Storyline: Home to home westward
While street art these days is in every city, it plays huge role in this part of the world. There are many well-photographed murals, some well past their day, washed away and faded from the elements. Tourists crowd small streets and tiny alleys to take the iconic photo that had been posted millions of times on Facebook, Instagram or other social media.
The “photo model” has to stretch their arms in parallel with the little boy trying to reach the pop can (originally a pot of flowers), exactly as on the last photo posted by their friend.
There are brochures that list most important murals with name of the artist and address. Google maps also has them identified.
And so, after the snap off they go to hunt for next one. This however brings business to many small merchants strategically positioned nearby. And that is what makes it for the locals.
We love to stroll on the streets, observe and discover…thus we haven’t even touched the surface with the street art, although we did walk a few of the famous alleys.
Some murals are very vivid, some just invite you to participate, but all are interesting. The street art revival here began in 2012 when the city council hired Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic to bring life back into some of the tired inner-city Chinese shop-houses. Zacharevic’s work did just that, turning his target areas into tourist destinations while also creating enthusiasm among locals.
The artwork incorporates itself into the streetscape, telling stories and engaging the viewer. It’s hard not to smile.
Walking the streets, one cannot miss the multitude of street food vendors.
As the previous post mentioned, on our first evening in George Town we experienced hawkers’ street food on Chulia street. It was an interesting experience. I’d say this was our first real experience with street food. Our KL post is still to come, but everywhere before in Malaysia and Singapore we sat in somewhat “safer” environments in terms of food handling and overall cleanliness.
At first, I didn’t think we would try any food, since I had to either stand in horror watching the motorbikes brushing my skirt as they zoomed by, while trying to hold a plate in one hand and chopsticks in another. Or sit at a table (mind you they all were taken) on the street between the open smelly sewer channel on one side and heavy traffic on the other. On one corner, though, I noticed an open “room” with some tables. Apparently, it was for “upscale” street eating because one could order a beer and a variety of non-alcoholic drinks. As we walked in, a swarm of hawkers surrounded us with their menus, each trying to sell us their food and pointing to the dishes that they thought we might want to try.
Long before we walked into this sheltered space, I had already made my choices from what I considered a cleanish stall. Alex selected from another menu. Then there were drinks too. So, we ended up with a few street food dishes, a beer for Alex and some fruit juice for me. The main alcohol served here, if any, is beer. Not cheap – about the same we would pay at home – one can have quite a few street food dishes for the price of a beer – and not much of a selection either. Each vendor brings their food to your table and you pay them cash. The drinks come from the table vendor. If no drinks ordered you pay 2 ringgits for the table and the roof, a small price for the comfort to be sheltered from traffic and heat (there were even fans!) and have a seat.
Next day we walked through many more markets and street food on Armenian Street and around the Komtar shopping area. They literally are everywhere. One of the Grab drivers told us that people don’t cook, but use the street markets to eat. Eh, most of them, he added. Some still cook. But it is too hot. Point well made.
I can see how one does not want to heat whatever small living space they may have in this torrid heat and no air-conditioning or any other relief from it. Street food is also extremely cheap. Many people take out food – even soup – in plastic bags.
We didn’t find a favorite street food place here, but we really enjoyed the more western style “Black Kettle Café”, just up Chulia street about 5 min from the hotel. As with the “The Stolen Cup” in Melaka this became our favorite local stop. While we enjoy immersing ourselves into local cuisine, sometimes it’s refreshing to take a break and enjoy more familiar offerings.
If you are in George Town visiting the jetty houses is a must.
Weld Quay, or Pengkalan Weld, is the main street along the east side of George Town. Among its famous points of interest are the clan jetties at the foot of Gat Lebuh Chulia (Chulia Street), which are part of the Penang Heritage Trail.
These wood- and concrete-piled structures represent some of the oldest Chinese settlements on the island. Nabil (our first Grab driver) described them as follows: In the days of British rule, owners of all residences built on Penang land had to pay tax on their property.
So the early Chinese settler families began to build their homes on wooden pilings that were joined to the land and each other by wooden jetties. To this day there are no property taxes levied on these residences.
There are six jetties, each named after its clan. We walked the length of the Chew Jetty, the longest and most commercialized, with lots of souvenir, ice cream and snack stands, boat tours and restaurants.
It was an adventure on its own. Getting to there, one walks on the roadway of busy Weld Quay, among cars and motorbikes, and passing by some street food vendors whose customers must stand further onto the road. The main “street” of the jetty is very commercialized, however if you move to one of the “alleys” you’d notice the local life. We didn’t want to disturb our hosts; however my curiosity took us on one of the “local” jetty streets, with many bikes and motorbikes running up and down wooden planks and well-dressed women were walking with their shopping bags.
Laundry lines with clothes drying, cats and dogs running around, flower pots lining the alleys, all one would have on a land street. Inside some houses (many doors were open to provide a limited view inside), it was very basic. Clothes, pans and pots all mixed on the floors. And each house had its shrine close to the front door. Most of the jetties are upgraded, though. Running water and electricity having been introduced in 1957. But I noticed people washing pots and dumping it all in the sea below. So were some toilets I spotted. Straight down, a hole in the floor or so.
Some had a western-style fixtures. Most of the jetties are upgraded with furniture, washing machines, etc. There are well-furnished Airbnbs and Hotels offering not so authentic experiences.
Chew Jetty has a Taoist temple, just inside the entrance and one at the end facing the water. There was a space near the temple where men were gathered watching TV.
We watched the sunset from the end of the Chew jetty main “street” and decided to dine on the jetty too.
There was a place quite properly named as the Spicy Noodle House. Looked clean and there were people sharing huge bowls of noodles.
The staff asked us what size we wanted. “Small”, we said. Small is for one person, they advised us. I asked them to show me the “small” bowl. Sure enough, it was more than we two could handle. And so we ordered the small spicy noodle seafood and another seafood dish to share. Alex had tea and I finally tried the special Penang coffee. The spicy noodles were available in 4 levels of spiciness. One could choose between level 1, 5, 7 and 10.
Not sure if these were the number of spoons of hot paprika or what, but initially Alex thought he could handle #5. Knowing Alex and his modest ability to handle hot, I suggested #1, which Alex happily agreed to. Good thing we didn’t select 5. 1 was more than enough. This jetty restaurant certainly named itself appropriately.
After dinner we visited the Lim Jetty. We walked quietly to the end of it, where men were washing pots and dumping the waste water in the sea. A sign at the entrance welcomed visitors, and described their Jetty as being representative of their non-commercial lifestyle that has endured here for 100 years. Bit of a dig at their Chew neighbours, we think.
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