Pit Stop In Malaysia - Penang Food Paradise and Langkawi Island Escape

"I talk a lot about getting lost in the East. About breaking away from the world you left behind. If only for a week, or a few days, it’s easy to do that here. To take pleasure in the unfamiliar. To be forced, just walking down the street, or ordering breakfast, to learn new things. Let me tell you – that feels good; especially in Penang." 

- Anthony Bourdain 

I have wanted to visit Penang since that famous Bourdain episode. I came and left with mixed feelings, but I also feel like we weren't properly introduced.

There definitely is a cultural shift once you hit Malaysia as a majority of the population practices Islam. It was visually apparent based on the many mosques and more conservative dress, and also something you could hear, with the call to prayer echoing throughout the area wherever we stayed. It is quite beautiful.

Our first day in Penang was a rough one. As we were walking (well off the street) a man on a scooter zoomed up onto the sidewalk past Eric and I, then quickly zoomed back into traffic, almost getting into an accident. I glanced at Eric who looked a bit shocked, and he told me that his gold chains had been ripped off his neck by the guy driving the scooter! What the hell?!

Calling for back-up

We were taken to an officer who must just sit and drink coffee at the same spot every day as a "police hub," who called for back up. A police van showed up and they gestured at us to get in - we definitely looked like American convicts on our ride to the (FIRST) police station. As it all happened so fast there was no way to ID the guy, but Eric filed a report for insurance reasons.

They said we had to go to another police station, and ended up in the "DETEKTIF"s office. They unsuccessfully tried to extract details about the assailant. Eric got his stamped report for insurance and one of the detectives, Azmi (a Corporal) drove us back to our hotel. I have to hand it to the Malaysian police, because they were very nice and easy to talk to and could have easily told us to find our own way back. Anyway... day kind of ruined.

This guy asked up front if we wanted a photo - of course!

We wandered around the town a bit more and I appreciated the colonial style juxtaposed with modern, and especially the abandoned buildings that they had let grow over with foliage.

It was something out of this History Channel special I saw called "Life After People," and while staring at some of the structures pretended it had been 50 years after humanity had been wiped off the earth.

We ate some non-Malaysian food - burgers! - with very unique black bamboo charcoal buns. They tasted pretty much like normal bread and are supposed to be a very healthy alternative.

Char Kaoy Teow

I wanted to head to Langkawi Island the next morning, which is a 4 hour ferry ride away, so while Eric stayed in the room that evening, I went off (a little nervously after the day's earlier events) on my own to track down some of the famed street food.

I first went to the Red Garden which is a well known food court, but as I had no way to save a table while ordering food, I abandoned ship and went to the vendors that were set up nearby our hotel. I excitedly ordered my first famed Malaysian dish - char koay teow and took a seat.

I realized I was definitely the only foreigner in the area and while I sat there taking in the sights, I realized what Bourdain meant. I felt completely removed from the hustle and bustle of tourist Asia, and like I had found my own little food paradise. I devoured my char kaoy teow - imagine a very peppery tick noodled pad thai with the extra goodness of the pan scraped onto it, and went home to prepare for the journey ahead the next day.

The ferry ride was pretty uneventful and at first we weren't too impressed with the beach near where we were staying on Langkawi. I had Phuket flashbacks from all the garbage, ugh.  I knew that if we rented scooters a whole other world would open itself up to us, so we did just that the next day.

View from the Langkawi Pier - huge eagle statue!!!

The island is absolutely gorgeous once you escape the touristy areas, and even felt a bit more untouched than many places I went in Thailand.

At one point we ended up at a police checkpoint, asking if I had a driver's license. Sure I did! and I gestured at my backpack, so they let me pass. They didn't have to know that it was merely my Washington state one and I lacked an international driver's license.

It boggles my mind that we drove past at least 30 checkpoints in northern Thailand (most unmanned) and at no point did anyone even talk to us, but twenty minutes into our first Malaysian scooter adventure and we had to interact with the police.

There were also monkey police, and I mean real monkeys. After the checkpoint I slammed on my breaks as I saw about 7 monkeys just hanging out on the side of the road. Outside of Monkey Island in Thailand, I haven't had much exposure, so it was an exciting moment.

We got off our bikes and started taking pictures when I was reminded about where Curious George got his namesake. I left a plastic bag hanging from my bike, and when I turned I saw a monkey pawing through the bag looking for food. Then he just sat on my seat, staring at me with beady eyes. Honestly I'm a bit terrified of monkeys as I've read enough tourist horror stories, so I snapped a few pictures and just waited for it to jump off because I wasn't about to get rabies.

Back on the road, and after getting lost a bit, we found a much less popular beach at the north of the island, with the kind of waters I was hoping for. I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise considering this island shares the Andaman Sea with Thailand. Paradise found! The lush green countryside was a wonderful accompaniment.

We revisited that beach the next day before I had to get back to Penang. Eric decided to stick around Langkawi for another day before heading back to Seattle to see his family, so we parted ways, and I took the ferry back home solo.

Why they decided playing a (pirated) version of Captain Phillips was a good idea is beyond me, and I'm still pissed off that I wasn't able to watch the last 15 minutes due to the pirated DVD malfunctioning.

For my final night in Penang I HAD to eat more Malaysian food lest consider myself a Penang foodie failure, and sought out the top rated nyonya (a name given to the Penang style of food) restaurant. The owner had a set menu that he kindly let me sample even though I was a party of one.


I loved half of it and the other half not so much. I didn't expect to eat baby stingray but there it was, and I felt obligated to eat it. It reminded me of flavorless fish in a delicious sauce....

Don't know whether to blame the cook or the stingray, but it was still a great experience nonetheless.

As I flew out of Penang and got a bird's eye view of the city that I missed on the way in, I wished I had more time. It was stunning. Honestly the scorching sun and heat (90+ degrees) may have made the visit a bit difficult, but I can always go back.

-Erin