Malaysia

Our time in Malaysia was spent on Penang Island.

One of our first stops in Georgetown was a Sunday art market in an old bus depot in the historic city center. Surrounded by murals and sculptures, vendors were selling hand made items. A musician entertained as people shopped and enjoyed delicious food.

Roaming around Georgetown

One of the main things Georgetown prides itself on is the abundance of street art. Throughout the historic city center you can find countless paintings on the sides of buildings. The city itself is a mix of cultures; Chinese influence as well as Muslim and Hindu buildings and traditions can be seen throughout.

On our walk, we happened upon these two huge transformers made out of real car parts.

Malaysians love durian fruit. Signs for products made from it were everywhere…and often so was the smell of it.

Around our hotel

We were invited to join in on the holiday carol singing in the lobby of our hotel. The group of kids were part of a community outreach partnership between Stepping Stone Work Center and Hilton. The organization supports people with special needs to become more active members of society by teaching them work-based skills.

The hotel is also home to Teddyville, a teddy bear museum. This one shared the origins of teddy bears and then used them to tell the history and culture of Penang.

Monkey Beach

We took a hike and boat ride to Monkey Beach.

Turtle tracks on Turtle Beach. They lay their eggs here.

On this beach is a turtle sanctuary. They put these on top of where the turtle eggs were laid to help protect them from predators. Then they release them back to the ocean safely after a few days of hatching.

Day old turtles. One of the most adorable things we’ve ever seen.

The boat then dropped us at Monkey Beach where you can swim, relax, eat. and coexist with monkeys and chickens.

Because too many people have fed the monkeys they can become aggressive in stealing whatever food they can reach. This monkey stole Maria’s coffee drink from the table we were at and took it up a tree to investigate.

It ended up spilling the majority of the drink after getting the lid off.

Entopia Butterfly Farm

Filled with beautiful butterflies and other animals native to Penang.

Stepping Stone Work Center

We took a tour of Stepping Stone Work Center, a non-profit based in the rural town of Balik Pulau, to see how they help support people in their community with special needs develop work skills: everything from teaching them how to weave, cook, make soap/candles, recycle, and more. It is a very special and inspiring organization.

Snake Temple

One of our last stops in Penang was the snake temple.