Day Five - Friday 28th October: Street art detectives for a day......

 

Our mission was to discover as many of the street artworks as we could. George our guide hadn't seemed so interested in them, so we all wanted to see as many as we could on our ‘free day'. 

There was a much more alive vibe in Georgetown as the shops had opened, the skies were blue and there was a lot to see and explore. We began to understand why Georgetown was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.

Penang is famous for two groups of street art: one, the poignant faded pictures of children painted by Ernest Zachorevic, a Lithuanian artist (2012), and the other, black metal wall sculptures depicting the humorous side of everyday life in Penang executed by Studioworks in the early 2000s.

Jan had been eyeing off the doormen at the E&O who all wore pith helmets and shorts. So before we set off we just had to have a photo!

Without a guide, but armed with a detailed map, we managed to get a taxi for five and we were soon deposited back on Armenian Street which is the centre of Georgetown. Jan (she who didn't need reading glasses to read the map!) set the course as we tried to locate as much of the street art as we could.

 Some were easy to find but others required a careful look down tiny lanes or behind parked vehicles to locate them. 

This one is the most popular! You can buy every
kind of merchandise displaying this image
from cushions to bags to fridge magnets.

The faded pictures of children were very touching and enhanced by the deterioration of the walls on which they were displayed. A few had a line up of people waiting to be photographed next to them.

The distinctive black metal pictures were easier to spot but we only saw a small proportion of the 52 that were erected around town.

Before we headed for a much-needed coffee we visited the Jonathan Yun jewellery shop. The women running the shop were happy to chat and some of us made some great purchases. 

We asked for a recommendation for refreshments and my eyes lit up as one of them suggested cheesecake and coffee at China House. We’ve eaten very few desserts since we arrived, so, tired from our wanderings around town, we were happy to sit in the cool and enjoy cheesecake, walnut bundt, passion fruit cake and banana and walnut cake. Delicious! Charles and Camilla had eaten there so we felt we were in good company (!?)

Very striking: large and colourful.

One of the many cats!

One of the Studioworks pieces

A bus stop I think!

Yet more street art was to come, thanks to Jan’s navigation, and we managed to see the ones we were keen to see, as well as a lot of additional ones, many featuring cats! In fact there was an entire shop devoted to cats and when Kerryn entered the shop we thought we may not see her for some time! Apart from trying to buy one on of the display items she showed admirable restraint!

Cats everywhere!

While we were wandering around we saw lots of kids eating these multi-coloured ice balls, which I have to admit looked very tempting in the heat! They were happy to have their photos taken.

Such a beautiful face!

We thought we'd try one of the shopping malls but that was not so successful as the information we had was out of date. It was an impressive looking building though.

An interesting kimchi pancake and a steaming egg dish; different but delicious

It was located at the Straits Quay overlooking the marina. After enjoying some Korean food overlooking the ocean we headed for a grocery store which was well - stocked with Australian food and familiar brands.  Locating  tonic water to drink with our duty–free gin is a constant challenge!

Back at  the hotel for a rest we made a good decision which was to eat at Sarkies, one of the hotel's restaurants.  It was a great decision because: A. It poured with rain and B. It proved to be a vast buffet with a huge range of food.  The options included chili crab, endless curries, sushi and sashimi, oysters, mussels, and much more.  There was fresh fruit, cakes and treats, and some of us had Gula Melaka (Malaysian creamed rice made with coconut and palm sugar).  Delicious!

We had no idea about the cost but discovered the next morning that it was very cheap for such a feast! We waddled home past a huge Chinese wedding  and fell into bed. Another great day.