Yeng Keng Hotel, Georgetown, Penang

With Georgetown, Penang and Malacca in Peninsular Malaysia added to the list of UNESCO heritage sites, there has been some activity in urban renewal from the freed up funding to support investment in rebuilding, renovating and renewal. I recently had lunch at one such redevelopment along Chulia Street in Georgetown - the Yeng Keng Hotel was once a family mansion, then a backpackers' hostel and now a refurbished heritage experience hotel. Much effort had gone into revitalising the motifs, foliage and ambiance in this location. The experience, as you walk through its cool passages, corridors and rooms, can be eclectic and multi-cultural but mostly Straits Chinese.

Yeng Keng is one of several sights worth stopping by as you take the Georgetown heritage walk, covering four main ethnic groups within a maximum two hour stroll. The retro hotel sits in the centre of a precinct that has Little India, Chinatown, Arab Quarter and Colonial Penang all within inspection within a kilometre. Thrown in are food stalls reflecting the variety available in south and south-east Asia, a relaxed pace and many sights and sounds to take in. Above, an indoor plant sits within a much loved and used container that reminds me of pickled rambutan fruit and water jars. Below a wall motif representing the local and tropical hibiscus utilises Arab and Indonesian influences in art.

The penchant for iconic Chinese themes - like the phoenix (below), mountain and ocean scenery and blossoming leafy flora (pictures above) - permeates Yeng Keng. The hotel has retained its imposing gateway but added a small wade pool at the back.

Above image captures the coffee corner at the front of Yeng Keng Hotel. It also has a dedicated bar and dining room apart from the main hotel building. Georgetown was founded by Captain Francis Light in the late 18th century - Light came to this part of the world based on the support of the British East India Company, after the Brits had lost the American colonies to independence. Light saw the potential of Penang Island as a middleman, broker and political controller of the rewarding trade route at the northern end of the Straits of Malacca. He negotiated the purchase and use of Penang Island from the then Sultan of nearby Kedah State on the mainland. The rest, as they say, is history - and Light's own son, William, went on to found Adelaide in South Australia.

Some of the original features of the Yeng Keng hotel building have been retained. Above, a window configuration up close and below, a cupboard displaying some of the interesting excavated items from the recent renovation of the site. Guest rooms in the new Yeng Keng have high ceilings - and the suites have furniture imported from the Czech Republic as well.

Sembawang Park, Singapore

Sembawang lies on the north-eastern corner of Singapore Island. It has been associated with a massive shipbuilding industry for many years and still is. Named after a native tree, it used to host rubber estates and then a British naval base. Sembawang is sited next to Woodlands, best know as the northern suburb of Singapore that is linked to Malaysia through the Causeway and Malayan Railway. Above image, day fishermen have a whale of a time at a wharf that juts out towards Johor in Malaysia.

Sembawang Park (above) is not far from the shipyard (picture below). Interesting enough, there are many examples of Australian flora in this park, the most famous of which is the Bottle Tree, originally from Queensland. I am told that this tree no longer exists as I write, but there is also the Cannon Ball Tree still on site. There is also a hot springs on location for visitors. This far corner of Singapore is also accessible by MRT to Sembawang Town. You may come across many National Servicemen in this area, as the Naval Diving Unit and the 1st and 3rd Transport Battalion of the Singapore Army are also based here.

A bungalow previously housing engineers and other technicians working for the Sembawang Shipyard has been turned into a restaurant in Sembawang Park - the Beaulieu House (picture above). You can dine on Chinese seafood and European cuisine, with a view to the Johor Straits, in surroundings I can only surmise as retro. Beaulieu House was built by the David family who were involved in the mining business and then acquired by the British Navy around 1910.

The Beaulieu House offers several private function rooms, one of which, the Alfresco A & B, can seat over 200 people.

You can enjoy both European and local reflections inside the Beaulieu House - a touch of old England (above) and a restored trishaw (below).

Sembawang does provide a refreshing hideaway from most of contemporary Singapore. Standing by its shore, I am reminded of schoooldays on another tropical island not far north - Penang. Both provide provdie the setting for lazy afternoons when we could still be conscious of the laps of the gentle waters of a sheltered straits and when the cares of the world were just borne by others. You can go cycling or running in Sembawang, far removed from the trials and tribulations of share market movements or strategic-politcal dramas. It also offers insights into what greeted Sir Stamford Raffles when he eyed upon this island of Singapore and made him negotiate with the then Sultan of Johor to take over the island.