Snakes on a Bus

Nasi lemak is considered a national dish of Malaysia. The names means 'fatty' or 'rich rice', as it is cooked with coconut milk and flavoured with pandan leaves. Typically a portion of rice is wrapped in a banana leaf (bungkus, meaning 'packed'), which also imparts a fragrant flavour, topped with some beef rendang curry, and is served with ikan bilis (dried anchovies), boiled egg, cucumber or French beans, and peanuts.

Nasi lemak 

The packet of nasi lemak (the 'k' is silent and forms a glottal stop) that I picked up was slightly disappointing, as the rice didn't seem to have been cooked in anything other than water. It came with a smattering of 'fish' curry, a few peanuts and green beans. It was small but I couldn't complain for 1.50RM (30p). I decided to sex it up with a selection of sweet cooked purple aubergine and char siu pork from the buffet.

We took a bus south to a temple close to the airport. We passed on our way the two bridges that connect Pulau Penang to the mainland. The narrowest stretch of water is in the north east between George Town and Butterworth, but a ferry operates this route to avoid diverting additional traffic through the town. A 13.5km bridge was opened in 1985, immediately becoming the longest in Malaysia and being incorporated into an annual international marathon. Last year, an even longer (24km) second bridge was opened, usurping the 'longest bridge' title and marathon status.

We could have done with a bridge of any kind as we arrived at our destination. The bus deposited us and a few other people on the side of a busy road. With no footbridge or underpass in sight, we had no choice but to leg it to the other side. I had visions of smeared tourists on the tarmac, but even the workers at the offices on one side had to frogger their way across for lunch.

Having heard about a temple in  Penang that was apparently filled with snakes, having been built in honour of a Buddhist monk, Chor Soo Kong, who gave shelter to serpents of the jungle, we were initially nervous. Neither of us is afraid of snakes - beyond the natural fear of chancing upon a snake in the wild and receiving a deadly bite - but we were concerned that the legend that snakes spontaneously arrive at the temple each day was, if ever true, perhaps no longer the case.

We had heard tales of the snakes being devenomed, defanged, sedated, or shipped in each day, rather than making their own way. I can imagine that many of these rumours are true as the temple, when built in 1850, was among snake-filled jungle. Now it jostles for room among office blocks and the aforementioned highway. It is not a conducive environment for snakes.

Pit viper

Inside, there were indeed several pit vipers snoozing on sticks fashioned into hat racks. Those that had recently shed their skin were a vibrant green and yellow. Next door, a python that two gentlemen were eager to wrap around the shoulders of an unwary visitor was certainly not a voluntary resident. Besides this windy man, there were other species in the accompanying snake farm, which we declined to visit, preferring to see the long movers in their natural habitat.

Python

Having had such an excellent example of ais kacang from a nearby restaurant, we sought a version from a husband and wife team at the end of Lorong Macalister. Using a hand-operated machine to shave the ice, they serve up cendol as well as ais kacang.

Take-away ais kacang

We got ours to take away, assembling it in a bowl at home. This led to a less appealing presentation than perhaps the lady on the stall would have managed. The bowl was more ice than topping, which was welcome in the heat but not as flavoursome as Loke Thye Kee.

Fast food: char koay teow

This evening saw a showing of films as part of Tropfest, starting at 6pm, so we grabbed some quick noodles to see us through. At a vendor on Kimberley St. we found vegetarian char koay teow and bee hoon (two types of fried noodle). It was cheap and filling but wouldn't win any awards.

Mural at Hin Bus Art Depot

The derelict Hin Bus Depot has been repurposed as an arts space and is frequently used to show films.

Film showing

Tonight saw four shorts drawn from the Berlinale, plus a feature-length film.

Mural at Hin Bus Art Depot

The bus depot is a great space for art and, alongside murals on crumbling plaster revealing bare brick walls, is currently hosting an exhibition by Thomas Powell, which brings together icons from two contrasting cultures in a single image. The most effective for me, given the location in Penang, was the portrait of Queen Victoria holding a sceptre and a durian fruit in place of the usual orb.

"King and Queen"

The feature film was called Transit and focused on the recent plight of Filipino migrant workers in Israel, whose young children were threatened with deportation under a new law. This was an indignity heaped on children who in some cases, as the film depicts, are (required by schools to be) fluent in Hebrew, and, although not Jewish, are deeply familiar with Jewish culture and beliefs. Although their parents work legitimately in the country, children were, until recently, forced to leave the only home they have known.