Blogs from Penang, Malaysia, Asia - page 81

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

Dear all We're at KL airport about to leave sunny Malaysia for negative degrees in London. Brr. We spent the first 7 days on the island of Penang (which became part of Malaysia 40 odd years ago), relaxing on the beach and feasting at the Hawker's market and Little India. Whilst the ocean was a little murky due to the industrial activity Penang is famous for, and the beaches were a little bit dirty, this was more than made up for by how friendly everyone was and the fact we got change from $5 for our 3 course meals and the bus ride into town cost 70 cents. We then headed to KL for a couple of days which coincided with the start of the Chinese New Year. We wore red to bring us luck and ... read more

Week 10: November 8th - 13th 2005 The best part of this week was that we got our digital camera back from the repair shop! They didn't actually fix it, or so they thought. I'm still convinced that a) they didn't really know what they were doing and were just keeping us apeased with "we are still waiting for the parts to arrive" and b) that all the camera really needed was a cleaning. The camera works fine now and we didn't get charged, though we were without a real camera for two months. That weekend we explored a little more of the west side of the island, most local villages, and went to a beautiful secluded beach. We drove and drove down this little path through the jungle along the edge of the island until ... read more

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

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