The Voss Dufour World Tour

The room is absolutely, completely and totally dark. Not a single crack to let in the tiniest ray of light.  It’s our room at the guesthouse where we are staying in Penang and I hate the fact that it’s so dark. No matter what time I wake up, I always think that it’s 2am and that I should go back to sleep. I can’t understand, in any capacity, how you can have a bedroom, or any room for that matter,  without a window. But in an effort to pack as many people into a space increasing income potential, rooms are made off the corridor (and behind the bar as in our case), one after the other.

So I force myself to get up. Sometimes, on the days when I don’t wear earplugs—oh yeah, earplugs are my newest fave thing. More on that later—I can hear the people moving around in the room above us. In the dark, it sounds like they are standing immediately next to our bed and always make my eyes spring open and peer into the darkness; as if someone broke in during the middle of the night.  One leg after the other swings over the bed and I make my way to the bathroom (who doesn’t have to pee upon waking up?!) The light switch is somehow found in the pitch blackness and James inevitably groans and rolls over, away from the light, pulling the pillow over his head. He on the other hand, likes the cool, dark room. I think the phrase is, opposites attract? Anyhow.

After making myself presentable to the world and myself, although mirrors are rare on this trip, I swing open the door and am hit with the heat. It’s not too much to bear, but as soon as I turn the corner into the front lobby area, it hits me; the wall of humidity.  10 more steps and I am on the main street, blinded by the sun, causing me to scrunch my face up and protest for a moment or two. Those 10 steps aren’t enough for my eyes to prepare for the sunshine. All day doesn’t seem to be enough to adjust to the sunshine as I find myself squinting frequently and walking in the shade when possible.  In this momentarily lapse of vision, I have to be careful not to be run over by a scooter which travel in both directions on each side of the road.

I am in Malaysia.  How on earth did that happen? Malaysia?

To be 100 truthful, I had no idea where Malaysia was 14 days ago. I knew it was in Asia and to the SE-ish of Thailand. To take it a step further, I had no idea where Penang was 5 days ago. I knew it was where tourists from Thailand went to do a visa run and so I figured it was a dinky little visa run town. Boy, was I ever wrong.  Never in a million years did I ever think I would be in Malaysia. I am not even sure in my 30+ years on this planet, I have ever thought of Malaysia. And now, it makes perfect sense to be here. Why not right?

Malaysia, or at least Penang, is this amazing melting pot of all things Asia. Culture, tradition, religion, language and most importantly food of the Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and even the French and Dutch whose ships passed thru and fought over this area, not too long ago in the whole scheme of things. There are proper-mass-transit-1st world-looking-buses, decent traffic rules and laws, BMWs and your basic Honda and Toyota, European style cafes nestled in between the myriad food stalls, bakeries and I am staring at a 7-Eleven right now. And even more exciting, after 30 days in Thailand, they speak English. Not just passable, food vendor English, but good, decent, totally beyond functional English. And the “they” encompasses people of all ages. Granted not everyone, but 2 out of every 3…even the cute old Chinese man with no teeth does a good job.

It’s one of the first countries where I have given much thought to how religion is intertwined in the day to day. It’s an Islamic country although there are many other religions that are practiced and recognized throughout the country. Islamic, as in Muslim, as in the women are covered from head to toe and walk  behind their husbands, they pray 5 times a day to Mecca, the Qur’ran is the Holy Book, women have less rights than their husbands, the husbands can take more than 1 wife, the Jihad etc. All things that don’t necessarily conjure up positive images. Whether that’s a reflection of media brainwashing or my ignorance or both, who knows. But it is what it is.
The Islam religion is intriguing to me because it is so different. Yes, I do at times feel uncomfortable when walking around in a tank top and shorts, while the women around me are covered in beautiful, sometimes amazingly colored swaths of fabric. I am on their turf and perhaps should dress accordingly? That could be up for discussion forever. And similar to American women, they do stare at me. So  I guess what goes around comes around! Not that James and I are super into public displays of affection, but it is definitely a country where hand holding, hugging and god forbid kissing is a public no-no. A flag goes up in my brain when I reach for James’ hand as we walk down the street and we usually end up refraining. I don’t fear any repercussions, but again, just aware of how the religion plays a role in the day to day.

But this doesn’t influence their character. They are some of, if not, the friendliest, heart warming people we have met on this trip. I am not talking a “hello and good morning with a smile.”  It’s the type of smile that takes over their faces, makes the eyes crinkle up and in Hollywood would  scream the need for botox after all the lines are deepened in the face. It’s beautiful and you can’t help but want to hug whomever has given you a part of their soul with their smile. We have been approached by many people asking us where we are from, wanting to tell us about whatever food they are selling, different things we should try and taste and how to get somewhere. ..usually without prompting.  And it’s done out of pride for their history and heritage. That much is very evident and it’s very heart warming.

Malaysia’s marketing slogan is “Malaysia. Truly Asia.” I say “Malaysia. Truly Amazing.”

Since my last trip to Asia I’ve been raving about Bangkok street food, the amazing Pad Thai and Basil Noodles and countless unnamed things I’ve eaten after smelling something interesting, pointing, and then handing over the equivalent of the 80 cents.   Don’t get me wrong, the food in Bangkok is wonderful, but it’s the culinary equivalent of growing up in Concord, NH and moving to Boston.  Penang is in a league of multicultural street brilliance all of its own.

For those of you who have no idea where or what Penang is, I’ll brief you.  Penang is an island in the Straights of Malacca, a couple of hundred kilometers north of Singapore. The  Straights of Malacca, where all the pirates are.  There are tons of people, in the streets, who have the red eyes from too much salty air and the dead eyed gaze of potential tanker thieves.  Some of them have clearly abandoned this in favor of making Ice Kechang, they have friendly smiles and generally lack teeth but their eyes assure you that the food is good and they want you to enjoy it.

There’s also a massive Chinese population making amazing Cantonese, Szechuan, Hunan and Zhejiang dishes out of bicycle wheeled carts with propane burners.  Some speak broken English, and some are clearly employing their entire extended family in the preparation of your meal.  Grandpa brings the sodas, and his father brings your meal.  One of the kids is doing dishes.

There are immigrant Indians making unique curry variations, while their more religious brethren attach hundred pound buddha statues to themselves with two hundred stainless steel needles through the skin and dance through the streets.  There are indigenous Malay, cooking their own evolved version of Chinese, and the occasional Japanese immigrant setting up shop.  And, of course, you’ve got a strong Thai influence blowing in from the North.

Combine a diverse population of immigrants and descendants with an abundance of locally grown spices, a couple of ports, wide streets, and balmy air, and you have the makings of a food mecca.  Add a favorable exchange rate, clean water, and enough entertainment (amazing multicultural people watching) to keep you amused when you’re not eating; and you have what may be the mecca of Asian cuisine, where in the course of two hours, ten dollars, and two blocks,  you can sample four cuisines from four culinary lines.

Our first meal in town was at a randomly chosen Chinese restaurant where, at the owner’s suggestion, we tried the Lemon Chicken and Pork Spare Ribs.  We accompanied it with some white rice, fried rice, iced coffee, and pineapple juice (freshly squeezed of course).  If the Lemon Chicken you get at any random Chinese restaurant in the States was a fat kid on a tricycle, this was his esteemed Tour de France riding father who squints at his child and wonders what’s become of his lineage.  It was a good Bordeaux to any box wine with a mountain on it; more complex, more delicate, possessing hints of dozens of subtle spices, and slightly crispy and tender in all the right ways.  The Pork Spare Ribs on the other hand were quite simply coated in one of the best sauces I’ve ever had on anything in my life.  Then I added the hot sauce, and they became everything you could ever ask for from a pork rib.  The bill came to ~9USD.

And the list goes on…

Lok Lok:  the plates of skewers you dip into boiling water, found while wandering down a side street in a strange part of town, asked by a random Chinese man “How did you find this place”.  In the words of Slim Shady, ‘y’all act like you never seen a white person before’.

Ice Kechang, the Saparilla variation; shaved ice, sasparilla, red beans, corn, strange green noodles, and black sugar.  I can’t even begin to explain this to anyone who hasn’t had it.  It’s oddly compelling.

Ooblong Burgers:  Crispy double pattie with mayo on a good bun; which is only amazing in that it was easily the best burger I’ve had in Asia, and that allegedly there’s a better burger down the street.  (I guess it’s also odd that Ooblong burgers are sold from a Man United cart..)

Wonton Soup:  From a cart, laden with superlatives.

Siam Laksa:  The spice almost killed Jo on the first taste (hiarious video to follow..) but it was so good that she finished it anyway, determined not to be conquered by the Laksa.

We’ll be having spareribs for breakfast.. the rest will be random, and surely delicious.

It should also be noted that I didn’t think Bangkok had all that much going for it aside from really interesting but somewhat ineffective transportation systems.

As you can tell, we have been playing with the website a bit. Okay, so it’s mostly Jo that has. She’s been reading lots of other travel blogs for inspiration as she tries to drive more traffic to our webpage, get more readership and make sure people are enjoying our site.

So let us know if you like things.  Or if you don’t. It doesn’t mean we will or won’t do anything about it, but it’s good to know your thoughts on our site. Any suggestions or comments are  welcome.

And a big thanks to our readers and more importantly people who comment. We love hearing from you and know that you are enjoying living vicariously thru us. We really appreciate you taking the time to do so and so a big thanks to you. And if you read and don’t comment, well that could be a good 2010 resolution. It’s never too late!