Relaxing for the first time

I haven't posted in a few days, a result of constant traveling and refusal to pay S$25 a night for Internet access. But I'm back in KL now, relaxing a couple of days before we head back to the States. We made it back from Pulau Bidong tonight, ending what has been a whirlwind two weeks in Malaysia and Singapore. I had a small break this previous Sunday (see previous post) but Monday saw a daytrip to Malacca to look for antiques; Tuesday started a three-day trek through utopian Singapore; and Friday we headed eastward across the country, culminating in a boat ride to the island on which I was born, Pulau Bidong.

But this is it! No more long trips across Malaysia, just local ones around town and dips in the pool. We've been from the far west of the country to the far eastern coast, from nearly the north of the country to way past south into Singapore.

I'll post more as soon as I wake up--it's about 2 in the morning right now in KL, and I've been up since 6 a.m. the previous day.

A lazy Sunday in Malaysia

View from the in-laws' balcony

It's Sunday afternoon here in KL, and the rain has started again. The thunder in the background complements the pitter-patter of raindrops, the occasional downpour heightening the intensity. I love lazy Sundays be it in London, Barcelona, Sacramento or KL, especially rainy lazy Sundays, when there's nothing to do but to relax from the travels and watch the raindrops. Life seems to slow down--even in chaotic KL--and the tropical birds hide away, leaving only the sounds of the rain cascading in the background.

The rain and thunderstorm highlights the one-week mark that we've been in Kuala Lumpur, a week marked with exploration of the city and traveling around Malaysia. It's also an opportunity to relax and reflect before the second (and last) half of our vacation. This past week: Explore in and around KL, go to Jelebu, go to Penang, dinner celebration on Saturday. In line for next week: Malacca, three-day trip to Singapore, and if we have nice weather, a trip to my birthplace, Pulau Bidong.

Bubur pulut hitam

As I wrote before in a previous entry, Malaysia is a foodie's paradise. There are so many different ethnic groups and subgroups and the inevitable mixing of them makes for some of the best eating experiences in the world. Some are so familiar in taste and appearance--if you're a fan of Chinese, Indian, and various Southeast Asian cuisines, you'll find many of the flavors familiar, if served or prepared slightly differently. Others I have utterly no reference points to draw upon. Perhaps the most different dish I had was cendol, a sweet chickpea-derived dessert from the Mamak, the southern Indian Tamil Muslims. Another is bubur pulut hitam, a glutinous black rice dessert by the Nyonya.

Cendol

Also, for a complete gallery of each and every dish I had in Malaysia, follow this link. I've yet to repeat a dish, so we'll see how long I can do that.

A country(side) for old men

One of the pools at the fish farm,
this one for tilapia

Before our two-day trek to Penang, we took a daytrip to Jelebu. Well, more precisely Pertang, which is on the outskirts of the main city of Jelebu.  And when I mean outskirts, I mean out in the middle-of-the-goddamn-rainforest outskirts. My father-in-law is originally from Pertang and his siblings operate various businesses there, including fish farms. The large ponds (see the picture on the left) where the fish are kept were hand-dug by his grandmother when she came to Malaysia from China. Talk about hardcore.

One of the fish farms we visited had coconut trees, mango trees, durian trees, and other exotic fruits like rambutan and mangosteen. Had it been the right season, I could literally walk up (or climb up) and pluck whatever I wanted from the tree. (I did, however, enjoy young coconut water, right from a scalped coconut.)

Chin Ching Ching restaurant, where
old men come to mingle.

The business district area where we went for lunch reminded me of the small town I was at in 2003 in southern China, near the village my family (on my dad's side) was originally from. The restaurant was grimy on the inside, and grimy on the outside, but the food was delicious. But no matter how different various places might be from what we are familiar with, one thing remains the same: Old retired guys will always hang out at the same joints, not eating a thing but eager to drink strong tea or sweetened coffee, swapping stories. No different at Chin Ching Ching.

Not much to pontificate on, just that the area is beautiful and idyllic, and is as far removed from the hustle and bustle of the large cities as you can get. Serenity now. Enjoy the pics below.

Sleepless in Penang

The speakers on the nearby mosque wailed with the undulating tones of Arabic chanting. It was about 5:30 a.m., and I was woken by the Fajr, the morning Muslim call to prayer. I opened my eyes to the wood beams that comprised the ceiling of the hotel room, listening to the melodic rise and fall of the imam’s voice permeating through the dense, muggy air. This isn’t a country in the Middle East, I remembered; I was in Pulau Pinang (or Penang Island in English).

On Penang Hill, looking down
onto Georgetown and the
mainland in the distance

Penang is off the coast of mainland Malaysia and is one of the states. It is a four-hour drive north from Kuala Lumpur, fairly near the border with Thailand. Specifically, I was in Georgetown, the capital city of Penang. A predominantly Chinese town in a predominantly Chinese province, and governed by a Chinese governor, Georgetown begs to be compared to KL. It is a symbol of what KL was and what KL should have been.

In the heart of Old Georgetown is a complete maze of Chinese cantons, homes large and small, and storefronts with names in Chinese, Tamil, Malay and English squeezed onto a single board. Georgetown was founded in 1786 and the cantons date back to about then. This entire area received recognition by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 2008, basically meaning that the old section would be protected from further redevelopment.

A rickshaw in front of the historic
Cheong Fatt Tze mansion

And this is where Georgetown and all of Penang differs from KL—the strong desire to maintain its history instead of bulldozing over everything and rebuilding in the name of progress. The colonial buildings from British domination still stand and the Chinese mansions and storefronts are preserved at the same time that modern buildings are raised and Penang turns itself into the hi-tech center of Malaysia. Public art abounds in the city. In KL, in stark contrast, nary a colonial building still stand and old communities are razed for the next gleaming mall or housing development.

Looking down Chulia Street
in old Georgetown

There is a balance in Penang of maintaining the old and accepting the new. The hotel we stayed in—Yeng Keng Hotel—seemed to exemplify this delicate ying and yang, with classical Chinese décor but with modern features. Old men of Chinese, Indian and Malay descent sit and talk amiably while Western tourists duck their heads into stores that sell hand-made chairs with woven bamboo seats or a camera that dates back to the 1800s. A modern Air Asia storefront stands beside a stall that is seemingly busy fixing engines for all sorts of ancient things.

When I visit a city, I ponder whether I can see myself living there. Though hectic compared to most American cities, Georgetown is a calm oasis compared to the typhoon that is Kuala Lumpur. The old town provides an endless supply of interesting things to explore. And the food—similar to that offered in the mainland—is a cornucopia of Chinese, Malay, and south Indian cuisines and mixing thereof. Of the many cities I’ve been to around the world, Georgetown is surprisingly one of those cities that—yes—I really can imagine myself building a life there. These are the things I thought about as I lay awake in Penang, listening to the haunting call to prayer.