Penang Pleasures

Thailand is locked in political turmoil so we decided on Plan B – to explore Penang instead. Penang is an island on the North West coast of peninsular Malaysia known for its scenic beaches, well-preserved heritage buildings and great food. The capital George Town is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Our Penang adventure began right on the plane ride when we met J.S. Bok who was seated next to Bob. Bok and Bob hit it off right away! A Penang native and entrepreneur – Bok drew us little maps, and recommended places we had to visit and foods we should taste. It turned out that Bok is the owner of the Hai Nan Town Restaurant – a Peranakan and Hainanese place by the pier!

I should backtrack a little here. Peranakan refers to a community of Chinese unique to Penang, Malacca and Singapore. They came as traders centuries ago. Some men from this community took Malay wives and the children from these Chinese-Malay unions became known as Straits Chinese or Peranakan. The women are called nonyas and the men, babas. Most Peranakans look Chinese because after the first few generations, the girls often married men from China. But they held on to Malay customs and traditions and a new and very delicious Nonya cuisine evolved from all of this. Penang is a center for such cuisine.

Our friend Bok offered to show us a few sights the following morning. He drove us up Penang Hill – a historic landmark and the first colonial hill station developed in peninsular Malaysia. Bok was born and raised on this hill and his dad still lives there. To the locals the hill is called Bukit Bendera. There’s also a railway that facilitates travel. Bok recalled some old times when he and his siblings had to get up extra early to catch the slow train down the hill and then board a bus to get to school! If they missed the train, they ran after it as fast as they could and jumped on! These days, there’s a fast train!

We explored Georgetown in the afternoon heat by ourselves and met up with our new friend at his restaurant by the sea in the evening to sample the food. Some highlights: curry tumis fish or pomfret in a tangy and delicious sauce. This was served in a claypot with some steamed okra and topped with fragrantly fresh minced herbs; assam barbequed prawns and chicken kapitan-an iconic dish. We also had spring rolls, a watercress salad, and vegetables served in fresh lettuce leaves. Dessert was a black rice pudding in coconut milk. Overall, an outstanding and absolutely delicious meal! How are we going to top this when he and his wife visit us in Michigan? We’ll have to think of something.

Penang would not be Penang without the kindness and generosity of a complete stranger who shared so much with us. Yes, we saw the sights like the streets and architecture of Georgetown, the Weld Quay Clan Jetties, Batu Ferringghi Beach, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Pinang Peranakan Mansion, Street Art, and Batik Museum. These were all engaging and wonderful, but in my book it is always the people who make any place special and extraordinary.

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