Penang

After a long journey we have finally arrived in George Town (a stop over in KL later...) and have settled into a VERY basic room which we share with a busy throughway of ants, but at 3 pounds per night we shouldn't complain.

We left Singapore on Tuesday morning, hoping a one-day easy journey here would be possible but we were mistaken... the difference in countries is remarkable and walking across the border the change is instant - from Singapore's sparkly Western-style streets (complete with Topshop) where everyone speaks English, to Malaysia's "seedy border town" (according to Lonely Planet - not that we disagree) of JB. We eventually found a bus to KL, which was an eventful and rather longer than advertised trip - complete with break downs, random stops, cockroaches and a drop off point in the middle of a busy road.

KL was a very exciting a friendly city, where we sought directions from many helpful locals including a group of happy-to-help (if somewhat corrupt-looking) police. The hostel was cheap and very nice, with air-con and a rooftop terrace all for a fiver, and tasty local food in the Chinatown district we were staying in.

We are planning to stay here in Penang for a few days at least and then head further north to find "the best beaches in Malaysia". We are used to the backpacks now, but co-exist in mutual hatred. The weather is looking nicer here - sun rather than hot hot humidity.

Cats with kinked tails sightings = 3
Number of kittens smuggled = 0 (so far)
Insect bites = 0 (...again, so far...)

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