Penang – Malaysia return journey!
Nothing about Star Lodge on Jl Lebuh Muntri had changed in the five months we have been away. The old Chinese men who work there at the front desk were as delightfully eccentric and as charmed by Tehya as they had been on our last visit. Always laughing and watching her with bright eyed amusement as she danced and sang them funny songs – presenting her with little gifts of pots of fruit yogurt or chocolate bars.
Penang is a very strange place – it is hard to give an explanation as to why! We have been there so many times over the years using it as a stop off point whilst travelling from one end of Malaysia to the other (travelling in all directions north, south and eastwards) and as a gate way to Indonesia. Some visits have left us frustrated and saying we hated the place and other times it has felt like a safe heaven in a crazy world. When we were here in May we arrived with fresh eyes looking forward to experiencing the delights of the food Penang is so famous for and we indulged ourselves with great enthusiasm. The mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian along with the Muslim Masakan Padang food means that there is an incredible choice of beautifully spiced traditional food to suit all tastes and pallets.
This time we came to Penang with two reasons in mind, to collect the luggage that we had previously separated up and left behind to make our journey to Indonesia lighter and to meet with a Japanese friend Noriko. We committed ourselves to a four night stay – we sorted through our bags and discarded stuff that was too small or worn out and worked out what we needed to continue our journey (baring in mind we would be travelling on to Thailand by train).
We got some very sad news via email from Noriko, she had been contacted by her sister – her father is very sick and she would not be able to meet with us as planned! She immediately left north east Malaysia for Bangkok to arrange an urgent flight home to Japan. It is a shame that we did not meet with Noriko again as she is an lovely part of our fond memories of the Perhentian Islands all those years ago and we have kept in regular contact with her for so many years. Our thoughts are with her and we send her our love.
As we had already bought our train tickets to Thailand and Noriko was no longer able to meet us we were left in Penang with two days to fill. There are many different tourist sites to visit in Penang but we did not feel inspired until the day before we were due to leave. We talked about our lack of enthusiasm for the city and came to the conclusion that it could be due to the fact that we travelled from KL this time and had loved our visit there – KL in comparison is so clean and fresh and is working hard to compete with Singapore and succeeding well in our opinion. Penang has a real charm of it’s own – it is very individual,
we love little India but so much of the city seems worn and run down. The shopping area around the Komtar is so badly maintained and the Komtar itself which could be (used to be) a real tourist attraction has been allowed to fall into disrepair. The old shopping area which ten years ago was a buzzing mall is now 90% empty – much of the shops have moved across into the mall next door but even that seems to be struggling. Then on the way back from Penang Hill on our last day we saw that they are building a new Time Square Mall so now doubt in a short time even the newer part of the Komtar will also find itself falling apart due to lack of use.
The other strange and rather disconcerting aspect of Penang is the large number of old European men who live there or visit for long periods. Maybe we are more aware of it because of the type of cheap backpacker hostels we stay in but it was quite disturbing in some respects. We asked ourselves what they might be doing there in such numbers, they seem to pass their days sitting reading books or watching football – smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. It made us feel a little uncomfortable and keen to leave as soon as possible. It is something we have commented on before, their numbers appeared even more prevalent this visit.
[singlepic id="412" w="160" h="120" mode="" float="right" ]We did get out and visit a temple on our last day – we got a number 204 bus for 1.50 RM to Penang Hill and got off just before so that we could visit the Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple – the Temple of Supreme Bliss. The temple threatens to be a real disappointment as you walk towards it from the road, much of it is hidden by very dilapidated apartment blocks. The walk up to the temple itself is also very strange, you walk through a long narrow up hill corridor – on each side of you are small stalls selling a range of cheap and tacky gifts, t-shirts, nic-nac’s and snacks. The first notable area you come to is a pool of water called the sanctuary – this sanctuary is full of turtles, so full in fact that they sit on each other up to six plus deep. Some are deformed and many of them were dead – we actively steered Tehya away from the area when I spotted at least 10 dead baby turtles just floating of the surface of the water. I was shocked and almost turned back not wanting to go any further – my first impressions certainly lead me to think there would little of value to see.
In fact it is a remarkable temple and once you are inside it does have a lot to offer – there are several great halls with many huge towering depictions of Buddha, which are very beautiful, the surrounding wood carvings are beautifully intricate and there is a strong feeling of peace and tranquillity. As you walk through the gardens there are many sculptures and shrines. We visited the Pagoda which Tehya loved, you have to walk up lots of narrow stairs to get to each level – it was in the process of restoration but even with the scaffolding it was an interesting building and you could really appreciate some great views of Penang from each level.
Finally we got the tram up to the highest area of the temple where a huge golden statue of the Goddess of Murcy – Kuan Yin built in 2002 is now being surrounded by 16 carved stone pillars. Tehya and I made some offerings and gave some coins to each of the animals that represent our Chinese year of births, the rat, tiger and monkey!! We also lit a candle and took some time to consider and say prayers for all of our friends and family.
We left and made our way back down the 193 steps, back through the stalls and sellers and out into the street to find a bus and head back to Penang town to get some lunch.
We ended up getting a taxi with a very strange indian driver who had so many nervous ticks that by the time we made it back to town I had a nervous tick myself wondering whether we would make it back through the traffic alive. Bizarrely – we had a lift fro the same taxi driver 5 months before – we just did not recognise him until he started to drive. We did make it back in one piece and went for lunch at the old Komtar food hall. You would never know it was there as you have to walk through a completly deserted area of the shopping mall – infact we found it by accient last time we were in Penang. The main customers are the shop and office workers from the near by malls. The food is a fantastic example of some of the best Masakan Padang food we have ever eaten and it is one of the few places that never charge us tourist prices and we got three meals for 7 RM about £1.20.
Posted by Hanna on October 19, 2008.
Tags: Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple, Malaysia, penang, star lodge, temple of supreme bliss
Categories: Malaysia
Hi Hanna, my name is Hanna too. Actually it’s my surname but if I had have had a daughter …….
My partner and I are also regular visitors to Penang. We have the luxury of a motorbike and/or car and we have been taking tour groups around Penang Island for 13 years.
So many of the reports I read about Penang are by people staying inner-city, usually low budget and mostly describing initial responses to everything. Bit like a photo explaining a movie. The low-budget tourist only sees a small slice of Penang. They carry a Lonely Planet and generally miss 90% of what Penang has to offer.
Nice to read your take on things. You are astute and adventurous. Penang is not like KL or Singapore. Thank Buddha, Allah or the old ‘rent act’ for that. Penang is marvellously chaotic. Komtar has been dying for some years now. They are trying to resuscitate it but it’s a bit like trying to reform a serial killer.
If you stay at or around inner-city boarding houses anywhere in the world you’ll see old men. In Asia it’s often Waiguoren ( white men ). All boys become men and then they get old. They can survive financially by spending there European savings in Asia. If they were to be disturbing they’d probably be in Thailand not Malaysia. Maybe they are renewing their Thai visas – maybe you got a point.
Anyway, nice reading your article, good luck with all your travels – John.
by John Hanna on Dec 15, 2009 at 11:45 am