Malaysia -Truly Asia

Thailand is six hours ahead of UK time, Malaysia is 7 hours ahead. So though we had quite an early night last night we lost an hour of sleep during the night. Though we arrived feeling quite fresh into the island of Penang on the northern part of Malaysia.

For about six years now any time you turn on BBC World or CNN or Sky News anywhere in the world there has been a series of beautiful adverts for Malaysia as a Tourist destination all of them ending with the jingle 'Malaysia - Truly Asia' and being in Penang today we could see why, Malaysia seems in many ways to be the confluence of the various cultures which make up Southern Asia, there are Indian, Chinese as well as British influences (the Malay Peninsula having been a colony of Britain for 300 years.

Having left Phuket we travelled for 160 miles with the Thai and then Malay mainland on our Port side and a series of islands on our starboard side. When we woke at about 6.30 we were already seeing the built up areas of Penang on our right (starboard) out of the porthole in our bedroom. Unlike Thailand where the Government has a policy of making hotels and other buildings on the shore no taller than the tree line, giving it superb visage, it was clear the
Malaysia had a different approach with a lot of high rise buildings that we could see before we drew into port.

Today, for the only time on the trip, instead of coming in to a berth in the Port, our Ship is weighing anchor away from the land and we are being tendered (to travel from ship to shore on a Tender boat) into Tanjong City Marina on Penang. We watched the arrival of the Ship into the port from our balcony and then went down to breakfast at 7.20 a.m. (Midnight 20 UK time).

We saw the first tender, incidentally these boats are the ones that operate as life boats in an emergency, going to shore at about 8.30 a.m. and by 9.15 we were on the one taking us the short distance to land. The reason for the tender is that they are renovating the port and improving the area where cruise ships come to shore at present meaning that it is not available. However though the cause of this was out of our control, I'm really glad it was the case as the experience of getting down from our huge ship into a smaller boat (it sat about 30) was really quite exciting. We then arrived on the shore in Penang and had the next great experience of the day - travel by Trishaw.

For the uninitiated, of which I was one until today, the difference between a Trishaw and a Rickshaw is that a Rickshaw is pulled while a Trishaw is normally powered from behind. i.e. someone is on a bike with a place for passengers in front of them. They suggested that, at no extra cost, Drew and I should take separate Trishaws. I think this was because of all the extra weight that Drew has put on during the holidays :-) You, my friends, may choose to put a different interpretation on this!!

Georgetown, the main town in Penang, named for King George the Third, is a lovely mix of different architectural styles, from clearly British style that would not be out of place in London, to buildings that were based on Chinese and Indian architecture. Indeed it is the juxtaposition of these different styles that makes the place so pleasant.

Georgetown became a British Colony five years before Sydney was founded, so was one of the early sites of British colonial activity in these parts.

The architecture also showed an astounding religious mix, within ten minutes we had passed a Chinese Temple, a Hindu temple, a Mosque, an Anglican Church and a Catholic Cathedral. The whole of life in Asia, indeed the world seems to be mirrored here in Penang.

Travelling at Trishaw level in the open air also means you see more than you would in a Coach or in a Taxi. We visited an ancient Chinese temple and then drove into China Town, this was followed by a drive through Little India, it was amazing to think that only a few days ago we were in India and now we are seeing a mirror image of it. Though to be fair the Penang version is somewhat cleaner and less dusty than what we saw in the real India.

We went on to a Temple that was one of the major Chinese Clan houses in Penang. This was called Khoo Khongsi after the Khoo family who were one of the first to settle in this part of the world. Six generations of the family are remembered in the temple with an indication of where the children and grandchildren have gone on to study.

Indeed many of them went to Welsh and English Universities, I couldn't find one who went to Glamorgan though!!

At the time the implications of the Clan houses was less clear to me than the impressive images in the temple, you will have seen the pictures of them, though when we got to Singapore the importance of these community buildings in keeping the immigrants in contact with their own culture and in support of each other was as significant as the St. Patrick Society was in Irish New York, or indeed the Mafia was to the Italian Community. Having an identity that provided social aid and support and a sense of belonging could be crucial in an alien land.

We travelled back through the central part of Georgetown and on for a Fruit Cocktail at the Eastern and Orient Hotel (E&O), which in its time was almost as famous as Raffles in Singapore.

The Trishaw took us back to the dock and I returned to the ship and completed the last blog entry, which seems a long, long time ago now. But watch for more frequent updates for the next few days.

Then it was Martini time and in to dinner.

Food and Drink

Breakfast - Juice and fruit as for each of the last few days was followed for Drew with Blueberry Pancakes with syrup and for me with a lovely scrambled egg and smoked salmon dish entitled on the menu - 'Alaskan Salmon'.

In our effort to work our way through the Martini menu tonight I had a Ricky Martin-I, which was Grey Goose Orange, Cuantro and Orange Juice, while Drew had an Emerald Tini, Stoly, Dry Vermouth and melon liquor, we should have taken a photo of it, as it was very emerald! I then went on to a Violet Tini (Smirnoff, Blue Curacao topped off with Cranberry juice) and Drew a Black Tini (Absolut, Chambord (the raspberry liqueur) and Blue Curacao).

Dinner - Drew started with Air Cured Beef Bresalola with Parmesan followed by Albondigas Soup and then Gamberi Saltati all'Aglio (prawns with garlic and herbs) with almond rice. As I wasn't impressed by any of the starters I went with two soups (the ability to mix and match courses or have main courses served as a starter or add one of the vegetarian meals into a non-veggie one and vice versa is one of the amazing things when they are dealing with so many people in the restaurant). So I had a lovely baby corm chowder with red pepper, followed by the Albondigas Soup, then the Veal Parmigiana with scalloped potatoes and broccoli. I had Danish Blue for dessert and Drew stayed with his Cheesecake option.

I know my brother asked some time ago about Veggie food, today a vegetarian could have had:
Tropical Sunrise Fruit Smoothie, The Baby Corn Chowder I went for, a Green salad with shredded cheese and walnut, a timbale of rice and aubergine with baby lima beans and of course all of the desserts.

I think this is an amazing selection for a American ship given our experience of the absence of vegetarian food in the States.

We had a lovely bottle of New Zealand Savingnon Blanc with the meal. Then we went into the Casino Bar with the people from the table and had the sense only to have two Cocktails - the 24K Rita mentioned in previous posts and to get to bed by Midnight.