Day One - Monday 24th October: Getting the feel of the place

 After a long sleep in we felt capable of attacking the `the carnival of the buffet breakfast` as Kerryn described it. People and food options everywhere!

Then we bravely stepped out into the heat and humidity to get our bearings as we headed to the Pinang Peranakan Museum. Fortunately we arrived in time for the English tour as this was a weird and wonderful place built by an eccentric Malay antique collector. 

The entrance: notice the newsboy
 character on the left amidst the chinese decorations

Wedding photos

Many of these older mansions
 were built with a central open air courtyard for natural cooling and to cope with
monsoonal downpours  

The collection was a stunning mix of beautiful Malay traditional furniture fabrics and art mixed with some quite extraordinary collections of baby-faced dolls with fair hair, Victorian lightshades, weird statues and other incongruous pieces. The mansion was large and each room was filled with eccentric collections.

Note the tiny fair-haired doll
in the bottom of this Victorian Glass jar.

 A very ornate beaded cap based on painting
and embroidering each tiny component
of a feather

The label said 'Old TV'!!!!

This photo sums it up really: original Victorian tiles, chinese characters and vase, and a statue of an American New Orleans character. Quite the combination!

We staggered back to the hotel dripping with perspiration but pleased to discover the Farquhar Bar with ice cold drinks and salty fries to restore our temperature and salt balance.

Then we were off to our first organised adventure: a trip to the top of Penang Hill via a funicular railway to admire the sunset. The adventure rating increased as our train stopped at a very perilous angle after only a couple of minutes as the driver had spotted a branch on the line. He put on the brake and proceeded to clamber down from the train to deal with the branch, leaving some passengers in the crowded train in a high state of anxiety. Much concern was expressed about the strength of the brakes to hold the carriages in place at such a steep angle and the consequences if they failed! Our hero returned and we made it safely to the top of the hill. Phew!

Inedible bananas with
beautiful flowers

We met Hassan a lovely young guide who escorted us past the rides, cafes, and souvenir stores to reach The Habitat and the 1.6km Nature Trail on the fringes of rainforest estimated to be 130 million years old. She led us through the serenity and damp cool air on aerial trails and old pathways.  In the early 1800s the English started the trek up the hill to find relief from the heat below - the Hill is 800m above sea level. 

She was a fount of knowledge about all of the plants and creatures and even managed to find some tiny terrestrial crabs nestled in the damp of some                                                                    bromeliads.

There were giant swings along the way to get a different view, but we didn't see the necessity!

We reached the Biosphere which was a huge oval walkway suspended above the treetops  by huge post and metal ropes. We had been hoping to see the sunset after some of us ascended the many stairs, but we were met with thick cloud towards the west. The view cleared on the other sides and we could see the two main bridges of Penang and tall city buildings in the distance.

This was the fabulous sunset: use your
imagination just as we had to!

The view from Penang Island
across to the mainland

Jenny and Kerryn
resting below

Finally we had drinks and delicious snacks in the cafe at the top of the hill. One was an unusual but tasty salad made from local leaves. The tour of the Hill ended with a ride in a large ute back to the funicular station and a swift trip downhill to our bus. A short stop at a supermarket for essential tonic water and nibbles and back to the E&O.

Tip: We encountered lots of people queuing for the funicular as it was a holiday for Denavali (Divali Malaysian-style). In both directions on the funicular we had priority as we were on a pre-paid tour of Penang Hill. We all felt very guilty sailing past people in the queue but we were very grateful to not have to wait endlessly in long lines.