After leaving our Chiang Mai home at 6:45 AM on Sunday, a 2 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur, a short hop to Penang and a 45 minute bus ride to Georgetown, we finally arrived at our hotel at around 6:30. The first thing we noticed when we got off the plae was the humidity. Even though the temperature was a little lower than Chiang Mai, the 90% humidity made it feel like 45C.

Our hotel is only about 300 meters from the bus station, so we walked it with our Farpoint 40's on our backs. By the time we got checked in, we were both pretty hot and tired, but the owner of the Malabar Inn, Tony, made us feel right at home, showed us to our room and immediately turned on the AC for us. Hmmm...maybe we were smelling a little ripe?

After changing and showering, we followed Tony's instructions and map and took a preliminary tour around the city. By this time, the sun had gone down and the temperature had dropped to a much more bearable 29 degrees (34 with the humidex).

As we walked through the city, the diversity of cultures became very apparent. Mosques, Buddhist monks, Christian churches and temples are everywhere. Chinatown is only a stone's throw from little India and a monument to Queen Victoria reinforces the impact of the Colonial architecture that is so prevalent throughout Georgetown.

Because of it's historical importance and multiculturalism, Georgetown was named a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008. Brenda and I have visited a few Unesco sites in our travels and have never failed to be fascinated by them. So far, Georgetown is no exception.

Apart from the ethnicity, culture, particularly in the form of the arts abounds. There are 50 or so "Street Art" paintings that are murals incorporating real life objects into the works. One of them shows two children riding a bike, another depicts a little boy reaching tiptoed on a chair for a window. The bike and the chair are not drawn, they are real object placed strategically against the wall to form part of the artwork, to very good effect.

At the end of our Sunday stroll, we stopped by at a park where festivities celebrating Chinese New Year were still ongoing. There were drummers, dancers, singers and even fire-eaters on the stage entertaining thousands of people gathered there for the event. There were also a myriad of food hawkers lining the entrance to the park who gave us our first glimpse at the diverse foods available here.

Unfortunately, we've found the heat and humidity a little too much to bear during the daytime and have not ventured out too much. Monday was spent exploring 3 very large shopping malls located just outside of historic Georgetown so we could benefit from the air conditioning.

Tuesday, we walked down to the waterfront and ate lunch on one of the jetties overlooking the Malacca Strait with a view of the 13 km long Penang Bridge in the background. We also bought a bus pass that will enable us to get around the island to explore a little more. Wednesday we plan to take a ride out to a tropical fruit farm and sample some of their produce.

Oh yeah, the fruit! Contrary to the fabulous array and choice of exotic fruit we had grown accustomed to in Thailand, a trip to the market here is disappointing to say the least. Apples, oranges, bananas, plums, and pears dominate the stalls. We feel like we've been teleported back to Ottawa! We've managed to find the odd pineapple, papaya, dragonfruit and jackfruit, but haven't seen a single durian yet. We're really missing Muang Mai and our jackfruit lady, Nok!

On the other hand, I've been loving the Indian and Malaysian food on offer here, although Brenda is not very appreciative of the adverse effect it's had on my breath. Her stomach's been a little off lately, so she's trying to eat a very clean diet and, as such, has not eaten any of the garlic laden goodies I've been gobbling down. Sorry, Babe. I'll make it up to you somehow,

All in all, once we acclimatize to the humidity and find a better supply of local produce, I think we'll really enjoy our stay here. One thing for certain: This sure beats working!