Many consider Penang Island as one of the top culinary destinations in the world. Its cuisine is considered a regional food paradise. It is famed for foods from the many cultures on the island, including Hokkien, Hakka, and Teochew-speaking Chinese communities, Indian Tamils, Malays, and the British.

Our host at the historic Hotel Ren I Tang highly recommended Jason’s Nyonya House restaurant to experience our last supper in Penang City, because it served delicious local Nyonya cuisine with a spicy tang. She was right, and it was an absolute gem, but you have to get advanced reservations to get in. It’s worth experiencing Nyonya food, a fusion of Malay and Chinese, and it’s hard to describe how delectable everything tastes.

One evening, we checked out the Chew Jetty, which is comprised of wooden stilt houses built around a walkway. It is currently the only accessible jetty (of the existing seven jetties) to the waterfront for visitors. The jetties were home to the seven Chinese clans who migrated from China to work in tin mining and the rubber plantations. It looked liked an opportunity for a sunset shot, but the clouds were not cooperating. It is now mostly souvenir shops for tourists.

There is a different night market each day of the week. On Wednesday night is the Farlim Night Market, which is one of the largest night market scenes in Penang. Check out the video to see what we had for dinner at the night market — char kuey teow, a stir-fried rice noodle dish.

Ubudiah Mosque was initially built in 1917, after a series of interruptions to the construction, including some rampaging elephants and World War I. It was then renovated in 2003. While the mosque is grand, what really impressed us the most was the neighborhood. Within a span of a few blocks, you could find an Islamic Mosque, a Christian Church, multiple Hindu Temples of various sects, and other religions. All appear to coexist side-by-side with no evidence of discord.

Chen Hoon Temp Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia, built in 1645. We stopped in one night on our way back to the hotel, when we discovered it open.

Chanting at Kek Lok Si Buddhist Temple in George Town, Penang in Malaysia.

We took a tour of Pinang Peranakan Mansion Museum with a colorful English-speaking tour guide. He described the original mansion owner as a Chinese Mafia leader. This museum shows how the wealthy Chinese lived. It was interesting to see that the table was set with forks and knives, rather than the expected chopsticks. That was because the area was a former British colony. The Chinese clans played a major role in bringing in Chinese immigrants to the area for the British tin mines.

We were in Penang during their annual art festival, and attended a glove puppet show on their last night. This was an outdoor show, just past sundown on the grounds of the Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi Temple. As the show began, our cameras turned to the fabulous Blue Hour forming behind the temple (center).

The puppet show was entirely in Thai language, which of course, we know none. They did project the narration in English below the puppets though it was difficult to read.