Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Day 2 in Malaysia, Day 2 in Penang
Selamat malam to all, that's Good Evening in Bahasa Malaysia. That and Terima kasih (Thank you) are the only words we've memorised so far. Actually English is the second language in Malaysia, the kids learn it at school. Plus English seems to be better to use when speaking to the Chinese and Indian Malaysians.
We are now starting to get our bearings in Georgetown (named after the Prince of Wales when the British gained the island in exchange for military help). The area we are staying in, Chinatown, is very close to the centre of town. We realise now that it is the poorer area of town. However I enjoy the atmosphere there, i.e. the hawkers, ramshakle buildings left over from the British occupation and the trishaws, better than in the flasher areas of town (you can go to shopping malls anywhere in the world!).
Today we went on a tour in a taxi to many of the temples in Penang. Our friendly driver, Mr Zam, took us to the Reclining Buddha (the longest in Malaysia), the Snake temple and some other spectacularly decorated temples. After a while your attitude changes from awe and admiration to "Once you've seen one temple you've seen them all". A bit like the feeling when you visit all those beautiful churches in Europe.
After the tour we retreated to the air conditioned atmosphere of the "Komtar"a huge shopping complex. This place is so big and such a rabbit warren that we spent about two hours yesterday searching for the tourist information office. Just as we were about to give up in frustration we finally found it tucked away with 10 mins to spare before it closed.
The food here is very cheap but not as good quality as NZ. We realised we were spoilt for choice for good food in Wellington. Of course the restaurants/stalls here do not have access to the good quality and fresh ingredients you can get back home.
Selamat malam to all, that's Good Evening in Bahasa Malaysia. That and Terima kasih (Thank you) are the only words we've memorised so far. Actually English is the second language in Malaysia, the kids learn it at school. Plus English seems to be better to use when speaking to the Chinese and Indian Malaysians.
We are now starting to get our bearings in Georgetown (named after the Prince of Wales when the British gained the island in exchange for military help). The area we are staying in, Chinatown, is very close to the centre of town. We realise now that it is the poorer area of town. However I enjoy the atmosphere there, i.e. the hawkers, ramshakle buildings left over from the British occupation and the trishaws, better than in the flasher areas of town (you can go to shopping malls anywhere in the world!).
Today we went on a tour in a taxi to many of the temples in Penang. Our friendly driver, Mr Zam, took us to the Reclining Buddha (the longest in Malaysia), the Snake temple and some other spectacularly decorated temples. After a while your attitude changes from awe and admiration to "Once you've seen one temple you've seen them all". A bit like the feeling when you visit all those beautiful churches in Europe.
After the tour we retreated to the air conditioned atmosphere of the "Komtar"a huge shopping complex. This place is so big and such a rabbit warren that we spent about two hours yesterday searching for the tourist information office. Just as we were about to give up in frustration we finally found it tucked away with 10 mins to spare before it closed.
The food here is very cheap but not as good quality as NZ. We realised we were spoilt for choice for good food in Wellington. Of course the restaurants/stalls here do not have access to the good quality and fresh ingredients you can get back home.
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