May 15, 2023

It is our third time in Penang and we have seen most of the historical sights and temples. Here are some pictures of our arrival.

This time, I had a quest. Quite a few years ago, I purchased an inexpensive pair of rubber sandals and they have been my go to sandals, even used as slippers, and they were great when I had plantar fasciatis. I can walk for miles in them without any discomfort. So I knew they were made in Malaysia and I wanted to find another pair since the soles of this pair are wearing down.

We had the intention of taking the free CAT bus to the bazaar area but didn’t see it anywhere and the cab drivers were eager to take us. So we opted for a taxi for $5. Good thing because later when we thought we would take the bus around town and back to the pier, we saw the sign on the bus that said they have a requirement that passengers wear masks and I didn’t have one with me. The driver made no exceptions!

Penang has two parts; Penang Island where the capital city, Georgetown, is located and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. They are connected by Malaysia’s two longest bridges. Penang has a hetrogeneous population that is highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and religion. The three main races, as we heard in Langkawi, are Malay, Chinese and Indians. Penang is also home to significant Eurasian, Siamese and expatriate communities. People are quite friendly and helpful and we felt safe here.

Many people are wearing masks here but as in so many southeast Asian countries, it is often for pollution or sun protection. We haven’t heard of a lot of covid here, but the mask requirement on the CAT bus did make me wonder.

We arrived at the bazaar area and Campbell street market around 9:30 and many of the shops were not yet open. We wandered through the area and found a shoe seller that had the sandals! They are slightly different from my original ones, but I bought 2 pairs for $14 US. This vendor did take US money but most in the local markets do not.

It was hard to believe that the main thing I wanted to accomplish was so easy! We walked around the market area for a while and stopped into a store that sold all kinds of noodles, nuts, dried fruits, beans, etc. We bought some nuts, mixed nuts and fruit and dried tangerines which I have never seen before. It was amazing that they seem to have a dried soup mix for every ailment. Here are just a few. We didn’t buy any of those.

It was again a very hot, steamy day, so we decided to go back to the ship in time for lunch. This is when we discovered that the CAT bus had a mask requirement, so we grabbed a taxi, again for $5. I spotted a flower market on the way back to the ship and asked the taxi driver to stop. It is the day after Mother’s Day and the day before our 41st anniversary, so flowers were definitely required! I picked out a lovely bouquet for US $8.

It is fun to be in some cities that we have explored before and to just go out with only a vague idea of where we would go and what we would do. I love to watch the people, speak to those that I can, and learn every day. No formal tour is needed in many of these places.

Here are a couple of pictures from the town.

A large pod of dolphins entertained us while we were eating lunch. I couldn’t get any pictures but we watched themwhile they played just off the port side of the ship.

Tomorrow we are still in Malaysia, at Port Klang which is a 90 minute drive from Kuala Lumpur. We visited there in 2019 and decided not to take the long trip so I made a hair apppointment for 2 PM. We will go out in the local area in the morning.