Penang One-Day Tour - #4: Fort Cornwallis and 'Air Nyor'

When my wife's cousin mentioned that they intended to include Kek Lok Si (a famous temple in Penang) in their itinerary, my first reaction was, "What for?"

I mean, no offense to all the Buddhists out there, but I'm quite sure all you REAL Buddhists will agree with me that the temple is now more a "shop" than a temple. And besides, which other attractions will the whole bunch of them go see after coming all this way to Ayer Itam? At that time, the Penang Hill Cable Car was undergoing a major repair, and there was no other way of getting up that hill except by foot or 4WD.

So, I tried to persuade the guy to cancel Kek Lok Si from the itinerary, and make Georgetown their afternoon stop instead. "There are tons of tourists attractions in and around Georgetown, all practically within walking distance of one another!" I said. And I lied not.

First, you must go to Fort Cornwallis. I mean, man, you are in Penang! Of course you should get to know the founding history of the Penang Island. And what better place to do that than Fort Cornwallis?

And if you are really into history, after Fort Cornwallis, you could always follow up with a tour of the State Museum, which is just a 5-minute drive away.

***

But what was unfortunate for us on that day was that the fort was closed for maintenance - only on that one day, and we were so "lucky" to be wanting to visit it on that day. :-(

So, we had to content ourselves with just taking a few pictures of the exterior. But I reiterate again and again to my wife's cousin that he MUST include this destination in his itinerary, and he was at last persuaded.

***

While taking pictures along the outer wall of the fort, we came across a van selling drinks, and what particularly attracted me - and I was already beginning to feel rather thirsty - was the fresh coconut juice. So we approached the van and I said to the hawker, who is a Malay--

"'Bang, bagi air kepala* tiga."

There was a very brief moment of shocked silence all around. Then everyone bursted out laughing.

"Maaf, maksud saya, air kelapa." I hastened to correct, though already too late. (*'kelapa' = coconut; 'kepala' = head).

Still laughing, the hawker said something to the effect of "I'll be darned if I were selling 'kepala'" while he prepared our drinks.

Then he taught me that, instead of risking making the same mistake again next time, I should use the word "nyor" instead of "kelapa".

Well, at least, for that mistake, I learned a new word and everyone had a good laugh. :-)