Hainan Association and Temple

Today was my first day in Penang, Malaysia. I actually started my visit to Malaysia over the weekend but I’ll have to write more about that exciting weekend in another post.

I woke up much later than I usually do in Asia because the guesthouse I’m staying in has no windows. It turns out that windows in guesthouses in the center of Georgetown, in Penang, are somewhat of a rarity. I’m staying at the Banana guesthouse and besides the windows situation it’s very clean and conveniently located in the middle of the backpacker strip, complete with a travel agency, cafe and free WIFI.

For breakfast I picked up a steamed bun with vegetables in the middle. I’m not sure what they call them here but they’re called bun bao in Vietnam. I was still hungry but I didn’t want to delay my walk around Georgetown since the day was already hot and was rapidly getting even hotter. I walked down a small street called Love Lane which leads into Chinatown and I passed several other guesthouses and homes. My first stop was to the Hainan Cultural Center where I was the only soul to be found. Even the person tending the desk at the entrance was off on a break somewhere. It’s always nice when you can wander into a place, snap some photos and hear the sound of silence around you.

Cheong Fat Tze Mansion

I then walked over to the Cheong Fat Tze Mansion which is a beautifully designed and decorated mansion turned hotel that was originally commissioned by a wealthy Chinese entrepreneur in the 1880s. I considered spending a few nights there (they have windows) but I think I’ll just take the tour they offer at 11am and 3pm each day.

Re-creation of lodging at the Kota Cornwallis

From there I passed many colonial buildings leading to the waterfront on the Straits of Malacca including two churches, a school, the Supreme Court, Town Hall and City Hall. It’s amazing to see these impressive European structures just minutes from equally impressive mosques and temples and from Asian cultures. On the waterfront I spent a good hour at least hanging out at Kota Cornwallis (kota means fort) which was built by Captain Francis Light in 1786 for the East India Company. The fort features a chapel, gunpowder magazine, lighthouse and an historic gallery. What I enjoyed the most was the recreation of two tents under a huge tree where I sat for a while to rest and read up on the other sites in Penang.

I went to lunch at a typical eatery between Chinatown and Little India where I ate char kway teow, a sort of stir fry with rice noodles, egg, veggies, shrimp and Chinese sausage. I shared my table with an older Chinese man, a lawyer born and raised in Penang (educated in London), who had some encouraging things to say about inter-ethnic relations and tolerance in Malaysia. In contrast, he held a less positive view towards the current education system offered to students today, particularly the level of English which, in his view, is quickly going downhill. I really enjoyed our casual chat and his particular insight into Malaysian society.

I then walked through Little India passed the garment shops and food stalls and snapped a few more photos. I stopped at the Kapitan Keling Mosque where I received a very nice tour and explanation from one of the administrators there. Read all about my visit to this beautiful mosque in my other post: A Tour and a Talk at Penang’s Kapitan Keling Mosque. I then picked up a SIM card for my phone and I was intrigued by the fact that the store owners recorded my name and passport number in order to register me with the phone number. When I returned to the Banana Guesthouse I took advantage of my air conditioned room and rested there to check email and offload my photos.

Wanton Mee with roast pork

That night I went for a walk and I was lured into a small restaurant by the smell of roasted pork. I ate a very nice wanton mee soup which is a noodle soup with wantons and roasted pork, something I’ve had at least 3 or 4 times already since arriving in Malaysia last weekend (sometimes I get it dry on a plate as opposed to in a soup). But that’s not enough food! I kept on walking until I realized I was already sweating again from the humidity, only 1/2 hour after taking my last shower. I stopped off at the fancy Cititel Hotel for an upscale sushi dinner at Kirishima. I was actually on the way to a seafood restaurant in the back of the hotel but, since it was still Thaipusam, this and several other restaurants were closed that day. The sushi, although at New York prices, was great and it was a nice break from fried food and pork.

On the way back to the guesthouse I walked down the lovely Lebuh Campbell which was a street lit up with red lanterns all along the way. It was a beautiful sight and I’ve since returned to that same street to eat dim sum for this morning’s breakfast.

We decided to skip the included “American Breakfast” as it’s called and cross the street for something a bit more interesting and healthy. We first dropped off our dirty laundry, also across the tiny street, where they wash your clothes for 20 Baht (50 cents) and it’s ready by 6PM the same day. The breakfast cafe was small and charming with statues, flowers and little offerings of food in dishes which the passing dogs seemed to enjoy very much. Tamar had a fruit, yogurt and muesli cup and I enjoyed a mushroom crepe and some very strong and good coffee.

We rented a motorbike yesterday and we’ll probably keep it for the entire week that we’re here. Motorbikes are only 100 Baht here in Pai which is about $2.50 and you can fill up the tank for about the same price so it’s just good to have a bike handy for whenever you might need it. However, the air is so cool and clear in the morning that we plan to go on mini-excursions each morning before the afternoon heat arrives.

Narrow walkway along the Pai Canyon

Today we ventured South past the turnoff to the waterfall we visited yesterday, our current destination being the Pai Canyon. The travel agent we spoke to in town apologized to us in advance that it’s “much smaller than the Grand Canyon” and she told us to not be disappointed. It’s true that if Las Vegas were to create a “Grand Canyon, the Experience” theme park it would be roughly the size of the Pai Canyon but with the mountain view and trees everywhere it was really a nice place to visit. Many narrow natural walkways or dirt paved ridges surrounded the canyon, most of them looking too precarious to even attempt. The view from the canyon was beautiful.

We then continued further South to the “WWII Bridge” which was an old steel bridge over the Pai River. This was actually the same location from which we set out on the previous day’s bamboo raft journey down the river. From the bridge we could see several miles of farmland extending all the way to the surrounding mountains.

Water buffalo in the fields near the Mae Yen Waterfall

We decided to visit another waterfall to the East of Pai and we stopped for lunch along the way. While waiting for our food I set out on foot down the road a bit to photograph some water buffalo. I got pretty close to one who was near enough to the roadside but I think the real camera worthy moment must have been me jumping up and down, waiving my arms and making noises trying to get the buffalo’s attention for my own photo.

We followed the flow of water while driving on a narrow dirt road through fields of crops until the road ended in the shade. We found out that the waterfall was another seven kilometers walk from there. Since this was the hottest time of the day we decided it would be best to return for the hike to the waterfall tomorrow morning when it’s still cool and we weren’t stuffed from eating such a large lunch.

Back in Pai we have WIFI Internet, electricity and a large selection of organic, vegetarian food (and seafood) and fresh baked goods at a nice restaurant called “The Sanctuary” just along the river. It’s the perfect place to chill out during the peak of the day’s heat and to catch up on our blogging!

More Than Just A Diagnosis

Philipp, a co-worker at MSS, had a motorcycle accident yesterday. This is quite common in Vietnam and is not really a big deal. This time, however, Philipp got pretty scratched up and decided to go to a hospital. Considering he wasn’t wearing a helmet during the time of accident, he was very lucky to only have a few scratches here and there. This morning he showed up in the office (after driving his motorcycle to work of course) bruised yet cheerful and we were talking about his accident. He showed me the doctor’s note he received at the hospital and it was just so funny I had to take a photo. Take a look at the last item under treatment!

My Friend Trang at Dinner

I met my friend, Trang, for dinner at one of the Banh Trang restaurants in the city. At a Banh Trang restaurant you order meat or fish and get a huge basket full of herbs (some are quite exotic), cucumber slices, bean sprouts, dry rice flour crepes, pickled carrots/shallots and fish sauce of course. The fun part is assembling your meal: you take a little of each ingredient using chopsticks, place it on the rice paper and transform it into a nice roll. Some do it a little more gracefully than others (mine kinda looked like a Vietnamese Burrito) but either way, it is super yummy.

View of Saigon River from my Apartment

This city is exactly as I remembered it – fun, energetic and HOT. After settling into my apartment this morning, I hopped on a Xe Om (motorbike taxi) and went to District 1, to start the day at my favorite place – Cafe Centro. After a quick breakfast, I hopped on another Xe Om and went to MSS office located at Zen Plaza. I got to meet the great team I’ll be working with and do some actual work. I love my new office, especially the excellent Sushi bar on the 5th floor…

It turns out that Santa, like me, can’t really stand the winter and has decided to spend Christmas in Vietnam this year. The whole city is overly decorated with elaborate holiday themed installations and lights. In a country where only 5% of the population is Christian, this makes very little sense but is oh so fun to look at.

Spending nearly 23 hours on planes yesterday left me no choice but to get a full body massage today. It was heavenly. To end the day, I met up with Aryeh and Jesse at a great Vietnamese restaurant housed in a beautiful French villa.

Not bad for a first day!

Phu My Hung Neighborhood

Today we decided to explore another residential neighborhood in the south of the city at District 7 called Phu My Hung. This fairly large, new area features newly built buildings atop stores, cafes and beauty salons. There are wide streets shaded by trees and an 8 lane highway leading to it. It reminded me a lot of “Ramat Aviv”, the affluent north Tel Aviv neighborhood where Tel Aviv University is, only missing a fancy mall (for now). After a fruit shake in one of the nice places at Phu My Hung, we drove back to the city and headed to Ben Thanh market. The large and colorful market has not changed a bit since the last time I was there 6 years ago. There are still lacquer souvenirs on top of clothes on top of shoes right next to food stands. The whole market is very crowded and after an hour of navigating the narrow alleys (and a close encounter with a huge cockroach) we got out to eat lunch elsewhere.

To our surprise, rain started falling while we were busy shopping and it got stronger by the minute. By the time we were back at the hotel, it was pouring rain. When it was time to go and hang out at our friend’s Bao’s house we decided to take a taxi instead of covering ourselves in plastic ponchos to drive on the bike (which is exactly what everyone else was doing). Bao lives in a gorgeous French villa in Binh Thanh neighborhood which he shares with 2 other roommates. He moved out here about 6 months ago from New York where he was working at an online marketing firm. It turns out that his company used to work with the company I used worked for, Showtime, and we know some of the same folks.

The highlight of the evening was when Kevin, Aryeh and I tried to find our way back to the main street near Bao’s house and got lost in an endless maze of alleyways. We were saved by a shirtless Vietnamese guy with a cell phone who was just hanging out, chatting on the street late at night. Luckily for us, Aryeh speaks fluent Vietnamese as a result of living here for 8 years and, within a few minutes, a taxi was called and we all went back home.

Hotel Continental in HCMC

Today we woke up especially early to get the most out of our last morning on Phu Quoc Island. After eating breakfast and snapping some photos of the resort we had a last tan and swim on the beach at Mango Bay. The taxi to the airport was a welcome change from the dust of the road by motorbike and we boarded our plane back to HCMC.

We returned to the city very hungry and promptly ate a meal of delicious crab/asparagus (Tamar) and melon/pork (Kevin) soup and other goodies at Vietnam House, a restaurant in the Don Khoi area. In the evening we met up with our friends, Aryeh and Jesse, at Jesse’s house in District 1 where we enjoyed excellent Indian food take-out. It’s great to be back in Ho Chi Minh City!

Realizing that this was our last full day on the island, we drove to Long Beach and started the tanning/eating/drinking routine immediately. We hung out at the Thien Hai Son resort admiring the clean water and making a new eager friend – a cute cat wonderfully colored like the golden sand.

In the afternoon, we drove back into town where Kevin taught me how to ride a motorbike! For the first time, I was the one in the driver’s seat going at a raging speed of 20 km/hr! No innocent bystanders were hurt but they all had an amusing time watching me try to shift to 2^nd gear. No, sorry, no video attached.

That was exhausting and I needed some dinner! We drove back to the resort area and chose a great place serving BBQ seafood, it was yum!

Kevin decided to explore the Phu Quoc “night scene” and go squid fishing in the evening. He drove the motorbike down to the docks alone where he joined up with a boat that was about to leave. He caught one squid the whole night but ate a great squid congee dinner washed down with a Vietnamese “333” Beer. He nearly got lost on the long, dusty, unlit and mostly deserted road late at night (went a couple of kilometers too far) which he said was the spookiest driving experience he’d ever had!

Driving through Fishing Villages

A friend we met in town, Nguyen, recommended driving north to see the beaches and forest on that part of the island. We read that you could drive through the forest with a motorbike and planned to take shelter beneath the shady trees at the hottest time of the day.

After driving for about an hour, we were covered in dust and ready for a break. We stopped at Vungbau Beach to look at the great view and had lunch there. Kevin ordered BBQ squid marinated in salt and chili and a few minutes later he got his own personal grill to cook his lunch on. It was so yummy!

We said goodbye to the nice people at Vungbau Beach and drove towards Bai Dai beach, another award-winning beach with golden sand, blue water at perfect temperature and no one but Vietnamese fishermen in sight. We just had to take a dip.

Driving to the northwestern corner of the island was a rocky ride (not to mention dusty) but Kevin did a great job and soon we were heading inland driving through the forest. It was very special to ride through luscious green vegetation on mountainous windy roads. We were all alone in the forest for most of the ride which added to the charm. We stopped to buy a couple of bananas right before heading south back to town and ended up with 2 kilos of bananas (the price of $0.50 for two bananas did seem a little high). Back in town, we were starving as usual and since it was an in between time for a meal, it was hard to find a place to eat. Finally, after driving around, we sat down at a place by the water and had great fish soup which was sweet and came with tiny dried baby shrimp.

Riding around Phu Quoc Island

We rented a bike and drove to Duong Dong, the island’s main town. We decided to check with Vietnam Airlines office across from the airport if there were any available seats flying back to Saigon. So far there are none and we may have to stay here forever.

After lunch, we started heading south along Long Beach (Bai Truong). We couldn’t help but stop for a drink and a quick dip at Long Beach which is a stretch of pristine beach with golden sands, crystal blue water and no tourists in sight. After cooling off, we hopped back on the bike and continued to Bai Sao which we heard was a picture perfect beach on the southern part of the island.

Bai Sao was indeed as beautiful as promised and provided the perfect afternoon spot for us. After relaxing at Bai Sao, it was time to head back and we enjoyed a leisurely ride into town. Plans are in the making to turn this quiet island into a well developed version of the Thai island of Phuket. Driving around, we felt that we came at the last moment right before all this charm gets turned into a multitude of resorts. Passing by small villages, cows, dogs, ducks and of course smiley kids was a lot of fun and we didn’t want the ride to end.

Eventually we arrived in town right in time for the night market where we had excellent local food sitting with friendly people. The bun thit nuong we ordered was so good, we had to order 2 dishes each!