Enjoying Great Food, Meeting New People
and Learning About History and Culture in Malaysia
Jessica Hsieh | August 17, 2009
Jessica Hsieh poses with a Rhinoceros Hornbill at Penang Bird Park.
A little past the halfway point with my time in Penang, I would have to say that meeting the “International Buddies” and other international students is probably one of the best things that happened to me here. The “Buddies” are local students that attend Universiti Sains Malaysia; they not only provide answers to questions I have but also take the time to make sure that I am adjusting well and having fun.
Coming to Malaysia has provided me with the opportunity to interact with students of different ethnic backgrounds that I would rarely get a chance to meet in the United States. Aside from the locals (Malays, Malaysian Indians and Malaysian Chinese), I have met students from Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait, Indonesia, Thailand and Finland (just to name a few) through activities put on by the International Office. Hanging out with local and international students makes this summer feel like studying abroad because there are always students around to spend time with.
Hsieh at the Penang Butterfly Farm.
Usually, after work, Jessica Liu, the other PRIME student here, and I meet up with our friends for dinner. We laugh and talk about everything as we enjoy Thai, Indian, Chinese or Malaysian cuisine. Occasionally, we embark on a little adventure and take the bus to go to nearby night markets (known as pasar malam) near Sungai Batu, Batu Langchang or Sungai Dua Tesco Extra to find cheap buys and an enormous variety of good food. (Tesco Extra is the local hypermarket, a Malaysian Wal-Mart.) The night markets here are held only once a week so I cannot just go to them any time I want.
Going with friends to night markets is the best because everyone buys something and we all share; I have tried so many goodies during these nights that I cannot even count. Some interesting highlights include putu mayam (steamed rice noodles with coconut shavings and brown sugar), otak-otak (fish cake grilled in banana leaves), putu buluh (grounded rice stuffed into bamboo tubes and eaten with grated coconut and brown sugar), fried cempedak fruit, apam balik (a crepe-like dessert filled with corn, nuts, and sugar), and murtabak (thick pancakes filled with eggs and onions).
In front of the Reclining Buddha at Wat Chayamangkalaram.
On our second Saturday here, my fellow PRIME student and I learned a lot about Penang history when we took a historical tour around Georgetown, the capital of the state of Penang, enjoyed the San Diego-like weather up on Penang Hill, and screamed our heads off whooping and cheering as we parasailed above the beautiful beach at Batu Ferringhi. The next day, we recalled our childhood days as we played in the Youth Park, made new friends with gorgeous butterflies at the Penang Butterfly Farm. (One even decided to be extra chummy and stayed on my head.) We also dipped our toes in soft, silky sand while enjoying fresh seafood for dinner.
Another Saturday, Jessica and I took the local bus to get to the Fisheries Research Institute and goggled at the creatures at the aquarium before heading back to catch another bus to attend the annual Bon Odori. The Bon Odori Festival was held at the Esplanade (town green) near Padang Kota Lama. It was so crowded that I felt that everyone in Penang was there. Jessica and I tried a lot of Japanese foods and watched the different dance performances. We even twirled around a few times and waved our hands when the announcer invited the audience to learn the dance steps and join in the celebration with the dancers on stage.
Hsieh, center, poses with two Japanese students before the Bon Odori, a traditional festival.
The following day, we paid a visit to the Goddess of Mercy, enjoyed afternoon tea (pomelo, sencha and roselle) at a quaint bookstore, posed with the reclining Buddha (one of the largest in Asia) and explored a Burmese Temple. We ended our Sunday with a Thai food feast, while watching the sunset on Bukit Gen Ting. It was truly a visually and gastronomically satisfying experience.
The fourth Saturday, we participated in the First Annual Georgetown World Heritage Site Celebration. Along with our friends, we raced around Georgetown for over eight hours to get stamps on our “Georgetown Heritage passports.” Along the way, we caught a ride on a free trishaw, got into museums for free and even shook hands with the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng (and got an autograph!).
Hsieh and fellow students were invited to two local weddings.
On Sunday, we took the ferry across to Butterworth and pretended to be birds as we squawked away in Penang Bird Park. We ended that Sunday with dinner in an open-air tree house, enjoying traditional nasi lemak (rice made with coconut milk) and ais kacang (a shaved ice dessert).
Finally, I was lucky enough to have been invited to attend two weddings. The first wedding was a “mixed” marriage, between a Chinese Malaysian bride and a Malay groom. The wedding was very special because it incorporated elements from both cultures. I was able to see wedding preparations the night before (such as gift preparations), attend the marriage contract signing ceremony in the morning (and also the traditional Chinese tea ceremony) and congratulate the couple at the wedding reception. While we attended the bride’s side’s ceremonies for this wedding, we went to the groom side’s wedding reception for the second wedding (In Malay culture, weddings consist of two receptions because the bride and groom will both host one).
Hsieh waits for the funicular train on Penang Hill.
Meanwhile, my research has been progressing, although I have been meeting a few bumps in the road here and there. After analyzing and drawing general trends from my positive control sequences, I hope to finally move on to designing some small interfering RNAs as test probes.
After more than a month in Malaysia, I can say that I genuinely love this place because of all the people I have met. It is because of them that I had the opportunity to travel around Penang, visiting spots that tourists would never go to. Although it is still difficult for me to say that I have fully gotten used to living the life of a “normal USM student”, the students, staff and professors whom I have met here and Jessica’s family friend, who takes us around Penang, have made my stay one filled with lots of fun and laughter.
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