22 is WAY better than 21!

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Yesterday/today was the best birthday EVER!!! It started out with a night out in Ipoh, which I might add is a Ghost town. Then, the next morning I enjoyed a comfortable bus ride to Penang. I was a little bummed we were not going to take a ferry over but taking the bridge was still beautiful. Penang for anyone who doesn't know is an Island off the west coast of Malaysia and it is just beautiful. The weather was nice all day and after arriving we ate Thai food. It was delicious. On the way back to the hostel Kate, who has the same birthday as me, noticed a massage parlor that didn't look creepy (most were sketchy looking). We checked the prices and debated doing it but decided to get one hour massages. It was amazing. I highly recommend getting a massage, but I doubt you will ever find prices as good as ours. The total cost of a one hour body massage with oil was only $22. For any who are as superstitious as me that price is too perfect.

It was weird to get a massage and I was very unaware of how it worked. It wasn't strange in retrospect but as a first timer and in a place where we don't speak the same language I was lost. After the massage I felt great and then went to the hostel where everyone was meeting up to go to the beach. It was a very pretty beach. At first we thought we would only be able to sun bath because of Jelly fish. But then we noticed there was a section of beach cordoned off and netted for swimmers. I am not afraid of Jelly fish usually. After growing up and swimming in rivers full of them each summer I just got used to being stung. The good news is we didn't see any while we were swimming. After a few hours of swimming I did the next amazing thing for my birthday. I went PARASAILING!!!

That was a really cool experience although the best part was definitely taking off and landing. I went with Alice. She is the niece of our travel guide and has been traveling with us since Singapore. Our first attempt (and yes I say first) ended badly. Before, we took off Alice and I agreed I would ride in the back since it would be my job to pull us in and down when we land. Alice informed me that she can't swim and at the time I shrugged it off because we had seen about 15 people go already. However, when we took off we started to get air then we stalled and all we could see was the water getting closer and closer. My First thought was "Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" lol … Then it was "Let there be no Jellies" and Finally, " I hope the Para-chute doesn't land on us" Of course I should have been thinking, "how do I get Alice back to shore." Still the two of us were laughing really hard.

I eventually swam in to shore and Alice hitched a ride with a jet skier. Both of us were ready to jump right back in. The guy running the business apologized and let us know the boat had stalled out. (Phew guess I wasn't too heavy ...lol) He hooked us back up and right before the boat pulled us out the guy says "Oh and he is going to dip you for free since we caused your first crash." Then we were yanked forward…

Alice and I both screamed but we made it up that time. All of a sudden we started to fall again and at first we were confused. Then we realized he had said dip us. Being dipped in the water was fun, but not because we got wet. That part we had already covered. It was fun because to get us back up he had to increase speed drastically and we got whisked up. It was a jolt, similar to riding some roller coasters. For all of you who know me, you might think that this was a weird choice in birthday wishes, since I am TERRIFIED of heights! I did it because after all the yanking, pulling and embraces with the water (accidental or otherwise) I got to see the prettiest view of the Island. It was amazing to be up so high and looking down on the water. I was able to see Jelly fish. Which incidentally were HUGE!!! (Size of your head big or larger) I was able to see ships traveling along the strait. But even cooler than all of that was the view of the Islands mountains wrapped in fog. I'm not very poetic, but if I was I think that would have been an inspired moment.

Anyway, it was a fairly quick ride but I enjoyed every minute of it from take off, to take off, to landing. The rest of the day was equally awesome. I spent so much time in the sun that I got sun sleepy on the bus ride home. Also, we all ate dinner as a group and I got lots of Mango (Best fruit EVER!!!), and Cendol. Cendol may be my new favorite desert. Its as weird as me!!! Its got shaved ice, milk, beans, chocolate, and I think some other stuff I can't name, but its DELICIOUS and addictive. By the end of the meal I felt like a baby elephant or maybe Violet Beauregard after she turns into a blueberry. So, when it was time to go home I slowly rolled myself home with the plan of laying in bed until I didn't feel like I had a food baby. However, I was surprised when Cherl our tour guide came in with cakes for Kate and I. It was a truly wonderful birthday.

Lots OF Love

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