by David McMahon © 2011

A British-style pillar box – but this one is outside the Custom House in George Town, the main city on the island of Penang in Malaysia’s Pulau Pinang State.

Dave adds:

“As you can see, this pillar box is still painted the traditional pillar box red colour and still bears the Royal Cypher of King Edward VII. (This contrasts with, say, Ireland, where the boxes have been painted green since 1922, or Israel, where the cyphers were ground off after the end of the Palestinian Mandate.) In fact, it’s identical to the Edwardian pillar boxes in the UK except that it doesn’t have a base.

“Although the concept for the photo was Kay’s, she made me take it as it involved crouching in the road! If you look at the non-existent base of the pillar box, you’ll see that it’s standing in a recess in the pavement – the bollards on either side are on the pavement, but the pillar box is on the road. Bizarrely, the slot faces the road rather than the pavement.”

Author: Dave McMahon

Dave left school at the age of 30 with the odd O-level (like Ancient Icelandic) and a doctorate in something so obscure even he can't remember what it's about. He then joined the FCO. Dave has travelled to most European countries (including several that don't exist any more, though he denies responsibility), as well as Bangladesh, Barbados, Thailand, St Vincent, UAE, Laos, and many more. Having managed to escape from London in 2001, Dave's now resorted to taking unpaid leave to stave off the evil day of his return.

Venue: E & O Hotel, Penang
Date: 4 November 2010
Dress Code: Black & White
Theme: Anything from 1786 to 2010
Cost: RM250 per person / RM450 per couple
Limited Space – Book Early!

Contact
Penang: Michelle  (call: 016 457 0221) (e-mail: michelle@theexpatgroup.com)
KL: Anne (call: 03 2093 9539) (e-mail: anne@theexpatgroup.com)

Author: TEG

Starting with The Expat magazine in 1996, The Expat Group has expanded over the years into the leading media company in Malaysia for reaching resident expats, overseas visitors, business travellers and investors. We now publish a large range of websites and magazines, including The Expat and www.expatkl.com. Our writers are all expats living and working in Malaysia, some of whom have been here for as long as 50 years. To find our more about us and what we do, visit www.theexpatgroup.com.

In the early part of the 20th century, before regular air connections existed between the western world and Penang, mails were delivered once every four to six weeks from the “mail ship”.  The much anticipated arrival of letters and parcels to the local community from their loved ones provided a reason for the Eastern & Oriental Hotel to hold a “Mail Day” dinner and dance event.

All profits from this event will be donated to charity.

For more details and to book tickets, please contact the E & O’s sales and marketing department.

Tel: +604 222 2000

Great rates for rooms at the E & O Hotel with Agoda!

The Soho Bar gets a mention in our review of Farquhar’s Bar at the E&O. This bar is situated in Jalan Penang and bills itself as George Town’s best British pub. Well, it’s not in the least British. The night we were there it was packed to the gunwales with Malaysians listening to music at ear-drum shattering volume. Urghh! Never again. Maybe it’s just that I’m too old, so if LOUD music is your thing, the Soho Pub is definitely the place for you in George Town.

We visited the pub 20 Leith Street, which is opposite Cheong Fatt Tze’s mansion in Lebuh Leith, and found the staff friendly and helpful and the beer not too expensive. It certainly is an interesting building but nothing to write home about really. The downside of this place is that it only has squatter toilets (not great for the balancing act after a few beers). The food wasn’t great either; I ordered a “toasted cheese sandwich” which was a bit of a misnomer. The thin white bread was toasted on one side only and inside was a small slice of Kraft cheese (not melted) and great slabs of sliced tomato. Not very nice at all. But the main reason we don’t plan to return was because, due to the air-conditioning being cranked up so much, it was like sitting in a fridge. When we mentioned the cold to one of the staff, she suggested that we bought one of the long sleeved T-shirts on sale at the bar. No thank you, and never again!

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

by Kay McMahon © 2008

All photos are digitally watermarked; please don’t infringe copyright!

Kay adds:

“Little India is a thriving predominantly Tamil community in George Town, capital of Penang State and Malaysia’s second largest city, nicknamed the ‘Pearl of the Orient’.

“This temple is dedicated to the South Indian mother goddess Sri Mariamman, a manifestation of the goddess Parvati, who is more or less the most important of Hindu goddesses. Mari is particularly popular with expatriate Tamils because she’s looked upon as their protector while they are away from their homeland. Which makes it quite appropriate for us to feature her temple as our Pic of the Week, really!”

You can read more about Penang in our Malaysia section.

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)