After several hours on a bus, I arrived in Penang, called “The Pearl of the Orient.” Penang is an island just off the northwest coast of peninsular Malaysia, and historic Georgetown is its major city and the food capital of Malaysia.

A center of global trade for hundreds of years, Georgetown is a multicultural city with Malay roots. Over the centuries it has been affected and influenced by traders, colonizers and settlers from Portugal, Holland, Britain, China and India.

I wandered around on streets that were lined with colonial buildings, some restored and some dilapidated and crumbling. I enjoyed excellent vegetarian food in Georgetown’s Indian enclave and I found a Chinese tea shop specializing in Pu’er tea.

Today’s Georgetown is known for its street art. I enjoyed taking photos of the art as well as the many huge hanging Chinese lanterns I saw all over town.