After 4 days filled with sun, beach and “open water” on the
gorgeous Perhentian Island, we had a quick layover in Muslim-centric Kota Bharu,
before we switched over to the other main part of our trip – Penang! If the
first part of our trip was pampered by tropical paradise, then the second part
in Penang was dazzled and indulged by the Malaysian multiculturalism, delicious
street food, exquisite Nyonya cuisine, and the lively art scene! Both Jo and I agreed
that we had a fantastic time in Penang, and it is absolutely worth visiting!
If the Canada is seen as a melting pot to the Canadian multiculturalism,
then Penang is a big piece of three-colour jelly, where Malays, Indians and
Chinese maintain their distinct identities prominently, sometimes even
ostentatiously. On the day we arrived in Penang, it happened to be the “Ghost
Festival” (Yu Lan ), which ghosts and spirits are said to visit the
human world on this day.
Traditionally, Chinese people would worship and pay tribute
to ghosts by offering food, paper money, and even entertainment. This tradition
has largely disappeared in most of China and HK today, but it is still going
strong here in Malaysia! Walking around town, we noticed that joss paper and money
are burned everywhere, and in addition, many shows are put on to entertain
ghosts with some of the performers even flew in from China. It is probably safe
to say that the Chinese population here is among the most traditional in the
world.
(actors pay tribute to spirits before performance)
(performance on stage)
Another great example of the multiculturalism is the “walk
of faith”, a self-guided tour that traverses through the core of George Town while
spotting sites of various religions and legacies. The amazing part of this walk
is that the sites are totally unique to each other, yet they are so closely
located, with some of them just few meters apart.
(Church of Assumption)
(St George Church)
(觀音廟)
(Hindu Shrine)
(Hindu Temple)
(Islam Mosque strongly influenced by Indian style)
(my favourite, 韓江家廟)
(Indian Muslim Shrine)
(Taoist Temple)
Penang is renowned for its food. Thanks to its
multiculturalism, Penang not only offers authentic food from Chinese, Indian
and Malay cultures, it also cultivated new breeds of fusion cuisines like
Nyonya food. I am not usually a foodie, and definitely don’t take food pictures
everywhere I go, but in Penang, I became so appreciative to the delicious food
culture – no wonder Penang is also called Food Paradise of Asia!!!
(肉骨茶, in Kota Bharu actually)
(Delicious street food)
(Exquisite Nyonya food)
(What's left after a feast, beautifully delicious)
