Penang Weekend Trip: Chew Jetty Heritage Site
I find that the only problem that I have when visiting Penang is that my stomach is not big enough to keep on consuming yummy food in Penang without taking a break. The best way to give your stomach ample time to digest whatever you have consumed (like char kway teow, chendol, tau sar piah, etc) in Penang is by taking a stroll or riding a bike to roam in the old town of Georgetown. I, for one, is a fan of walking and I have walked 16,000 steps alone in the CBD area of Singapore so imagine my joy when I wander around somewhere I have never been before. It's really adventure of a lifetime like what Coldplay sings.
Wandering in a city gives you a lot of random happenings and sights. It seems that Penang is famous for its durian and this is one fruit that I really really can't and won't appreciate in my lifetime. I gave green light to my travel buddy to have a go at the durian pastry or ice cream or whatever food which can be infused with this stinky fruit but she did not feel like eating durian by herself so yeah...
Let's just moving on with our walk shall we. My travel buddy and I had a little debate on this particular wall mural because the cat in the picture looks kinda outworn. I do think that the outworn parts make the wall mural looks kinda vintage but my travel buddy disagreed. Anyway none of us is taking picture with the cat anyway because the lighting was not that nice at that particular timing. Random debate upon our wander, really. We should have our own talk show one day.
The next wall mural that we chanced upon is quite interesting though. Initially I did not get what the cat's looking at a particular direction and that's when I realise that there's a picture of a mice hanging playfully there. Hahaha nice touch of creativity, I think.
After we cross the street to check out the nearby market, we stumbled against Chew Jetty which is displayed as UNESCO World Heritage Site. We totally did not have any idea nor that we had plan to visit this particular heritage site and I suppose that's probably one of the quirks of going-with-the-wind kind of travel plan? It seems that there are a lot of restrictions imposed and there is no motorcycle and bicycle allowed inside. Well, not a problem for us since we came here on foot.
Smiley faces on the house under the blue sky, I see.
Chew Jetty is apparently a settlement of wooden houses built on silts. It kinda reminds me of a settlement at Tai O Fishing Town in Hong Kong. The houses are now functioning as stores ranging from ice cream, souvenir, hats, sunglasses, and snack stores. Why is this settlement is called "Chew Jetty"? I googled it and found out that "Chew" is the surname of the first residences who stayed in this settlement. Back then, migrant families from China with the same surname (whoa, must have been a big clan) stay together in this area.
This was how the jetty harbour looks like back then. You can see the difference between the nostalgic old Harbour and the modern Penang harbour at the other side of the sea. If you come during the night, the whole place may give a softer ambience because the settlement is lit with yellow lights, if you get what I mean. You can still visit Chew Jetty until 9PM everyday.
Walk further and you will reach an open area where you can admire the bustling Straits of Malacca. A lot of visitors hanging around here while eating their snacks and ice cream. We did not hang around for too long though because Chew Jetty was pretty much packed with visitors from all ages on Saturday afternoon.
If you are adventurous enough and feel like spending the night at Chew Jetty, you may want to consider homestay. The descendants of Chew families are operating the homestay. The details for the homestay is as follows:-
Address of Chew Jetty Home Stay
59A, Chew Jetty, Weld Quay
10300 George Town
Penang, Malaysia
E-mail: infor@mychewjetty.com
Telephone:
Chew Siew Pheng +6013-4381217
Chew Lay Zheng +6016-4020411
Chew Yong Seng +6016-4561884