Joe and Ashley World Adventure: Penang, Malaysia

Hawker food at Lorong Baru Night Market

Malaysia is the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia (aside from tiny Singapore) and is an interesting mix of people and cultures. Penang typifies the multi-cultural nature of Malaysia and the successful fusion of native Malay, Chinese and Indian people makes interesting exploring and delicious food. Our stomachs growl just thinking about Penang. Heralded as the food capital of Southeast Asia, we had one objective coming here and one objective only... eat! We opted to stay in Georgetown (named after King George III), the capital of Penang. Beyond the culinary draw, Georgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage site and includes many attractive pre-Second World War houses, 19th century churches, temples, mosques and British colonial buildings.

As we so often do midday in the scorching heat of SE Asian cities, we escaped to the mall to eat. Check out this menu. What makes Malaysian food great is the variety of ethnic influence in its offerings. On this menu alone there was Malay, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Indian options.

This green monstrosity is a dessert. And it's a lot better than it looks. Cendol is a must-try Malaysian treat. Green strands made from sweetened pea flour layered with red beans, crushed ice, coconut milk and brown-sugar syrup.

Reluctant to venture back into the heat, we decided to make a day of it at the mall and headed to the arcade. Joe got his bball on. We figured the 6'6" white guy knocking back shot after shot would attract the attention of the young Malaysian onlookers. Unfortunately, someone stole his thunder...

Lesson learned - don't mess with little Asian boys at the arcade. He more than tripled Joe's high score. We had to document it with a video.

Once the sun came down a bit we went on a walk through the streets of Georgetown.

Headed home with our new yoga mats

Stoop chilling

These small but beautiful hole-in-the-wall temples were everywhere just on the side of the road.

For her birthday, Ashley's parents gifted her with a dinner of her choosing (thanks Rom n' Free!). After experiencing the lowest of low seasons in Ko Lanta, we were anxious to have a night out at one of Penang's newest, busiet hotspots (as per Time Out Penang) at Sesame + Soy in the swanky g Hotel on the river. We made reservations in advance since it was a Friday night. Obviously that was completely unnecessary. Pictured: one of the only two diners in the restaurant that night.

But the tasting menu was phenomenal. Here's the pan seared smoked cod filet with sauteed crab meat, cream milk and egg white along with the fried rice with chicken, prawn, crispy rice paper and pine nuts.

Dessert of jackfruit strudel with chocolate sauce and ice cream along with sweetened water chestnut snow fungus served with Chinese pancake. Mmmm snow fungus. No seriously, it was legit.

Joe handling the pricey bill with the 10 cent wallet he just copped.

We nixed the post-dinner cocktail when we came upon the equally empty bar. For just a brief moment, we truly missed the sardine can bars of NYC.

Georgetown has some serious street art going on. These wire sculptures are all over the place.

One of our favorite spots in Georgetown. Mugshot served up bagels with cream cheese and lox (!!) plus excellent iced coffee. A small taste of home.

It was definitely no Ess-A-Bagel, which would have included an additional pound of cream cheese, five layers of lox and a pushy Jewish guy rushing us through the line, but it still hit the spot.

Party supply store. Next party, these are making an appearance in the loot bags.

We stumbled upon Little India, and though we had just had bagels and some cheese bread from a bakery we passed, we decided we wanted another small snack. We ordered small plates of chicken and mutton. When Joe noticed everyone else had a banana leaf placemat, he asked for one. What he didn't realize was that the banana leaf wasn't a placemat, but the serving platter of a traditional (massive) Indian meal. And so began the endless parade of food.

Didn't stop there...

OK enough already

Seriously?? Well, not being ones to shy away from food, we dug in. Since it is the custom to eat with your right hand with no utensils, we had quite the mess on our hands.

An awesome painting of the lady of the house at the Pinang Peranankan Mansion - a 19th century Chinese mansion in Georgetown. Almost as nice as Bogut's masterpiece, "Grandmama".

The hilarious looking Chinese God of Longevity or Shou star. He controls the life spans of mortals and according to legend, he was carried in his mother's womb for ten years and was already an old man when delivered. That sounds more terrifying than Rosemary's Baby. He is usually shown smiling (wouldn't you be with a dome like that!) and always carries a peach, which is a symbol of immortality.

Channeling Banksy (minus the political activism part), Lithuanian street artist Ernest Zacharevic has pieces found all over Georgetown down small alleys and along major thoroughfares.

Another Zacharevic piece

Joe was one of those children who was deprived of television and had a select few movies to watch growing up. The Mask was one of them. We were at a street fair when he noticed this perfect replica of the mask from the movie, and squealing like a school boy, he couldn't resist playing with it.

Live music at the street fair. Check out those dance floor moves and questionable fashion choices.

Great Nyonya food at Tek Sen in Georgetown. Nyonya food was developed by the Nyonya (Straits Chinese) and Peranakan (mixed Chinese/Malay) people of Malaysia and Singapore. We ordered the asam prawns, braised duck with mustard greens and double roasted pork and had our best meal in town.

The next day we stopped by the China House, a traditional compound of 3 heritage buildings converted into shops, cafes, restaurants, galleries and a theatre. They had a photography exhibit during our visit. This piece by Aline Smithson hit a cord with Ashley since she's missing her last supper buddies from home.

In the mid-1800s/1900s Penang welcomed a huge influx of Chinese immigrants. In order to introduce uncles, aunties, cousins, 10th cousins, old neighborhood buddies and so on to their new home, the Chinese formed clan associations and built clanhouses like this one to create a sense of community for newcomers. A rivalry began to brew among associations and clans began competing with each other over the decadence of their temples.

The traditional clanhouse shocker baton

"Those patio lanterns they were the stars in the sky" - K. Mitchell

This guy seemed to really enjoy his job.

Clanhouses were essentially old school fraternities. Here's the wall of brothers.

Khoo Kongsi - the most famous clanhouse in Malaysia. Built in 1906, it is located in Cannon Square in the heart of the oldest part of Georgetown.

Lanterns at the entrance to the clanhouse

Ancestral tablets for the original clanhouse members.

Beautiful wall murals

If you're trying to attract tourists, you need to rethink your name.

Flower-adorned tuk tuk. Joe can't wait to pimp his bike like this when we get back.

Fancy tea in the tea shop across from our lovely guesthouse the Cintra House (thanks Kantor!).

Ashley embracing the high school nickname that once haunted her.

Malaysia is famous for their hawker stalls. Street dining offers amazing, fresh cooked food for incredibly cheap prices. We headed to the famous Lorong Baru market with tons of stalls to choose from.