12 May. KL to Penang - Snakes, games and (non) karaoke.

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Up early, grabbed a taxi to Sentral station, then bus to KL LCCT airport to fly to Penang. Then it was a cab to our hostel in Penang. Cab driver got slightly confused and lost, tried taking us to another place thinking that was what we meant, but we got there in the end!

Despite being early and initially telling us we couldn't check in, they had managed to let us check in within half an hour. In that time we had juggled things around in our bag and on our feet (easier to wear runners than carry them) and started to work out what the day's plan was.

So after properly checking in and dumping our things in our room, which thankfully was the only room on the ground floor, saving us having to walk our bags upstairs, we headed off for a stroll through Chinatown and Little India. Penang is the oldest for the British Straits settlements in Malaysia and predates both Singapore and Melaka. Georgetown is very much full of colonial architecture, narrow lanes, mazes of streets, and very bright and colorful stalls and shops through Chinatown and Little India. After a short stroll we found our way to the main bus station and hopped a bus out to the Snake Temple.

The temple is dedicated to a Buddhist priest and healer and was built in 1859 by a grateful patient. True to its name, the temple is full of snakes - both green and venomous. Apparently the snakes are doped by all of the incense, and they didn't move when we were there, with the one large carpet python being the only exception to that!

We sat outside in an upstairs terrace at the Snake Temple for a bit of a cool down before getting some photos. When Soma was taking my photo I got attacked by this large flying bug thing. No idea what it was but it scared the hell out of me and nearly made me run away screaming!

Then it was back onto the bus and a wander to find some lunch. Ended up finding this local food court type area where I grabbed a friend rice style dish and Soma grabbed something exotic which had a massive line but looked too adventurous for my tastes!

Then it was a stroll past City Hall and Town Hall before going to the Penang Museum for a look. At 30 cents entry, we couldn't resist going in, despite entering at much the same time as a group of about 20 kids probably aged between 8 and 10. We started at the opposite end to the kids and strolled through looking at the exhibits, most of which were exactly the same since my last visit there in 2010 but still interesting nonetheless.

When we wandered upstairs we got stopped by some museum attendees and told to sit down and play a traditional Malaysian game, think it was called Majong. In broken English they were attempting to show and explain to us how to play and what exactly to do with all these little bowls and the hundreds of marbles we had to disperse around them, all the time being told (by use of the phrase 'speed speed'😉 that we were supposed to be moving a lot faster than we were. Had to play a game fast when you have never played it before though!

I think Soma won the first round, and shortly into the second round the museum was closing and we got kicked out basically! So much for seeing the second floor off exhibits!

From there it was an attempted visit to both St George's Church and Cathedral of the Assumption, both of which were closed. Starting to get a complex that churches close whenever we get close to them.

From there it was back tour hostel, stopping by the Goddess of Mercy Chinese temple where it was that strong with incense that I actually had to walk outside to stop my eyes from watering.

From there it was a short walk across the road to shower and change before heading out for dinner. Had a sunset beer at the Banana Hotel and then started the search for Penang Laksa. At one point this led us to what we thought looked to be a restaurant or outdoor cafe, but actually turned out to be a funeral... Awkward.

After that we ended up stopping back past hostel and asking them where we could find Penang Laksa, to be told it was basically a lunch time dish and y shouldn't really eat it at night time. So, change of tact.

After a but wandering around, eventually stumbled upon this massive food court style building full of tens of tiny restaurant style cafes and hundreds of people sitting on plastic chairs at plastic tables watching an odd stage show which at first we thought was karaoke. I should also point out that in our way there we also stumbled across a wedding, slightly less awkward than almost gate crashing a funeral thinking it was food.

Managed to find ourselves a table fairly quickly and ordered a bucket of beer, naturally. We tried to order two beers but when they said bucket had three with one free we figured why not. Then I went and gabbed us both some bryani for dinner and we sat down to be entertained. It was absolutely hilarious, I don't know how to describe it. One solo male singer with some back up vocalists who kept coming out in weird costumes. The English wasn't fantastic, and the talking between songs was all in Malaysian. The singing was pretty terrible for the most part, and the male singer was at times slightly inappropriate.

Combined with the fact that no one in the audience seemed to ever applause or be enjoying it, we couldn't work out if it was a joke or a serious performance. Finishing off our last beer and they were chattering away in Malaysian about winners of a raffle when it became very obvious that they were talking either to or about us. Think at that stage the place was only about half full and we were probably the only table there that was clearly not local.

Before we knew it, one of the girls off stage had walked over and grabbed Soma and taken her up on stage to pull a name (which she couldn't pronounce) out of a hat and present them with 1000 Malaysia ringett. Equivalent to about $350 at the most. After that excitement, it was back to the hostel and bed.

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