For the last time, no, I do not want a pretty lady or a taxi.

Penang, the Pearl of the Orient. Or so they say. I spent the last four days in Penang to sort out visa paperwork for my employment in Thailand. Penang, which is a small island on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, has a very rich history, and is a veritable melting pot of cultures. Here is a picture of Penang, or as it is officially named, Palau Penang (Palau means island, I think):

The head of the arrow is unfortunately covering the island. If you click here you can see the island in google maps. Life on the island, as I experienced it, was not as exciting as guidebooks made it out to be. The island is very, very small. From what I saw, it is also divided into two sections: the working people/backpackers section and the rich, tourist, resort section. The island had the feeling of a cheap, kitschy, Miami beach. Lots and lots of ocean front high rises, all-inclusive resort hotels that guests never have to leave, "authentic" markets that sell everything from fake gucci to fake (insert other trendy name here). Overall, I was not impressed. Granted, I only spent four days there. But I tried to see as much as I could. There were a number of interesting sites, one of which I wanted to see but never got to it. There is Penang Hill, which is a large hill that overlooks the entire northwest section of the island. I've got pictures of that, which was actually really beautiful. To get to the top of the hill, you have to take a cable car up, which takes about 45 minutes. I also visited Fort Cornwalis, which is the fort Francis Light built for the East India Trading Company when it first came to the island and set up shop. It was a pretty mediocre fort, as far as forts go. But when I was walking there I saw a lot of activity in the roads surrounding the fort, and started asking people what was happening. Turns out Penang was hosting one of Malaysia's most prestigious motorcycle races of the year, but it was the day I leave. Bummer. One more interesting fact, that I thought was pretty funny, about the fort. The chapel is one of the only buildings still standing from when the fort was built in the late 1700s. The first service held in it was the marriage of Francis Light's widow to a man stationed at the fort. Quite fitting.

Aside from that, Penang had a few touristy sites to visit, like the Toy Museum. The museum boasts to have the biggest collection of toys in the world. I might have to agree; it was a pretty staggering number of toys. Overall though, if you're planning a trip to South East Asia, don't feel bad skipping Penang.