street goodness

For about one hour every afternoon this cart rolls into town. Well actually the cart lives in its spot. But the pancake maker rolls up to this cart on his bike, fires up the griddle and makes little pieces of pure heaven until the batter runs out. Folks line up on foot and on scooter. The pancakes have banana in the dough and coconut in the middle and are cooked in a banana leaf. The banana leaf chars a bit and the flavour gets right in there. Then he hands it to you in a plastic bag (which I refuse), so it burns a bit on the old finger tips. But I have my reasons.

georgetown

Happy New Year! It's our last day in Penang and I thought I'd give you a little photo tour of historic Georgetown, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

christmas eve at a buddhist temple

When in Malaysia, a country of blending cultures why not explore what is around us, right? That's what we thought when we paid a visit to Kek Lok Si, the largest (and surely the most commercialized) Buddhist temple in all of Southeast Asia. We thoroughly enjoyed the temple, which included climbing a pagoda to lookout over Penang Island, riding a funicular cable car up to the statue of the Goddess of Mercy and lunch at the most wonderful vegetarian restaurant. We were surprised at first by the differences between the temples of Thailand and Kek Lok Si (no need to cover up, lots of shops, restaurants and people - to name a few) but we enjoyed the relaxed, cheerful atmosphere. Lots of kids and families visiting to pray and buy Christmas and New Year gifts.