It was a different kind of experience today. We opted to explore the cultural diversity of Penang Malaysia not through the places we explore but through a gastronomic experience that will reflect the blended ethnicity of Malay, Chinese, Indian and Thai in Malaysia. Today we had the pleasure of having a taste of Penang
We started the day tour in George Town, a UNESCO world heritage site. This was the first British settlement in the 1770s and was a strategic trading post. George Town is reputed to be the gastronomic capital of Malaysia due to its distinct street food. Our first stop was a chocolate factory. We learned that Malaysia is actually the 7th largest cocoa producer in the world. Becky was amazingly and pleasantly surprised that there is a durian chocolate and it really tasted good. Another new kid on the block is a ruby chocolate introduced only in 2017. It is pinkish in color and has a distinct fruity taste made from Ruby cocoa beans. We hopped next to a coffee shop and got the chance to sip a Penang white coffee and even a durian coffee. We also tried tasting Bak kuh teh, a herbed pork soup. We did a side trip to try other Malaysian products. What caught the fancy of Becky was the rheumatism oil. She tried it and claimed to be effective. Pero pagdating sa ship, the knees were still hurting. And what really interested her were the Batik kaftan lounging dresses. She got 3 and also a batik shirt and short for apo Braeden. Buti na lang dito siya nag-shopping hindi sa KLCC upscale signature stores- hehehe Akala namin, sobrang senior friendly dito as we saw a lot of Tandas toilet signs. We were amused to think para sa matatanda but we knew It was not - as someone translated it for us that “Tandas” means toilet - hehehe. The highlight of the tour was lunch in the street food area. There were so many food to choose from. They were cheap and delicious. We got the nyonya laksa and the laksa asam. These are both local authentic Malaysian spicy noodles and really good taken very hot. The last tour stop was Little India - an ethnic Indian enclave with several temples of different faiths along the streets. It was so hot outside that we decided to stay in the bus. It is Sunday and we managed to arrange for an expedited early dinner. We were also really fortunate to have a Filipino priest on board saying Sunday mass. We felt doubly blessed to be able to hear mass today celebrating Epiphany, the feast of the Magi. Soon after, we were mesmerized by the amazing Peng Fei, world class juggler and magician.
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