Our New Normal

We’ve officially been here two months. Amazing how easy it is to achieve a “new normal” in that amount of time. Things that seemed quite different at first aren’t remotely strange now. The warmth and friendliness of people – expats and locals alike – continues to inspire us. The level of hospitality here truly impresses me. Citizens of the world unite!

Update on Operation Roach Eradication (ORE)
Those of you who recall the July 9 posting are aware of Ton’s focus on cockroach annihilation. Last week, we discovered a bad leak in our hallway. To fix it, the building folks had to bang a small hole in the wall of the hallway closet. They decided to leave the hole open to let the area dry out – they’d return in a few days. As soon as they left, Ton was on the job. He grabs the roach spray and marches to the hole. ““I’m going to spray a bunch of roach killer in there because I don’t want anything coming out of there and infesting the house.” Fumes galore. Later as we prepared for bed, he said, “Leave the light on in the hallway closet. Roaches prefer darkness.”

Challenge Foods
I’ve been challenged by some blog readers to eat some new and funky foods. Below are just a few of the things Ton and I have tried. I’ve never eaten so many new foods in such a short time in my life.

• Murtabak – I had this for Sunday Brunch at our neighborhood Indian spot. It’s the Indian version of a burrito – in my case, veggies and egg wrapped in a square pastry shell.

Rambutan – A small sweet fruit that you must break out of its thick, tough “pod,” which is reddish-pink and hairy.

Hokkien Mee – Penang is famous for this local dish. Known as “street food” because you typically buy it from a hawker stall on the street, it consists of noodles and prawns (shrimp) in a clear spiced broth. I had them hold off on the chilies. We were taken by a local to one of the most popular Hokkien Mee stalls Penang, in the Pilau Tikus section of town not far from our condo.

• Dragon Fruit – This fruit is the size of a softball, has bright red skin and white firm fruit with black seeds. Ton liked it. I didn’t – not much taste and kind of waxy in consistency.
• Crab Laksa – hello?! Awesome. Noodles and crab in thick orangey-brown gravy made of coconut milk and shrimp paste. Spicy but I could take it.
• Durian – Many people have challenged me to try Durian, but I’m gonna duck that one for awhile. Ha! Despite its odd smell (some liken it to dirty diapers or vomit), the durian fruit is revered here. At the wet market, sellers will cut the large fruit in half and customers assess the “meat” very seriously.
  

The slide show below shows pictures of various food sights as well as dishes we've eaten around Penang. The picture in the blog header is an eye-catching snack we had in a Singapore's Chinatown.

Rookie Move
Despite the fact that we have an array of guidebooks and maps, Ton and I headed out with neither on Saturday to check out the famous mansions in town. We found the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion no problem, but learned after we parked, that the only way to view it was on a tour at either 11:00 or 3:00. It was noon. So we asked the guy if the Pinang Peranakan Mansion was walking distance.

He said sure, take a right, walk awhile, then a right at the church, then it’s to the left. Ton and I head out – at noon I remind you – to find the mansion. After about thirty minutes of wandering in which we had sweat droplets crawling over every inch of our bodies, we gave up, too tired to track it down in the intense mid-day sun. “I think this qualifies as a rookie move,” summed up Ton. Yep.

We did however see the Goddess of Mercy Temple and the Kapitan Keling Mosque on our travels, and I found an Asian ceramics shop with gorgeous plates, teapots and cups of all sizes. I will go back there to purchase a few items when I am not drowning in my own pool of sweat.

Maddening Question That's Bugging Us (no pun intended)
Since various locals have started to lurk around this blog, I’m hoping one of you can answer this one because Ton and I are stumped. Perhaps someone back home can tell us too. Since we’re in the tropics here with lots of jungle around, we expected it to be very buggy, particularly with annoying flying things that bite us. Yet no. When we walk to dinner in the evening or sit outside on our lanai sipping some vino, we never get a bite, not even one tiny red welt.

In other tropical climates, I’ve been eaten alive, but not here. We spent an hour the other night at the Gurney Hawker stands, outside the whole time, and again not a bite. Storm drains here often have still water lying in them, yet no bugs. Not that we’re complaining, but we’re curious what’s going on. Inquiring minds want to know!