Top 10 things to do in Penang

By popular demand, here's the list:

1. Eat Char-Koay-Teow (fried flat noodles) - this special delicacy is so yummy because it is cooked with pork fat (lard) & eggs.
2. Eat O-Jien (fried oysters) - this is another egg cooked specialty dish.
3. Eat Roti Babi (pork bread) - this is a deep fried sandwich with minced pork.
4. Eat Curry Mee (noodles in coconut soup and curry) and Hokkien Mee (noodles in prawn based soup).
5. Eat Penang Chi-Cheong-Fun (rolled rice noodles with prawn paste).
   
6. Visit Kek-Lok-Si Temple - you can take the thousand step staircase from the base of the temple right up to the pagoda. Don't worry about the walk up as there are plenty to see. Along the steps are shops that sells ornaments, food and drinks, clothing etc. You will also pass a tortoise pond where you can feed vegetables to hundreds of tortoises.
7. Cross the Penang Bridge - It is a dual-carriageway toll bridge that connects Gelugor on the island of Penang and Seberang Prai on the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia. Opened to traffic on September 14, 1985, the total length of the bridge is 13.5 km. It is amongst the longest bridges in the world, the longest bridge in the country as well as a national landmark. I managed to complete the bridge run in high school within 3 hours and almost fainted after the event!
8. Visit Gurney Drive - this is something like a small Shanghai Bundt. Facing the sea front, you will get plenty of breeze walking along the Gurney Drive side walk. You can find all the aforementioned food at the hawker stall areas.
9. Take the walk in downtown Penang - This is the best way to capture Penang’s mixed heritage. Old houses have columns or multi-coloured Peranakan tiles. The smell of incense drifts in the air amidst gold settings of Burmese, Thai and Chinese temples. The Khoo Kongsi is a traditional form of Chinese art with its delicately carved wooden panels. Other long-time occupants include elderly Chinese shopkeepers, colourful Indian food stalls and trishaws. Guided heritage tours can be found at http://www.journeymalaysia.com/islandpenangheritagewalk.htm
10. Visit relatives and friends - I was born and raised in Penang island. Always so little time to meet so many people!!
    

Here's a night shot of Gurney Drive & one of the Penang Bridge.

Penang

2 weeks ago we went back to Malaysia to attend my wife's cousin's wedding held in Penang. We spent 3 nights there and managed to catch up with many of our relatives who live in Penang, and also those who turned up to attend the wedding.

Penang is an island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It was also called "The Garden of the Orient". The name "Penang" comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang, which means island of the betel nut tree (Areca catechu).

Here are some interesting facts about Penang:

Top 10 of Penang's Firsts

1. Penang became the first British outpost in the then Malaya and South East Asia in 1786.
2. Penang Free School founded in 1816, is the first and oldest English School in South East Asia.
3. St George's Anglican Church on Farquhar Street, established in 1816, is the oldest Anglican Church in South East Asia and the only building from Penang that was declared one of the 50 National Treasures by the Malaysian Government.
4. The Sekolah Kebangsaan Gelugor in Penang founded in 1826 is the first Malay school to be established in Malaysia.
   
5. Convent Light Street or the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, a girls' school established by a French Sisters' Mission in 1852, is the oldest girls' school in South East Asia.
6. Chung Hwa Confucian School founded by Cheong Fatt Tze in 1904, was one of the oldest formal Chinese Schools established in South-east Asia.
7. The Municipal Council of Penang Island (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang), is the successor of the Municipal Council of George Town, which was established in 1857 as Malaysia's first local authority.
8. The Penang Turf Club, established in 1864, is Malaysia's oldest horse racing and equestrian centre.
9. Standard Chartered Bank, the oldest bank in Malaysia, opened its doors in 1875.
10. Malaysia's oldest Chinese newspaper still in circulation today, Kwong Wah Yit Poh or Kwong Wah Daily (光华日报) was founded on 20 December 1910 by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in Penang.
    

Top 10 Famous Penangites (People born in Penang):

1. Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia's fifth and current Prime Minister.
2. Alleycats, Popular Malaysian band formed in the 1960s.
3. Anwar Ibrahim, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister during Tun Dr Mahathir's administration. He is currently the Parti KeADILan Rakyat (PKR) adviser and its de-facto leader.
4. Chin Fung Kee, a well known authority in geotechnical engineering who designed the Penang Bridge.
5. Jimmy Choo, the famous shoe designer.
6. Eddy Choong, the four-time All England badminton champion.
7. Nicol David, the international women's squash champion. She is currently ranked No. 1 in the world (April 2007).
8. Lee Chong Wei, currently ranked No.2 badminton player in the world. (February 24, 2008)
9. Loh Boon Siew, a tycoon famous for his Boon Siew Honda.
10. Lillian Too, feng shui consultant and best-selling author of feng shui books.

The Return of the Jedi

Many would think this post would be related to the Star Wars episode 4 but unfortunately no. I named this post this way because our maid who supposedly quit 4 days ago came back to work for us again.

The incident happened like this:

1. For the past 2 weeks our maid has been asking for leave for 2 consecutive weekends claiming that she had to send her dad to the airport and also attend a friend's wedding.
2. She was also on "sick leave" for 1 day but did not go home (claiming she spent the night at her aunt's place). Her work has been a bit slack lately and kept forgetting to do the routine things she was supposed to do.
3. One day she recommended her "cousin" (who constantly brings her home from our place) to work as our factory gardener.
4. We got suspicious and I started to ask around (especially the maid's brother in law, who works as a loading contractor in my factory).
5. We found out that her dad never went to the airport & her "cousin" was actually her boyfriend.
6. We told her one night that we were very disappointed at her for her lies and hope she could start a new chapter again with us by not lying anymore.
7. Perhaps she was too traumatized by our "lecture" and decided to quit (Palembang people are known to have a lot of pride).
8. She left the next morning despite our persuasions to keep her.
9. We ended up with no stay in maid for 4 days but we managed to get someone who comes in for 2-3 hours to clean the house.
10. Then one night our maid sms'd me asking if she could get her job back.
    

Since we were quite satisfied with her work and only disappointed by her lies, we accepted her back with the condition that she would tell us the truth in the future. Whether it is socially acceptable in Indonesia to tell "white lies", we are still trying to find out.... maybe it has to do with Palembang pride? Please feel free to comment.