Wanderlust Wednesday: Penang, Malaysia

Located on Malaysia's West Coast is the island of Penang. The little colonial island town, Georgetown, is the main destination on Penang. 

Long ago, Penang existed as an important trading destination for China and the Middle East, long before Hong-Kong or Singapore. Because of its importance as a trading hub, Penang's culture has sprouted around a mix of all different types of people, from countries all over asia, lending to a group of extremely unique cultures, for which Malaysia is famous for. 

While we were there, we stayed at a beautifully restored old Peranakan mansion turned hostel. Peranakan is a culture formed out of the descendants of 15th century Chinese traders.  Our beautiful Peranakan hostel was  located in the popular Love Lane, which curiously acquired the name because it was the road where wealthy Chinese businessmen kept their mistresses. 

So after checking in to our cozy place, we did what we do best and searched out the flavors of the city. Conveniently, Love Lane is only a few blocks from Little India, so we immediately found our favorite, banana-leaf lunches and relished the wonderful-ness that is Indian food.  

Shown below, most Indian food we had in Malaysia was served on a banana leaf, and for a few dollars you get a huge mound of rice. The waiter then comes around with side dishes. You mix it all in with your fingers and kind of shovel it into your mouth. If you have never tried a banana-leaf lunch, or South-Indian sweets, I highly recommend you track some down, the flavors will change your life, although I warn you, you will never look forward to your turkey sandwich lunches again.  

Penang on a whole is slightly weathered and decrepit, but the culture and food is astounding, and it has one of my favorite Little India's, so if you ever find yourself in Malaysia, head to Penang, bring sunscreen, and prepare to eat...a lot!