Masataka Terada and his wife, Mayumi, have lived in Penang since the middle of last year with their Labrador, Jojo. Masataka is an acupuncturist and you can catch up with him at New Face Cosmetic, on the second floor of the Vantage Centre in Tanjong Tokong (Tel. 016 4215634) or on FB: New Face Cosmetic Service Sdn Bhd

We came to Penang partly because of the relaxed lifestyle we love here. It’s a great place to enjoy life and work as well. In the 1990s I lived in Singapore and I was a money trader. It was the time of Nick Leeson and the Barings collapse – a crazy era! When I got back to Tokyo about fifteen years ago I decided to have a change of life and profession and retrained as a doctor of Acupuncture and practised there. Last year we set up our business – New Face Cosmetic – we do cosmetic acupuncture, non-surgical facial lift-ups. It tightens up the muscles of the face and also tightens up the skin. I also do other forms of treatment, including chiropractic, body acupuncture, moxibustion, power stones, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

We love the food here especially and enjoy eating locally. We live in Batu Ferringhi and eat at the Boatman there as well as the Bulgarian Restaurant in Tanjong Bunga. If we have a taste for Nyonya food we head to Hai Nan Town on Weld Quay in George Town between the Ferry and the Jetty. If we get nostalgic for Japanese food, we go to the Japanese Restaurant at the g Hotel. But we also find wonderful home cooked delights at local night markets – there’s one in Tanjong Bunga on Tuesday evenings which is pretty good and there’s also a great one at Teluk Bahang.

We have many visitors from Japan – some of whom are planning to come and live in Penang as well on the MM2H scheme – and we always show them George Town. It’s a place of deep culture and long history, with some amazing old buildings. We usually take a cycle or trishaw tour so that you can really get the feel of the street. Don’t miss the lighting up of the Khoo Kongsi, which happens on the last Saturday of the month. Our other favourite outing is going up Penang Hill – so refreshing to walk around in the cool.

We drive but we must admit that we sometimes find the roads a little unnerving. Just when you think you’re safe in one of the lanes, it suddenly disappears! We do miss friends and family but they love to visit Penang as much as we love showing them our second (island) home.

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Source: The Expat magazine June 2015