This trip began as a combination of wanting to get back to Southeast Asia and our ability to use points to book the longest direct flight out of Seattle (17 hours to Singapore) in business class (at least on the way there).

George Town is the capital city of Penang, and it’s the second largest city in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur. We went for a few reasons: our friend Martin highly recommended it, it’s Malaysia’s culinary capital, and it’s a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city itself is incredibly multicultural—51% Chinese, 31% Malay, 8% Indian, and a mix of other ethnicities—which leads to an amazing fusion of architecture, religious buildings, food, and wonderful street art. Penang Island, where George Town sits, is also a tropical rainforest, and there are beautiful forested hills to visit to check out birds and other animals.

Red lanterns hanging above a pedestrian street. — A market street decorated with red lanterns (photo/Jason Rafal)

A old building with peeling paint in front of a modern skyscraper. — The contrast of city architecture in George Town (photo/Jason Rafal)

Two cats, one sitting and one walking toward the camera. — Some of the adorable street cats we met (photo/Jason Rafal)

A mural of a boy riding a turtle under water. — Some of the amazing murals (photo/Jason Rafal)

Lanterns hanging between colorful colonial buildings. — Colorful colonial-style buildings and red lanterns (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole walking under colorful umbrellas. — The now ubiquitous rainbow umbrella street (photo/Jason Rafal)

Malaysia was incredibly hot and humid, especially for our Seattle-acclimated bodies, and we had to be strategic with the times of day that we did much walking. In the afternoon, the heat was absolutely oppressive. I’ve never been a big user of umbrellas, but their use in George Town made so much more sense to me than in the drizzle of Seattle. We hadn’t previously been so close to equator, and at 5 degrees north, with a UV index over 11 when the sun was out, the heat and humidity felt like a constant blanket.

An empty seafood market. — An empty seafood market (photo/Jason Rafal)

Modern cars driving between old, ornate buildings. — Other types of architecture (photo/Jason Rafal)

I hadn’t been totally sure what it would be like to visit during Chinese New Year, but it was overall a great experience. Some things were closed, but a lot was open, and the decorations everywhere were amazing. As we lay in our hotel room reading in the heat of the afternoon, the quiet buzz of the air conditioning was periodically interrupted by the series of pops that announced the start of a lion dance at one of the business below.

In addition to the lion dances, red lanterns hung everywhere - businesses, houses, over streets, and especially covering temple buildings. There were also decorations and photo opportunities set up in parks and on street corners. Every night, we could see several different fireworks shows from our hotel room. It was all festive and beautiful.

An ornate temple building with decorations in front. — More Chinese New Year decorations (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole standing in front of an elaborate year of the horse display. — The parks also had elaborate temporary Chinese New Year setups (photo/Jason Rafal)

Two lions dancing around each other. — A lion dance we walked by (photo/Jason Rafal)

More bright decorations (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking up at a bright yellow, orange, and red building. — Sri Kunj Bihari Hindu Temple (photo/Jason Rafal)

A large mosque against a green lawn and blue sky. — The grand and huge Kapitan Keling Mosque (photo/Jason Rafal)

A small espresso milk drink with pandan cake in the background. — The all-important coffee (photo/Jason Rafal)

George Town, as I mentioned above, is a diverse city in a diverse state in a diverse country. There are mosques, temples, and churches everywhere. The food is also absolutely amazing—a harmonious mix of curries, breads, fried things, and spicy sauces. We ate incredibly well.

Close up photo of small pastry shell-wrapped food. — The amazing local appetizer Kuih Pie Tee (photo/Jason Rafal)

We visited the Clan Jetties of George Town. There are seven currently, and traditionally each of them was associated with a different clan community. Over time, each jetty became more job-specific instead of clan-specific. The historic neighborhoods built on elevated boardwalks include homes and shops.

A green exterior wall with a drawing of boats on it. — A self-referential drawing in Lim Jetty (photo/Jason Rafal)

A boardwalk with shops on both sides and lanterns hanging overhead. — Decorations on the jetties (photo/Jason Rafal)

A dog sleeping under a shed wall. — A fluffy dog trying to keep cool (photo/Jason Rafal)

A garden full of potted plants on a boardwalk. — An amazing jetty garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

A small boat sitting in greenish tidal mud. — Boat at low tide (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cat looking up at a tree. — An adorable kitty of George Town (photo/Jason Rafal)

Blue hour looking over a bay with small boats. — Blue hour views over the water (photo/Jason Rafal)

After a couple of days, we ventured out of the city and up to Penang Hill, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The top of the hill is a tourist destination with shops, restaurants, and even rides and other entertainment. It’s huge, though, and encompasses a lot of garden and wildlife parks. There are also homes around the hills, and on our funicular ride up we even dropped off a couple at a mid-mountain stop; they got on their previously parked moped to ride home.

A funicular approaching a station. — Awaiting the funicular up Penang Hill (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking through the windshield at another funicular. — Looking at the approaching funicular going the other direction (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking out over forested hilltops surrounded by clouds. — The incredible, misty view from the top (photo/Jason Rafal)

A small yellow and brown bird drinking from a red flower. — An ornate sunbird drinking from flowers (photo/Jason Rafal)

Two small green, yellow, and orange birds on a branch. — Chestnut-headed bee eaters in a tree (photo/Jason Rafal)

A large brown and black squirrel sitting on a branch. — A black giant squirrel, one of the world’s largest squirrel species (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking up through tree branches at a bright black and blue bird. — An Asian fairy-bluebird with alarming eyes (photo/Jason Rafal)

A long-tailed macaque walking down a paved road. — A long-tailed macaque walking down the road (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also visited the Kek Lok Si Temple, one of the largest temples in Southeast Asia. It was an incredible combination of ornate buildings, new year decorations, and beautiful ponds and gardens. We spent a lovely morning wandering around and marveling at the amount of time it must take to put up all the lanterns.

A tortoise pond with instructions to never liberate tortoises (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking up at two ornate towers. — Incredible ornate towers at Kek Lok Si Temple (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole standing under hundreds of red lanterns in a walkway. — Walking under several hundred lanterns (photo/Jason Rafal)

So. Many. Lanterns. (photo/Jason Rafal)

Another amazing facade (photo/Jason Rafal)

A lush garden lined by lanterns and statues. — A lush temple garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

A person painting blue hair on a statue. — Someone painting blue hair onto statues (photo/Jason Rafal)

A huge statue under an ornate roof. — The 99-foot-tall statue of Guanyin (photo/Jason Rafal)

An adorable young brown and white dog. — The sweetest temple dog who we wanted to take home with us (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking up from a busy street at the large statue tower. — Guanyin’s statue from the town of Air Itam (photo/Jason Rafal)

A two-story wooden building. — Inside Journal George Town, an amazing art cafe (photo/Jason Rafal)

An archway over a road that says Little India Penang. — The first Little India gate I’ve seen (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cat on a railing looking out at the water during blue hour. — A majestic blue hour kitty in George Town (photo/Jason Rafal)

View of the temple lit up at night from afar. — Zooming in on the Kek Lok Si Temple, lit up at night, from our hotel room 4 miles away (photo/Jason Rafal)

We loved George Town, which was a relaxed mix of beautiful architecture, wonderful food, and friendly people. It was a great introduction to Malaysia and a good kickoff for the rest of our trip. While we went to Borneo for some safari time next, I’m going to consolidate that in the next blog, and jump to the end of our trip here.

Singapore

We’re now going to time travel to the end of our trip, where we met our friend Bella and enjoyed a few days wandering, eating, and enjoying the city.

We stayed in Little India, in an ornately decorated hotel that had bunk beds and was in a great location for exploring. Singapore has a wonderful metro system, and we were able to do almost all of our transit on trains.

A cat cafe, shoe store, grocery, and restaurant all in one corner (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Sultan Mosque towering above a pedestrian street (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking down a light-lined pedestrian street. — Walking down Haji Lane (photo/Jason Rafal)

A specific shop mural (photo/Jason Rafal)

An Aztec mural? (photo/Jason Rafal)

A church with Jason’s namesake hospital on the left (photo/Jason Rafal)

Amazing coffee at Asylum (photo/Jason Rafal)

Of course, we had to go to the Gardens by the Bay, the classic Singapore experience. They did not disappoint; the gardens are lush, well taken care of, and absolutely huge. There are a lot of big attractions, but it was also just fun to wander around and see what we came across.

A lush garden with tree-shaped towers in the background. — Some of the lush gardens (and bear statues) that met us when we arrived at the Gardens by the Bay (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view from the skyway bridge (photo/Jason Rafal)

Pink flowers in the foreground and a large park and skyscrapers in the background. — Each of the supertrees had different types of flowers and color schemes (photo/Jason Rafal)

The supertrees were even more amazing when we came back at night. Twice every night, there is a free 15-minute performance to music at the supertree grove. We weren’t sure what to expect, but it was opera music, which let a dramatic flare to the amazing light show. It was captivating and beautiful.

One of the most beautiful supertrees (photo/Jason Rafal)

A supertree lit up at night (photo/Jason Rafal)

Pink lights during the music show (photo/Jason Rafal)

People sitting on the ground and looking up at the blue lit Supertrees. — Everyone looking up at the supertrees together (photo/Jason Rafal)

Gardens by the Bay at night (photo/Jason Rafal)

A giant fishtank we stumbled upon in the park (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went to the Cloud Forest, which had a Jurassic Park theme when we visited. The dinosaurs everywhere were a little silly, but the music really did add to the experience. Cloud Forest is a huge glass dome filled with several stories of tropical plants that can be explored on paths and walkways.

Dinosaurs greeting us at the entrance (photo/Jason Rafal)

The jungle of Cloud Forest (photo/Jason Rafal)

A group of people taking pictures of a giant plastic T-Rex. — This was a moving, roaring animatronic T-Rex (photo/Jason Rafal)

Beautiful jungle wall (photo/Jason Rafal)

Peering out through heart-shaped leaves (photo/Jason Rafal)

We never take a weird picture (photo/Bella Acevedo)

Nicole and Bella on a walkway in the Cloud Forest. — Portraits with Bella (photo/Jason Rafal)

Vertical streams of water dripping down over small plants. — A little forest waterfall (photo/Jason Rafal)

A Chihuly sculpture on a highly reflective pool (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close-up image of a blueish green leafy plant. — A really amazing flower (photo/Jason Rafal)

A close up image of a pink flower with yellow centers. — More amazing flowers (photo/Jason Rafal)

Cool mist (photo/Jason Rafal)

More cool mist (photo/Jason Rafal)

River otters laying together on the sand. — A sleepy pile of river otters (photo/Jason Rafal)

A sign with a person bowing that says "work in progress, sorry for an inconvenience caused." — A very polite work in progress sign (photo/Jason Rafal)

Singapore has some beautiful architecture and varied street art. It’s always interesting to see the old buildings contrasting with new skyscrapers.

A colonial-style building with red and beige ornate siding. — I can’t imagine how long this building took to paint (photo/Jason Rafal)

A mural of birds and hands holding playing cards. — One of the many beautiful murals across Singapore (photo/Jason Rafal)

We went to Fort Canning Park, which is an amazing park full of a variety of huge trees as well as the home of the Raffles garden, where Jason got the requisite picture.

A huge tree branch with greenery growing all over it. — An amazing giant old tree covered with other plants (photo/Jason Rafal)

A giant tree with greenery all over the trunk. — Another huge tree in Fort Canning Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

Jason next to a sign that says Raffles Garden. — A Rafal in Raffles Garden (photo/Nicole Harrison)

The park is right next to the National Museum of Singapore, where we went mostly to get some AC time but ended up being very impressed. There was a lot of history as well as interactive technical elements, which was a fun mix and kept us interested for longer. It’s well worth a visit, especially on a hot or rainy day.

Nicole and Bella leaning down to examine a glass-covered map. — Looking at a map in the National Museum of Singapore (photo/Jason Rafal)

I loved these animals all over the map (photo/Jason Rafal)

A painting of a ship. — A painting of the ship Indiana that carried the Sir Stamford Raffles when he first landed at what would become Singapore (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close up photo of a lego scene of carriage rides. — An elaborate lego scene in the museum (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole walking toward a wall and raising her arms to modify the background while Bella watches. — An interactive room (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our last full day in Singapore, we signed up for a free walking tour to learn more about the city from a local. Our guide was third-generation Singapore resident, which encompasses most of the history of the modern city state, and he told us about the rise from tiny port town to the current metropolis.

A small trash barge floating across the water in front of small buildings in front of skyscrapers. — A trash barge along the quay (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also learned about the man whose name was all over Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles. He is known for establishing Singapore as a trading post of the British Empire in 1819 (seen as the founding of contemporary Singapore), but he left almost immediately to return to Europe and left his friend William Farquhar to do the actual work. It was interesting to still see his name all over the city and monuments, even with the complex history of British imperialism.

The Raffles after whom everything was named (photo/Jason Rafal)

A dramatic Lord of the Rings-like tower (photo/Jason Rafal)

The merlion, the mascot of Singapore, was developed as the logo of the tourism board in the 1960s, and it took off as a key symbol of the city.

The merlion in front of Marina Bay Sands. — The merlion (photo/Jason Rafal)

A smaller, tiled merlion fountain among small trees. — Another little merlion fountain (you can see a bit of the big merlion behind it) (photo/Jason Rafal)

Black and white photo of a spiked roof. — The very spiky roof of the performing arts center (photo/Jason Rafal)

There was an hour or four of heavy rain in the afternoons and evenings in Singapore (photo/Jason Rafal)

Small trucks and vans on a street in front of a store called Wall Mart. — Fun vehicles and a Wall Mart (photo/Jason Rafal)

So glad we got to meet up with Bella for this part of the trip <3 (photo/Jason Rafal)

Singapore is a wonderful place to visit—great food, beautiful parks, and lots of attractions. I’m so glad we finally made it and that we were able to explore it with Bella, and I’m sure we’ll be back again (as long as we have enough points to afford premium seats on the absurdly long flight).