Shadows of the Pukka Sahib

Prepared May 20, 2012, at home Kona, Hawaii, USA

  


April 1, 2012 in port Penang, Malaysia:  Tea at the E & O

In the early morning of April 1, Silver Whisper entered the South Channel between Penang and the Malay Pennisula  and began to maneuver and dock at Swettenham Pier on Penang Island.  By 8:00am, the ship was tied up and cleared to disembark.

Butterworth Container Port and Local Junk from South Channel

Penang was the British Empire's original toehold in Southeast Asia, and along with Singapore, it made up the Straits Settlements.  Although it is now overshadowed by Singapore as a trading and shipping center, it is still the major port at the northern entrance to the Straits of Malacca.  Penang Island  and a small area across South Channel on the Malay peninsula make up the province of Penang.  It feels more Chinese than Malay and is, in fact, the only Malaysian province with a Chinese majority.


Since we had been in Penang before (the most recent time in 2010), we decided not to go ashore on a tour or walkabout.   A leisurely morning was spent on board the ship, and after lunch, we left the ship to join other world cruise passengers for a World Cruise event  -- Tea at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in George Town.  The Eastern & Oriental Hotel dates from the 1880s and was established by the Sarkies brothers who, based on the E&O's success, opened the now much more widely known Raffles hotel in 1887 at Singapore two years after the E&O.  Like the Raffles in Singapore and the Peace in Shanghai, staying at the E&O on your grand tour east of Suez was de rigueur.  So, the guest book is full of the late 19th and 20th century social and political elites.  To drop a few names Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Sun Yat-sen, Charlie Chaplin, Sir Noël Coward, Douglas Fairbanks, Hermann Hesse, and Lee Kuan Yew.

Eastern & Orient Hotel Street View

Eastern & Orient Hotel Oceanside View

For the short ride from the Swettenham Pier to the E&O Hotel, we were put on trishaws and sent out into the afternoon traffic of George Town.  It was a real thrill to see Honda and Toyota turning lights at eye level.  Being pedaled through the streets by a Tamil who appears to be less than a week from his next incarnation, makes a good case for cruelty-to-humans laws stronger.  Think tuberculosis and smoking!  The short trip was made in convoy with about 25 other trishaws containing other world cruisers.  It was a scene that could only be described as bazaar!  Two non-Asians in a trishaw is an overload,  two world cruisers in a trishaw after months of overindulgence onboard ship is way beyond overload.  Anyway, after passing under the guns of Fort Cornwallis, and by the offices/go-downs of the trading companies, and many banks, we arrived, sans car grill emblems on our bodies, at the E&O Hotel and were escorted by the staff and with drumming to a large banquet room.  (In earlier times, guests might have wondered if he or she was going to be served!)

All Aboard the Trishaw

E picked this one because she liked the flowers (plastic)

Trishaw on the Road

Note convertible top - down in this Image

George Town Clock Tower Roundabout

George Town City Hall (Part)

George Town Police Station

Reception Line at E&O Hotel

The tea was a testimony to why traveling in large groups can lead to food poisoning.  Tea was poured from large (~5 gallon) samovars that gave forth very weak tea, while the scones could have been used as weapons in a street riot.  Think of the E&O's tea as tourist bus "rest stop" offerings.  The good news is that all of us seemed to survive the experience with no ill effects.   Unknown to us, the "tea" included another cultural show with Chinese, Malay and Indian dancing accompanied by canned music played on a hyperactive sound system.  One advantage my fellow passengers with hearing aids have in a situation like this is that they can just turn them off!  Unfortunately, some had to suffer.  Gamalong and gongs at 90db are not for the weak of heart.  But, this too was survived.

Let the Culture Begin

Malay, Chinese and Indian hybrid dance. 

After free time, mostly in the hotel's gift shop, it was onto a tourist bus for the 10 minute ride back to the pier.  After re-embarking, we had a late afternoon sailing and a course set to cross the Bay of Bengal, around the tip of India, and on to Cochin, India.


About a half hour out of Penang, the Captain announced that the executive chef, Jean Marie, had acquired an exceptionally large fish to be served at dinner.   If any of us wanted to see it before it was carved, it was on the pool deck.  Of course, armed with a myriad of the latest in digital camera technology, the passengers rushed to the pool deck to photograph the fish.

April Fools!!!