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The first thing I noticed when I set foot in George Town was how clean it is. This has to be the cleanest city in Malaysia, as it was also the only place where we saw people cleaning garbage from the street sewers. That didn't happen just once, but we actually saw it quite regularly. I'm grateful to the people for doing the difficult task of removing the garbage before it becomes smelly. Thanks to these hard working people, the whole city breathes more easily. Clean streets gave us a chance to look around and notice the beauty of the architecture. If you only look where your feet are going to avoid all the garbage, then you sure miss a lot.
Kapitan Keling Mosque
The Peranakan houses are the ones we absolutely wanted to see. The details are insane, which is understandable as they were made in order to show off the owners wealth. Ian was ecstatic and sometimes he couldn't decide what to photograph first. It was nice watching him jump from one window ornament to the other and then to the colorful tiles. Of course, that wasn't the only attraction in George Town. There are also many places of worship that belong to different religions and many beautiful cafes, serving up delicious coffee. The main attraction nowadays seems to be the street art. Beautifull graffiti are scattered throughout the city and that, my friends, is an awesome way to make the tourists walk around. Sightseeing here is so much fun, it's like a treasure hunt! While this treasure here won't make you wealthy, it will enrich you and you'll become more appreciative of the street art. Here people genuinely care about wall installations and they maintain them. One graffiti was just being repainted in order to make a colorful attribution to the street and of course look fabulous on photos. Selfie lineups are not a rare sight when it comes to photographing the George Town's street art, but that is part of the fun. When you feel your legs from all that walking, you can sit down and watch selfie lovers go nuts on the bicycle, or the swing, or wherever… Art has brought life to these streets, no argument there. We loved the appreciative attitude towards the art in this city, and the cuisine as well. In Malaysia there are two places where food lovers like to go: Penang and Melaka.
Street Art in Penang is just amazing
In Penang, we liked every single dish regardless of its origins. Tandoori chicken was just amazing, the tender juicy meat that colored our fingers red was unforgettable. Getting to know the Peranakan cuisine at Little Nyonya was the second memorable experience that went through our palate. Oh, and the Laksa! We saved the recipe for this one so we can make it at home when we'll be missing that very special dish!
Laksa
There is a diverse ethnic community here. The Chinese majority amongst the Malay and Indian population contributed to the development of flavour. Peranakan heritage is substantial and visitors from the United Kingdom, Portugal and Netherlands contributed some of their customs which made the cuisine even more diverse. In order to increase their husband's reputation, the Nyonyas women got very creative in the kitchen. They bent over backward to make sure their international guests enjoyed their business dinner. Even though the Peranakan style of living has changed, their cuisine has grown roots here and the legacy of the hard-working Nyonyas lives on.
Peranakan Museum
George Town left the best impression on me from all the Malaysian cities that we visited. What more could a girl ask for than to have a belly full of delicious food and cup of coffee in a charming cafe? Taking a stroll along the streets to admire the beautiful historical buildings sure came in handy, helping the pants stay loose and all. The warm welcome from the E&O hotel was for me something I didn't see coming. Mrs. Elieen took the time to welcome us, to answer all of our questions and she even gave us a tour of the hotel. This is how all the hotels should act if someone is interested in history and details of their hotel, make sure they get some answers.
E&O Hotel
E&O Hotel with their amazing swimming pool
When we were at the reception of the E&O Hotel, I saw a big guest book, which was resting on the counter. Later I had the time to go through it and found out how guests got attached to this place; after seeing it with my own eyes and reading about its rich history, I understood why. The charismatic old building gave me a feeling of safety and the staff were the reason I got a soft spot for this place. The location of the hotel is also convenient, as it stands in Unesco Heritage buffer zone. Our time in George Town passed too quickly and we certainly loved it every minute of it.
Coffee
Old house
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