Dirty stop-over

Trip Start Oct 01, 2007
1
54
81
Trip End Oct 01, 2008


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Where I stayed
New Banana
(Georgetown hotels)

Flag of Malaysia  ,
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Well, Rory was right.  Penang is nothing special.  Dirty, full of traffic (mostly motor bikes), and there's gross looking food on every corner.  All we heard from travelers about Penang is how amazing the food is, but where these people got this amazing food I'm not sure.  Fish heads, fish butts, dried anchovies, fish eyes, whole skewered shrimp with legs and eyes, and things I'm not even sure what they were...or still are.  Ewww.  Thank god we only had 2 nights here. 
One of those nights we decided to hit up Rory's old favortie restaurant Kashmir.  The food here was amazing.  Very spicy authentic Indian food served with pipping hot nan bread for dipping.  Yummy.  Other than dinner, we didn't do much in Penang.  A bit of walking around, sweating and shopping.  Just a stop-over on our way to Bangkok.  Phad Thai - here I come!
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henrysmum
henrysmum on Jul 20, 2008 at 09:10AM

Dirty Stopover
Penang is what it is. Backpackers rushing around the world, staying two nights in a place, never get it.
No matter where they are. It has to look beautiful, picture postcard etc.. (How long did you stay in Melbourne?)
You say you didn't get it about the food, yet in the next sentence praise the one Indian joint you went to. Yes its hot and dirty compared to home and beach resorts, but its Penang. Did you take a quiet trishaw ride around the city after 10pm through the back streets to appreciate the city? There's more to Penang than you think. Slow down. Even Georgetown has a lot more going on than you would see in 2 days.
Sorry to vent on you guys, but these posts are full of crew racing each other around the world, and never stopping to take anything in. Hanging with other backpackers, and never stopping to be with the locals unless they are driving your boat or giving you a room. Its a real shame. I know you are on a schedule, but what have you got left, apart from a lot of photos?

amwiley
amwiley on Jul 21, 2008 at 01:06PM

Sorry to have upset...
You see, my husband lived in Penang for over a year and we were only making a quick stop so that I could see it as well. I'm fairly certain that in a whole year you get a good idea of what a city is like and I was merely piggy-backing on his apparently imperfect impression. People have opinions - your welcome to yours and I think we should be welcome to ours.

henrysmum
henrysmum on Aug 4, 2008 at 09:13AM

Fair enough.
I just think the comment about 'gross looking food on every corner' may have stuck in my craw. Rory might have not enjoyed his year in Penang, and he would know better than me, as only a regular return visitor. I just thought it was a flippant and disrespectful comment. You are right of course. We all have our opinions of every place we visit.So we should. But food is usually not something we refer to as gross in Malaysia. Just the opposite. Sorry you didn't find a lot to enjoy in the cuisine.

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