Penang Part Two!

On the third day of Penang we decided to go to the Fort- Fort Cornwallis. This is the first point of British landing in Malaysia, to rival the Dutch's hold of the country for trading. We learned about the history of the island and the East India Trading Company, avoided the 'wild' horses that roam the place, and played with the old cannons. There were also two very impressive birds there, that said hello when you said hello, good-bye when you said good-bye, and wolf-whistled when you walked past. Amazing. The fort was also nice, smaller than those of India and more for show than for use. I liked the massive ships mast they erected in it, so when a ship approached the people in the fort could raise a flag- a sign to get the fat rich people in charge down from the cool Penang hill to meet them.

We brought an ice-cream each and then walked near the beaches in the direction of Gurney Drive until we found a taxi. We didn't, though we gave up pretty early as it was a nice day for a walk and to see more of the city, and walked the long walk all the way to Gurney Drive. The point of this destination was of course to see the other half of the old Uplands school from behind. I could feel the anticipation as we got closer and closer, past those tall apartment buildings that weren't there before, the old buildings, hotels and shops and- I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! The whole site was boarded from view- I mean completely, with massive sheets of metal from below the pavement 6 feet high. We were lucky to find little holes hear and there for a pin-prick view of the place.

We walked round the side (the tiny bit of land left between the building and tall apartments to the right) and through the hedges we managed to get a proper view. I wish I didn't. With no one in there you wouldn't think it would age that badly, but with the windows boarded up, the whole place overgrown, and the white walls stained it looked- defeated. It was also a bit worrying to see the stacks of building equipment where the swimming pool used to be. Darn. (P.S. Sorry to those of you who don't get the importance of this and instead find it a bit of a dull read, it is aimed at the ex-Uplanders and Penangers like me who used to love the old place. So I will change the subject.)

Back to Gurney plaza for a rest after all that walking. We ate a very nice meal at the new food court looking over the sea and browsed the shops again. From the food court I could see Island Plaza, another old haunt of mine, so we walked there also. The same old story as Midlands I'm afraid- empty shop slots, they even closed down the old cinema and indoor go-carts! We stayed for only a little while- for a Coffee Bean drink and then headed back to Midlands (so Rory could buy some more games for his GameBoy) and Gurney Plaza for a movie.

Our forth day there was pretty much spent booking the last bits of the trip we hadn't booked. We planned to go to the snake temple but time seemed to get away from us as we looked up car hire etc. It's expensive, the drive to the jungle in the middle a day long at least, and the forecast there rain rain rain- not worth it. So we walked back to the fort where the ferry's run from and got ourselves two tickets to Langkawi. We booked a flight from the island back to Kl (as we intended to drive there) and then headed to Komtar (the tallest building in Penang, marking the centre of Georgetown, housing a shopping mall) for something to eat, shop and spend a pleasant last evening in Georgetown.

The next morning we packed up, had our toast and banana cake, and took a bus to the north of the island- Batu Ferringhi (in English- White Mans Rock, tourist destination).