Blogs from Penang, Malaysia, Asia - page 4

Black clouds loomed but we only had 100 metres to go between the university and the hotel so we thought we’d make it easily. A bolt of lightning across the lake and a loud crack of thunder meant we sped up a bit across the open grass lawn. With only the road to cross there was a bright flash and a very loud BANG! The five of us didn’t move, frozen to the spot with our hair standing up and all feeling a bit tingly. The hotel guard was shouting at us to get inside. We started giggling nervously, “was that lightning?” The guard still shouting we ran inside unsure what had happened. Apparently, according to someone else watching, lightning had struck the road right by us. I expected to wake up the next morning with ... read more

The use of superlatives in travel diaries can be a hazard. Striking a balance between the glories along with the wrinkles of travel is not what optimistically-minded people want to do. Like those wide-smiled selfies, everyone should be having a great time all day, every day. Our Penang stay had a wrinkle. But first for Penang. Penang is an area of 1.2 million, most on the island of Penang but some also on a strip on the mainland. Penang is the childhood home of our good friends and fishing buddies, Soh and Catherine and they are a big reason why we planned a stop here. The ferry between Langkawi and Penang sounded ideal - on the ocean, a change in transport and chance to be outdoors. People in Langkawi set us straight - the ferry is ... read more

Ipoh, war eine kleine Stadt, aber nichts Besonderes. Anna und ich hatten hier viel geschlemmt. Neben ein paar Sehenswürdigkeiten, wie dem alten Bahnhof, haben wir viele süß gefüllte Teigtaschen verspeist und auch im bekannten Restaurant Lou Wong um die Ecke Halt gemacht um Hühnchen mit Reis und Sojasprossen zu speisen. Ein wenig außerhalb liegt der Kek Lok Tong Cave und ein paar bunte Tempel. Der Garten des Kek Lok Tong Caves ist super schön anzusehen. Eine Einheimische hatte uns auf dem Weg vom Tempel zum Cave mit dem Auto aufgesammelt. Trotz großer Bedenken stiegen wir in ihr Auto. Die Einheimische war Lehrerin, super freundlich und ersparte uns einen 4 km langen Fußmarsch. Mittlerweile habe ich gelernt, dass man auch mal auf sein Bauchgefühl hören kann. Auch einen Flohmarkt hatten wir besucht, bevor wir uns mit dem ... read more

Penang Vi leve nå de glade dager i Penang. Ved ankomst til hotellet fikk vi beskjed om at vi fikk et oppgrader rom. Det kan man si, det er en leilighet på 244 kvm.stue, spisestue, bar, kjøkken to bad og soverom. På kvelden sitter vi på hotellets største balkong og nyter kalde forfriskninger. Andre dagen her var vi på sykkeldrosje sightsing i byen. Fikk fortalt litt historie, sett litt viktige plasser, klokketårn og en flytende "by" ved havna. Som alle andre flytende byer slipper de all kloakken rett ut i havnebassenget... huff det lukter ikke godt! Turen ble avsluttet med afternoon tea på hotellet! Dette var fine greier så Michael måtte skifte før han fikk innpass. På kvelden fant vi ut at vi skulle avlegge et annet område,et besøk. Var ikke sikre på hvor dette lå ... read more

After spending yesterday cooped up in a series of minivans as I made my way from Ko Lanta to Penang, I was ready to explore and walk my socks off today. Breakfast was included at the hostel, so I headed up to the common room to help myself to that. The coffee was strong, just how I like it, so I had to have several cups. Cereal, toast, eggs and spreads were also available, not a bad deal at all. Sun at the guesthouse in Ko Lanta had given me an itinerary of places I should visit in Penang. He had listed two things for each of the two days I would be here. But first things first, I just wanted to have a wander around exploring the streets of Georgetown. I headed out and just ... read more