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Published: November 22nd 2006
Busted & Beautiful
Old East India construction just waiting for an overhaulCrazy travel from KL to Penang today. It took us a taxi, train, hell bus, airplane and cab to get here but overall pretty smooth. We flew AirAsia today which is a low cost carrier over here (like EasyJet and RyanAir in Europe and like Southwest at home but 1/10th the price.) The total cost of our tickets was $40 for both so it made up for the travel hassles including using a different terminal than all other flights out of KL.
Penang is a bit of a contrast to KL. You can see water, you can see jungle, and there is a very interesting architecture juxtaposition between the new high rises and the old colonial British (East India Trading Company) buildings that are definitely showing their years amongst others undergoing wonderful restoration. We checked out the outside of the beautiful Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, the local merchant trader and the "Rockefeller of the East." Pedestrian life is a little tricky here. No real public transportation, crosswalks or decent sidewalks. We had a few close calls with motorbikes while navigating our way today. It doesn't help that they are on the wrong side of the road, but all our years
of playing Frogger are finally paying off.
Sweet Bali Hai Dinner tonight was at Bali Hai (along the beach side of the Gurney area) where "If it swims, we have it." For US $20 we enjoyed more seafood than we could imagine. They have an aquarium that rivals Atlanta's except you get to pick what you eat. So very fresh, the food was still swimming when it arrived at the table. Standouts were the garlic prawns and the Tom Yam (hot spicy seafood soup.) The entire beach strip had many restaurants and "Hawker Stalls" - which are a like a flea market for food. Nothing costs more than a dollar and everything under the sun seemed to be available. We are going to check one out for a Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow.
Hotel While not the luxury of the Ritz Carlton in KL, The Northam Suites still is top notch, with our room featuring 1000+ square feet, two bathrooms and the largest bed I've ever seen that feels like two queens joined together. It's another bargain at US $50 a night. It splits the difference between Gurney Plaza and Georgetown which are two popular boroughs in
Penang. Great location with a slick view of the Ocean. We watched thunderstorms roll in this afternoon right over the water from the infinity edge pool on the 9th floor.
Wild Kingdom Aside from our aquarium visit above, we were graced with a few dogs, many exotic birds and a very savvy mouse in our travels today. The mouse popped out and started us while walking on the beach tonight, but who can blame him with such a great view and excellent dining options across the way.
Eggs on a Beach Visited Batu Ferringhi Beach (meaning "Foreigner Beach" in Malay - interesting for the Star Trek reference) Nice enough beach but it was covered in transparent eggs, totally covered. Not sure what the eggs were (squid, cuttlefish, ???please advise if you know???) but it was so gross to walk on the beach and have the squish and squirt all over you. As a result we did not spend much time on the beach or get in the water.
Spent Thanksgiving night wandering around George Town area. Very interesting mix of people here. Large Muslim population, with many mosques blasting prayers over their loudspeakers
Bali Hai Restaurant
"For the seafood lover in you" during their prayer hours. See attached video, but it really gave the area an interesting cultural vibe while this was going on.
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stephanie michael
non-member comment
love the pics
steph and ross, love the pics, and the updates are great! everything back home is going well. sounds like you two are having a great time, i can't wait to hear more about the trip and see the rest of the photos when you return! have fun!! steph