Penang

Speed Singh of Penang!

So after spending a few days in the capital city we decided to head out to one of the islands - Penang. We wanted to go here even before arriving in Malaysia but couldnt get any accomodation because of xmas and new year the whole of Penang was fully booked. But at the Samalan, Mr Sukhinderpal Singh came to the rescue and offered us to stay with him, so we did!

We arrived to Penang via the 8km bridge which connects the island to the mainland on new years eve, which meant that we would be lucky enough to attend the evening diwan until after 12 am into the new year.

Firstly we attend a program at the local Gurdwara with our host Mr Sukhinderpal Singh where he resites 30 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib every monday with a screen showing the text romanised, translated and in gurmukhi for sangat to follow, and follow they do.

After the program we headed to the old Gurdawara which is the oldest standing Gurdwara in Penang and possibly Malaysia, i can't remember. The Diwan was great and Kirtan was done by the local sangat in to the new year.

The next day we met Mr SS's lovely family who arrived from Ipoh- which is out of town. The kids would be our source entertainment for the next few days. While in Penang we managed to catch some of the local life in there many and ever increasing malls, and debt is a problem in Malaysia it seems with many people wanting all the latest stuff and not affording it so they buy on credit, we were treated to a fantastic meal at an indian restaurant by Mr SS, we saw the snake temple with its drugged and not so dangerous reptiles, we visited the beach and ate pronta's and drank tea curtosey of Mrs SS. We also visited the rest of Penang on the way back from the beach, which isnt difficult as its an island so you go round in a circle and end up in the same place!

The girls are adorable - they were so excited and giggly, which was quite infectious! Here Gurcharan was putting his Engineering skills to practice.

The Temple with all the drunk snakes

Overall Penang is a great place with lots of history and culture and worth a visit, but the highlight has to be our host on a bike (yes, Mr Biker Singh!) Mr Sukhinderpal Singh and family!