A TALE OF TWO HOUSES
THE MULTICULTURAL FABRIC of Penang’s capital, George Town, is visible at every turn. Quirky street art displays the area’s history, with steel caricatures of everything from designer Jimmy Choo’s origins in Penang as an apprentice, to the British explorer Francis Light, who established George Town as a trading hub in 1786. Biryani drummed out of bamboo cylinders and crispy samosas share culinary pride alongside hawker stalls doling out the popular char kway teow (stir-fried flat noodles), and tangy asam laksa (fish-based rice noodle soup). The streets are sprinkled with grand colonial buildings, glitzy skyscrapers, ornate temples, domed mosques, and quaint Chinese shophouses—this varied architecture is arguably George Town’s most striking feature.
As I walk around, two buildings draw my attention in the speckled cityscape. One is mint green, the other a vibrant indigo.
