Adventures in Asia: Penang, Malaysia

This morning we walked over to KL Sentral to catch a 9:30 train.  Malaysia has recently upgraded their rail system, so we were riding a new electric train that travels pretty much from south to north along the west side of the Malay peninsula.  Our destination was Butterworth, about four hours north of KL.  It was a very pleasant ride, with some interesting scenery, comfortable seats, a concession, and Harry Potter movies playing silently with subtitles.

Butterworth is on the mainland across from Penang Island, so we caught a short ferry just by the train station to get over to George Town.

George Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the uniqueness of its buildings.  It was founded about 230 years ago and quickly developed into one of the world's first multicultural cities, with Europeans, Malaysians, Chinese, and Indians all building after their own styles.  Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu influences are all obvious within only a block or two of each other.  

Our hotel is a short walk from the ferry terminal, and we checked in immediately.  Andrea wanted to nap at that point, so I went out to find some lunch and see a bit of the neighborhood.

I ended up eating Chinese roast chicken and rice in an outdoor food court.

Later, once Andrea woke up, we saw some of George Town's famous street art.

For dinner, we ate crab burgers at a little cafe called The Book which we found tucked in amongst the alleys of Chinatown.