After leaving the Red Food Court we headed back and popped our noses into the Mango Lounge which is attached to the Blue Mansion hotel. We enjoyed a bottle of wine with good service and then retired to bed by 9pm. Had been a long day.

Tuesday we walked to the Clan Jetties, then to Cornwallis Fort, followed the Esplanade, checked out Queen Victoria’s clocktower and returned – phew! We then relaxed back in our room before returning to the Clan Jetties to check out the Jetty food court – much larger than the previous one and which had come recommended by friends – before ending up in the Tipsy Cow bar chatting to an Australian couple. Had been a tiring day in the heat and humidity but we enjoyed the vibe of Georgetown.

Wednesday morning we took ourselves off to visit Penang Hill ordering a grab (uber) to take us there – it’s official name is Penang Hill UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. We had pre-purchased our funicular tickets and enjoyed the trip up although were surprised by just how busy it was! Penang Hill has a total of six peaks and the highest stands at 833 meters above sea level (2,732 feet). So we were able to enjoy some of the best lookouts in Penang – a spectacular 180 degree view of George Town from the SkyWalk and SkyDeck – but sadly it wasn’t that clear of a day….

We stopped in the cafe for a cold drink and a refillable bottle of water to take with us before starting to wander around and enjoy the views. We decided against visiting the antiquated pre-war colonial style bungalows and buildings nestling among the trees but it was obvious why the Europeans had decided to chose this area to settle – set against the vast backdrop of the lush rainforest.

Entering the walkways we came across a very friendly Dusky Leaf Monkey wearing his trademark spectacles so stood and watched him for a while… He was completely unconcerned about our close proximity and just sat and looked around…guess he is used to excitable tourists wanting to take his photo all the time LOL. Moving on we came across a huge lizard and lots of other beasties….sadly no native Black Giant Squirrels. But we enjoyed taking a break on the numerous giant swings as we walked around enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest.

At the end of the SkyWalk we reached The Habitat – a gift shop and cafe rolled into one. We were informed that, because we had tickets, we could grab a free buggy ride back to the funicular station if we wanted to….it was a long way back….so took the opportunity to do so checking out the mosque and the temple before departing the site on the funicular ride down.

Had been a lot of fun but we were pretty tired after all this so retired back to the city and our hotel. After a restorative rest up we headed back down into town and checked out some of the Street Art before deciding to go to a steak restaurant for dinner (we fancied some Western food). We had been recommended a particular place but, sadly, they were fully booked. So we checked for alternatives near by and found another one that was close….so headed over there….stopping off at the Beach Bar along the way. Have no idea why this pub was called the Beach Bar as it was nowhere near a beach nor did it had beach views…all very confusing. Anyway, having enjoyed a drink, we headed to the Steak place. This had the model of charging per 100g of meat – depending upon which cut you chose – which came with sides. We selected our cut and were taken to a huge butchery / fridge area to select our steaks…we chose two very similar in size…and they priced them there and then. Not too bad actually. The biggest surprise was this very large restaurant was completely halal so no alcohol served….not a problem as there were loads of other places to frequent….but meant we didn’t linger after eating. The food was pretty good but we soon moved on and returned to the Mango Lounge for a pontoonie….to our delight a live band was playing and they were pretty good.

Returning to our room for the night we discussed what to do the following day. We had done a lot and had seen most things but recognised that we really needed a driver to do it justice – so booked a private tour for the following day.

Thursday morning we were picked up by Robin – our tour guide / driver – and he wanted to know what we had explored already so that we didn’t duplicate things. He was surprised that we had already been to Penang Hill but we hadn’t explored the huge temple which sits beneath it…so that was our first stop.

Then we drove back towards the city and visited every temple known to man along the route – particularly the two Buddhist temples which sat opposite each other on one side road. The giant gold Buddhas were huge (one standing and one reclining) and we enjoyed checking them out. Afterwards he drove us towards the prom and explained more about the Clan Jetties – apparently these were originally Chinese sea gypsies who set up home on jetties they constructed along the coastline. When they settled and constructed these homes on stilts they were not considered to be permanent homes and were free of taxes. That has changed in the last decade or so as they now have access to electricity, water and sanitation pipes – so still living the same way except they have to pay property taxes LOL!

Each Clan has their own jetty – some are more commercial (ie have small touristy type shops selling bits and bobs) and others are purely residential with the odd temple thrown in. We visited both and, walking to the end of the Lee Jetty which was where they tied their fishing boats up as many still live traditional lives, we were surprised to see a huge monitor lizard in the mud going for a walk….. Wasn’t expecting that!

On the way back to our hotel we stopped off at the Penang White Coffee company and enjoyed some samples…I tried their hot chocolate offerings rather than their coffee. Both of us were blown away by the taste / flavour so purchased some sachets to take home…plus some chocolates. I particularly liked their 75% dark chocolate range…. We must have been transfixed by the whole experience as when we got back and realised how much we had spent we were a bit surprised to say the least!

Moving swiftly on we headed into the Batik factory – and I purchased a lovely top for myself, Richard declined the matching shirt LOL – before returning to the car park to meet Robin. Back at the hotel we said our sad farewells…he had given us a really interesting and informative day out…and returned to our room to drop off our goodies.

After an hour relaxing and getting cleaned up we headed back to the Mango Lounge bar and were delighted to see another band were setting up…..but sadly the weather had other ideas…and pretty much as soon as they started the heavens opened and rain stopped play. The band – and their family members – then huddled under cover with us hoping that the whole evening wasn’t going to be washed out but, sadly, it was. But it was lovely to chat to these locals about their lives here in Penang.

Friday morning (14 September) we joined in with one of the formal tours of the Blue Mansion to get more information on our accommodation. Surprisingly the tour guide was actually the owner and she was full of information about the challenging renovation that they had undertaken to bring this place back to its former glory when Cheong Fatt Tze used it both as his home and office and lived here with his seventh wife. He was a prominent figure in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a successful businessman who also held significant roles as a diplomat and an advisor. The mansion has 38 rooms, 5 granite paved courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 vernacular timber louvre windows. It also has UNESCO cultural world heritage site status. The mansion has been featured in various films including the 1993 French film Indochine, Road to Dawn and The Blue Mansion. It also serves as the backdrop to many movies / TV programmes including most recently “Crazy Rich Asians” which means that most of the tourists come simply to recreate photo opportunities to match the programme! And they don’t care about the hotel guests privacy they just march around as though they own the place ignoring the roped off ‘private’ areas…

After the tour we walked back into the centre of town as we realised that we had missed some of the Street Art installations….so we hired a Trishaw and took off… The guy was completely nuts and kept telling us weird stories how one of the buildings was being used to store cocaine – but now it was stored legally it was all owned by the pharmaceutical companies – and another which used to store ammunition…. The Trishaw was a little on the small side and wasn’t really suited to two Westerners sitting side by side…so we sort of sat on top of each other and enjoyed the ride. We had a nice time despite the discomfort LOL.

Saturday morning – our last day in Georgetown before we moved down the coast to Batu Ferringhi the beach area of Penang for a week of R&R. We went through our tour book and online resources and decided we had explored everything that we wanted to (especially as it was raining again) so decided to take ourselves off to a local laundry we had spotted on our wanderings previously. We walked down there only to find that the lady was busy (ironically doing Blue Mansion work) and couldn’t return it to us until Monday (which didn’t work for us). But there was a self service laundromat next door…. Luckily the machines were already pre-filled with detergent and softener so I just needed change….and there was a change machine on the wall….so happy days put the laundry on and settled down to read a book whilst I waited. Richard went off on a mission to pick up some stuff from local shops so he popped back in now and again to check on me…. Eventually he returned for good and I took the opportunity of taking some of the laundry back to the hotel room with me… On Richard’s return with the rest of it we sorted it all out – lovely that we were leaving in the morning with all clean clothes – before sitting in the courtyard outside our room with a cold beer. We enjoyed sitting there – watching the rain which had reduced the humidity a bit – for a few hours (despite fending off more of those damn tourists LOL) before heading back into town for dinner at Emily’s steakhouse for dinner. We then had a drink in a pub before getting a grab back to the hotel where we popped into the Mango Lounge and caught the last 15 minutes of a musical set by another band. This was all advertised as jazz (which is not our preferred genre) but it was really good and the musicians were very talented. And so to bed…we had thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring Penang and Georgetown.

That brings this part of the adventure to a close….come back soon for the next (and final) edition…

Bye for now, Jan