As I am a week away from my trip back to Penang, Malaysia, I am pondering what I can realistically do during my one month stay.
My primary reason for my annual visit is to see my mum who will be turning 88 soon.
I would for sure want to seek out and find interesting people to photograph. Not just the usual suspects found in the tourist haunts like in Armenian Street (marked in red on map) in Georgetown, the capital of Penang.
Those folks that are accustomed to be being photographed are naturally easier to approach.
The last stroll I took in Georgetown, taught me something important about light in that part of the world. It is being different.
My suspicion is that the longitude has a lot to do with it. Penang is roughly just 3 degrees north of the Equator whereas Los Angeles is 34 degrees north of the Equator.
So the Sun stays overhead longer and when it sets, it disappears quickly. Forget the golden hour, the light disappears much faster than it does in Los Angeles.
I’ll be hoping to get out of the city I grew up in. It’s been horribly congested as the word gets out about Penang thanks to Digital Nomads YouTubers and ‘influencers’.
There are still places on the island where you can find peace and quiet but not too many.
One of my favorite places to visit is Cat Beach Sanctuary (in green in the map) in Teluk Bahang. This no kill shelter is a tiny place.
If you look at the map below it is in green letters to the left of Teluk Bahang (in red). They are always in need of donations or volunteers.
I hope to look for a busker who is vision impaired by the name of Maidin who plays the guitar. It was good to see him performing in public.
Beyond those ideas I have, I am of course open to hearing what you, my readers, would like to see.
Don’t suggest ‘food’ please. I’m pretty sure you have heard about the fantastic food in Penang.
My target is to return without gaining more than 4 lbs. It will take a titanic effort believe me.
Responses to “Jan 2026 in Penang”
Happy New Year Donna! Hope you and Bill are well. I’m excited about my trip but I’m not exactly looking forward to being in a cylindrical cube for over 20 hours when it all said and done. My hometown has changed so much. I don’t even recognize most of the places. The high-rise buildings everywhere are landmarks I didn’t grow up with so most of the time I feel lost if I don’t remember the names of the streets. It’s a strange feeling. I’m a stranger in my hometown? Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’ll be posting more as I take more pictures while I’m there.
Thanks, Peter. We went to Malaysia decades ago, though not your city. Your travelogue took me back. One of my main memories is our eating a huge pile of shrimp at Fatty’s.