Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion 張弼士故居, Penang

Back in Georgetown, Penang, among many of the heritage buildings, the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (張弼士故居) is one of the most celebrated example. UNESCO recognized it with an award in Heritage conservation in 2000.

We were treated to a glimpse of how a Chinese tycoon lived at the turn of the century (19th-20th).

The mansion is now a boutique hotel as well as a restored cultural landmark. It served as a back drop for the French movie – Indochine, which won the Academy award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

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It can only be visited by appointment in a daily tour, unless you reserve a room under its Homestay program.

The property has a 38 rooms and is available for themed functions like weddings.

Compared to where we were staying –  Seven Terraces – which is also a restored heritage property –  the architecture of the place appears much more authentic. Seven Terraces is more a product of the restorer’s imagination and potentially made more dazzling. Click the link to see our pictures of Seven Terraces parts 1 and 2.

The tour of the mansion must be a very popular item on the tourists’ map as more than 50 people showed up.

Our tour guide is a member of the group who bought the property from the original family owners and restored it to its current state. She seemed slightly offended when someone asked if the government or a charity rescued and restored the property.

A lot of research as well as money was expanded on restoring the property accurately.

She also seemed knowledgeable about characters in the original Cheong family. Apparently, there were some restrictions (we forgot the details) on the disposition of the property which prevented it from being transferred until recently (somebody in the Cheong family died), and as a result, the property fell into disrepair and was for years occupied by squatters (laundry hanging from ropes draped all over the central courtyard, etc).

The story of Cheong Fatt Tze (1840-1916) is fascinating and we are surprised that not more stories based on him are made into TV dramas or movies. He was known as a financier, tycoon, diplomat, philanthropist and minister living in splendid mansions dotted around southeast Asia with 8 wives and 14 children.

There is a lot of information on both the architecture and history of the house as well as the life of Cheong Fatt Tze on the official website – go explore here.

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ChinaHouse, Penang – part 2

Continuing our exploration of this great hangout place in Georgetown …

ChinaHouse is a combination of 3 heritage buildings, linked by an open air courtyard and converted into 14 spaces comprising shops, cafes, restaurant, galleries, live music and bakery. Part 1 showed the Canteen from which we entered the ChinaHouse complex from Victoria Street.

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In the middle of the complex, a moon gate leads one into a courtyard of shady trees and a rectangular pond. The mood is so very different from the Canteen we just exited.

One can order a hotdog and burger here in the courtyard. Different areas of the complex have different menus and price points for the food.

Individual visitor is invited to sit next to and at the lower left corner of the graphic to form a vertical stroke, thus completing the Chinese character for “fortune” –

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Passed the courtyard, walking indoors again, one enters a cafe.

With bookshelves, long communal tables …

… aspirations and attitudes …

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The cafe features a cake shop – the Beach Street Bakery – that serves home-made baked products in seemingly huge portions.

 

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Off to one side of the cafe is an event room – suitable for meetings

There is even a bar for wine and whisky tasting.

Next to the cafe is a restaurant with an imaginative fusion menu. IT and I had dinner here one night.

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Sharing the storefront on Beach Street with the cafe is a small shop that sells handicrafts.

All in all, ChinaHouse succeeds in offering something for every one … what a great place to meet people and hang out.

Wish there are more places like this.

 

ChinaHouse, Penang – part 1

While we were wandering around in Georgetown, this pink tank attracted our attention. It was sitting outside a gallery called “179 – The Place” which sells a range of artwork, from painting to textile, and antiques as well as modern artisan-made furniture.

We talked to the gallery person for a while as IT was really interested in some funky chairs and an antique wooden box for carrying business paperwork.

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The gallery is one long, narrow space lined with furniture and artwork. None had price tags.

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He told us that the gallery belongs to a complex of shops, restaurants and bars, and is owned by an Australian lady.

We looked her up – Narelle McMurtie, who started with the authentic Malay style Bon Ton Resort 20 years ago in Langkawi, and now owns also the Temple Tree Resort.

The style of this painting on wood panel resembles those of the famous street art around Penang. See earlier posts about street art in Georgetown here.

Apparently, some profits of the businesses are directed to support the Langkawi Animal Shelter & Sanctuary Foundation –  LASSie, a passion of the owner.

The gallery is part of the complex – ChinaHouse – which has its entrance two doors down the same street. The bar is called Canteen. The entrance is 25 feet wide, typical of the traditional shophouses of Penang.

There was a live band practicing for the evening’s performance. It was 2014 New Year Eve and they were preparing for an event.

The bar was empty as it was in the middle of the afternoon but we could imagine the place filling up with people.

A door at the back leads to the next area of the ChinaHouse – an open courtyard and burger bar.

Here is a plan of the ChinaHouse cut from their web site.

A photo walkthrough of this complex to be continued in our next post.

Street Art, Georgetown, Penang

Street art is actively promoted by the city of Penang as a tourist attraction. Many cities, especially those in Asia, consider graffiti on walls as an eyesore. If you like street art, don’t miss the links to our earlier posts on street art in other cities at the end of this post.

It is not clear how it all started in Georgetown. According to a leaflet put out by the tourism board, several pieces were the work of a Lithuanian student – Ernest Zacharevic – who is an Honors student from Middlesex University in England (and not some punk, disaffected youth, after all this is being endorsed by the local authority).

He is apparently a filmmaker, artist and photographer, temporarily residing in Penang. Many other artists have since added their efforts all over Georgetown.

The most famous piece is probably this one on Lebuh Armenian – Kids on bike. It truly does depict the joy and thrill of riding. A crowd seemed to be there day and night and people were trying to pose in front of it, in the middle of the street, and without getting into each other’s photo.

Several of the pieces incorporate a real object to complete the idea, usually a bike. Some are lit up at night.

Like cute videos on the internet, cats seem to be a popular subject depicted on the walls here.

Cat …

and mouse (just round the corner)

Bruce Lee vs cat (this piece is in extremely poor condition as the surface layer of the wall is coming off).

The leaflet which contains a map and a photo of many pieces can be downloaded at http://www.tourismpenang.net.my/pdf/street-art-brochure.pdf.

The leaflet also shows the location of more than 50 metal wire caricatures of people and situations. The pieces are essentially thin metal wires to form outlines of the characters and are installed in front of a light color wall. In my opinion, those caricatures feel like afterthoughts by the local government – they lack spontaneity and authenticity. We did not take any photos of them.

The painted pieces are dispersed all over Georgetown and as a result, encourages tourists to run around trying to find them all.

Some of them are quite hidden and some are not listed. It becomes a bit like a treasure hunt. Silly but fun, and effective to engage tourists.

We remember moments of joy upon discovering an unlisted piece as we turned a corner or when we looked up.

We have previously posted on street art in Los Angeles, New York and Sao Paulo.

Seven Terraces, Penang – part 2

Continuing with our tour of the most interesting hotel on this Malaysian trip …  part 1 is here.

The hotel – Seven Terraces – has a second entrance which passes through the restaurant.

The hotel’s restaurant, Kebaya, serves classically prepared Straits Chinese style dishes. We did not have a chance to try it.

Bababar – the hotel’s lounge and bar – antique bar and drink cabinets

Piano at the Bababar.

The suites are all on the upper level and there are wooden stairs at either end of the courtyard.

A walkway circles the courtyard.

Old-style furniture in the living room, except flat-screen TV. Some of the smaller ceramic decorations on the sideboard are glued onto the surface. I guess it is too tempting for some.

They served us tea upon arrival.

The shower/toilet is remarkably installed in a converted veranda which runs the entire width of the suite. In addition to the handheld shower head, there is a rain-style shower head above. No bathtub.

The entire floor is beautifully tiled. This is the biggest shower we have ever had.

The converted space has windows with frosted glass on one side and traditional dark wood doors on the other side which lead into the living room.

The bedroom is upstairs in a loft-style space.

The four poster bed occupies more than half of the floor space.

Here’s another example of a nice mix of the traditional and modern.

Old carved wood decoration on top of the bed, framed embroidery (possibly an antique), and sleek LED bedside lamps.

A balcony is provided where one can relax under the sun (or in the shade).

The balcony overlooks the historical Anglican church of Georgetown.

The ambiance of Seven Terraces is truly unique.

Love the courtyard.

Seven Terraces, Penang – part 1

After a series of posts on Malaysian street food, let’s see the most interesting hotel on this trip.

Seven Terraces is a spectacularly reimagined heritage hotel in Penang.  Located at the UNESCO World Heritage site, in the heart of Georgetown, the hotel is a conversion of a row of seven 19th century Anglo-Chinese terraces.

Around the Love Lane area in Georgetown, there are several other restored heritage hotels but 7 terraces on Lorong Stewart is the most decadently restored. A 80’s-ish Rolls Royce was parked outside the entire time while we were there.

The reception area was airy and richly decorated; instead of sofas, installed around the “lobby” area are several antique opium den beds. Each bed accommodates two who share a little table in the middle.

The beds are made with dark hard wood inlaid with marble and mother of pearl. The marble was cool to the touch, perfect for hot weather.

They have even laid out antique opium paraphernalia to complete the picture.

We cannot remember her name, the girl at the concierge desk was super efficient and very helpful (she helped us tracked down someone at Booking.com when we had to postpone our trip to Langkawi).

Also on display is an antique Chinese bridal head dress. We’ve only seen them on TV in period drama or Chinese opera. The real thing looked enormous and must weigh a ton.

The hotel has 18 suites which overlook a Chinese courtyard. I(Chris) love courtyard, any style, it’s like sunshine and nature captured for one’s private enjoyment.

We suspect the courtyard was created by knocking down the walls that separated the seven smaller yards of the original terrace houses.

We applaud the combining of traditional Asian architectural elements and modernism harmoniously in this hotel.

Behind the reception is a lounge area and a lap pool. On a hot day, the water is simply irresistible.

Swam a little bit and ate some cakes, which were served during afternoon tea time.

As all the suites are on the upper level, a bit of 20th century convenience is provided.

We are not sure what this metal fan was used for. It says Singapore grocery corporation. Since there were a pair of them, each with a long handle, they were likely used in a parade.

Breakfast was served on the other side of the reception.

This combination of papaya, passion fruit, water melon and banana was simple but surprisingly tasty.

Check out their website here. We will post some pictures of our room in the next post.