Walking the Streets of Penang

Penang = George Town. This may sound confusing to the outside people; ie visitors to Penang. Why called Penang and not George Town? Penang is the State. George Town is the capital city of Penang. And yet, people who were born and grew up in Penang will still call George Town as Penang. But when asked where they were born. Their standard response is either George Town if born in the city or name of one of the outskirt town (or suburbs) like Air Itam or Bayan Lepas. I think the reason is that in the older time, “Penang is George Town”.  Majority of the population lives in George Town. All activities happened in George Town. There is nothing outside of George Town except “kampong” (village). It is the heart and soul of Penang. But, time has changed over the last few decades. Penang has grown. The kampung has become a satellite town. There are buildings and services and shops. Some have shopping malls and hypermarkets. George Town was slowly dying off from her glory days until UNESCO saved her from becoming derelicts and historical buildings being knocked down. The older part of George Town is now recognised as a UNESCO world heritage listed site, one that deserved to preserve  her heritage, cultural values and architectural buildings dated back to preWWII, the Straits Settlement and Colonial past.

Each time I come home to Penang, it is a must that I walk around the streets of Penang. When I say that, I am referring to the streets gazetted by UNESCO in George Town. It is colourful and interesting. It reminds me of my childhood days. I will always find new things. On this trip, there are new tourists’ friendly signs pointing to the important historical sites. There is the familiar “Little India” which is one of my favourite even if I am not buying anything, but to smell the aromatic spices in the air. There are the street vendors “hawker” stalls selling all kind of Penang food. Some of my favourite streets – Armenian Street, Beach Street, Victoria Street, China Street, Church Street, “Street of Harmony” or Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kling (Pitt Street), Love Lane, Muntri Lane, Chulia Street, Rope Walk and Campbell Street. 

Made in Penang at Weld Quay

Finally I am back in Penang again. It is nice to be back after seven months of absence. It is never boring in Penang. There is always something to do or “eat”. On each trip I made to Penang, I will made a point to walk and explore the old heart of George Town, which is UNESCO heritage listed. There are new finds and surprises. Every streets that I walked brings back some childhood memories reminding of the past. The narrow streets are still grungy with cloaked and smelly drains, and broken and uneven pavements. Old terraces are being renovated into boutique retail shops, art studios and galleries, restaurants and cafes, and stylish accommodations. They are tastefully renovated by retaining the historical look and colour. They are not overdone with vibrant colours to become something out of a movie set, and the surrounding un-renovated buildings and dirty streets still remind the visitors of the past.

I was walking along Weld Quay when I came across a row of heritage listed colonial terraces used as trading houses by the German shipping companies during the Straits Settlement. Weld Quay is rich in history all along this main coastal road. It was a project overseen by the Governor of Straits Settlement – Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld – in the early 1880s. The road was constructed in front of Swettenham Pier, a vibrant shipping port sheltered from the wild wind and rough sea. It became the main thoroughfare for the traders between east and west merchants.

There were some activities in front of the row of terraces. I stood outside one of them and noticed a couple of artists working on the huge walls – painting some local scenes of Penang. A minute later someone came up from behind. He smiled at me and started explaining the artwork that was happening inside the building. It got me interested. The paintings on the wall are inspired by a Singaporean investor, who was born and grew up in Penang. He bought a row of the four terraces, refurbishing them into an art gallery museum depicting the history of the earlier Straits Settlement of European traders, Chinese and Tamil workers. The buildings were used as “Godown” (trading warehouses) in the 1880s.

The project manager, Mr Yong, spoke with great passion of this amazing project, which will be called “Made in Penang”. It is target for a soft opening later this year. The vision and master plan to recreate the scene of the thriving shipping and trading industry along Weld Quay in the 1880s is slowly coming to life on the walls of this row of terraces.

Mr Yong invited me to look at the other two adjoining double storey terraces – one of which will have a 3-dimension painting on the wall depicting the local scenes of Penang and the other will display a full size miniature model of what the busy street scene was like during the trading era of 1880s. I was delighted and grateful when Mr Yong offered to show me around. 

I can’t wait to see the completed work. It is in my “must visit” destination when I come back to Penang in 2014 for Chinese New Year.

This is truly a story of “Made in Penang”.  All the artwork is done or will be done by local Penang artists.

My Last Hour in Singapore

How would you spend your last hour in a hotel before rushing to the airport, bus or train station for that next leg of the journey? Most travellers will leave their packing to the last hour. What if the hotel granted you a late checkout at 1 pm? That means, you have some extra time. Most travellers, like me, hate rushing to check out by 10 am. I always ask for a late check out – an extra hour or two helps.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how I spent my last morning in Singapore. After a nice long walk, I had my shower and packed my luggage. I took my time. The hotel granted my request for a 1:30 pm late check out. I even have time to write that last post while I was still in my room. I have another two hours to kill. After reading a comment posted by a friend of mine – Mr Dillon in Facebook – a passionate food lover and a great cook, he was sharing his “foodie” experience eating Hainanese chicken rice at Purvis Street.

Purvis Street is only 2 blocks or a 5 minutes walk from the Fairmont Hotel. I have walked past the street but not along the street. I didn’t realised there are some eating places along Purvis street, and that there are a couple of places specialising in Hainanese-style Chicken Rice. I am always a big fan of Hainanese chicken rice. I have heard so much that the Singaporean version is better than the Malaysian version. And, I think they are right. I have tried one stall a few years ago in Chinatown at the famed Maxwell Road Food Court. It was the best chicken rice I have ever had and I still remember that very moment at the Tian Tian Chicken Rice stand.I found one of the chicken rice cafe, “Chin Chin Eating House”. It looks popular and busy with local Singaporeans. There was a menu with a few Hainan-style dishes. I ordered a mixture of “white chicken” and roasted chicken. The white chicken is actually a poached chicken. Once cooked, it is blanched in ice water to create the jelly like skin finishing, giving it a nice and silky smooth texture. I ordered a Hainan- style mixed vegetables – cabbage, black fungus, button mushroom, glass noodles and bean curd skin. The side condiments on the table include freshly grated ginger and chilli sauce. They go hand in hand and best eaten with the rice and chicken to get the full punch in the mouth! Next door to Chin Chin is another Chicken Rice cafe – YY Cafe, at the corner of Purvis Street and Ocean Road. I ate at YY for lunch a day before. Both YY and Chin Chin are good. There wasn’t much “white chicken” in my plate at Chin Chin, which made it hard to compare with YY. The “white chicken” at YY was lovely, silky smooth and tasty. But, the rice at Chin Chin was probably better which was loose by the grains, fluffy and oily as should be. The extra condiment of freshly grated ginger delivered a wholesome experience of a complete chicken rice dish with full, rounded and robust flavour. And, the Hainan style mixed vegetable was delightful. After my chicken rice lunch at Chin Chin, I made my way back to the hotel with a side detour. I stopped at The Raffles, which was directly across from the Fairmont Hotel. I leisurely  strolled through the opulent hotel’s retail shops and internal courtyard. A great contrast to the outside world of The Raffles was a block of flat with hanging laundries from some of the units. This was a rare sighting – reminiscent of the bygone era when flat was built with no space for drying clothes. Hence, the long bamboo pole protruding from a window of the unit. It makes a colourful change from the otherwise sterile and clean Singapore.

Waking up to Singapore

That was it. My last day in Singapore. The best way to to spend my last day in Singapore was to walk around the Marina Bay in the early hours while it was still dark and warm.

Since I arrived in Singapore in the evening three days ago, I have been telling myself that I have to walk from my hotel to Marina Bay Sand – the ultimate destination in Singapore for the moment. I could see the buildings from my room. It wasn’t far.I was planning to walk around the bay and back. Looks easy from the picture until I decided to take a detour and walked to “Gardens by the Bay”. Not a problem when there are things to look at but that was a very, very long walk. It was worth it the pain and good for my legs. As I kept walking, I was waiting for the sun to break the dawn but it was a long, long wait which never came until I was back in the hotel.The sun was still trying to break from the dawn. Looking out to the horizon, I imagined that I am in a different country. The Gardens by the Bay is an amazing man made gardens with “The Supertree” structures – eventually looking like a tropical tree 22 metre high. There are 2 conservatories shaped like a shell with plants and flowers from different parts of the world. The entire area looks amazing. That is what Singapore is good at – turning their vision and master plan into reality. This is truly a masterpiece of a man made garden. There were a group of enthusiastic photographers waiting for that perfect light for their best shots of the Supertrees.Every single plant and tree has its position, including a couple of “fallen” palms to make them looked like they have been wind swept to the ground. I am intrigue by this unique tree with clump of pods growing out of the trunk. I will be interested if any reader know what it is.

There was a sea of runners that morning around Marina Bay. It looked like a fund raising charity event. It was challenging to walked in the opposite direction to the crowd. Every step of the way I did my best not to to crash into them.Marina Bay master plan redevelopment was massive with new skyscraper office buildings and waterfront hotels. There is something about walking along the waterfront promenade that connects from one end to the other end of the city. It is relaxing and interesting at the same time. In every places that I have been or lived in, I make it a point to walk along a waterfront promenade taking in the view and atmosphere of the surrounds. Not far from my hotel, there is a historical water fountain dated back to 1882 known as the Tan Kim Seng Water Fountain. It was relocated from its previous site at the Fullerton Square to its current site at the Esplanade. I am glad to see a bit of history still intact and not being demolished to pave for another high rise building.

That was how I spent my last day in Singapore. I enjoyed my 2 overnights stay in Singapore. However, the experience didn’t change my view on Singapore. It is a world class city with stunning skyscrapers. As a tourist, there is nothing here for me to experience or to take home. It is like any other major cities in the world with a “cultural deficiency” in comparison to her neighbours – Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam.  Singapore has her version of Chinatown, Little India, Arab Streets and street arts graffiti but the districts are like a movie set, rather than organically homegrown. It is too perfect and too well planned and layout. But, as a world class city, it has all the ticks and a hallmark of one of the best city in the world, very well governed with zero tolerance to corruption and clinically clean!

Singapore by Night

Singapore by Night – that is what Singapore is good at. Showing off her buildings, river and harbour with glistening lights shimmering from afar with jaw dropping architectural glassed buildings soaring into the sky.

My plan was to go to the Chinatown for a bit of exploration – being the Autumn Festival (a.k.a the Mooncake Festival) and Hungry Ghost Festival, I was hoping to see some interesting lanterns, mock up stage with Chinese opera and altar worshipping the hungry spirits roaming around the streets. That was what I expect to experience in the Chinatown. This, unfortunately, did not happened on my last night in Singapore. But not a great deal and not missed as I have already been to Singapore’s Chinatown a couple of years ago and knew what it was like. I was only hoping to see if they put up a good show for the 2 festivals.

I left my hotel about six-ish to catch the SIA Hop-on tourist bus. It was still light when I waited for the bus. It was a long wait. By the time I got onto the bus, it was starting to get dark. The bus crossed an old heritage bridge on South Beach Road. The view along the river was breathtaking with a row of colourful neon shop signs   – bars and restaurants, and a view of the business district. I decided a detour and disembarked from the bus to explore the riverfront restaurants.There was an interesting graffiti street art along a small pedestrian tunnel below the historical bridge. I enjoyed my evening stroll along the river which was surprisingly relaxing and quiet on the opposite side of the river away from the row of restaurants and bars. A “ying and yang” effect of harmony along the river.

After a long evening stroll, I decided to make my way to the Bugis street for a cheap dinner. I have noticed a street stall selling teochew style roast duck. It costs  $6 for a plate of some duck meat, tofu, bean sprouts and rice noodle. My verdict it was only an okay meal. 

Singapore – a modern city

Singapore – now who would have thought that it is more than just Orchard Road. Singapore is not one of the city that I have in mind to stopover for a visit on the way home to visit my family in Penang. But, I have been proved wrong on this visit. 10- 20 years ago, all I know about Singapore  was the Orchard Road, Sentosa Island and Haw Par Villa. I will hopped across the Singapore channel on the Malaysian train from the southernmost Malaysian city – Johor Bahru to the tiny prosperous island of Singapore city. The Malaysian railway network system – KTM (“Keretapi Tanah Melayu”) connects 3 countries from Bangkok in Thailand to Penang and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Singapore city in Singapore, stopping at several of Malaysian state’s capital cities. It has been more than 20 years since I was a passenger on the KTM. I believe it is time to use the train again to see what it is like. Perhaps a trip in 2014 from Bangkok to Penang.

Before I arrived in Singapore, I was tossing around whether to book a room in one of the big hotels or a small, trendy boutique hotels in the suburbs. This trip was a short 2 nights stopover. I ended up choosing one of the big hotel centrally located in the cultural precinct near the harbour, away from Orchard Road. One of my key requirement is a well matched price for the location. Singapore is a very expensive city. The boutique hotels are as expensive as the larger 5-stars hotels with full facilities. I decided on the Fairmont Hotel in Raffles City Mall after an extensive research on the net. It is ideally located within walking distance to the harbour, Bugis Street, Arab district, Little India and Chinatown. The public transport system is world class with an underground mass rapid transport (MRT) system. The hotel is in an integrated complex of a shopping mall – Raffles City and an MRT station – City Hall. Singapore is a well planned city with landscaped gardens and canopy tree lined boulevards. To escape the heat, there is an extensive air-conditioned underground network system complete with shops, food outlets and supermarkets that connect several of the buildings. It will be a perfect escape or sanctuary for human if there is ever a nuclear disaster on the island! The only problem – there is no sunlight with vitamin D deficiency. The view from my hotel room at Fairmont. It is a good room with a high speed wifi connectivity.

Like it or hate it, I am not a big fan of Singapore. I spent my first day avoiding the Orchard Road and took the SIA double decker Hop On and Hop Off bus touring around the city. It costs $8 for a full day fare if you have an SIA boarding pass. The weather was perfect – sunny and hot, but not too humid.Seating on the upper deck may be too hot for some who are not used to the heat.  But, it has the best seating view of the city.

Passing through rows of overhanging branches shaped like green canopy from both sides of the street brought welcoming sigh of relieve from the heat.My destination stop is Little India. I could have walked there from the hotel, which may take 20 minutes, but the Hop On and Hop Off bus tour is a quick way of seeing the city.Singapore’s Little India isn’t quite the Little India I was expecting. It lacks the vibe and atmosphere of the noisy streets with sari clad Indian women, blaring loud music from giant black loud speakers outside CD shops, the scent of herbs and aromatic spices filling the air. There is a small Indian arcade, which is as interesting as it gets for me. A couple of blocks away is the neighbouring Arab district, which is more interesting than Little India. It was an easy 10 minutes walk.  Arab Street and Haji Lane are really colourful with interesting shops and restaurants. Haji Lane is a small lane with little boutique clothing shops on both sides of the lane. I went into some of the boutique shops. They are interesting, but I am wondering how long they will last. And, this was a Saturday. There was hardly anyone in the shop buying. Most people were browsing and looking at the colourful Haji Lane.

I saw a couple of colourful street art mural painting. Though I find both streets are interesting and colourful, there is something not quite right. I think it’s too clean and clinical. It is like the whole street is being sterilised with mock up stage set of shops and stalls with colourfully painted facade and timber shutter windows. It is too Disney like. I think Singapore is trying and trying too hard to be something which is not. It is a too organised city. It is a man made island in every proportion. The interesting part of my city tour today was the surprise findings of the coffee shops, peeping through the colourful windows of the building. Singapore can boast that they have the best Hainanese chicken rice than Malaysia. And they are probably right after I have tried one of their chicken rice stall on my way back to the hotel. The chicken was silky smooth with a thin layer of coated gelatine. It was absolutely divine.