Experimenting and exploring in Malaysia

Thursday, July 25, 2024

We finish work about noon. A long slab of wood in our room acts as a desk, catch-all surface, and shelf. I'll have to remember this one.

There's always a tangle of chargers on the desk.

I like the casual drag of white through the grey paint, making a unique mural on several walls. (This one is above the bed.)

W has vetted a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. It costs $13 for both drinks and 3 dishes.

My favorite is a soup that tastes much like rawon - the fungus (mushroom) is especially delicious.

On the way, we stop into Art Gallery, a painters' compilation of original and printed art. I get some postcards. A4 prints are $5 each while a 4-postcard set is $4. Ok - that's affordable.

Look at the use of color in this print. Again, I'm taken by the cool reds and blues of Penang.

"That is the last print of [this well-known artist]," says the lady at the till when I ask if there are other works by him. Nope. In person, the brushwork and hues are stunning.

Friday

I'm hungry for good bread. We passed Rainforest Bakery on our walk last night. 

It's near the hotel (1/3 mile/1/2 km) so we walk over for breakfast. The cakes!

The breads!

The tastes ... I get scones for later. They even have kaya honey, which I last found in Singapore.

Penang is known for street art. There are paintings on the walls.

There are metal sculptures.

The original patina of the tropics is often imitated in industrial decor but never matched. I love the antique windows.

And the doors.

I guess they're entryways.

Many shops have the original tiles in front, defining their "sidewalk" from other's.

Many old houses have been converted to shops in the Little India district.

The paintwork is fresh and individual, sometimes matching and sometimes contrasting with the old tiles.

Most shops and restaurants open late in the day. Between the beauty that is Penang, people are sleeping in nooks and crannies along the streets. Are they are homeless or napping? Many are very thin. 

We pass young girls dolled up in hijabs and sent into the tourist areas to beg. There are also disabled elders who spend the day begging. It's hard to know what to do when people are sent out to panhandle. Is it better not to contribute to such practices? Or better to give them something to take to their handlers?

We pass these trays of food drying in the sun but we have no idea what the pizza-like substance is. It's not pizza!

In the afternoon and evening, we're with friends at Dobson's house. We're celebrating coworker Anna's birthday. It's a fun evening of conversation and good food. There's a big plate of desserts to share as well. We pray for each other around the table before saying goodnight and heading back to Georgetown and our hotel.

Saturday

We go back to the Rainforest Cafe for breakfast. Then we walk to a pen-and-journal shop where I buy a Traveler's Notebook.

I like the courtyard combination of brick and gravel, too.

Our next stop is a craft, food, and art market. It's part of Georgetown's Art Festival. We find a cute market sketch for the kitchen. A young woman has sketched it in charcoal plus watercolor and pastel. She offers us a bigger size and we support her efforts with $20. Surviving as an artist is hard work.

Lunch at Hameediyah is all the ratings give it - 5 star! We share a mutton biryani and a massive shrimp and drink tea. 

We skip the rose-flavored drink named for our town.

We walk past an old rickshaw.

We exclaim over the enormous jackfruit at a fruit wholesaler.

Durian, a love it or hate it fruit because of the sewage smell and pudding-like texture, is so fragrant that this seller holds his nose shut as he cleans his cart in preparation for the day.

At the hotel, we pack up with stomachs, heads, and spirits filled to the brim. We add a few treats to the suitcase; we'll try them when we get home.

The airport lounge has good laksa (spicy curry noodles.)

The flight, +2 hours from Penang to Jakarta, is smooth. However, the shuttle ride to Bandung is hair-raising. We leave our terminal, catch a shuttle that's leaving immediately (6:00pm), and don't get to Bandung until 10:00pm. 

The driver alternately drives the normal speed or slows to a bare crawl while freeway traffic zips past us. The highway has light traffic so what is going on? Of course he stays in the "fast" lane, often getting close to the concrete barriers. With cars, trucks, and busses passing us, my adrenaline works on high alert. I dread the danger of a bad shuttle driver more than any other part of travel. W sleeps through much of it. 

"Sir, are you falling asleep?" calls the passenger beside me in the back row. The driver perks up a bit and pours on the speed. Then it's back to 30-50km/hr (20-30mph). It's a relief when he pulls into the rest stop, though he takes nearly half an hour to come back, instead of the usual 15 minutes. After that, the pace is steadier though he's still not keeping up with the flow of traffic.

PakG picks us up from the shuttle terminal. When we get home about 10:30pm, I'm so drained that I leave the suitcases where they are until the next day. I take a sleeping pill to ward off the nightmare trip and sleep solidly until morning.

Read more:

*The Lord has sent me to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:1,2

*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

*So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

Moravian Prayer: Listening God, we place before you our cries for mercy and laments, wistful longings, and wavering faith. Though at the end of our rope, we still trust in your promises, opening our entire beings to receive you anew. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.