Malaysian Independence Day Parade
Phil and I were in Penang over the Malaysian Independence Day holiday, known as Merdeka, which means Independent or Free in Malay (the word has the same meaning in Indonesian). On August 31st, 2026 Malaysia celebrated it’s 69th year of Independence from Great Britain.
Phil and I were lucky enough to have a hotel that was right next to the parade route. In fact, we had seen marching bands rehearsing right behind our hotel in the days leading up to the parade. The morning of the 31st, we ate breakfast and headed out to watch the festivities, following a group of women in flowered hats who we would later see in the parade.
On the walk to find a spot to watch from, we passed a huge group of Harley bikes and bikers. The group of women in the photo below looked so cool, I had to turn around and ask them if they would take a photo with me.
The thing that struck me most about them was the fact that most of them were wearing hijab. Often non-muslims in the West view the hijab as a representation of female modesty at best and subservience to men at worst, but these women were giving nothing but 100% badass. They looked amazing, so cool and tough like black panther (the political and militant movement, not the marvel comic) meets army ranger.
The parade, that started at 10, which I think must be the universal time for a daytime parade to start, did not have any floats, rather consisted of marching bands and various business, schools, religious and civic organizations marching with their respective banners. On it’s face, that sounds kind of boring but the energy and enthusiastic vibe made it really special. Sixty-nine years is not all that long in the grand scheme of things and I’m sure many people remember or have family members who still remember living under British rule and celebrating that first Merdeka.
It was so cool to see the various ethnic, cultural, and religious groups that make up Malaysia celebrating together as one people. Similar to the the U.S. “melting pot”, only a genuine reality and not a, more and more often, seemingly false ideal.
There were even a group of young women in front of us watching the parade that were acting as the hype-crew for the paraders. They were woo-hooing enthusiastically, and while I don’t know what exactly they were saying, the people marching by would crack a smile or laugh when passing them. It was a really cool experience.
Buying a Fancy Dress
Due to the nature of our travel, I don’t have the available luggage space to pack the clothing choices I might for just a typical vacation or trip. I have learned to live with my limited fashion choices (sigh), which means no fancy shoes or dresses as they just aren’t practical.
Phil and I were out walking one afternoon and happened by a store called Nala that had some really cute stuff in the window, so we went in. The items in the store were simply beautiful (hand drawn prints); skirts, dresses, shirts, items for both men and women, they were all lovely…and way out of our budget.
As we were leaving, a particular green dress caught my eye. I decided to try it on, just for the heck of it. Unfortunately, the fit was perfect. It happened to be 75% off for the Independence Day holiday, but the reduced price was still more than I would typically pay for one item during our travels. The dress also was not practical at all and quite bulky which would not make sense, packing wise, so we left the store empty handed.
As we walked, Phil and I agreed that the reduced price was quite reasonable for the quality and that it looked great on me. We had also been toying with the thought of mailing a few items back to the states that we wanted to keep but did not need for the remainder of our trip; mostly maps, brochures, tickets, our batik painting from Java, and post cards we’ve accumulated along the way. We agreed that if the next day I still wanted the dress and it was still at the shop, I’d buy it and we would figure out how to mail it back home.
Luckily, the dress was still there! Plus, I also bought this really cute, padded laptop bag (also 75% off!)
Since I had a fancy dress, I figured I should have occasion to wear it at least once before shipping it home.
A Fancy Italian Dinner
One day while Phil and I were out and about walking, we saw Bottega Mediteranea grocery and deli. We thought we were just going to stop in and buy a cold drink and snack to walk on with, but upon entering saw that the Bottega was much more restaurant than deli or grocery (they did have a small deli counter and a few pickle spreads, olive oils and vinegar for sale). The quaint, rustic yet modern interior was inviting and the waiter friendly so we decided to have a seat and a large afternoon snack.
We shared starters of eggplant Parmesan and Mediterranean dips. I even had a glass of wine (good wine and/or extensive wine lists have been relatively rare during our travels, in particular those of moderate price).
When I just so happened to purchase a fancy dress, I knew just where we should go so that I could show it off. We have only indulged in a couple of fancy dinners (though we have had many delicious ones) since we started our trip. While some may not view Bottega Mediteranea as a fancy restaurant, we definitely had a fancy meal there. I love enjoying a couple of courses and pairing it with delicious wine. It feels so luxurious and doesn’t have to be a super ritzy spot or an expensive meal to do so. Heck, I loved doing this back home on the weekend.
We started with the Capretta; a green salad with goat cheese, candied walnuts, orange, and a cherry tomato dressing which we paired with a sparkling white wine. It was super tasty.
Phil enjoyed the Sorrentina; homemade spinach gnocchi with Italian basil and buffalo mozzarella and I chose the Malloreddus; Sardinian gnocchi with pork sausage and fennel rague. We paired them with a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which is not only fun to say and one of my favorite reds, but Abruzzo also happens to be the region of Italy where Phil’s mother and grandparents were born.
We did so many fun things during our almost 2 weeks in Penang. I wanted to write a highlights post, but when I initially tried, I ended up writing the recent post about my bike trip. This post started out as another attempt, but I only wrote about 3 of the fun things we did. There are many more, but one of the things I have come to except about myself is that I am not a concise writer (or verbal story teller for that matter). Fortunately, my husband is, so you can read Phil’s account of some of our fun times in Penang: here, here, here, here, here, here and here. What can I say, the guy is a twice published author.
Stay tuned for more about our month-long Malaysian invasion!
