On our first full day in Penang, we woke up early, having slept a lot on the previous night. We went down for breakfast to the restaurant called Sarkies, named after the brothers who built the hotel. The spread was quite impressive. The service wasn't as attentive as it was at our Kuala Lumpur hotel but to compensate for that, they were making fresh parathas on order. We had omelette and paratha with daal and curry. The lattes in Malaysia have been great and have been our preferred breakfast beverage. We went back to our room to relax for a bit and then headed out for the day.
We walked a few blocks to the nearby Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, also called the Blue Mansion. It gets that name from its blue colored outer facade. Our guided tour started at 11 am and went on for almost an hour. The mansion was built by a Chinese businessman who was called Cheong Fatt Tze. He had ventures all over Southeast Asia and was a rich man. He built the house to showcase his wealth and it originally stood in the center of his estate, of which only the mansion now remains intact. The mansion is a traditional Chinese house with a central courtyard but as its owner was an international businessman, he also wanted to use the latest trends of the day so he used English tiles and stained glass windows. The mansion also features Qing dynasty latticework and cast-iron balusters. Cheong Fatt Tze wanted the house to serve his family for eternity so there is a lot of symbolism based on Chinese beliefs. For instance, the central courtyard has 8 pillars as 8 is considered a lucky number. There are enough rooms to house 9 generations and 9 signifies eternity. Cheong Fatt Tze had 8 wives but only three of them lived in this mansion including his favorite one. She was the mother of his last son and according to his will, the house could not be sold until his last son died. The house was put up for auction in 1988 after the death of the last son and that's when its current owners purchased it. They are a husband and wife team of architects who took it upon themselves to restore the house to its original splendor, with minor adjustments to fit in electric wires and indoor plumbing. The house opened to the public in 1998 and also serves as a hotel with 18 rooms. The mansion doesn't have air conditioning so I had to make sure I kept Sereen cool by keeping her in the range of fans.
After visiting the mansion, we got a strawberry flavored bubble tea from a stand outside the mansion and then walked a few more blocks to our next stop of the day, the Penang State Museum and Art Gallery. Located next to Saint George's Church, this small museum gives an excellent account of the history of Penang. It has maps and records chronicling the growth of Penang since the arrival of the British. The first floor showcases the various ethnic groups that constitute Penang's population, with exhibits of clothing, photographs, household items and artifacts associated with Penang island's Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. The second floor is devoted to Penang's history with special emphasis on the colonial era, the Japanese occupation, the Chinese and Indian settlements and the gaining of independence. There were two different couples at the museum who took pictures with Sereen after asking us. This baby is a hit wherever she goes! The museum was air conditioned so Sereen was her usual playful self and gave both couples lots of smiles.
After that we walked to Little India and stopped at a vegetarian South Indian restaurant for lunch. We had Mushroom 65 and samosas for appetizer and I had a sweet lassi. For our main course, we had an aloo paratha, paneer manchurian and Szechuan fried rice. Then we walked by clothing stores, jewelry stores and music shops blaring Bollywood music before taking a taxi back to our hotel. We rested for an hour and then took our hotel shuttle to the other end of the island, the beach town of Batu Ferrenghi. The shuttle took about an hour during which time Sereen took a nap in my arms. We were dropped off at a sister hotel of the Eastern and Oriental hotel. We had thought that the beach would be nice but perhaps because of too much commercialization, it was crowded and didn't look too appealing so we decided to not go near the water. We had a banana milkshake at the hotel cafe and then walked along the patch between the hotel and the beach that had very old and tall shady trees. Originally the plan was to relax at the beach and then take the shuttle back at 9:45 pm but since we were done earlier than that, we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel. It was a nice drive along the beach. Sereen started crying so we had to keep her distracted by playing her favorite Coke Studio songs. When we reached the hotel, we rested in our room for a little while and Sereen fell asleep.
We went to the old wing of our hotel to dine at the Sarkies Corner restaurant. We decided to sit inside because all the people were sitting outside and we didn't want Sereen to get disturbed while she was sleeping. Usually when we go for dinner, Sereen is sleeping so we transfer her to her stroller where she keeps sleeping peacefully while we have dinner. We had chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce for appetizer. I had the beef rendang with rice and Samia had Kapitan chicken curry with rice. After dinner, we went back to our room and decided to call it a night. We aren't walking as much as we usually do on our vacations but still we end up walking around 10,000 steps or around 7-8 kilometers. In this heat and humidity with a stroller to manage as well, that's probably the most we can do. Till the next update, take care!
We walked a few blocks to the nearby Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, also called the Blue Mansion. It gets that name from its blue colored outer facade. Our guided tour started at 11 am and went on for almost an hour. The mansion was built by a Chinese businessman who was called Cheong Fatt Tze. He had ventures all over Southeast Asia and was a rich man. He built the house to showcase his wealth and it originally stood in the center of his estate, of which only the mansion now remains intact. The mansion is a traditional Chinese house with a central courtyard but as its owner was an international businessman, he also wanted to use the latest trends of the day so he used English tiles and stained glass windows. The mansion also features Qing dynasty latticework and cast-iron balusters. Cheong Fatt Tze wanted the house to serve his family for eternity so there is a lot of symbolism based on Chinese beliefs. For instance, the central courtyard has 8 pillars as 8 is considered a lucky number. There are enough rooms to house 9 generations and 9 signifies eternity. Cheong Fatt Tze had 8 wives but only three of them lived in this mansion including his favorite one. She was the mother of his last son and according to his will, the house could not be sold until his last son died. The house was put up for auction in 1988 after the death of the last son and that's when its current owners purchased it. They are a husband and wife team of architects who took it upon themselves to restore the house to its original splendor, with minor adjustments to fit in electric wires and indoor plumbing. The house opened to the public in 1998 and also serves as a hotel with 18 rooms. The mansion doesn't have air conditioning so I had to make sure I kept Sereen cool by keeping her in the range of fans.
After visiting the mansion, we got a strawberry flavored bubble tea from a stand outside the mansion and then walked a few more blocks to our next stop of the day, the Penang State Museum and Art Gallery. Located next to Saint George's Church, this small museum gives an excellent account of the history of Penang. It has maps and records chronicling the growth of Penang since the arrival of the British. The first floor showcases the various ethnic groups that constitute Penang's population, with exhibits of clothing, photographs, household items and artifacts associated with Penang island's Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. The second floor is devoted to Penang's history with special emphasis on the colonial era, the Japanese occupation, the Chinese and Indian settlements and the gaining of independence. There were two different couples at the museum who took pictures with Sereen after asking us. This baby is a hit wherever she goes! The museum was air conditioned so Sereen was her usual playful self and gave both couples lots of smiles.
After that we walked to Little India and stopped at a vegetarian South Indian restaurant for lunch. We had Mushroom 65 and samosas for appetizer and I had a sweet lassi. For our main course, we had an aloo paratha, paneer manchurian and Szechuan fried rice. Then we walked by clothing stores, jewelry stores and music shops blaring Bollywood music before taking a taxi back to our hotel. We rested for an hour and then took our hotel shuttle to the other end of the island, the beach town of Batu Ferrenghi. The shuttle took about an hour during which time Sereen took a nap in my arms. We were dropped off at a sister hotel of the Eastern and Oriental hotel. We had thought that the beach would be nice but perhaps because of too much commercialization, it was crowded and didn't look too appealing so we decided to not go near the water. We had a banana milkshake at the hotel cafe and then walked along the patch between the hotel and the beach that had very old and tall shady trees. Originally the plan was to relax at the beach and then take the shuttle back at 9:45 pm but since we were done earlier than that, we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel. It was a nice drive along the beach. Sereen started crying so we had to keep her distracted by playing her favorite Coke Studio songs. When we reached the hotel, we rested in our room for a little while and Sereen fell asleep.
We went to the old wing of our hotel to dine at the Sarkies Corner restaurant. We decided to sit inside because all the people were sitting outside and we didn't want Sereen to get disturbed while she was sleeping. Usually when we go for dinner, Sereen is sleeping so we transfer her to her stroller where she keeps sleeping peacefully while we have dinner. We had chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce for appetizer. I had the beef rendang with rice and Samia had Kapitan chicken curry with rice. After dinner, we went back to our room and decided to call it a night. We aren't walking as much as we usually do on our vacations but still we end up walking around 10,000 steps or around 7-8 kilometers. In this heat and humidity with a stroller to manage as well, that's probably the most we can do. Till the next update, take care!
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