Day 13: George Town, Sunny & Clear, +30°

Thank God Someone Has A Swimming Pool!!🥵🏊‍♂️

This was the view from our window this morning at 7:30. The sky was clear and I opened the window and received a blast of very warm air. It was evidently going to be a scorcher!🥵 I sent this to Dennis and he sent me back a photo of his backyard indicating a recent snow event. Of course I felt pleased to miss the snow, and I felt badly for those at home. At least a little bit.😉

We again made plans with Linda & David, but this time we would first wander some George Town’s more interesting streets. We would then catch Bus 101 out to the condo they were renting about a half hour away.

Something I think that I’ve failed to share are the wrought iron art works located in famous parts of the old city. This one beautifully illustrates the rope making industry that was previously located in this area. They are quite special, and I have throwing collection

We took a new approach to wandering and we first googled, ‘the most interesting historic streets in George Town’. No moss on these two!😅 To our amusement it worked, and we figured out an order on Google Maps and started our grandish tour.

Our first stop was completely by chance as we passed the fish market which came with zero tourists! A lucky find, we enjoyed our first interaction with a local woman who told us that we could go inside for a look. She kindly told us that we were very welcome in Malaysia and wanted to know about where we were from. During a time when mass tourism is being loudly rejected in some parts of the world, clearly many Malaysians feel quite differently.

We then almost stumbled over a special find, the Tokong Han Jiang Ancestral temple. This Taoist temple dating back to 1870 has wry recently been completely restored after falling into serious decay.

It now looks like this;

The ceilings and all the cross beams have been repainted.

We moved onwards trying as much as possible to hug the shade!

We soon entered Little India which came complete with Indian music (no surprise) filling the streets from the various businesses and colourful paintings on the road pavement in front of the various businesses.

Little India was colourful, noisy and tested our senses as we passed through.

We moved on to another street that was indicated on our Google list, and as we passed what looked to be just another Chinese temple I suggested to AM that we should just have a very quick look at another of the 2000 temples in the Penang area. I think we’ve seen about ten of them.

Turns out that this quick visit would be become one of our highlights, and not a short visit.

As we walked through the door we were initially warmly greeted by two men who were sitting just inside the entrance. They introduced themselves, shook our hands and asked where were from. They then explained that the building was not a temple, but rather a Clan Association House for the Chinese, Xin Hui Clan that came here from China several hundred years ago. Several others joined us including two brothers and a sister with her husband and her daughter. The sister took AM off for a tour of the place while I remained talking with the men about worldly matters, ie., the clown to the south of Canada’s border. It was nice to hear just how much he’s disliked in Malaysia too! After we all agreed on this they took me on a walk through the building as well.

They showed me where the death tablets were for each of their ancestors stretching back 2-300 years. The darker tablets at the top are the oldest, descending to the more recent, just like a family tree. Somewhat similar to what I saw in Japan in some of the temples. A very nicely organized family history.

It was by chance that we met some of the members of this family clan as they were gathering to go out to a family celebration which this particular clan practices each year on the 7th day of the 14 day New Years celebration. the fellow beside AM is also named Jeff and we all had some fun guessing each other’s ages. For the record they guessed that we were both 60.🙂 With the exception of the youngest brother who was actually 60 (standing beside me), the rest of us were all within 4 years of each other. Nice experience.

From there we continued onwards until we heard a very loud drumming and crashing of cymbals! We investigated and found ourselves out front of a bank looking inside through the open doors. I knew immediately what was happening because I’d been privileged to witness this ceremonial celebration while working for 4 years in the downtown Vancouver Chinese community. I know that my close friend Louise remembers this very well. After New Years celebrations the banks and businesses open with lit firecrackers exploding on the doorstep and then a holy person would move from room to room chasing away the bad spirits and helping to ensure prosperity in the coming year. Did I get this right Louise?

The bank manager saw us watching from outside and called us to come inside, which we willing did.

As I sit here writing at 23:30 after a long day, the fireworks are just starting up again outside our window! Sheesh! Enough already!!

We walked on towards the waterfront and Fort Cornwallis. In the foreground is the commemorative clock tower honouring Queen Victoria’s Silver Jubilee and the fort is directly behind.

Reaching the waterfront we took a moment to check out the large colonial buildings from the time of the British occupation. They were pretty much as expected.

We decided that it was time to bus out to see our waiting friends, and we hustled through the heat to catch the bus.

Getting off the bus we were greeted by one of the expats living and sleeping in this outer tourist area. Totally out of it!

Reunited again with Linda & David we had a quick tour of their 33rd floor accommodations with great views!

And then it was time to bus even further away from Penang to find a beautiful walking beach.

Really nice! Linda wanted to make sure that we enjoyed a beach experience before leaving Malaysia. Great idea!

With deadly Box jellyfish around, there weren’t many folks in swimming today!

We caught a return bus and once changed we enjoyed a dip in the zero pool at the condo build. It was extremely refreshing!! In spite of this blog post title I actually neglected to take a photo. But trust me, it felt amazing on such a hot day!

Changed again into street clothes we went out in search of dinner and settled on an Italian dinner with ice cold beers and frosted glasses! Perfect.

After dinner we decided to take the bus back, but standing at the bus stop it became very clear that there were no buses coming! Must have been an accident? We called a Grab and while we waited we were dazzled by a decent fireworks celebration!

We finally said our goodbyes. What a wonderful visit! All this way to travel to once again reconnect. We agreed that next time it will be in Canada!

So tomorrow early afternoon we catch our flight northward to Phuket, Thailand, the second of three countries on this travel. Much to look forward to! Lots to do tomorrow morning to get ready and across the city to the airport. Next post from Thailand!!

Good night!💤 No time to proof read this post.

Geoff