We landed in Penang about 5 days after we left Portland. As we imagined, it was about as opposite an experience from good ole', happy-go-lucky Portland as we could get. Gone was the orderly airport. Adios cloudy grey and misty skies. We will miss you, comprehensible motorist behavior.
Instead, we faced our new home, including the heat, curious (and sometimes nauseating) smells, juxtaposition of falling-down-dangerous rowhouses with bright new condo buildings, cheap-n-tasty street food, and almost-believable knock-offs.
But as we began to explore, we found lovely, positive trade-offs to Portland. The aforementioned street food can be incredibly nuanced in its flavors and it is almost laughably cheap (we recently fed 6 for about 68 ringitt, which translates to about $23 USD). The decrepit rowhouses are here and there being renovated to their former charm, with bright colors and intricate molding that blends British colonial style with Asian flair. Hidden within these storefronts are helpful shopkeepers who are eager to share their wares while they politely stare. And the heat so far has nothing on a mid-August day in Annapolis, Maryland when the heat and humidity make the air bathtub-like in texture and quality.
Happily, we have also discovered that one of the things we would miss most, Portland's cool, refreshing and good-tasting water, is not gone and lost forever. George Town's water is pretty good straight from the tap, no filtering needed.
So, a bright "Hello, Penang" as we start the year.
Instead, we faced our new home, including the heat, curious (and sometimes nauseating) smells, juxtaposition of falling-down-dangerous rowhouses with bright new condo buildings, cheap-n-tasty street food, and almost-believable knock-offs.
But as we began to explore, we found lovely, positive trade-offs to Portland. The aforementioned street food can be incredibly nuanced in its flavors and it is almost laughably cheap (we recently fed 6 for about 68 ringitt, which translates to about $23 USD). The decrepit rowhouses are here and there being renovated to their former charm, with bright colors and intricate molding that blends British colonial style with Asian flair. Hidden within these storefronts are helpful shopkeepers who are eager to share their wares while they politely stare. And the heat so far has nothing on a mid-August day in Annapolis, Maryland when the heat and humidity make the air bathtub-like in texture and quality.
Happily, we have also discovered that one of the things we would miss most, Portland's cool, refreshing and good-tasting water, is not gone and lost forever. George Town's water is pretty good straight from the tap, no filtering needed.
So, a bright "Hello, Penang" as we start the year.
Comments
Post a Comment