More on Penang

Exchange Rate: $1USD = 3.4RM (ringgit)
Time difference: 15 hours ahead of PST

Cost of a room: $35 ringgit for shithole, $57 ringgit for nicer shithole

Perferred method of transport:  tri-cycle bike with cab in front
Penang is a small island off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Straight of Malacca.   I stayed in Georgetown.  It was very poor and very dirty, but the streets are filled with hard working people.  Most are cooking food, fixing motorbikes or selling fruits.  There are no sidewalks and walking in the road is a bit dangerous when you combine lousy driving skills with the random items parked on the road and general congestion.

Since Penang is known as the hawker capital of Malaysia, and I love food, I thought I'd write a bit about my eating experience. The Malaysian and Chinese extraction is best from a cart or market and is, surprisingly, everything that it is made out to be.

The Indian food was amazing.  After our previously described long journey, we were starving and went to the first Indian restaurant we could find on the main drag, Penang Road.  Shortly after we ordered we were presented with a banana leaf, which was our plate. At first I thought it was a place mat, but when they served the food with no plates, I followed the lead of my English friends and slopped the food right on the banana leaf. We were given silverware, whereas traditional Indian food is eaten with you hands.

Laska is a fish broth soup served with thick white rice noodles, vegetables and any kind of meat or seafood you would like.  I had to search a bit to find it the 'best Laksa on Penang Road', but it was well worth it once I got past the smell of sweaty feet crossed with sea food (this was the deli I was at, not the food itself).

Given the Chinese influence in Penang, the dim sum is phenomenal. It served in the same manner as we are used to; cafe style breakfast in a room where carts of food are wheeled by you and a variety of options are pointed at, presented and moved on to your table, usually without knowing what it is. The end result is always pleasant.

Random street food is fantastic. My second day, I wasn't so sure about Penang and decided to go to Lanksawi island. I gathered my stuff, got directions from Jim via ferry, bus, ferry and bus, and started sludging my way to the first ferry. Along the way I got hungry and stopped at a roadside stand. 

The server made a suggestion and I agreed to it, since I could not read the menu.  This was risky as this stand, along with most others in Penang, had whole, cooked chickens and pigs hanging from their cart. Since it was breakfast time, I hoped for the best, meaning a meal not including the head of an animal. I was pleased when my food came as a small bowl of soup and a square, flat, pastry with, presumably, egg in it. I have no idea what is was, but I was not steered wrong by the suggestion.

This is Jim and, as his motto states, he really can fix anything you need in Penang, and most of Thailand for that matter!