Penang - Day 1

Breakfast this morning was in the canteen at the RECSAM complex.

Front of the RECSAM Complex

I think you will see food as a large focus of my posts! As my Malay is almost non-existent, most meals are going to be experiments. Food is incredibly inexpensive here, so although it is a waste, if there is something I don’t like, it isn’t too bad to have to leave it. I am happy to report, however, that so far I haven’t tasted anything I don’t like! Breakfast is as pictured, along with the obligatory super-sweet iced coffee. Iced means that they make a warm coffee, and then add ice, so you have a warm drink at the bottom, and cold up the top, until it all gets mixed in. Sounds dodgy maybe, but it is delicious.

Pink Sago & Coconut, Pistachio and Sesame.

We then walked to a local Tesco to purchase SIM cards and essentials. I wish I could have taken a photograph – there was an entire aisle of small dried fish, in all different varieties. You scooped them up, like the bulk nut purchases at home. Lunch was at the Tesco food court. I took a punt from a picture, and had Cucur Udang (tofu and vegetarian something), along with a Three Layer drink (I was unsure at the time, but the Internet tells me it was brown sugar, evaporated milk and red tea). Entire cost in Aussie dollars was about $1.20. Walking back from Tesco, we heard some deep rumbles of thunder, along with a small cool breeze, however it didn’t eventuate into any rain.

Cucur Udang

Three Layer Drink

After we returned, we caught a bus to the Prangin Mall. This is where we exchanged our money. This is an enormous complex of buildings that are essentially all shops. We were told that bartering is expected. Now, bartering is not my thing. If someone tells me a price, then I pay it, especially when converting to Australian dollars, everything is cheap anyway! However, I took a deep breath and resolved to have a go. I needed some new shoes, because my feet have swollen in the heat, and a pair I brought was giving me blisters. I thought I had it all negotiated, down from RM46 to RM41… until it was discovered that while I was talking price, the salesman was talking shoe size! FAIL. Undaunted, I resolved to try again, and I’m happy to report that I experienced success – two skirts down from RM100 to RM75. It is still not something I enjoy doing, and I believe I have had quite enough of shopping for this trip already!

Finally, dinner was a banana leaf curry, at an Indian restaurant in Gelugor. My picture is incomplete, as we also received some spicy chicken. The idea is that you eat with your hands, so that is what I did. In Malaysia, it is polite (not to mention generally hygienic) to wash your hands before and after a meal. To that end, they actually supply washing stations in restaurants and food courts. What a fantastic idea – something I think we could adopt at home.

Cabbage, beans, okra, rice, curry sauce & poppadum. Yum!

On a jewellery note, I found some gemcutters in Prangin Mall that have some unusual cuts of semi-precious gems, such as some beautifully cut citrines. I also saw some huge golden rutilated quartz cabochons. Prices were about as much as I would expect to pay in Australia, however that is before the bartering ;-) I haven’t decided whether I will splurge or not – I think I will wait until the end of the trip and see if my bartering skills improve.