Penang -- Week 1, Part 4 - Impressions

IMPRESSIONS OF PENANG

The Food
Lots of noodles, sauces, and spice. Sometimes I don't mind the heat (when it's not strong), but sometimes I order something to take a break from the heat and it ends up being super hot. Other than Little India, we didn't start getting into the more authentic foods until Sunday (will write about it in my next post). But most of what we've had is pretty good. Food here in general is fusion food, so when I speak about Indian or Chinese food, you have to keep in mind that I have no idea what those foods taste like in those countries. Chinese food here seems to have a little more depth than I'm used to. The sweet sauces aren't just a combo of sweet, sour, and/or spicy, they also often have some kind of nutmeg/cinnamony spice in them. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it's not my taste. But until we get to the hawker foods, apparently we're not eating anything totally authentic or what Penang is known for -- delicious. My favorite so far is the Indian place. I asked the girl there what everything is called, and she's like, "that's carrots, white carrots, cucumber and yogurt," and I'm like, "and this here?" "Vegetables." "But it doesn't have a name?" "No." Haha! So much for me trying to start to learn the names of everything so I can be in the know like the locals! Other than this trip though, I'm feeling a little led on about the cuisine in Penang. And we haven't ventured over to the hawkers yet because, well, everything looks dirty and open to the flies. There was a rat running around at the hawker/restaurant next door to the cleaners. And that, by the way, is my first time seeing a rat outside of a pet store.

The Costs
I'm feeling a little led on here too. Ok, so going organic is going to be very expensive, but I didn't expect to pay for imported American goods. And the clothes? I guess I am supposed to go to the little (flea) markets and shop there. But I'm realizing how westernized I am. I don't want to! Oh sure, I don't mind looking for local wares (trinkets and things) there, or buying fruit from a wet market (at least I hope I won't), but I want a certain kind of atmosphere when I'm buying clothes (George feels this way about the eating, and he's struggling to change that), or I am grumpy and uninspired. If I head to the mall, I have my environment, but now I am paying for imported goods from the States and elsewhere. I guess hawker stands will offer us cheaper foods, but restaurants here aren't much cheaper than the States.

The People
Another place I've been led on. Maybe I just haven't interacted enough, but I don't find the people here to be especially nice. Nice enough, absolutely, but not especially nice. Again, Japan was a little exceptional in this regard, so maybe I can't gauge it all that well right now. George is a little weirded out by us being such an obvious minority. There are a lot of Asian faces around us and the westerners stick out like a sore thumb, but I actually don't notice this most of the time. At least I don't notice the Asians. I totally notice the white faces. And I notice that there are no black people at all. (We've since seen one.)

The Language
It's fun for a little while to be in a place where you're forced to alter your methods of communication, but after a while this is really going to wear me out. I have started dreading eating out because it's so much work. I have to learn some more Malay.

The Roads
Terrifying. I don't want to walk, bike, drive, or ride in a car driven by someone else. It's a nightmare.

The Scenery
The jungle-covered hills are really beautiful. That's totally what Florida is missing. But we don't see them enough. And the ocean views aren't the most amazing I've seen. The colonial architecture (if you can find it) is nice, but a lot has been allowed to get a run-down look here. Maybe it's that weather is too harsh, or the humidity makes it impossible to keep up with things like rust, but at times I feel like we're verging on third world. They have all these amazing high-tech, ultra urban developments planned, but half the island needs little more than a fresh coat of paint and maybe a little tidy up.

The Wildlife
I LOVE THAT I HAVE SEEN WILD MONKEYS!!! Other than that it's been mostly pests in our hotel apartment: ants and lizards. My standards are lowering there. You have to get used to it I guess. But if nothing else it's helping me to be a little more on top of cleaning, I think. I can't believe I saw a rat at a place to eat. George got bitten several times at dinner one night by mosquitoes. Regin and I escaped, bite free. We're a little worried about all the biting things around here since there are a few possible diseases, and we haven't vaccinated (not that I'm convinced vaccinations do anything anyway.) I'm, as always, acutely aware of Regin's vulnerability, and part of me can't wait for him to be big so scary things like this will threaten him more with illness than with death. Still, I'm trying not to overreact and buy into all the fear that people peddle these days.

The Climate
The heat didn't hit me when we first got here. It seemed very tolerable, and certainly nothing close to the hottest I'd felt in Florida. I guess those were a cool couple of days. We've had hotter days since and it's pretty miserable, but still not the worst I've experienced. I'm happy to report that they do have functioning cooling systems here. What they call air conditioning (or "air con."), seems to be an installed swamp cooler in the more important rooms. They work so well that it's either frigid indoors (in those rooms), or, if you turn them off, baking hot. I can't seem to find an in between yet. It's really difficult to do anything here outdoors during the day. And in fact the island comes alive at dusk. Markets open up and people pour out into the streets. Apparently the wet markets are an early morning affair. The rain has been no big deal at all so far. But they must have some sudden torrential downpours here because the locals start panicking and tell you to cover up your baby whenever there is a light drizzle. There is also a pretty major drainage system here, the sidewalks are super high and riddled with ditches, but they laugh when we asks if they get floods.

Regin
Regin is doing well here so far. He seems to be great when we're taking him out all day and he gets to see different things. But he overheats quickly and that is frustrating and scary. Hopefully he'll be better adapted soon. We've been neglecting his development in many areas; we really haven't worked with him in any kind of way to encourage his growth in speech or walking or motor skills or anything. He's forgotten some of his signs and the potty thing has been completely put on hold. Switching to disposables has been a huge set back. Sure, they're convenient when you're traveling around, but he's pretty much forgotten how to use the potty, and he rarely uses it now. When I put him on it, he gets mad. His sleep patterns are all over the place, but he seems to be waking only once or so every night. His skin is definitely so much better here. He hardly ever scratches himself anymore. And he hasn't had his usual rashes. I've already reintroduced some of his questionable foods. I may even reintroduce carrots. He's had a voracious appetite. He may be growing, or maybe all the processed foods I've been feeding him don't fill him up. He rarely gets anything homemade anymore. The apartment can't come soon enough for that. But his mood is generally great as always, and people here absolutely adore him. We're stopped everywhere we go. People talk to him and even touch him. On Sunday (while out sight-seeing) a girl came and grabbed him while we were sitting on the grass, sat him on her lap -- without asking -- and posed for a picture for her friends' camera. People are constantly remarking how beautiful he is. But it is interesting to see how different cultures interact with babies, and the difference in personal space. Our bell hop at one point (while he was waiting in our hotel room for us to be ready to switch rooms) picked Regin up and held him for a while. Side note: when he put him down in front of me, Regin's momentum allowed him to walk his first couple of steps towards me! We haven't been able to duplicate this yet though.

Other
It's so fun to see some of the products I grew up with. The stationary sections of the book stores feel so European (the pens and things remind me of Europe, and they use A4 paper like England), and there are some grocery store goods (candies, etc.) that I haven't seen in a while. But I haven't braved the sweets yet. I don't want to push my hypoglycemia.

Summary
I'm not really loving it here. George either. We're wondering what it is that Carmen loves so much, and I hate to say it, but I have to wonder if it's her semi-colonial lifestyle she's leading. But, to be fair, we haven't had much chance to do the fun stuff yet. And I'm still glad I came. I would have regretted missing this opportunity for sure.