Aloha Everyone,
Temples and Penang famous homes was the name of the tour J.J. and I joined. Our air-conditioned motor coach traveled to the capital of George Town where we were introduced to over 200 years of history and culture.
Our tour guide, a third generation ethnic Chinese Malay, injected historical facts with humor which Westerners can relate to.
Lee Enclave, a housing area built on stilts, has a couple of interesting facts. Under British rule, a land tax was imposed. Chinese immigrants with no money built their homes on the water supported by stilts. No land, no land tax.
Only families with Lee (and this has to be a particular Lee) may buy and sell houses in this complex. Non-Lee’s may rent but according to our tour guide, they feel excluded.
We also visited two magnificent mansions both belonging to wealthy families from China.
Wat Chayamangkalaram is a Thai temple with a reclining Buddha. Across the street is a Burmese Temple with a standing Buddha. Both were impressive, beautiful and photogenic. While I noticed some similarities of words to Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, Malaysian is staccato sounding and difficult to pronounce.
Tropical heat and high humidity tires you. We felt wilted after nearly 4 hours. The great news is taking photos of fantastic dragon statues that I look forward to drawing with my granddaughter.
Aloha -- Cathi
