George Town and Penang Island. December 12-15, 2013

December 12

We took the scenic route to George Town. As we head North there should be less and less monsoon rains, which btw is a good thing. We got to George Town, on Penang, by way of the rather impressive bridge connecting the island to the mainland (as opposed to the ferry). We'd pre-booked our accommodation, The Armenian Heritage Hotel, so navigating into town was easy enough; there was just a lot of traffic. I really wanted to like the hotel but they were experiencing some teething problems (they'd been open since Oct 1st, so I'll forgive them).

Chez Nous Interior

By then it was 3pm and we ended up relaxing in our room before going out for a drink and early dinner.
We found a nice little cafe owned by a Belgian, Philippe, and his Malay-Chinese wife Liz. They were extremely welcoming and made us feel right at home "Chez Nous". We enjoyed several Blanche de Buxelles, a Grimbergen Blonde and a cheese platter. Very nice, so we stayed for dinner.

Belgian Cafe and Restaurant

December 13

Brother and Sister on a Swing

Last night while at 'Chez Nous', Philippe pointed out another of his customers, none other than Ernest Zacharevic, the artist who did lots of George Town's fabulous murals. I didn't want to bother him and his wife while having dinner, but as they walked out I did briefly tell him that I was looking forward to seeing his work in town. He seemed like a very nice young man, which Philippe confirmed; they'd been in the restaurant a few times.

So today we walked around George Town's World Heritage Historic District following a map with the locations of Zacharevic's work. that way we also got an excellent feel for the place. We absolutely love his work.

Children playing Basketball

Kids on Bicycle

Double Role - Police and Firefighters

We left early this morning so we were able to go and relax, out of the heat, in our room for a while before catching up with Coen and Marijke - yes they were also in town - at 'Chez Nous'. After that back to the hotel and out again for a walk and dinner.

Philippe

With Coen and Marijke

December 14.

George Town is on Pulau Penang, which is about 70km in circumference.
This morning we got up very early and were in our car at 6:30am. First stop was Penang National Park for a 1.5 hour hike to Monkey Beach. When we left our hotel it was already 27C, so all the more reason to do this early. We came back from the beach to the car park by ore-booked little boat, very pleasant.
After that we drove around the island but to be honest there wasn't that much to see.

Parked a little too long in the same spot...

Temperatures crept up to 34C so a few hours in our AC'd room were much appreciated before an evening meal and last evening walk around George Town's old district.