Penang, Malaysia

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Well first impressions of Penang when we stepped off the air conditioned bus from the airport - the city heat was crippling coupled with the stench from the 'sewage system'....all in all not great...however....

Dinner that evening at the Red Garden Food Paradise (on Lebuh Leith i.e. Leith Street!) was an experience. A massive collection of cheap garden furniture under one roof, surrounded by a whole host of food outlets selling dishes from all over Asia. You basically give the guy at for example the 'Curried Fish Head' stall your table number (like Wetherspoons....) point at a picture that looks vaguely familiar and keep your fingers crossed. Large bottles of Anchor beer dull the pain when your order arrives when you seriously don't know what the hell it is on the plastic picnic plate in front of you.

Penang is very pretty near the harbour, lots of old colonial buildings, charm, history etc. Lots of Indian, Chinese and European influences across the city. A good few English/Scots made a huge impression here when it was colonialised. Sight-seeing in 35c heat is a little difficult so we took a rickshaw ride around town early evening.
Our 'driver' was pretty scary looking, he looked about 100yrs but was only 62yrs however was the nicest bloke. At one point we were on the main highway heading STRAIGHT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC, he just cackled away. Darren was cr*pping himself - v funny! The city was lovely a night: the Victoria Memorial Clocktower, the Eastern Oriental Hotel - beautiful buildings. He also took us out to the jetty at the sea where a whole Chinese fishing community live on a small town of houses on stilts on the sea- mental! Their homes are literally on the sea and their front doors are wide open revealing their plasma TV's and shrines (of course) bizarre.

We also ate at a selection of random street stalls called hawker stalls again sitting on cheap garden furniture trying all sorts of delights. The chicken satay in particular was fab. We shared a streetside table with two ex- US Airforce pilots (now working part-time for Fed-Ex Air over Asia). They were booked into the Eastern Oriental Hotel (5 star), yet preferred the food at the hawker stalls - says it all.
The local shops were like something from another era. (Geordies - think Beamish Museum) Individual shops selling: cutlery, crockery, pots & pans, baskets - strangely there were quite a few shops dedicated purely to kitchen scales??


We also enjoyed a fantastic spa 'experience' in Batu Ferringhi - slightly up the coast. Not only do they collect you (20 mins drive) and drop you back at the hotel, but I chose a 90 (that's NINETY) minute massage and reflexology whilst Darren opted for 1h massage plus some ear candling procedure?? The grand sum, for both of us, including transport was GBP40!! After that we wandered over to the 5 star Shangri-La hotel and 'borrowed' their sun loungers by the beach (deserted) until we were eventually escorted off the premises by security. You can only try!

The boat to Langkawi Island the next morning was ridiculously cheap (GBP12) smooth (2h 30 mins) and easy.

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Photos

Typical 'hawker' stall set-up
Serve the noodles/fish soup from the stall to the left and then wash the plastic plates in the bowl to the right - all on the street.

Comments

[Elaine G]

Loving the blog guys!!!! its fab , please keep up with it, remember the memories you'll have !!!! :o) miss you, where's the next stop on the trail?? - excited!!! exx

[Wee Jeannie]

Special Trip
Great to see that you are having such a great time. Your descriptions of the places make them sound fantastic - you're in the wrong job Gina - you should be a travel reporter! Hope you both continue to have a superb time. Look forward to keeping up with your adventure in future editions. X

[Kerry]

I can see it now, a new programme called 'Pimp My Rickshaw'.... got to make the best of what you got though eh! Darren looking happy in the 'Anchor Beers' photo. Amy is impressed with the temple pics and her comment to little India was, Little India, India is huge!!!!! You can educate her when you return. On to the next chapter love and cuddles xxx