#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Malaysia Forum >  >  A Walk Down Leith Street, Penang

## dirtydog

Yes I admit I have stayed in Leith street in the past, you must all remember the New China Hotel, well thank fok the place is closed down and being rebuilt, leith street has always been a dump I believe for all the low lifes, staying at the New china hotel is not a nice experiance, ok I never got so low as to having to stay in the dormitary, but the shared bathrooms and cold water aint really a nice experiance, ok it is nice when your young and adventerous, naaa, I am lieing, it would be better to live in a tent on the roundabout, it was foking awfull, I remember vividly driving to this poxy place on a 125cc and a 400cc motorbike and hating every minute I spent in that dump, this was from Pattaya I might add, I remember pulling some German bird and the cnuts wouldn't let me take her to my room, yep, another holiday without sex, I suppose we could have found some public park to have sex in, but I don't think she would have gone for that, plus she wouldn't have the chance to shave herself, yep even I don't do gals with hairy armpits, anyway on our tour thru leith street first up is the Mosque, at present they are concreting the drive, I used to hate it when they kicked off at 6am for the old callout for Muslims to come to the mosque, do they sing so badly on purpose?

*Penang Visa Run Page*






Of course as this picture shows you got to be careful where you walk.





*Malaysia News Headlines*
*Penang News Headlines*
*Malaysia Weather Forecasts*
*World Time Zones*
*Currency Convertor*

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## dirtydog

Of course they now have a load of Indian food in town, and where better to open one than Leith Street, erm probably loads of better places.






Looks pretty good though dont it  :Smile:

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## dirtydog

The Cathay Hotel is quite famous, God knows why....

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## dirtydog

The Warldof Hotel is quite tired and old by now, they charge like 60 ringit for a room that is 100 years old and looks like it is 50 years old.






But they do have their health center, this is the place you get to shag gals for large amounts of money, well compared to Pattaya anyway  :Smile:

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## dirtydog

20 Leith Street, a place to party a little bit.

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## dirtydog

The New China Hotel being ripped apart and rebuilt, they even put a new roof on it, about foking time the cheap gits.....

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## ChiangMai noon

> The Cathay Hotel is quite famous, God knows why....


Isn't it obvious???

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## dirtydog

Not sure what this place is but they don't want scum in there.

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## dirtydog

Very good you Welsh git  :Smile: 

Anyway moving along down Leith Street we hit the famous mansion.






Which I believe translates to fat chinky guy, well something like that anyway.

CHEONG FATT TZE MANSION - Penang 
This was built by Cheong Fatt Tze at the end of the 19th century.
In 1990 a heritage Preservationist group took over it, it was in an extremely dilapidated state.

A Grade One restoration has since been carried out which took 6 years to complete, the project then won the UNESCO Heritage 200 Awards.

The Mansion incorporates 38 rooms, 5 granite-paved courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 windows. Master craftsmen were originally imported from China, in the 1880's and again in the restoration in the 1990s. 
Cheong Fatt Tze left China, a penniless 16-year-old in 1856 and grew to become a one-man multinational conglomerate. Dubbed "China's last Mandarin and first capitalist", Cheong was honoured with the title of "Rockefeller of the East" by the New York Times. Consult General for China, Mandarin of the Highest Order, director of China's railway and first modern bank, flags were ordered to be flown at half-mast by the Dutch and the British in their colonies, to honour this man when he passed away in 1916. Although he had homes throughout the East, he chose Penang as his operational base and built a late 19th Century architectural legacy of the highest order. It was designed to reflect his stature as well as to embody his ability to successfully combine an eclectic approach to life. 
The cycle of life has been restored to the Mansion, to reactivate the intrinsic meaning of the place. As a private, inward-looking home, the values of family life & filial piety were nurtured by Cheong Fatt Tze who led by word and deed. Except for the incorporation of modern sanitary and ventilation amenities in the bedrooms, the original building fabric has been lovingly restored in pursuit of authenticity. 
High ceilings, timber floorboards on joists, ventilated rooms with open cast iron fanlights, sheltered verandahways around courtyards open to the sky, hand-plastered walls, lime-wash in Indigo Blue & Chinese lacquered doors and windows are some elements that pay respect to the traditions of a distant past.

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## dirtydog

Cheong fatt tze mansion is one of the famous landmarks of Penang for some reason.

http://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/ is their website.


here is the entrance to his shack.





You may notice in the next few pictures that it is painted in a nice tasteful blue color, foking weird these rich chinks....

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## aging one

Lot of memories DD.  Are they gonna rebuild the New China.  It sure as hell doesnt look they are knocking it down. As I recall its almost across the street from the Cathay.

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## dirtydog

It is a bit nearer Chulia Street than Cathay, but I wished they knocked it down, they have stuck a new roof on it and I think they will do it up a little bit.

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## aging one

Gotta be making a lot of money over the last 25 years to not rebuild it. Makes me think its been in some Chinese family since Buddah was born.

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## dirtydog

How could I forget Sharma Travel? I must have used them about 50 times for tickets or visas or mini buses to Thailand, They have been there for as long as I can remember.

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## buadhai

> The Cathay Hotel is quite famous, God knows why....


Ever stayed there? Amazing place. I spent some time there back in 1977 and again in the late 80's. It's a classic. Huge rooms with massive windows and beautiful hardwood floors. It's like stepping back in time 80 or 90 years.

And then there's that "health club" in the basement.

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## dirtydog

Time to have another wander down Leith Street, the New China Hotel is gone and a new Chocolate Boutique has taken its place, seems to be a bit too large a building just to sell chocolates, but hell it looks better than the New China has done in the last 15 years.



The bar 20 Leith Street seems to have fallen into disrepair and looked pretty well closed down, I suppose with all the new bars in Georgetown it suddenly became a bit out of the way.



Most of the other places are pretty much the same as a year or 2 ago, Cathay and Waldorf Hotels are still there.

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## DrAndy

I often stayed at the Cathay

as BH mentioned, it is a beautiful building, a classic mansion. Lots of wood; the doors to the rooms must be nearly 3.5metres high.

The bedrooms are really large but the bathrooms are fairly primitive. Typical Malaysian style washing facilities, a big concrete tub and a bucket to throw water all over the place

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## sabang

The New China Hotel, 1982.
I shared a room with a mate ( toilets, Gross- we stupidly forgot to close the door to the toilet- rat shit everywhere, including in my shoes) then we headed out to the beach at Batu Ferringhi. Great time, absolutely. He went on to the UK, I stayed on.
Went back to the New china for a night, to get an early morning bus to the Thai border. Just one night, so decided to stay in the Dorm.

One of the worst mistakes of my life. A heroin addict died in that dorm that night. In those days, Penang was a great place to get cheap smack, and there were quite a few junkies around.

I will never forget the New China.  :Sad:

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## Jet Gorgon

Yep, good memories, DD. I usually stayed around Chulia Street. One place across from that Chinese Hotel where all the minibuses go. 
I loved Cathay but found bedbugs there...

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