Wow, Penang! All throughout my little journey; from stepping out of the bus in central Georgetown, winding my way through Little India at 7am, perusing the temple of the Goddess of Mercy and sauntering down Love Lane onto Muntri street (I was aiming for the Ryokan Muntri Guest House), I couldn’t help but stare at the colourful shutters, dusty porches and shiny steel street-food stalls that make up Georgetown. I knew from the first few moments that I would love this island. I was in such awe, I didn’t take any pictures!
However, by this point, the lack of sleep and the heat had given me a bit of a headache. I was in such a daze that I walked into the wrong hostel, using their WiFi for 2 hours before trying to check in and being told I was in the wrong place!
Two doors down (oops) I checked in, left my bags and, determined to make the most of the day, headed for the nearest attraction of interest; the camera museum.
It’s an interesting little place, with the first room’s shutters opening to a timeline of camera technology, which really is a picture.
Cameras from the beginning of time 
A selfie with the first ever selfie 
Ahhhhh, snap! 
See the scene through the camera?
There’s also a dark room where you can see how film is developed, and a couple of rooms illustrating older principles, one of which simulates what it’s like being inside a giant camera. You have to focus to appreciate this. I found the whole place really interesting because I’m a total camera geek, and spent about an hour in there for maximum exposure. If you’re not so interested, you could probably do the whole thing in a flash. I’ll shutter up now.
The café downstairs also serves milkshakes in camera lens mugs, which is a nice touch:
Heading on out, I decided to check out the nearby “Blue Mansion”, via these photos in the Thean Hou Temple:
Thean Hou Temple 
Lavishly decorated, as expected.
Built by Cheong Fat Tze, a rich Chinaman who left his home at the age of 16 to make his fortune (and was very successful, owing to copying the business principles and practices of the Dutch occupying Indonesia at the time) the Blue Mansion is an eclectic, curiously assembled building with roots and influences drawn from around the globe. Apparently the floor is from Stoke on Trent! The free guided tour was great and the building really is spectacular inside and out. It doubles as a hotel too, but at almost 1000 ringgit per night (£180) I wasn’t inclined to stay!!
It’s called the Blue Mansion for a reason 
Traditional transport of Georgetown 
Imported foreign technology! 
Intricately restored to award-winning quality 
These tiles come from the UK! 
Many houses have open living rooms 
Lets the rain wash right in! 
Indoor courtyard
After a brief rest and a WiFi fix at the hostel, I took a good wander around Penang’s street food areas. The quality and prices are amazing, with the best spots being around Chulia Street and Kimberley Street. I got some really good vegetable noodles, and after thanking the chef, he recommended I try the local speciality dessert, “Cendol”, at the famous stand down Penang Street:
Shortly after eating I returned to the hostel to find…. Clara! Sometimes plans really do work out well. I was pretty glad to see her at this point, as she had all the plans and places to go in Malaysia. Also she’s quite fun to be around. I don’t want to say too much in case she reads this and gets all big headed.
Within a few minutes we’d met up with Clara’s friend Luke (also English) and a girl I’d met earlier whilst resting – and we all headed out for some food. Sure, I can eat 8 times a day, and with the food in Malaysia being amazingly tasty, spicy and horrendously cheap, this worked well for me.
Still got to the food before them 
I think this was an Irish pub… 
Stuff on sticks! Yay! 
Clara loves a thing on a stick! 
Highly edible and very cheap 
Never stop eating 
Spicier than your mother-in-law
We wound our way through the streets of Penang, pausing at the occasional street art piece as we edged towards our food. Penang’s street art is famous for good reason – it’s incredibly detailed, beautifully framed, practically unique in its medium and totally, totally awesome to look at and get photos with! So much so, in fact, that I created a separate post just to hold all the fun! (come back soon!)
The quirky, artistic, hipsteresque style of the city finds its way indoors too, where bizarre establishments such as the Moustache Hauz thrive under the influx of curious tourists:
Enough gold, son? 
Love a good moustache bar… ?
We enjoyed a cold drink or two here before heading out to less pricey locations, one of which may have been an off-licence with plastic chairs outside. At this point, I was totally in love with the city, and having far too much fun to really mind where exactly I was. Plus, at 4 Ringets a can, you can’t complain.
I was starting to get the feeling I could come back and live here.