It turns out (and this was completely unplanned) that we were last in Penang (more precisely, George Town) almost exactly six years ago...

This time while I'm here, I'm going to be writing.

Writing, writing, writing...

But where better to kick off the writing season that this inspiringly multicultural and historic city?

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, via the train from Bangkok to Padang Besar (about 18 hours); a KTM Komuter to Butterworth (1 hour 50 minutes, and it is precisely the kind of KTM Komuter you find in KL, right down to the KL maps in the carriages); a shuttle to the ferry (a very short distance, but the walkway is currently closed); and the ferry (15 minutes).





Since then, we have:

-- Done a lot of George Town strolling











-- Done a REAL lot of George Town eating, with highlights so far as follows: awesome prawn mee (or Hokkien mee), from the Green House on Jalan Burma; iced see guo teng (with snow fungus, longan, sweet potato, gingko, nipa palm fruit, sago, and rose jelly) and beancurd barley (warm soya milk with barley and gingko nuts) from the Dessert Old Time Delight Shop on Lebuh Kimberley; melt-in-the-mouth Hakka pork and yam, with "village-style" eggplant, from Lao Hakka on Jalan Hutton; scrummy Cantonese pastries from Ming Xiang Tai; and -- less traditionally -- "fruit toast" (sourdough bread, cream cheese, strawberries, almonds, and honey) from the Myarte Cafe in Lebuh Bishop



-- Attended the Sunday service at wedding-cake-white St George's Church, the first Anglican church in Southeast Asia

-- Brought our January Hainan trip full circle by visiting the Hainanese Temple (Thean Hou Kong), and paying respects to the strong and stalwart figure of Mazu











-- Admired the Han Jiang Ancestral Temple, the only exemplar of Teochew architecture in the city, in the hope that we might some day push east in Guangdong to visit the Chaozhou region that is this group's heartland











Postscript: I think my initial spelling (Georgetown) was wrong. It should, it seems, be George Town. I have made the requisite amendments.