Penang Again - the light, the color, the texture. LIFE.

These little bats dangle outside of my room on the porch, and when I went outside to look closely, they had their little eyes wide open on me, the one on the right wiggling his ears at me.  I didn't scream.  The Chinese believe that bats are auspicious and foretell good things; this American believes they leave nasty excretions on the porch floor!

Pearly is SO busy with her cooking and giving tours that I am thinking that I will go to KL; she gave a very thorough tour today to the crew from Veg Voyages.
These are turmeric roots, and I never realized where that delectable powder came from so thought I ought to post this in case others felt similarly uninformed.  It's rather gorgeous, isn't it?

This is the Blue Mansion, the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion which is also run as a hotel, and although I was not supposed to photograph the inside of it, I did - rather flagrantly.  I liked the blue looking over the table and reflecting the blue pot on the floor.

These lovely egrets or herons in a bas relief were on a wall outside of one of the temples we saw today; it being Guan Yew's birthday, the temples were swamped, the air dense with incense and birds freed from their little cages.  More on that later...

These iron wall designs are new, giving iron workers some jobs and eliminating (or imitating) graffiti on blank walls in the Penang UNESCO Heritate Site areas.  








                                                                                 
This is the last incense maker in Penang, so everybody lined up to buy his sandalwood and other kinds of incense for longevity, happiness, good fortune, etc...  Not to be outdone, I bought three measly stubs of sandalwood incense because Chandra kept telling me that each stick would burn for TWO hours!  I kept telling him that I hated incense, but I like the idea of supporting the local craftsmen.  Let's hope they don't take away my incense at the borders!                                      




This is the REALLY big stuff that was burning like a house afire today in celebration of Quan Yew's birthday (I'm never quite sure if it's Kwan Yew, Guan Yew or Quan Yew, so bear with me).








Here is a woman releasing birds from a cage bought from the bird lady; however, this little guy teetered at the edge and didn't seem too enthusiastic about flying away.  I watched as she shook and shook until the recalcitrant bird finally swooped down  and then rose up into the sky.  I felt awfully happy for him but wondered if the birds were trained to come right back and have it done all over again!  Cynic that I am...




Despite the sticker's still being on the orange, I still liked this little arrangement at the temple and the shadows cast on the wall behind it and on the table on which it rested.  Maybe I was drawn to his spare simplicity in the midst of the frenzy of color, motion, smoke, prayer and fire.






Here is another little scene that evoked serenity for me.

I cannot really say why, but I am fascinated by the laundry hanging everywhere; this is a rather bland display, but...

THIS one is picture perfect with the pink motorbike juxtaposed with the pink dress.  Love it.

The black cat I have added for my sister, Lisa, who will kill me for mentioning that she is a cat woman, but there you have it.

The rest of these images I add for color, texture and design - in other words, they just spoke to me.

Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to capture the light, the color and the liveliness of Penang's facade; then, perhaps I shall move into a larger sphere in Kuala Lumpur.

Passionate in Penang

The Henry Luce scholars are in Penang with my friend George Brown, and after a cooking session with Pearly, they invited us to a lecture at the Penang Heritage Trust the next morning where Khoo Salma spoke along with a scholar from the Penang Institute, what used to be SERI, a think tank organization.  Here is Salma, talking about the Penang Heritage Trust and the work it has ahead and has accomplished.

After the lecture, we trooped across the street to the Nonya/Baba House, known as Penang Peranakan House, a commercial site where the guides are not even Chinese!

I add these scary photos of door panels and door knockers for my two favorite fellows, Max and Nicky.

And here, written out on these wooden panels, are the 24 filial obligations for any son or daughter; would that we had something like these in the U.S.!  Filial piety is such a foreign notion for our children, as it was for those of us who rebelled and then felt lost and disconnected as a result.

Today Pearly is teaching 14 vegetarians to cook Nonya food, and this carries with it the requisite trip to the market, my favorite rainbow world!

What I love is the way the combs and nail accessories are arrayed in the same color conglomerates as the vegetables; it all gets a little confusing!

And if you think it is a quiet operation, you have something coming to you!  This is chitter-chatter in Hakka, Hokkein, Malay, and English are splattered about as though one language were just not enough to satisfy the never ending need for expression, passion and COLOR.







And did I mention the LIGHT?  Look at the way the sun hit the white aubergine and just the tips of the purples.  Splendid enough so that who needs to cook OR eat?

Who decides what color plastic bag to use?  How?

I know this is a vegetable, but just look at the enormity of this squash next to the Malaysian ginger.

The fruits, the ever-present fruits... ah....









Who doesn't need a noodle with any Nonya dish?

Am I excited about tonight's meal?  I would be more excited if we hadn't stopped for an emergency feeding at lunch when we went to a Malay place and ate sting ray, squids, another curried fish, salads, rice, etc... and then stopped at a chocolate store where we had "tastes" of probably every kind of chocolate offered for sale!  Good Lord, are WE dieting when school begins?  Hmmm...  Life is certainly short when you live in Penang and every kind of food in the world is at your fingertips!!  My standard peanut butter and banana sandwiches on Ezekiel bread is going to seem like rather bland fare when I return.

Last laksa and durians

For my last supper here I had one last bowl of Siam Laksa, which is as close to heaven as one can get, at least before one develops the taste for the devine durian, which I have done with a vengeance! I even love the smell, and we went over to visit Chandra's nephew and family where they had tupperware containers full of variations of durians from a friend's farm; they were all different in taste and texture, and ALL were heavenly, sweet creaminess on a seed, or as I remembered it from a few years ago, creme brule on a seed! Oh, yum. The other photo is one of their little girls who has a rambutan in her mouth and is about to dig into a piece of durian; SHE gets it!

I am sad to leave my friends but happy to come home to the my very own children, Shadow, the Wissahickon, my wonderful neighbors and good friends. One last image I have added that I have tried to put into the blog several times; I don't know whether it ever got here, but because I am mad for the blue tint, here it is.

A little patriotic dance...

Malaysian administrative building in Butterworth - an appropriate place for my Fourth of July Patriotic Dance routine. Bet you never knew I had one! Book me early for next July 4th .

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Happy Fourth of July from Penang!

The light and shade on this doorway had me rivetted for a good 15 minutes and many variations on this photo. Something is glorious about the bluey overtone on the wall and the way the shadow comes down almost like a curtain.

The camera I had to buy in Kathmandu two years ago after dropping mine in the mud on a night's trekking adventure is broken, and these are the last few photos that bear any resemblance to their subjects. It's sad because the camera has been a good friend, helping me capture the shadows and textures of my travels. Sometimes I wonder if losing it or breaking it are signs that I should be doing other things like writing or painting or sewing.

It is difficult to believe that it is the Fourth of July here but still July 3 in the U.S. Seems like the story of my life - I'm ready for the party, but it isn't until tomorrow! These photos are from the other day as I was walking around Georgetown around the heritage areas; because it isn't usually as sunny outside, the shadows don't compel me as much as they did this day. Today, too, comes with the depth of bright sunlight and darker shade - a glorious day for an early run followed by soft, sweet papaya, yogurt and coffee. DOES life get any better? I will admit that the things I miss most are family, Shadow and friends. IS there anything else?

Georgetown Textures

Tiles in front of one of the many houses parked behind a motorcycle. Ha. And the wonderfully bulbous cupulas and red roofs on this mosque are the Kapitan Mosque in Georgetown. Once I got into Georgetown, I just wandered around, lugging and trying to use my sick, sick camera that can no longer take decent photographs; thank goodness for the Paint program on my computer so that I could adjust the brightness and save some of my efforts!

I love the pots of plants and the things stashed at the front doors of all the houses, some of which had magical images I just had to capture; some were just pulling me with their texture and colors.

And then there was Amelie, a little coffee shop that looked dear but totally out of place.

Ah, Penang...

Yesterday I trekked into the Penang National Park, and my guide first showed me this old dock and the fishing boats that are no longer being made because they catch too many little fishies, as well as all the big ones; there are now only 50 of these boats left, and I rather loved them.

The first little fellow we saw as we trekked up and over the ridges and hills in the forests was this long tailed macaque who reminded me of my father before he died! There is something so gently old but almost delicate about him, his front left foot, pointing out just a touch, as if to show that he hs one dancing fool!

At the end of the trek, we got to the place where they were working to save sea turtles' eggs and little turtles, putting them back into the sea when they were strong enough to go. Sadly, only about 1 in 100 make it...

When we took the boat back along the shore, we saw this big old water monitor lizard, just dipping and diving as one of his friends sprawled out on a rock to sun himself.

Once I got back to land, I received a call from Chandra who came and fetched me, took me to the Spice Garden where Pearly fed me the most heavenly bowl of laksa I have ever tasted, loaded with fish, mints, veggies and yummy, rich, thick, spicy broth.

Ahhhhh, and don't ANYbody try to touch it!