Blogs from George Town, Penang, Malaysia, Asia - page 55

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town February 12th 2006

(Gem writes) What a fantastic two weeks we have had. We flew to Singapore on Friday 27th January and went to a hostel that we had pre-booked in Little India. On the way to the hostel we got a pretty good tour of the City on the shuttle bus. It is such a clean and organised city, some say too clean, but it appealed to the neat side of my personality and I immediately loved it. Our hostel was smack bang in the middle of Little India, it was the most authentic Indian region I have ever experienced, the streets were lined with market stalls selling colourful and pungent smelling spices and the smell of incense was so strong. The shops sold brightly coloured saris with loud bollywood music booming everywhere, I loved it! The hostel ... read more

Extreme Devotion: Thaipusam in Penang

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town February 11th 2006

Thaipusam Essential

Phil and Selina

February 6th - 12th 2006 We have decided to try a new approach to our blog. We will update the things we have been doing recently as well as updating things from the past couple of months that we haven’t gotten to. A word of caution, some of these pictures are pretty graphic! Phil and I just got back from an amazing morning at the Thaipusam festival; I don’t think you can get any more current than that!! Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrating “the birthday of Lord Murugan and his defeat of the evil demon Soorapadam with a lance.” There are several websites that have better descriptions of the festival, I would highly recommend checking them out of you are interested. The festival is basically a celebration of good over evil. Some devotees prepare themselves, ... read more

Penang Partytime

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town February 7th 2006

Dragons

cliffyboy

We arrived in Penang, Malaysia just in time to join the chinese new year celebrations. It was great fun looking round the local festivities enjoying the spectacular Chinese Dragons, traditional dance, chinese opera, martial arts demonstrations and lots more! The main town of Georgetown is a cool place that is great for shoppers looking for a bargain. Leanne was in shoe Nirvana! The blend of Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures makes it a great a place to spend a few days. THe largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, the Kek Lok Si Temple is worth a visit for it's bright psychadelic colour scheme and fantastic statues. It has a great view across the city and is worth the effort getting there on local transport. ... read more

More adventures....

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town February 4th 2006

Webby

Hi everyone, I am a bit behind with this journal at the moment so am quickly going to tell you what I have been up to since my last entry and up until today. On the Tuesday evening (31st Jan) we were still in Kuala Lumpar and I found the best meal I have had so far at a restaurant called Secret Recipe. It was grilled chicken with a mushroom sauce, seasoned rice, and salad, followed by the best slab of chocolate cake ever and it all cost me less than a fiver. Its not that I don't want to try different things its just that I am really struggling to find anything I like, We then went to see the twin towers lit up at night which was amazing, got some really good photos. Just ... read more

Penang-don't judge book by its cover

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town February 2nd 2006

The hotel

Eve Mand Ruth and Lynsey

Hotel: Island city hotel Price: 20 RM ($5 per person) this is for a 4 bed airconditioned room (with rats!) So here we are in Penang after about six months of anticipation..apologies to all of you that had to put up with us for the last while..I bet ye miss us now though!! Our journey was very exciting and ye'll all be glad to know we havent lost any of our enthusiasm just yet despite having to put up with vermon in our 'luxury' accommodation and having to learn how to breath through our mouths to avoid the stench of the open sewers! Initially our impression of Penang was uninspiring, partially due to the fact that we were jetlagged and we had rats in our room. We had heard the Malaysians were friendly but we didn't ... read more

Some pictures!

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town January 29th 2006

Twin towers

Timtraveler

OK, here are finally some pictures from the last 2 weeks. I just arrived in Penang, another island on the west-coast and will not stay 2 long here, after the great air, great hikes in the mountains of Cameron Highlands I'm back in a dirty city.... however you never know...I spend 6 nights in Cameron Highlands...when I just arrived the atmosphere was not that good, now things can change....plans can change. Had a great time, fantastic hikes in the jungle. Last night in Penang was not that good, I had a visitor....a mouse in my room....adventure he :) cheers ... read more

Suka Suka

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town December 24th 2005

Evening meal with host Aziz

PHYSIO DAVE

hey there! Well ive headed north from KL now, we caught bus 4 hours north through the genting and cameron highlands to an island in the middle of lake. The island is on Lake chenderoh which is north Malaysia and the only village of its kind surounded by a lake. From here we learnt how to play an old game called chongkak - which basically takes all night. In the morning we caught a boat to another island on the lake. On here there was a tiny village called Batu. This place seemed forgotten in time as we strolled through the thick rainforrest surrounding. We ended up after a bush walk at a secluded waterfall where we took a dip. On the way we learnt about the local herbs and plants which grow in the area. ... read more

PENANG, MALAYSIA

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town December 20th 2005

PENANG

FeetUpKen

Hello everyone. We now find ourselves in Penang, a small island off the Malaysian coast. Our last few days in Ko Lanta were marvellous except for the last night when we were told of spectacular views from the top of a hill behind the resort. Great views - millions of mosquitoes! I think we are still scratching a week later!. It must be said that the journey to Penang was not the best. What was described as a 5 hour journey took almost 12 - with three changes of bus. We did however cross the biggest bridge in Asia to get here. Nevermind we got here and after a short taxi ride found ourselves at the Sea Wind Breeze Motel. Cheap and functional. The outside bar which sits just on the beach is a magnet for ... read more

Disappointed and Disillusioned

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town December 18th 2005

Rickshaw drivers amuse themselves with bottletops while waiting for their next job

andrewandlara

Well, after leaving the Cameron Highlands in the rain, 6 hours later we arrived on Pulau Penang or Georgetown...in the rain. After successfully bartering our way into town we got the worst news possible. Southern Thailand is closed to traffic via road or rail from Malaysia due to flooding. aaaahhh. With literally every back packer we have met heading to Ko Pha Ngan for christmas we knew this was not good news. Worse still was teh fact that Penang was the most disapppointing place we have visited...by a long way! Despite the lonely planet (whoever writes that needs a bullet we are slowly learning) proffessing the great buzz and incredible nighlife to be found, we passed about 3 people the whole time we were there. There is not much to see or do and the food ... read more

Pictures from palau Langkawi

Asia » Malaysia » Penang » George Town November 24th 2005

pantai cenang beach and islands

SATRAVEL

more pics from the beach. enjoy.Salaams... read more

Brief history of Malaysia

During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Fe...more history

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