A Conversation with Mei Lin: 15 Years Living in George Town
Mei Lin runs a small boutique guesthouse in a restored shophouse on Muntri Street. She's Penang-born, left for university in KL, worked in Singapore for five years, and came back because — in her words — "I couldn't find proper char kway teow anywhere else and it was destroying me."
We sat on her rooftop terrace overlooking George Town's heritage rooftops and talked about what tourists get right, what they get wrong, and why Penang is more than its murals.
Q: What's the biggest misconception tourists have about Penang?
That it's a beach destination. Honestly, Penang's beaches are... fine. Batu Ferringhi is okay for a family afternoon, but if you came for beaches, you should have gone to Langkawi or the Perhentian Islands.
Penang is a food city and a heritage city. The beaches are a footnote. When I see tourists spending four days at a Batu Ferringhi resort and taking one taxi ride into George Town, I want to shake them. You're doing it backwards.
Q: Where should visitors actually stay?
In the heritage zone. Full stop. There are maybe 30-40 shophouse boutique hotels in the UNESCO area now, and most of them are stunning — restored 19th-century buildings with original tile work, internal courtyards, and rooms that cost a third of what the beach resorts charge.
My street, Muntri Street, is perfect because it's residential but 5 minutes walk from Armenian Street's art trail and 10 minutes from the best hawker centres. Love Lane is the backpacker hub — cheaper but noisier.
Q: Let's talk food. What do tourists always order wrong?
Two things. First, they go to Line Clear for nasi kandar and order timidly — one curry, one side. No. The whole point of nasi kandar is the curry flood. Tell them "banjir" — it means flood. They'll ladle four or five different curries over your rice, and the mixing creates flavors you can't get from any single curry.
Second, they skip the morning market food. Cecil Street Market and Jelutong Market have breakfast stalls that open at 6AM — economy rice, curry mee, chee cheong fun. These are where we eat before work. The food is extraordinary and costs 4-6 MYR. Most tourists are still in bed.
Q: What's your personal favorite dish in Penang?
Curry mee. Not as famous as char kway teow or laksa, but it's the dish I crave when I'm away. It's a coconut curry broth with noodles, cockles, tofu puffs, bean sprouts, and — this is essential — a spoonful of sambal and a cube of pork blood. I know the pork blood puts some people off, but it gives the broth this rich, iron depth.
The best bowl is at a stall in Lorong Selamat — the same street as the famous char kway teow. There's a woman who's been cooking it for 25 years. Her queue starts at 7AM and she sells out by 11. 6.50 MYR.
Q: Where do locals go that tourists don't?
Air Itam market. It's at the foot of Kek Lok Si Temple, so tourists walk past it on their way to the pagoda and don't stop. The laksa stall there is the best in Penang — better than the famous Gurney Drive one. And there's an astonishing duck rice stall that I've been eating at since I was a child.
Also, Jelutong. It's a neighborhood east of George Town that has zero tourist infrastructure — no murals, no boutique hotels — but has some of the island's best food stalls. The char kway teow at Jelutong night market is arguably the most authentic on the island because it's cooked for locals, not for Instagram.
Q: How do you feel about the street art?
Honest answer? It's been good for the economy and I appreciate what Ernest Zacharevic did — his murals genuinely revitalized interest in the heritage zone. But the street art is now the most visible thing about George Town, and it's actually the least interesting.
The architecture, the clan associations, the temples, the trade guild histories — that's what makes this place extraordinary. George Town was a major port in the British Empire. Every shophouse has a story. The Clan Jetties have been here since the 19th century, and the families that live there still organize by clan lineage.
I'd rather tourists spent an hour at the Pinang Peranakan Mansion (27 MYR) learning about Straits Chinese culture than taking selfies with the "Kids on Bicycle" mural for the hundredth million time.
Q: What's the tourist trap you'd steer people away from?
Gurney Drive Hawker Centre after about 2015. It got relocated and sanitized. It's not bad, but it's not what it used to be, and the prices crept up because it's the one every guidebook mentions.
New Lane (Lorong Baru) is better for an evening hawker experience. It's a road that closes to traffic at night and fills with stalls. The oh chien (oyster omelette) stall there — the one with the uncle wearing the same green shirt every night — is perfect.
Q: Any customs tourists should know about?
Penang is remarkably harmonious for a place with mosques, Chinese temples, Hindu temples, and churches within walking distance. But that harmony requires respect from everyone.
If you're visiting a mosque, cover up — Kapitan Keling Mosque provides robes. At Chinese temples, don't blow out the incense sticks (wave them). At Hindu temples, Sri Mahamariamman specifically, don't take photos during prayer times without asking.
During Ramadan, I'd ask visitors to be mindful about eating and drinking in front of mosques during the day. Nobody will confront you, but it's the respectful thing.
Q: What's changing about Penang?
Gentrification. It's the same story as everywhere — the heritage zone is becoming more expensive, and long-time residents are being priced out by boutique hotels and cafes. Some shophouses that held families for generations are now Instagram cafes.
I'm conflicted because I run a guesthouse, so I'm part of the change. But I think there's a balance. The heritage zone needs economic activity to fund preservation, but it also needs to remain a living neighborhood, not a museum.
The Penang Heritage Trust is doing important work on this. If you want to support local preservation, visit their office on Church Street.
Q: If someone had just one day in Penang, how should they spend it?
Wake up at 6:30. Eat nasi lemak at a kopitiam. Walk the heritage zone — Clan Jetties, Armenian Street art, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Blue Mansion tour at 11AM. Lunch at Air Itam (laksa and duck rice). Afternoon at Kek Lok Si Temple. Funicular to Penang Hill at 4PM for sunset views. Come back down, grab char kway teow at Lorong Selamat, and end the night at a rooftop bar on Chulia Street.
That's a full day. You'll walk 15,000 steps and eat 5 meals. It'll cost you about 100 MYR total ($22) excluding the hotel.
Q: What keeps you here?
The food is the easy answer, but it's more than that. Penang has a pace that lets you think. It's not as frenetic as KL or Singapore, not as sleepy as Langkawi. The heritage zone has this quality — the crumbling shophouses, the temple incense, the kopitiam uncles reading newspapers — that feels like it exists slightly outside of time.
And every morning, I walk past the same nasi lemak aunty on the corner of Muntri and Lebuh Chulia, and she nods, and I nod, and that small mutual recognition is worth more than a beach view. If you're exploring the region, Langkawi offers a compelling comparison. For a different perspective, consider Borneo as well.
Come for the food. But stay long enough to feel the other thing — the thing that makes people like me come back and never leave. Travelers who enjoy this often also love Singapore. If you're exploring the region, Kuala Lumpur offers a compelling comparison.
