Weekend Sights

I asked the hardware store owner to snap my pic

Friday evening I looked at my calendar and realized that I had NOTHING planned to do all weekend.  So I got out my tour guide and some city maps, and made a plan to do the World Heritage site walking tour of the historic Georgetown area of Penang.  And, though I rose from my bed early enough, by the time I did a load of laundry Saturday morning and hung it all up, the sun was high in the sky and i was just heading out the door armed with sunscreen and a full water bottle.  The walk down to Komtar (tallest building in the city) was easy, but I quickly realized that it was HOT!  I stopped at a small hardware store in Chinatown and purchased the only straw hat I saw - which actually worked out fairly well as the brim is very wide and it at least kept me from burning on my face, neck, and upper arms.  First I walked to the ferry, then on down to Fort Cornwallis (built in the late 1780s), and then I continued on into Little India where I purchased a punjabi suit (long tunic type shirt dress with baggy, drawstring matching trousers).  I walked to St George's (oldest church here) and to several Chinese temples and the original colonial state house.  All in all, saw 18 of the 21 sites highlighted on the map.  But it was really hot.  And I was exhausted.  So I waited for almost an hour to catch the free shuttle from the Georgetown historic area back up to the city shopping centre - and the Komtar building.  Then a straight walk back to my flat where I basically collapsed onto the couch (did i mention that it was HOT?!) for a while before getting up the energy to take a luke-warm shower, then off to bed.

Fort Cornwallis

Sunday morning i got up leisurely and headed down to the Methodist church for the 11am contemporary service.  The Australian couple was there and very graciously invited me to join them for lunch at a very nice restaurant in of all places, the Georgetown area!  So I ended up spending a 2nd afternoon seeing more of the historic sites.  Narelle and Craig Collas are both ordained clergy in the Uniting Church of Australia, but it is Craig's position as a chaplain for the Royal Airforce that has brought them here to Malaysia for the next 3 years (they arrived in mid-December).  Narelle will not be 'gainfully employed' while here due to visa restrictions.  We spent a very pleasant lunch time getting to know each other, and then Narelle wanted to take Craig and me to see several artisans' shops that she had recently discovered.  Unfortunately, only the joss stick maker, Mr Lee, and a Vietnamese tile shop were opened on Sunday afternoons.  But we did tour another of the famous chinese temples - Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, "The Heritage Jewel of Penang". Following the tour, it was HOT! again, and so we stopped for cool drinks at another really nice spot, The China House.  All in all, a delightful day spent learning more about the rich history of this city with new Christian friends.  I am blessed.

Mr. Lee, jos stick maker

Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi