Marsha in Malaysia, Part 1

Yep, Marsha (aka my mom) has touched down on Penang soil! On this blog, you’ve seen many of my observations over the past months. Now, here are some of hers along with some pix from the past week as we explored the city of Georgetown.

• The smell of incense and joss sticks in temples, the smell of the storm drains (use your imagination), the aroma of spices - particularly in Indian curries
  
• The sound of motorbikes zipping down the roads, the local Hindu temple roosters making their presence known amazingly loudly, the mosque’s call to prayer (it’s sung through the air for a few minutes a number of times daily), all the different languages being spoken at once as we walk the streets – Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese dialects, Indian dialects, English
  

Above is a detail picture of the tiered entrance gateway to the Sri Mariamman Hindu temple. Note the 5 cobras above the goddess's head, providing protection. Indians consider cobras sacred and will not kill them.

At the Pinang Peranakan Museum - an old home that's been beautifully restored. It now houses a vast antique collection.

Mom at the famed Eastern & Oriental Hotel, where Rita Hayworth, Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham stayed back in the day.

Strolling the old Protestant Cemetery, which houses graves from the 17 & 1800s. It woud take a mighty steady temperament to walk around here at night.


Mom walking the streets of Little India with a hibiscus, Malaysia's national flower, pinned in her hair.