I arrived in Butterworth at sunrise and took the ferry across the stretch of water to George Town on Penang Island. There is a bridge, one of the longest in Asia, but the train pulls up right be the ferry dock.
George Town is another UNESCO site due to it's architecture and colonial history. Meanwhile it also has great street food and there are several places to visit on the island itself outside of the town.
Fort Cornwallis was established by the first Brit - Sir Francis Light- to set foot there and is named after Charles Cornwallis a former governor of Bengal. The fort, and various other monuments, temples and historic places were nice to stroll around on day one here. I enjoy history so visiting Penang Museum was worthwhile too.
For more on the history of George Town...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Penang
George Town...
 |
| Monument to Francis Light |
 |
| A little blurred but readable I hope! |
As it says above the original Chinese settlers have assimilated into Malaysia and inter-married and a unique culture has developed. Some of this culture is reflected through food but also through the style in which they lived. The house below is a museum that one of the wealthy families lived in.
The Chinese/ethnic Chinese in Malaysia are very business minded, while Malaysians are much more laid back.
 |
| A family picture from the house |
 |
| The family in their western clothes - do you think the man bottom right looks comfortable in that suit? |
 |
| The fashions of the time have a nostalgic value today |
 |
| Not quite HD |
 |
| Victoria Memorial |
 |
| Fort Cornwallis |
 |
| HSBC building |
 |
| Super nice Char kway teow - when I sat down at the table the waiter asked me would I like the innards included or removed - Does the Pope live in Rome? - To be honest I didn't notice anything odd in it anyway. |
 |
| Down at the harbour many Chinese live in houses on stilts along jetties that stretch out into the water - they speak a Hokkien dialect popular among overseas Chinese which originates from Southern China. |
Back in George Town...
