This was a quiet day. We walked around in the morning and afternoon, mostly in the tourist areas. Vivian and Sea went to a ladyboy show in the afternoon. I had seen it before, so I didn’t go with them. I had some shrimp balls on a stick and what I think was a mutton satay. Whatever it was, it was cooked over charcoal and was very good. I made a half hearted attempt to find some t-shirts with pockets by looking on the two blocks opposite the two I had searched previously. But everyone was selling more or less the [View Full Entry]

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I got up about 07:00 and went out for coffee. The hotel has free breakfast, but I was supposed to eat with the girls at 09:00. There was a cafe close by the hotel that is open early. I went there and sat at a table on the very quiet sidewalk. I was having my first cup when a group of 5 or 6 Irish kids came in and sat down. They had three Thai girls with them, and had been partying all night. They were in fine spirits and were friendly with all the other patrons in the cafe, including [View Full Entry]

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After our three days in Pattaya, we went to Bangkok on the morning of July 30. I got up early and walked to the beach for coffee, then returned to the hotel for a shower and packed my suitcase. We had the great breakfast at the Sunshine Hotel, checked out, and went to the bus station in the back of a pickup truck. I had found out there was a real bus station in Pattaya, not just a stop on the side of the road. And I had found that several buses left for Bangkok every hour, each going to a [View Full Entry]

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Much the same as yesterday. I went walking in the morning, the girls went shopping. I sat on the beach and read in the afternoon. I rented a chair and an umbrella on the beach and watched the parasailing. Then met up with the girls for my second German meal, the previously mentioned pig’s knuckle. After dinner I went out to the seedy side of town. After about an hour of walking and looking I stopped at a cafe and had an iced beer. The waitress wanted to play a dice game with me. I said no, but she insisted. After [View Full Entry]

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This morning was our last in Penang. I had planned on going to the Botanical Gardens, then to the airport. Last night the girls were OK with my plan. This morning, however, they didn’t want to go to the Gardens. They said they were afraid we couldn’t get a taxi to the airport from there. In fact, I knew they had no interest in the Gardens and were just looking for an excuse. I was a little angry at them, but after thinking about things I realized they had mostly been good company and I didn’t have to get my way [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday the three of us took a self guided walking tour of the historic district of Georgetown. Georgetown is the oldest part of Penang and is where the British lived and ruled when Malaysia was part of the Straights Settlement and was a Royal Colony. We took a taxi to a historic house built by a Chinese merchant in the 1890s. It turned our it did not open until 11:00, so we began our walk. The first place we stopped was in a Chinese temple a few blocks away from the house. Next stop was the Penang Museum. It was a [View Full Entry]

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The girls wanted to sleep in today, being worn out from the heat and the walking yesterday. I went out for coffee about 07:00 but couldn’t find any that early. I settled for instant Malaysian milk tea from a 7-11. It was so sweet I could barely get it down. Later we met up at Old Town White Coffee for lunch and internet access. I had a noodle and fish soup with a glass of iced tea. It was OK, but nothing to get excited about. It wasn’t very expensive, but Vivian bought the meal, so I don’t know exactly what [View Full Entry]

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We arrived at the Bangkok airport late at night. We were lucky to get the last bus to Pattaya. The bus cost 113 baht each (about $3.50 USD). If we had missed it we would have been forced to take a taxi at over 1000 baht. The ride was nearly 2 hours long. The Pattaya bus stop was on the side of the road. There was no terminal. There were motor bikes waiting at the bus stop, but no taxis. We waited around a few minutes and a taxi drove by. We flagged him down, but he neither read nor spoke [View Full Entry]

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The morning of the 23rd I got up at 07:00 and headed out for coffee. I returned about 08:30 and the girls came knocking about 09:00. We went out for breakfast. We had noodle soup at a little place we had tried before and liked. It was very inexpensive. After breakfast we split up and planned to meet up at a certain cafe at 14:00 to go to the airport. I walked down to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park. It’s the largest covered bird park in the world. I toured it and watched a little trained bird show. The bird park [View Full Entry]

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Our flight was supposed to leave for Kuala Lumpur at 11:25, but because of the typhoon it didn’t take off until 15:00. It was a bumpy ride, one which I don’t care to make again. After about two hours it got a bit smoother, but it was never what I would call a smooth flight. The total time was about 4 hours. I might have already mentioned this, so excuse me if it is a repeat. Vivian, Sea's grown and married daughter decided to accompany us on the trip. She paid her own way and has her own room. I hope [View Full Entry]

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