If my geography is correct, parts of Malaysia lie on the Equator. I’m not sure if I visited any of those places, but this is definitely the closest I’ve ever been to the Equator, including the Marshall Islands. Throw in the monsoon season, and the fact that Penang is a small island, and we’re talking about temperatures well into the 90s and humidity well above 90%. IT’S HOT. How those wok masters at the hawker stands don’t melt is beyond my comprehension.

We spent the morning Skypeing with Cindy’s family so our first foray outdoors was for lunch. Kai dropped us off at yet another hawker stand and told us to eat the asam laksa. It’s a noodle soup in fish broth. And it was amazingly funky and delicious and cost $2 for the both of us. It’s a pungent yet tasty way to start the morning.

Laksa

Hawker center

We bused into Georgetown to wander around. Unlike Pingyao or old towns elsewhere, Georgetown had no intention of maintaining any sort of architectural consistency. It basically just built whatever was in style/functional at the time right next to whatever was there previously. Considering Malaysia’s geography and history, that means Hindu temples are next to Chinese store fronts are next to French colonial houses (above picture) are next to hawker centers. It’s like putting together a puzzle with pieces from six different boxes. Somehow it works.

Georgetown street

Hindu temple

We decided to visit an old Chinese clan house that’s been converted into a museum. The family’s opulent furnishings and jewelry were on display, in addition to the way over-the-top house itself. While neat, we had seen similar and grander Chinese houses in, you know, China. There were several other similar museums in Penang, and we decided we didn’t need to visit them.

For dinner we wandered into the Gurney hawker center, supposedly the largest in Penang. I’m not sure if it was, but it was plenty big. We decided to go big and ordered an assortment of six items from different stands, including an oyster omelette, stir fried noodles, prawn soup noodles, and two desserts.

All we’re doing is eating