May 2018
Want to begin by saying, I really enjoyed my first ever stay in a majority Muslim country. To help provide a framework, Penang is an Island off of the northwest coast of Malaysia on the Straight of Malacca. It seems appropriate that the first stop of my trip was in London, because many of the places I am going are former British colonies, including Penang. I stayed in a area called Georgetown. It is a popular tourist destination because it has nice beaches and fun nightlife.
It needs to be noted that I visited Malaysia during the holy month of Ramadan. During the month of May, Muslims fast from dusk till dawn, focus on being kind to others (which sounds hard when you cannot eat or drink anything, even water, all day), and putting extra effort into prayer and studying the Quran. The better your behavior, the more rewards you will receive from Allah. Because of Ramadan, some restaurants and shops were not open during the day and the scene was generally more low key.
I had an awesome local tour guide named Miasarah, she goes by Mesa, and she is my first Muslim friend. I am grateful for the insight she provided me into her faith and culture. It was fascinating to see how alike, yet different, we are. We like similar music and TV shows, yet see our place in the world so differently.
Mesa and I met for lunch, which was kind of cruel of me because she was not suppose to eat. However, women do have an exception for a few days during Ramadan where they are allowed to eat for feminine health purposes. Despite being allowed to eat and drink during the day, Mesa was very concerned about offending any Muslim who was fasting.
One of the first things I learned eating with Mesa, is that people eat with their hands here. We went to a popular restaurant for lunch. Where I ordered a chicken and rice dish. The chicken was served in a way I had never seen before. While delicious, there was lots of bone and cartilage to work around. The server provided me with a fork and spoon. I was struggling to separate the chicken. I asked Mesa if they had knives and this is when she told me most people eat with their hands.
She showed my how to separate the meat with just the fingers of my right hand and ball the rice up with some meat. It was fun to do and the additional sensory perception of touching the food makes it taste a little better. I asked Mesa why people still did this, she explained how it was their culture and that there are also benefits to picking up enzymes off of your fingers while you eat.
Here is a little bit of too much information for you. In some parts of the world people eat with their right hand and wipe their butt with there left. In fact, more people in India have access to cell phones than a toilet. When provided with a toilet, many of these people don’t use it. Even when shit happens old habits die hard.
After lunch we went to Penang Hill to ride a train up to see the highest point on the island. Our taxi driver, Sam, was one of the nicest people I have met and quite the entrepreneur. Aside from taxi driving, he is also a tour guide, real estate agent, and helps create Youtube ads. Like most of the people I have met on my travels, Sam loves America and really wants to visit. He has made friends with a girl online who lives in Pittsburgh, and is saving up to go visit her.
I am glad we go into Sam’s taxi, because he was also wearing his tour guide hat. One of the primary products of Malaysia is coco-bean. Sam was generous enough to offer us a free tour of Harrison Chocolates on our way to Penang Hill. I am glad we stopped by because they were very generous with their free samples of high end chocolates. To my surprise, curry was my favorite flavor. It is their least popular flavor.
Once we finished with the chocolate, we rode a train up Penang Hill to get a view from the highest part of the Island. Normally the line would be very long to do this, but since it was Ramadan not many people were out and about.
From Penang Hill we decided to take a bus to the beach. It was four in the afternoon and at this point Mesa was really hungry. So we got street hamburgers, not because I am American, but because it is one of the more popular street foods in Malaysia. Mesa did not want to eat in front of other Muslims. So we found a nice sketchy dark alleyway behind the bus stop where she could squat down behind some motorcycles and sneak a few bites. When two men rode by she decided it was time to stop eating. (She approved this picture.)
Fresh meat.
I was rather perplexed by the whole situation. I ask why her religion put so many limitations on her life. She told me they are not allowed to ask why and that it is their culture. This shocked me. I can see how these practices helped ensure group cohesion and survival, but I cannot understand why it is necessary in modern society. It is something I look forward to learning more about.
After we snuck in our burgers we went to Penang beach. It is where I had my first, of now many, coconuts. It is also where we met the camel. Camels do not live here, it was just a way for this guy to make easy money. We made the mistake of not negotiating price before we rode and took pictures. He requested an amount equal to about $60 for our 5 minute ride. This was absurd and we negotiated down to under $30. I did feel sorry for the camel, but figured he is more likely to be treated better if the owner has money to feed him. It was also as simple as:
“Do you want to ride a camel?”
“Yes I do.”
The nightlife was really fun in Penang and I liked my room. Here are some pictures. I thought it was interesting how the gutters are between the sidewalk and street. Anybody stumbling home needs to watch their step. I managed to keep myself out of the gutter.
