All Things Yummy

Out of things to do, and I like it that way! The travel brochure lists some 20 odd tourist destination within Penang, but none of them looked particularly interesting. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m much more of a doer than a seer but going to and taking pictures of various temples and gardens isn’t exactly something that I’d go out of my way to do… (unless, of course, if it involves monkeys!)  and by not going out anywhere, I probably had the most relaxing day that I’ve ever had in a long while.

Maybe this is the real charm of Penang - relaxing and eating. I dragged myself out onto Gurney drive to a coffee house called Mr. Pot where I had White Coffee (as far as I can tell, it’s their name for coffee with lots of sugar and cream), buttered toast (which is buttered and has some sweet substance on it), and toast with chicken curry.  As with everything else here, the food was delicious!  After hanging out there for an hour, perusing through the Sunday Times (or Sunday Strait?) where I learned that entry level Kia sedans are considered low level executive car here, I walked another couple of blocks down to the Gurney Plaza where I bought a book (Blind Willow, Sleeping Women by Haruki Murakami - damn, books are relatively expensive here!) and went to another coffee shop where I curled up with some fancy banana / strawberry drink, chocolate cake, and my new book. I got back to the hotel, then went and got a hair cut (another interesting experience - I was served tea to drink while I waited for a seat to open up… and the haircut was followed by a full on scalp massage as part of the wash process, all for less than $10 USD!), then headed to the Gurney Hawker centre for even more delicious and amazing food before finishing the day at the hotel’s coffee shop. The city hustles and bustles, but you can also slow the pace of life right down and be completely oblivious to everything else around you.

Couple of interesting things that I’ve noticed: my status as a Canadian citizen born in Korea but living in US and visiting Penang for 2 weeks seems to completely confuse the locals here. They don’t seem to be able to fully grasp it, though I suppose it actually is rather confusing. Growing up in Canada where everyone is basically an immigrant, I tend to take people moving countries for granted but I suppose it is a fairly rare thing if you actually think about the number of people who actually make that jump. The other thing is that everything here seems to be labour intensive, even the things that needn’t be. Everything from McDelivery motorcycles (yes, McDonald’s delivers here. So do KFC. Free as long as you buy 5 ringgits worth, or ~$1.50) to the way that hawker centres operate, it’s seems to be designed to be as convenient as possible for the consumer at the expense of labour requirements. As someone who’s grown up with doing things on my own and who’s used to that style, the difference is rather jarring, but I’m starting to see the human side of it all. Maybe I’m starting to actually prefer this humane side of commerce as opposed to the western we’ll increase efficiency by removing all trace of humanity from our interactions thing that we’ve got going.

I’ve been working pretty hard (and long!) for the last five days especially I’m interacting with many different members of the team over here in Penang. Since I have fairly early morning meetings (and even earlier shuttle that I have to catch) and I’ve tended to stick around pretty late for work, I haven’t really done much outside of work. Not that work is bad - I’ve enjoyed working with Penang Coworkers (they rock!) and they’ve been taking me out to eat at different places every day… and so far, I’ve yet to have bad food in Penang!

Since this was my first full free day since I arrived a week ago, I figured I’d do some sightseeing, take some pictures, and walk around for a while. After a well deserved sleep, I walked over to the Gurney Plaza which is a big mall nearby the Hotel, then went next door to a famous hawker centre… which was completely empty. After scratching my head, then walking around for a while, I called Arby (coworker whose extra phone I’m borrowing for the trip) who explained that it’s closed until the evening, because it’s too hot during the day. And indeed, the temperature and humidity seemed to be rising by the minute.  After a quick bite to eat at the plaza (Thai fast food place which puts Pacific Thai to shame. Difference, I’ve found, is that initial bite tastes similar, but that the Penang versions has some sort of second layer of texture, flavour, and kick that food in US doesn’t have) I got back to the Hotel and waited until the worst of the heat was over.

At 4pm, I figured it’d be cool enough and took a taxi (or teksi as they write it here) to the Botanical Gardens which is famous for its monkeys.  They were all out there in full force, and looked kinda cute and cuddly, though I was warned that any attempts at feeding will be “No good for you!  No good at all!  The monkeys will call their friends and it’ll be craazy!”.  After about a kilometre into the Botanical Gardens, I found this unmarked dirt packed staircase leading into the jungle. It was very picturesque and being an adventurous sort, I figured I’d start climbing. I fully expected to find a small shrine or something after a short hike. So I went up… and up… and up… and the trail just kinda never stopped. At first, I didn’t really think about it as I was busily snapping pictures left and right. After a while, though, my curiosity kicked in and I realized I’d have to go to the end to satisfy my curiosity.

The trail ended at a little bathroom / water station (called 46? 48?). There were some people there who told me that I was up on my way to the Penang Hill (which I knew had a cable car that brought people up and down) and that last 1/3 is fairly steep and going up wearing flipflops won’t be easy.  I looked down the trail that I had just come up and it looked fairly treacherous (it’s one think to be going up the dirt packed stairs that’s falling apart… but quite another to be going down it when you’re just wearing flipflops).  I figured what the heck, people used to do this climb wearing straw sandals, it’d be good at at least give it a shot.  To cut the long story short, after 90 minutes of hiking, I was on the top of the Penang Hill after finishing a completely accidental hike climbing 2500+ft in flipflops carrying some 3 pounds of camera equipment. I guess I’ll have a funny story to tell in the office come Monday. I wanted to do something nature-ly in Penang so I guess this will suffice, especially it involved me seeing a live scorpion for the first time in my life.

Arby picked me up at the bottom of the Penang Hill and took me to the hawker centre (now open since it was 7:15pm by the time I managed to get down!) and Batu Ferringhi. The night market left much to be desired, though it was one of those “you have to do it while you’re in Penang” thing so I guess it’s good that I went and checked it out. Now, I just need to figure out what I’m gonna do tomorrow.

So, I’m back in Asia for the first time in just under 10 years. The trip was mostly uneventful though I’m happy to report that flying in Business Class is quite nice. The second floor of a 747 feels just like another narrow body plane, though we had 4 stewardesses (flight attendants is probably the properly politically correct term… but I still like stewardesses because it can be typed by just my left hand!) for the 24 passengers on that second floor. The leg from San Francisco to Taipei was probably the most comfortable and the quickest trans-pacific flight that I’ve ever been on. It passed by in a blink.

Another perk that I didn’t think about - getting to use the airline’s lounge - was quite nice as well. In Taipei, China Airlines basically has a mini restaurant inside their lounge serving free food and drinks, on top of free Internet access, nice comfy chairs, and calming background classical music in a very muted and quiet environment.

Despite all the hoopla about having no knives on board, China Airline serves their food with nice set of metal utensils. Eva Air does too, but it’s a plastic knife edge stuck to a metal handle. China Airline seems to have far better food than Eva Air, but maybe I just chose the wrong option. Eva Air’s BBQ Pork, Duck, and Chicken with rice screamed airline food, in its looks and its taste. China Airline’s Beef with Bulgogi Sauce (which I found slightly amusing, since Bulgogi’s basically means fire meat / beef) and glass noodles, on the other hand, was almost like eating something at a restaurant. And China Airline’s dessert was much better. I’m sucker for good desserts. And yes, you were right, T. Both airlines had older airplanes, but very cute stewardesses.

Thean Charn picked me up at Penang and showed me around a bit - I’m staying at a nice hotel with a wonderful view of the sea and the ocean hugging Gurney Drive. Gurney Drive seems to be a popular hangout for teenager couples - every bench if occupied by a couple, with a scooter and two helmets sitting next to it. The ocean is fairly muddy and it’s hot and muggy - very hot and muggy - even at night.

Pedestrians do not have the right of way in Malaysia, and people drive on opposite side of the road… it’s a recipe for disaster. I’ve basically learn to cross the road only when there are other people crossing with me. Toward the end of Gurney drive, there’s a large shopping centre filled with shops. Only some of the names are familiar (Levi’s, Starbucks, Chili’s, Nike store)… but the style seems pretty similar overall. For brand name things, prices seems to be basically the same or slightly expensive than in US. Because food prices tend to be 1 to 1 between Malaysian Ringgits and US Dollar, I keep thinking that other things are more expensive than they actually are, but non-imported things seems slightly cheaper than in US… though not by much.

Anyway, I think I’ve done pretty well for adjusting to Penang time (it’s 9:12PM here, or 6:12AM in Santa Cruz), though I suppose it’s not that big of a deal since I do stay up until 6, 7AM from time to time. In any case, I probably should hit the bed. I’ve lost a day somewhere across the Pacific so it’s back to work tomorrow. Similar office space, same office furniture, but different people some 8000 miles away. Isn’t Globalization amazing?