Exploring George Town's Street Art

Long weekends are the best.. best for eating and hibernating! Had my fair share of sleep at about 15 hours last Saturday :P So today, I decided to just wander around town and snap some photos of some interesting sculptures and street art.

George town is a small city (not a town anymore) where it is the center of the state of Penang - literally the center of everything. Shopping malls, food, attractions and anything else that cannot be found from the outskirts is most likely to be found here. 

The town area is generally peaceful on Sundays - less traffic jams, a lot of local and international visitors and of course the famous trait of George Town: cars parked, double parked, illegally parked and no parking!

One of the (must) to do in this city is hunt for the animated iron sculptures. This aren't just any ordinary art pieces, there depict the rich history of the city. The city has exactly 52 of these pieces and what is posted below is only a few of which the missing pieces are either blocked by other objects such as cars, street vendors and construction related objects, while some are no longer legible due to blackened walls.

Nasi Kandar originated from Tamil Muslim Hawking home-cooked curry
dishes and rice from containers slung on both ends of a kandar

Muntri Street was named after The Orang Kaya Menteri of Larut, Perak, Ngah Ibrahim

This is the place where famous shoe designer Jimmy Choo
started his apprenticeship. (Choo sounds like Shoe right?)

Next.. Here, here and here! Locally known as "beca" mosft of the trishaw
paddlers are doubled as tour guides.

Obviouslyy this is less than five feet... The "five foot way" of wan Hai Hotel is said to be the narrowest in Penang.

At the turn of the last century, many shop houses were turned into cheap hotels,
making this internationally known tourist strip very popular with backpackers

The local Chinese say the rich men who lived on Muntri Street kept their mistresses here,
hence the name "Ai Cheng Hang" or Love Lane

The counter of the pawnshop is typically higher for security 

One of the favorite foods sold at Seck Chuan Lane is "ting ting thong" or rock candy, a hardened mixture of sugar, sesame seeds and nuts -  loved by kids. It has to be "chiseled" and "hammered" to break it into smaller biteable pieces.

Chulia Street was one of the main streets laid out by Captain Francis Light.
Today, it is known as "Backpackers' Main Street"

Kulit asing? Roti Benggali came from the word "Penggali" (Shareholder)

Parrot astrologers were Indian fortune tellers, who used green parakeets to foretell a person's future

While its royal English name sounds very grand' its also locally known as Gedung Rumput or Grass Godown, with bullock carts parked along this wide street

Tok tok mee is so called because hawkers would strike a  "tok tok" sound to signal their presence
 

In the days when your money could be "big as a bullock cart wheel",
this was popular rest stop for limousines of the time

The Tamils refer to this street as Uppukaran Teru or Salt Traders' Street,
a reference to the salt trading activities

Up until 1909, the police doubled as George Town's fire fighters

Yeoh Khongsi was established in 1836 to ook after the welfare of the newly arrived Yeoh clansmen

Also known as "Chicken Alley" this lane was once used by poulterers

The street is named after Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee who generously donated his house to the Municipality for vehicular access, ensuring that his name lives on for posterity

Street art has also been popular in the area since renowned artist Ernest Zacharevic was commissioned to to a few murals across the city. One of his famous works is the world famous "Children on a Bicycle".