Penang, first day

I didn’t do any real sightseeing today. I wasn’t jet lagged, I was just tired of constant travel. Plus, I’ll have to figure out how to get to the places I plan on visiting. I took the opportunity walk around near the hotel, which is very near Queensbay Mall, an enormous place full of restaurants. That’s where I started looking for food. I almost stopped at a corner café on the way that was populated by lots of locals, but I wanted to see what my options were before stopping at the first place.

The first restaurant I found in the mall was TGI Friday’s. Darned if my first meal out in Malaysia would be at TGI Friday’s. But after much walking around I had a hard time finding local food that looked appetizing, so I punked out and went to a Japanese restaurant. It wasn’t local but it was delicious. I tried a drink called sarsi, which is much like root beer. There are a lot of restaurants specializing in Chinese, Thai, Indian and other ethnic varieties. I determined I’d eat Malaysian food for dinner.

Walking around in the afternoon was different. That old cliche about the heat and the humidity is very correct. It wasn't that hot, but when the humidity is 80-90% you just can't get cool unless you find air conditioning. No shade or breeze will do. It didn't take long before my shirt was wet all the way through, and not just in the usual areas.

For dinner I found a local food guide that mentioned that laksa assam is a favorite Malaysian dish. I found a place called Laksa Shack and ordered away. It turns out that laksa means soup, and assam means fish. Oh joy. Imagine a soup with mackerel, tamarind, pineapple, shredded cucumber, ginger, mint leaves, and for that little extra, sour shrimp paste. I couldn’t eat it. They were looking right at me, and I was trying to be polite, but I knew after a few bites that it wasn’t for me. I managed to finish less than half the bowl. The drink it came with was a sweet, purple combination of coconut milk and black glutenous rice. It looked scary, like something a Klingon would drink, but tasted great.

I would up getting a second meal, going to another restaurant in the mall that specializes in local fare, Chicken Rice House. That sounded tame enough to me, and it was. Just roasted chicken over noodles, like the Malaysian equivalent of meat and potatoes.

On my way back from dinner I passed that corner café again and saw the silhouette of a cat scurry under a car. At least I'm trying to imagine that it was a cat, but it was pretty small for a cat, ran very low to the ground, and had a long tail. I’ll have to try some of the restaurants in Georgetown when I go sightseeing this weekend, but I’m afraid Malaysian food may not be for me. It’s too close to Thai food, and I can’t stand Thai food. I may wind up at that TGI Friday’s yet. I’m getting a little tired of exotic food.