Food Larger Than Life

Some of the fun non-food-consumption things I got to do during my family trip to Penang was visiting several cool museums. The museum that left the most impression on me among the various ones visited was the Wonderfood Museum.
Being born and raised in Singapore, my love for south east asian food (all kinds of hawker food) is undeniable. This is probably the reason why I was excited to see some of my favourite food enlarged to more than double my size!




The museum was not just a place for cool photo opportunities. It also touched on modern day issues that surround food. How we treat food in the modern day, how everything is preserved, filled with colouring, and how we deal with so much food wastage today. Considering I did a project related to food and sustainability in one of my school modules, I could fully appreciate.

Although colour is important when it comes to food, today, with all the artificial colouring and preservatives, this set is a commentary on the type of food we consume.

This black and white set was to share with us how someone who is colour blind would see their food.

The museum also had some throwback scenes of makeshift stores - which was how people used to sell food along the streets in South East Asia. There was also a display of some traditional food dishes people used to consume, and what ingredients went into them. Sadly, those food items are hardly sold anywhere today - according to a museum guide.



The Wonderfood Musuem isn't a large museum, but nevertheless provided such an intriguing experience. It definitely induces self-reflection and makes visitors reconsider modern day food practices.

Penang isn't known for its museums, in fact, our driver - who lived in Penang for all his life and is used to driving tourists around - said he did not know the Wonderfood Museum. He thought the trick-eye museum was THE Museum. It was pretty obvious that he too enjoyed this museum as he took back a brochure so that he could share this destination with other visitors to Penang.

The message behind the various sets in the Wonderfood Museum, along with the many MANY cool huge food structures definitely made it worth visiting.

Wonderfood Museum Penang
49, Lebuh Pantai, George Town, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

For more on my trip to Penang, check out the video below!