!
Street Art
What a breath of fresh air George Town is. Where some locations keep their heels dug firmly in the past, Penang authorities commissioned a London trained Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic and later other local artists to revitalise and add a new dimension to the centre of this historic town through inspired street art. Maps and tours are available, but if you wander and take your time there’s much pleasure to be had spotting works of art along your way.
Food Glorious Food!
Food, glorious food! I’m aware that I’ve mentioned food a few times already, but it’s impossible to write about Penang without repeatedly returning to food. It doesn’t matter where you are – on the sidewalk, by a busy main road, by a temple, by the harbour, in a market, by a school…you’ll not be two minutes away from the heat drenched steamed promise of something extremely tasty. From bubbling vats of sweet, tangy fishy Assam Laksa to sizzling satay skewers the choice of food in this melting pot of a country is immense and well worth the attention it gets as being one of South East Asia’s best places for street food.
My advice, and my only piece of advice really is to get rid of the idea of breakfast, lunch and tea – scrap that! And adopt a grazing mentality, eat when you’re hungry and eat small portions of everything you fancy and try, try, try – make it your mission, to sample something new and 9/10 times (probably 10/10) you’ll be on a zip line straight up into food heaven!
Okay, so I lied about the advice. Don’t leave the country before you have tasted laksa, wan tan mee, char kway teow, oyster omelette, nasi lamak, spring rolls (not those deep fried nasty excuse of spring rolls that you get at takeaways in the UK, but freshly put together, delicately flavoursome steamed rolls), masala dosa, roti canai…and the list goes on!
The iconic Gurney Drive Hawker Centre was my favoured spot for street food due to the proximity to my condo and the immense variety on offer. However, other great places in George Town are Chulia Street, New Lane Hawker Centre and Sri Weld Food Court.
Cecil Street Market
I do love a good old-fashioned market and wherever I go in the world, I love to see what fresh produce is on offer. Cecil Street Market is a traditional wet market where locals do their daily shop. It’s a huge bustling place, noisy and hot, full of purposeful looking people intent on getting the freshest food for their ringgits.
There’s a vast array of stalls selling everything you can imagine. I was particularly intrigued by a long queue that formed next to an empty stall, and then as I glimpsed two men carrying and settling down a whole roast pig. I figured that must be one tasty piece of pork!
Surrounding and intermingled between the market stalls, are of course the ubiquitous hawker stands busily serving up hot snacks to hungry shoppers.
Kek Lok Si Temple
Kek Lok Si is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia and of great importance to the Chinese Malay community. It towers stunningly on the hilltop at Air Atam just a short Grab or bus ride from the centre of George Town.
The temple consists of three main areas, lower, middle and upper. In the middle section you find the temple houses, beautiful gardens and pagodas. If you venture off and find your own little spot to sit down, you can close your eyes and listen to the soothing sounds of chanting.
When I visit a temple, I rarely read the information plaques (call me a philistine if you will). I much prefer to settle down and take some time to still my mind and breathe in the ambience.
Festivals
With four major religions – Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian, there are a great deal of festivals and celebrations in Malaysia. I visited during Chinese New Year in January and February and there was a constant feeling of carnival in the air.
A festival I particularly want to mention is Thaipusam. This is a Hindu festival that takes place on the first full moon late January/early February and lasts 3 days. Malaysia and Singapore hold the largest Thaipusam celebrations in the world. 1.5 million people ascended on George Town during the 3 days!
Brought to Malaysia by South Indian immigrants in the 19th century, Thaipusam is an important expression of Tamil culture and religious identity. The celebration consists of a 4 km procession that begins in the heart of Little India at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple and ends at the Waterfall Hilltop Murugan Temple.
Following 48 days of prayer, celibacy and fasting some devotees pierce their skin, tongue and cheeks with metal skewers and then walk and dance the 4 km long procession in thanksgiving and penance.
Sparkling chariots with offerings of fruit, flowers and peacock feathers slowly move along the procession path, together with drummers, milk carriers, dancers and singers.
It’s a fascinating and chaotic experience, which epitomises the passion and devotion of followers.
At one point, the sudden smashing of coconuts on the road and splatters of coconut milk on my bare legs signalled the start of the coconut breaking ritual! This symbolises the breaking of your ego to reveal the purity inside. Men, women and children grab coconuts and begin lashing them at the floor in a frenzy. I’m not sure if my ego was broken, but I gave it a jolly good try!
If you’re planning a trip to Malaysia, I’d recommend coinciding with Thaipusam.
One word of warning, life comes to a bit of a standstill on festival days, so avoid travelling or trying to get anywhere too fast as Grabs can be difficult to locate!