Butterworth

We went overseas today. We are still waking up at odd times in the early hours and  after discovering the Penang Museum was still shut (closed since Covid) we decided to walk to the ferry terminal and go over to the mainland and check out the Butterworth art trail.  No matter which back streets you walk down there's always an interesting building to admire.

There are a few street cats and they have it tough compared to the Sifnos street cats. Funny thing is, they all seem to have short tails like Manx cats.

Butterworth is about 3k's east of George Town across the Penang Strait.

The old double deck vehicle & passenger ferries are no longer running which is a shame - we loved standing outdoors last time. The city is aiming to restore them, after over 100yrs of straits crossings, and make one into a museum and another a floating cafe.  

We had planned to walk from Butterworth port to the art trail but it was way too hot to be hiking in the mid day heat. We took a taxi and travelled in style.

The art trail is a poor cousin to the Penang Street Art trail but charming in it's own way. 

Butterworth, the small bit we saw, looks very industrial and we got the sense from the buildings and commercial area it's had hard times through Covid.

We took the return ferry to George Town and just made it in time to see the final of the FIBA '3x3' basketball finals. Both the gals and the guys finals were Japan vs China and Japan won both! It was exciting stuff and the Japan gals were just fantastic.We bumped into them post match and grabbed a picture.

We then had to leave the luxury of AC and hit the streets back to our hotel. At the point of wilting we ducked into a shop serving cakes to get 5 mins of AC and we discovered the most gorgeous interior design - such a contrast from the hot, busy street filled with people and motorbikes!

The cakes we're almost too good to eat.

We succumbed to cherry chocolate luxe and a chocolate dome which was filled with a soft mouse and nuts...both delicious!

Home again, home again jiggedy-jig and into the usual drill of whipping off our clothes, hand washing them and then having a cold showers to cool down :)

Bon Odori festival

A quick online search of 'What's on in George Town' revealed it was  Bon Odori day and there would be a small festival on the waterfront  by the town hall gardens starting at 5pm. Off we went. 

We walked along the seafront to the town hall and it was nice to see small family groups with picnics and fishing rods dotted along the rocks.  There was also a massive cruise ship in port, it looked enormous alongside the little port buildings.

The area of the town hall has beautiful old colonial era buildings.

We were not sure what to expect, maybe a few stalls and a bit of music but boy were we surprised! 

Bon Odori is a Japanese Buddhist festival that honours the spirit of ancestors who return once a year to visit their families. 

The town hall area was full of families and stall holders selling Japanese specialty food and all sorts of things, young and old all having fun.

We were in time to hear the official speeches from the Japanese Consul General  which discussed living with different beliefs in shared harmony, Malaysian and Japanese culture respecting difference and then  following gift exchanges to officials, there was  a whoosh of fireworks and the festival was declared open.

There was a carnival like atmosphere with food stalls, culture displays, souvenirs  and demonstrations of martial arts.

The displays were so beautiful.

There were so many people, young and old, male and female, many dressed in traditional kimono. I bet they were hot, it was 38 degrees at 5.30pm.

There was to be a Japanese drumming display and the drums looked like it would be serious drumming but we were wilting in the heat so called it a day. I was pleased to see the locals  fanning themselves too so we weren't the only ones suffering the heat :)

Lovely family festival, gorgeously staged and lots of happy punters.

GeorgeTown

Exploring George Town on foot today and ducking into shops with AC when we were dropping with heat exhaustion, it's humid!

We revisited the street art and discovered some we didn't see on our last visit. 

Street art in Penang really took off in 2012 after Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic created the “Mirror of George Town” series for the George Town Festival and the rest is history.

So many visitors love exploring the back streets and stumbling on the now famous street scenes. The tri-shaw/rickshaw drivers can take you on a tour if you are short on time, it may save your feet, but it looks pretty hot in those things and, in all good conscious,  I couldn't have someone pedal me about.

Along with the murals there are up to 50 iron-rod street scenes in the heritage part of George Town.

I saw some favourites from our last visit still looking good - I wonder if they touch them up to keep them looking good?

No visit to George Town is complete without a visit to the clan jetties. These are the ancestral homes of the immigrant Chinese workers during colonial times and whilst touristy, still worth a visit.

History says that the Clan Jetties — each one called with one of the surnames of migrants from China, such as Tan, Chew, and Lee — were built to avoid paying a land tax imposed by the British colonial rulers. 

The wooden homes are made on stilts over the water and still function as a community today.

There are boats and fishing gear all on hand and what a spot, right on the water.

There's a temple which looked so beautiful and had offerings for the gods with incense burning to ward off the hungry ghosts this week.

We felt sorry for  the rickshaw drivers today in the heat as they pedaled tourists around. Many are old and it's obvious many sleep in their vehicle overnight. 

You can't walk around George Town without bumping into a temple and today was no exception.

The Choo Chay Keong Temple — also called Yap temple is beautiful with an emerald green rooftop.

Just across from Yap Temple is  Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple with incredible roof adornments.

Then a hop, skip and a jump from there is the stunning  Kapitan Keling mosque with magnificent black domes and white walls. It’s the first Islamic mosque built in a  Tamil neighbourhood.

You can't wander about in an empty stomach and there are hakwer food carts/stalls literally everywhere. The challenge is to understand what you are ordering and not to overeat! Just follow the locals as they know the good spots and if it looks fresh and smells good, it usually is good

We remembered this amazing dish we had on our last visit and tracked it down again. Hameediyah is a Muslim Indian institution  in Georgetown and we had the most delicious Motabbaq - stuffed pancake cooked on a red hot iron and filled with spices and ground beef or chicken. Glad we  had this for dinner last night as today is Islamic New Year and  a public holiday so the queues were out the door and down the street.

There is so much to see here and it's all completely different to anything we are used to back home. The old colonial architecture is stunning, even the buildings that are in a bad state.

Every corner has something to stop you in your tracks.

There's street art and fine art, street food and fancy restaurants, design museums, batik museums, heritage walking trails and spices and scents you have probably never experienced before. 

It's gritty and probably not for everyone  (the open drains in places can be challenging) but we are loving it, albeit wilting with the high humidity :)