George Town, Penang

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David here...

After spending the day relaxing at the Langkawi Lagoon hotel we set off for our 17:15 ferry to Penang feeling relaxed but a little sad to be leaving the luxury of the hotel. We got a taxi to the big supermarket so we could stock up on some duty free alcohol before making our way to the ferry port. The ferry journey was uneventful and we arrived 3 hours later in Georgetown. We walked to our hotel, the Hutton Lodge with no problems and settled into our small but clean room. The hotel was nice enough, but a far cry from the luxury we had just left. We then picked out an Indian restaurant to go to from our Lonely Planet guide. As we were leaving the reception guy asked us where we were heading for food. We told him that we were going to the Maharajah and he mentioned that it was quite touristy and pricey. He recommended a couple of others nearby, as well as some of the Malaysian hawker centres. We checked out Maharajah and also Kashmir across the road and found them to be very expensive so walked to one of the recommendations that we had received, Passage Thru India. The main meals were half the cost of the other 2 places we had looked at so decided to eat here. Well, what a find. Just goes to show that you should always listen to what you are told. The ambiance was lovely, with lots of coloured lights hanging from the ceiling and mirrors everywhere. The music was pitched at the right level but best of all, the food was lovely. After this, feeling very satisfied we went back to the hotel and relaxed with a beer outside before retiring for bed.

The next day was the 28th, the day I turned 37. We got up for a light breakfast of coffee, toast and jam, a slice of cake and an orange juice. Suzanne then gave me some cards that she had carried from home from my family and presents that she had picked up along the way. I received a nice bracelet to go with the friendship one I received from the guesthouse in Don Det, an silver ear stud (as I have been missing one since before we set off on this trip), some coffee chocolates and a big bottle of Mint Baileys. I did wonder why Suzanne's pack weighed so much more from Langkawi! We spent the day wandering round Georgetown centre looking at the sights, visiting various temples in Little India and Chinatown, looked round Fort Cornwalis and then ended up walking round the massive shopping centre. On this part of the trip in Malaysia, we are finding that local life does seem to revolve around shopping and massive shopping centres. I reckon it is because they are fully air conditioned and are the best way to cool down if the heat and humidity get to you. We also ended up in a little local sports bar which sold jugs of Tiger beer quite cheaply so we felt obliged to stop and sample, just to make sure it tasted fine you understand. It would've been rude not to. That evening we walked around looking for a suitably nice restaurant to celebrate my Birthday in. After a few 'nopes' we stumbled across Salsas restaurant, which is part of the Continental hotel. The ambience looked nice and relaxed with a good number of people inside. The menu looked good so we went here. The food and service was excellent, with the starters of Mushroom soup and Broccoli soup being very good. The mains we had were Lamb chops and Rib-eye steak which were also very good, as was the bottle of white wine we had, a Hardys Chardonnay. We finished the evening with another jug of Tiger at the local bar we went to earlier before going back to the hotel, and a shot or 3 of Baileys.

The next day we decided to head for Penang hill overlooking Georgetown. We went to the local bus station where we were approached by the Information person who introduced himself and asked where we were planning on going. When we told him that we were heading for the funicular railway up the hill he told us that it was currently out of service and we would need to get a #10 bus to the botanical gardens and then a 4x4 up to the top of the hill. So, we Thanked him for the information and jumped on the next #10 bus. It took about an hour for the bus to fight it's way through the traffic and drop us off, also known as Monkey gardens due to the troop of Monkeys that live there. It was a little drizzly so we decided to find some shelter in the beautiful gardens and read for a while, which we did for almost 3 hours. It was very relaxing indeed. We then headed back into town by the same bus and went out in search of food.

We had decided to try the raved about hawker food that night and headed for a guidebook recommendation of the New World Centre. Well, we got there to find most of the stalls shutting up, which was very disappointing. We did find one that interested us enough to order some food before it shut and that was the Roti Canai stall. We got 2 flaky flatbreads and a lentil daal to dip the bread in. Well, it was delicious and it made the trip to the centre worthwhile. We then decided to head to the Red Garden food court right in the centre of town. Here we got the famous rice and chicken (it was alright...just rice and chicken) and some BBQ skewers of chicken and lamb which also came with some samosa type things. I let Suzanne take the meat of the skewers after my last attempt in Hanoi. We then still felt a little hungry so went to try the Murtabak at a place called Hammediyah. Murtabak is a crepe-esque dish with filled meats. We had decided to only have one between us but when we got there, the service was so friendly we decided to have 2, one with chicken and one with beef. They were very nice, though we quickly filled up.

Feeling fed, we decided we needed watering so we went to our favourite sports bar for a Tiger jug. They were showing the final match of the ASEAN Suzuki cup which was Indonesia versus Malaysia, with Malaysia leading from the first match 3-0. Malaysia lost the match 2-1 on the night but won on aggregate 4-2, the first time they've won the cup since 1996 and we thought it would lead to celebrations on the streets of Penang, however all that happened was the few people in the bar clapped briefly and that was it. No cars beeping horns, no shouting, no carrying of flags. Very different to the experience we had in Germany when Germany beat England in last years World cup. It felt strange to see no celebrations of any kind, quite eerie really as the Malaysian press had been printing lots of stories and letters wishing the team well. It was then time to head back to the hotel, pack up and get to bed in readiness for an early start the next day.

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