Penang/Malaysia

26.4.2024 Penang

The ship docked close to town this time. Craig and I met at 10:30 and set off. We hadn't made any big plans, but I had picked a very well-reviewed restaurant to eat at.

But first we had to fight our way through a ring of very pushy drivers who wanted to force their services on us.

First we headed for an intermediate destination: Fort Cornwallis. This was a major construction site, however, as the moat around the fort was being restored. We had almost circled the fort in search of the entrance when we met a local man sitting on a blanket in front of the fort wall, surrounded by pigeons. He spoke to us and warned us not to spend money on the entrance fee, as all you could see in the fort were the backs of the cannons that protruded over the walls.

We talked to the homeless man, who proudly showed us how he had trained the pigeons: when he whistled, they came to pick up the seeds that he scattered. The birds were quite trusting, sat on his arm and allowed themselves to be transferred to mine. Finally, to my delight, three pigeons were sitting on me.

We gave the former tour guide a tip and received a warning about the fraudulent taxi drivers.

Next, we walked leisurely through Little India. In a grocery store, I discovered frozen durian mochi, sticky rice cakes with durian filling, which were very refreshing after our walk through the heat.

By now it was 11.30am and the restaurant I had chosen should be open by now. So we went to "Bibik's Kitchen", a Peranakan restaurant. The Peranakans are, as I had learned just a few days before, descendants of mixed-race Malaysian parents and have their own culture and their own cuisine. We first ordered refreshing nutmeg lemonade, then two chicken dishes. One mild, one spicy, both very tasty. Then a dessert made mainly of sago pearls and kueh, mildly sweetened rice cakes. In between we had also ordered lemongrass lemonade. Nevertheless, our total bill was less than USD 20.00.

We made our way back to the ship. Craig spotted a barber shop and took the opportunity to get a cheap haircut. I continued on alone and spent my remaining local currency on drinks and exciting looking nibbles.

In the evening, singer Daniele Arbise entertained us as usual.