Jenny the Taxi Driver (in Penang)

A few months back I jumped on a Groupon coupon for a boutique hotel in Penang, Malaysia with the charming name of Chymes that I thought would make for a nice weekend away. John agreed and we booked a long weekend near the end of July; then bought air tickets so that we would arrive early on a Saturday and leave late on Monday. That way we would get 3 full days there on our trip.

I had read about Georgetown in Penang while we still lived in Hong Kong and had long wished to see it. It's a World Heritage site considered historic from the days when Malaysia was under British control. Beyond that I only knew of a hill that offered a certain degree of hiking and views of the city below plus we both felt a good massage at a spa would add to our pleasure and relaxation for the weekend.

With that little bit of information at hand, we got underway and realized only at the last minute that we hadn't made any arrangements for getting around the city. There is only bus service for public transport and taxis of course. Luckily John remembered that another friend of ours had been in Penang and mentioned a taxi-driver that was great for not only serving as a dedicated driver but could help us find local services and other sites of interest as a tourist. We managed to reach her just in time to arrange for her brother to meet us at the airport and take us to our hotel.

Chymes hotel room

The hotel as it turns out was a home turned into a kind of B & B. Each room was large and well appointed with a luxurious private bathroom (not always something one gets in these situations). Ours was named the Aquamarine room for the obvious reason that it had been painted in beautiful shades of, well aqua. It was located on the ground floor just off the common area and had a very comfortable bed and a small stereo for our music enjoyment. The proprietor, C Hun asked if we would like to include breakfast during our stay which we eagerly agreed to and after showing us around a bit left us to our own devices. That's where Jenny and her taxi-service started to play a very big role in our weekend.

Jenny

Jenny (who had met us at the hotel and then stuck around while we settled in) asked us what we had in mind. I mentioned those few things about seeing Georgetown and going to a spa but otherwise we left it to her discretion on what might be of interest. She took us under her wing with relish!

We headed off to Georgetown but first she parked in front of an old shophouse there that had been turned into an antiques business by a friend of hers from South Africa. It turns out that indeed Jenny is the only female taxi driver in Penang and has loads of friends. In fact, everywhere we went people knew Jenny. This worked to our advantage to a great degree as she gained favors for our benefit along the way. Sometimes it meant getting first in line, other times a free gift or other small favor from the merchant. Jenny talked a blue streak but was otherwise well intentioned and a dear heart. She did in fact make our weekend extra memorable.

Not only did we explore Georgetown including an old Chinese clan house and a Peranakan Mansion, we took a cable car to the top of Penang Hill and took a golf cart tour around the top of the hill with commentary about the surrounding old mansions and houses there. We saw a huge buddhist temple with the largest statue of a bodhisattva I've ever seen. Our first night we asked to try local food and were "treated" to a Malay version of a hawker center (like an Asian food-court) except this one had a stage where later they entertained the audience with a karoake contest. Even though they sing in Malaysian the entertainment was...well, judge for yourself with this little video clip! Still it was fun watching the locals get into it even buying flower leis for their favorite performer. But after way too much beer and definitely our fill of karoake I insisted we call it a night!

As for the massage we had so wanted, Jenny took us to a favorite spot of hers where John got the massage of his life for two hours while I got body-scrubbed, massaged and then relaxed in a jet-spa. In fact, it was such a wonderful experience that we decided to go back once more before we left on Monday!

Oh and we also had a pleasant dinner at a seafood restaurant overlooking the shoreline (again Jenny's find) on Sunday evening and a surprisingly entertaining tour at the Spice Garden though we were rushed off afterwards to the Butterfly Garden that unfortunately we would like to have given a miss in favor of a nice coffee back at the Spice Garden (although we did purchase a lovely herbal tea to bring home with us there).

Mango

This is just a small sample of what turned out to be quite a fun weekend. There's a larger album of pictures here that gives a much better sense of all there is to see. But I can't forget to mention back at our little hotel that we quite enjoyed waking up to roosters and turkeys gobbling just over the wall surrounding the backyard where a local farmer lived. And while relaxing after breakfast we were equally entertained by Mango the cat who C Han had taken in as a stray. Mango has quite adapted to his  new residence there.

If you ever do go to Penang, let us know. We can recommend the hotel but we'll also be sure to put you in touch with Jenny the taxi-driver. Your trip just wouldn't be the same without her!

Jenny and Me