Crown Jewel Georgetown

... out I went and had a wander, located the nearest ATM and also found a nice book shop where I exchanged a recently-finished John Grisham for a new one. I then plonked myself down in the entrance and spent a good few hours blogging and Skyping. After this the guy sat next to me - Brian, a New Yorker who's been living in London for the past five years - struck up a conversation and we decided to head to the night market together for ...

... the trees and sand, with bars and deckchairs scattered out to the water. We didn’t have as much time on our hands as most of the beach’s inhabitants, so spending the rest of the day sipping mai tais and zombies (oh, if only we weren’t on such a ...

... The timing was as perfect as that of a horror movie scene and we probably jumped as much as we would have if Mike Myers from Halloween had just creaked the door open!! We explained the situation and left her a little extra and then it was a case of TEKSI for Han!! Yup we hopped in a cab to Kuah where the ferry terminal was and that is where I am now, writing to you from a 3 hour ferry to Penang and would you believe it...it's glorious ...

... swoop and take an entire tray back to their table, even though they were still on their, presumably sixth round of, starters. These same people would also have plates stacked high with grilled prawn, crab etc. and then proceed to leave most of it. Oops, fallen off the soap-box.

A disappointing end to what had been a fantastic stay at a splendid hotel, but it will not be the over-riding memory of George Town, a highly recommended place to visit.

... unfriendly German girls and a South African dude who was possibly the only person on earth to out scowl me that morning. I was both impressed and intimidated by this scowl. It wasn’t a very friendly atmosphere it has to be said, although at least with just four of us we could stretch out a bit. It was also rather sweaty (why do they use that faux leather rubbish for seats in hot and humid climates?). As we sped along the South African started ...

The minivan from Thailand to Georgetown took a lot longer than it should have done. It took about two and a half hours just to leave Hat Yai, a city whose only redeeming feature is the road out. When I arrived on the ferry from Butterworth to Georgetown on the north eastern island of Penang in Malaysia, I was worried about arriving in another unappealing city. The city was unique to anything I had seen so far in ...

... also delicious. It seems I am always writing about the food, but Malaysian food is the best we have had so far. It is so tasty and so different to anything you can get at home. It also costs next to nothing. Anyway, the next morning we took the bus to Penang Hill. This took us through the old part of town, which was far nicer than the bit we went through the day before. There was an old fort, lots ...

... that Malaysia would be a good spot for checking it in for repairs and Penang had a Panasonic service centre. It took a couple of times of it going in and out for it to be fixed but I was ...

... so important statue is built, much less worthy causes like a charity hospital with free medication for the poor & the needy and a senior citizen home for the poor & disenfranchised- think they've got their priorities wrong somehow!! After, we went for dinner at a local food court, which was interesting: a selection of side dishes ...