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| The Lone Pines, Batu Ferringi |
A message from Singapore that says “Meet me tomorrow at 7pm
under the Pine trees.” An E ticket to Penang and a hotel reservation of The
Lone Pines, for the weekend, was attached to the email.
This guy knows how to push the buttons. It could be anywhere in the world, but exotic
Penang, the old world of British Colonial past and Malaysia’s future spells of
this man’s Anglo appeal and the stuff of romance.
Passport, mobile, perfume, sexy negligee, all quickly stuffed into my LV bag, and early on
Friday afternoon, I called in “sick” and raced to the airport.
The English may not be known for their delectable cuisine
like the French over the Channel, nor known for their romance like their Latin
cousins, the Italians over the Alps.
But their steely Daniel Craig persona, their ability to make hot naughty
weekends classy, this weekend will also be charged with historical East Indian English
adventures. No doubt my bedtime stories making a Scheherazade’s One Thousand
and One nights, stuff of silly fairy tales.
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| Dinner by the sea |
The rendezvous at 7pm sharp in Batu Ferringi. The table set up on the beach beneath
twinkling stars and the rush of Andaman waves set the scene. My weekend gentleman was waiting for me at
the beach, pulled the chair for me, and poured the wine.
The Lone Pine is Batu Ferringhi’s luxury boutique
hotel. Tucked along Penang’s coastline,
it had the old world effect with modern luxuries. Tonight was reminiscent of British colonial days
when a curry tiffin was accompanied by Indian waiters in white uniform. Such was our waiter, we secretly called him “Piranah
fish,” for his gum and teeth were in desperate need of dentistry work, couched
his words with difficulty when explaining the menu.
The checkered table cloth had an envelop with two tickets to the old funicular railway up Penang Hill for tomorrow’s excursion. Piranah brought the already ordered food, on
his arm was three dishes, Malaysian Fish
curry, Sambal, Rice, Ayam Goreng, a plateful of assorted Sate. The best was Botok Botok served last. It is steamed banana leaf parcels of
seasoned fish and shredded herbs, just heavenly.
Wooing me with my favorite dessert, there was nothing more
than to capitulate on bended knees.
Sagu Gula Melaka, (sagu set as a pudding and drizzled with thickened coconut
milk and gula Melaka syrup).
The night was still young and a nightcap by the pool ended
the evening, or rather began our evening with colonial tales to delight me into
slumber.
Georgetown, Penang’s city viewed from the Hill, has an
incredible panoramic sight having chugged up along the funicular railway. One of the oldest British Hill station in SE
Asia, the funicular railway track is the longest and steepest in Asia and only
took us 10 minutes. As we climbed
higher, the lush greenery was evidence to the richness of the country.
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| English Tea at David Brown |
Afternoon tea at Strawberry Hill in David Brown’s
restaurant sealed the deal. I sat down
to Ceylon tea, Devonshire creamed scones with strawberry jam. Picturesque
scenes of BBC period dramas becoming more real as I delicately bite into a
cucumber sandwich. Newly laundered linen
napkins, the smell of freshly mowed garden, sipping Black tea with a dash
of milk; time marked by elegant and civilized conversation. Unknowingly sunset crept upon us as
Georgetown’s twinkling lights below suggested it was time for my Pink Gin and
his Gin & Tonic, and seemingly settling into the evening with ease.
A rich mix of ethnicities brought together by colonial
British trading allowing Indian, Malay, Chinese Thai and Arab communities to
live side by side and taste each other’s food makes for a richer culture. I could easily have been taken on a time travel machine, having turned off my Iphone, there were no suggestion of today's modern ability to be in touch with anyone, anywhere. My social network apps took a much needed weekend off.
Lazy Sunday morning by the pool, our Penang odyssey coming
to an end; he back to his conference in
Singapore, me returning to my office publicist cubby hole, the weekend of Malacca spice and vice will be peppered with
reality of office politics to financial quarterly spread sheets – the utter
boredom of the mundane.
Our last day of adventure beginning at sundown, the 1.5
Kilometer walk on the street food along Gurney Drive, by Georgetown’s northern
end added another dimension of Penang life.
Packed with dozens of food stall, we walked, we ordered, we stopped to
eat, and repeated this many times over.
Noodles, rice dishes, curries, sate’s, puddings. I teetered on gluttony, the eyes and the smell savouring what was on offer, but the stomach said enough. It was finally time to
take the hotel’s ride back.
In a melting pot of Asia’s best; “Malaysia Truly Asia” is true to its slogan, a unique home to Asian
cultures. The Pine trees will always
bring me back.
Until the next long
weekend - Sehingga kita bertemu lagi.
