QUICK TIP Have dinner at Weld Quay Restaurant under a huge tree for the freshest of seafood plucked just from the sea.
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WHERE George Town, Penang
WHY HERE Penang's capital George Town, full of low-rise shopfronts, crumbling colonial era straits architecture and Asia's best hawker food, is a charming juxtaposition of old and new. Situated on a small island off the northwestern coast of Malaysia, travellers come for the meld of Malay-Chinese-Indian architecture, trishaw rides through its fascinating mesh of narrow streets and to eat like there's no tomorrow. This bustling UNESCO World Heritage listed city, with its eclectic mix of lavish mansions, chic boutique hotels, century-old churches, Chinese clan houses, Indian temples, ornate mosques and higgledy-piggledy shophouses, offers a wonderful glimpse of fast fading old Asia.
HOW LONG You need at least three to four days to explore this multicultural city. Two to three days at least to explore George Town's ethnic quarters of Little India, its Malay kampungs (villages), Chinese and European communities, mind boggling eateries, hawker stalls and fascinating wet markets. Where else can you find a century-old church, a Chinese clan house, an Indian temple, and a Muslim mosque all within a two-minute walk from one another? When you've had your fill of George Town's bustling, humid city streets, make for the seaside with its casuarina trees, cool sea breezes and languid kampung lifestyle.
DON'T MISS Take a scenic ride through George Town's mish mash of narrow streets by ubiquitous man-powered trishaw (be sure and set a price before pedalling off). On the way you'll pass shophouses where tradesman tinker on trishaws and craftsmen create songkok hats, paper lanterns, joss sticks and wood carvings. Stop for lunch at one of the incredible hawker stalls for char kway teow along George Town's backstreets, then experience the city's colonial past over afternoon tea at the iconic Eastern and Oriental Hotel (eohotels.com). Be sure to visit the Fuan Wong Gallery (see fuanwong.com), to see the owner's beautiful fused-glass sculptures.
After sundown head to Australian Narelle McMurtrie's China House (chinahouse.com.my), a traditional compound of three heritage buildings linked by an open-air courtyard, for open lasagne of duck ragu or sumac and zaatar roast chicken. Be sure and take an hour-long tour of the Cheong Fat Tse Mansion, now the boutique Blue Mansion (tours are $RM12 ($3.93) per person and are held three times a day. See thebluemansion.com.my), so named for its indigo colour; an elaborate 1880s Su Zhou Dynasty house, which features in several films, including the classic 1992 Indochine starring Catherine Deneuve. Better still book a room there.
WHERE TO STAY Australian hoteliers Chris Ong and Karl Steinberg's stable of properties include two "flashpackers", Muntri Mews, Noordin Mews and new boutique hotel Muntri Grove. Set in a walled tropical garden with its own private swimming pool, Noordin Mews' main building is a classic 1920s Peranakan shophouse in straits eclectic style with its own laneway Mews which was originally for trishaws, hand carts and the servants quarters for the wealthy families who lived in Noordin Street in the first decades of the last century. Rooms priced from $127 including breakfast. See muntrimews.com, noordinmews.com and muntrigrove.com. Ong and Steinberg's astonishing Seven Terraces, a converted row of 19th century Anglo Chinese terraces, is their latest venture and the pick of places to stay in George Town, from $195 including breakfast; see seventerraces.com. Lone Pine, the sister property of the Eastern and Oriental, meanwhile is one of the better seaside resorts, and one of the oldest. Formerly a seaside escape for British planters and colonial civil servants it received a multi million makeover a few years back, giving the historic resort a new lease of life. Rooms from $170 including breakfast. See lonepinehotel.com.
The writer was a guest of Noordin Mews.