Penang - the wrap up

In an effort to try and make these posts a little more digestible, my New Year's resolution is to try and send something out no more than two days apart. Let's see if this resolution lasts as long as avoiding carbs or going to the gym regularly.

No trip to Penang is complete without a trip up Penang Hill. No seriously, that's what the signs say at the bottom of the hill. It would seem this worldly adventure has officially taken on the secondary goal of riding every funicular in the world. Nearly as steep as the crazy one in the Blue Mountains, the Penang funicular ascends 2,200ft nearly straight up and actually serves more than just tourists. The view from the top is quite lovely. Fortunately we timed our ascent with decent weather and blue skies.

Our apartment is in one of the two tall skinny buildings on the water

This is the temple we will visit later in the day. It's pretty cool looking from a distance. Even better up close.

The highlight for us were the Dusky Leaf Monkeys, Macaques (another kind of monkey), and the Giant Black Squirrels. We, of course, found them to be adorable and the subject of many pictures, but the locals seem to regard them as pests and warned us to watch our bags. Makes me wonder if the opposite would be true if a skunk were to amble by a Malaysian visiting Lafayette.

Autumn particularly liked the fractal pattern of this fern.

This is what happens to babies when they lay upon a slightly vibrating freezer.

The Dusky Leaf Monkeys put on a bit of a show for the tourists.

They are known for their "spectacles"

And they have arguably the cutest little baby animals on the planet.

These are Macaques.

It's a vegetarian according to the snake handler. 

Zane wasn't too keen on holding serpents so opted for something a little more.... cute.

Several months ago, Penang was hit with the worst flood in recorded history. It flooded the old town, and created massive lands up the hill.

After a couple hour stroll about the top of the hill, feeling sorry for the folks that live on the slopes stricken by massive mudslides, we made our way to the Kek Lok Si Temple. Fortunately, a kindly gentleman noticed how lost we were, and offered us a cheap ride over to the top of temple perched on a hill. Was a good thing, as the walk would have crushed us.

Standing serenely within the temple is the largest bronze statue in all of Southeast Asia. I can attest, it's pretty darn tall. The heat was slowly sapping our will to live, so we decided to head down the hill. Easier said than done.

As it turns out, the temple complex is a multi layered labrynth of hallways, stairs, a Wonka-Vator (yeah, there was an elevator that went slantways), pagodas, and prayer rooms. Every turn was another eye catching scene as the layers unfolded. The scenery made up for the mounting frustration of how to reverse engineer our way to the bottom (all the signs directed people to the top).

Yeah, we know. We're trying really hard to leave. 

A quick aside: We still have a month left of visiting various temples in Southeast Asia, so I'm not sure if the following observation will just be a Malaysian (Singapore once being a part of Malaysia) thing... When did the temples turn in to souvenir shops? Now I get it when a Catholic or Anglican Church slaps an annex on the outside to sell Bibles and other religious instruments, but I find it curious that many of the temples we have seen thus far have booths right there inside some phenomenally beautiful temples selling key chains and magnets.

Sort of spoils the ambiance. 

We woke up yesterday to some seriously dreary weather. We still had a full day left and wanted to get back in to Georgetown for a little bit more exploring and food. The morning rain gave us another opportunity to torture the kids with school, and to dig a little deeper in to planning Vietnam and Korea.

With a truncated day:
- We visited the Chew Jetty, a ramshackle hodge podge of family homes built on a jetty with small shops and restaurants opening up to a tight center walkway.

I particularly loved the secondary use of a 5 gallon bucket as concrete pier formwork.

- Ate at a decidedly more mellow hawker food court where Autumn actually figured out how to order her entire meal by herself. Again, the food did not disappoint (except for the spaghetti bolognese that Bryce wanted... No surprise there)

She was not, in fact, eating curry fish heads.

- Visited the 3D Trick Art Museum. Now this was pretty fun and very interactive. In fact, it's not worth going unless you actually interact with the art. Again, much like the unique street art here, I wonder why we have not come across this in the states.

Couple last random shots of our walk around town...

The final wrap up (as I sit dreary minded at 4:45am in the Penang Airport). Penang (Georgetown that is) is a fun and quirky little town that is a bit ruffled around the edges. It sure seems like it's continuing to grow and thrive, and will be a destination for years to come. I'm not sure if we need to return, but sure am glad we stopped by for a look.

Favorite thing about Penang...
Zane: The Cat Cafe
Bryce: Same!
Autumn: Taking pictures of street art, and the sense of accomplishment for ordering lunch.
Nicole: oh you know me, I just like looking at the old buildings
Steve: cheap (good) eats!

Next stop... Koh Samui (yet another Southeast Asian island)

Cheers!

PS Quick Bryce hot dog update. It's been a long while since Bryce has truly enjoyed a hot dog. But alas he found his favorite at the Korean BBQ in Penang. Only slightly better than the fantastic airplane hot dog he had on our Scoot (yes, there is an airline called Scoot) flight from Sydney to Singapore.

PPS We have been long overdue for haircuts, so we took an opportunity during a rain storm to lighten our heads.

Zane really wanted to keep his mane atop his head....