Seven years ago when I researched my first visit to the island of Penang I learned that it was called the Pearl of the Orient. I guess I expected a "small" island. When I arrived here I saw a large island with many large hills lush with rainforest growth and populated with monkeys, I walked along Gurney Drive, with luxury hotels, condo, foodcourts and hawker stands lining one side of the road and the ocean splashing upon the beach on the other side. Traveling around the island I do remember seeing numerous high end condos intermixed with low cost housing developments. I really fell in love with the island and it;s scenery.

Now things have changed. A large luxury housing development, including a very high end shopping center with extremely expensive condos above and a marina, has been built on reclaimed land. It is my understanding that reclaimed land should not be built upon for at least 15 years, but the time elapsed for this development was less than 5 years. Because of this development walking along Gurney Drive is akin to walking beside a mud flat. One can only see mud and washed up garbage and trash. Nature and beauty for all destroyed for the benefit of a wealthy few

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Posted By: Watertown Wanderer - Category: Retirement, Abroad, Expats, Penang, Malaysia, Helathcare, Culture, Food and drink, Travel

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GOOD FOOD and GOOD NEIGHBORS

May 18th 2011 15:21

: CONDO AL FRESCO DINING

An activity that I really missed from my old neighborhood in Roslindale, MA (part of Boston) was getting together with neighbors for an impromptu cookout or party. In the summer months these were quite frequent. Once a year in the summer we would have a block party where the street was closed to traffic and everyone contributed a dish. I had neighbors of Irish, Italian, Chinese, Hatian, Panamanian and Columbian heritage. So the food was excellent. A lot of good food, wine, beer and a lot of fun.

When I moved to Penang I thought I would never see anything like this again. Amazingly I was wrong. I was fortunate to live next door to a wonderful Chinese couple, Linda and Cheah. One very warm evening Kevin and I cooked something and invited the two of them to join us at a small table in the corridor outside our apartment.It was a simple meal of pasta and some wine. That was the start of a new tradition.We enjoyed it so much that we got a bigger table and took turns cooking various dishes