1. Chipping away at George Town's massive inventory of street art, which ranges from the humorous to the poignant.















2. Getting a few more Hokkien temples and kongsi under our belt (a kongsi, in its historical sense, is an association of people who hail from the same dialect group or the same area of China, and these organizations played a big part in orienting and supporting new migrants in the 1800s and early 1900s). There's more on all these at Travelfish (which, incidentally, is a really good site, and much more useful on Penang than Lonely Planet). First up this week was the Cheah Kongsi, one of Penang's oldest (and across the road is the amazing China House, whose rambling premises offer a number of different locales and menus, as well as a staggering selection of cakes):













Here is the Eng Chuan Tan Kongsi, set up by the Tans, one of Penang's big Hokkien clans:







The Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple was once a hotbed of secret societies, and still exhibits one of the secret passages that facilitated a quick get-away in days of yore:







And here are the temple and kongsi of the Yaps, another of the big clans of the Hokkien:











3. Tracing some more migrant community roots in the Thai and Myanmar temples on Lebuh Burmah (Wat Chaiyamangalaram and the Dhammakarama Temple).















4. Enjoying more of Penang's excellent food. It turns out a nearby foodcourt does a mean char kuay teow. And we've been back to Ming Xiang Tai and the Green House Prawn Mee Corner, both discovered last weekend. Having tried MXT's pandan, durian, and chicken floss pastries first time round, this week was the turn of the "trishaw egg tarts" (excellent). I loved GHPMC's Hokkien mee last time, and am just as enthusiastic about their half-and-half Hokkien mee and loh mee. I know it sounds weird, but it so works... Also in the week's roll of honour was the lemon cheesecake from Continental Bakery on Jalan Nagor. I truly don't think I've ever had one so good... And I'll finish with a shout-out to George Town's many delightful coffee places, where the first bit of the day's work generally gets done. Particular favourites this week have been Ome by Spacebar (the one with the butter pound loaf) and Urban Daybreak (the one with the cat).







5. Having a movie-and-dessert evening at the mall. The movie was Isle of Dogs, which I found a little weird but very enjoyable (and this, by the way, is a really good discussion of the criticisms of cultural appropriation). The dessert was a big bowl of sunshine from Hui Lao Shan: mango puree, mango chunks, mango ice-cream, and -- my favourite -- CHEWY BALLS! This outing is notable because we haven't done one like it for so long... Squeezing travelling (walking, sight-seeing, and photographing) into the spaces left by work commitments means that a lot of other things get pushed out. This was only the third movie we've seen this year. Apart from what we saw with our family, we've watched no TV or DVDs (which means no K-dramas -- think of that!), and we've seen just one live performance since we left KL. I've read very, very, very little fiction. And language-learning stopped as soon as I left China... It's not that I'm complaining. I've really enjoyed every minute of our travels so far. But truly, you can't do everything... So what huge, life-consuming thing do I need to evict from my days to allow more time for the things I love? I think I already know the answer to that...

Anyway, I'm loving working in George Town, and that's what matters for the moment.