Hotel Golden City Georgetown

... moved to Banana GH..

On the obligatory first night town-wandering we stumbled upon 'Upper Penang Road' - a walking road lined with incredibly expensive bars and clubs, complete with the classiest of the classy teenage patrons - felt like any expensive bar strip in Europe. I don't think we quite fit in wearing out 'travel day' clothes but ordered a bucket (of bottles of beers... no more sangsom!) regardless.

The first full day in ...

... sum which a lady was pushing around on a trolley. Once ordered, the food arrived and Oh My God, it was amazing. had enough for about three people and managed to finish most of it. Total price for that and some water and a huge pot of tea 19.60ringgit - about 4pounds English!!! not bad for 2 people eating lunch.

just about to head out and see some of the sights and maybe get some more food, this time i fancy some Malay food.

... on overdrive and I was too cold to get any sleep. I did manage to get off at the right stop though, since it was the end of the line, and before getting the connecting ferry to Georgetown I stopped off for a few coffees with a guy called Steve who was on a visa run from Thailand. Steve has actually lived in Thailand for 20 years now, has family in Chang Mai and he's been doing visa runs every 90 days for the entire time, naturally he's been round S.E Asia a few times and ...

... as clear. I got the bus back to Georgetown and strolled round the seafront and sat for a while on the promenade with many others to see the nearby island of Langkawi turn steadily pink.

The ferry back to the mainland was free and I got my bag at the station, grabbed something to eat and got on the train for Kuala Lumpur. The train was similarly impressive and this time I had a lower bunk with a window to see the night time scenery go by. Next stop KL.

Sun is shining...I'm sure there is a song in there somewhere!!

Anyway the sun was out briefly today...can't believe I am blogging about sunshine but I guess thats what happens when you, albeit foolishly, expect the rays all the time!!

I dragged Miriam on a massive walk to the football stadium today and the rewarded her with a walk all the way back...after a trip to ...

... right????............wrong! !!!!

Now i have a reputation as being a bit of a snorer.......which i believe is totally unfounded........regardless i would not even have been amongst the medals on this occasion........as the two guys in the bunks above us well and truly had the orchestra pumping and were indeed gold medal contenders.......even the lurching and rattling of the train .....nor my foot thumping from the bunk below had any impact.......they were unstoppable!!

We ...

... WILL ROCK! I'm so so excited. I'm so much more a nature person than a city/history buff. This last part of our adventure is mostly naturey rainforesty beachy stuff so I'm all hyped up about it. YAY. Okay that' it for now. (ps. Mulu Park also has the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia, aprox. 1 meter across! Annd ten different species of insectivorous plants! Isn't that cool?!)

... Plaza to buy Band Aids, new flip flops, a pair of white socks, a new toothbrush, and a hair brush. Pretty mundane, but at this stage of the journey one is more likely to do that instead of writing post cards. I promise. A pretty good group at the Hostel. Everyone in my dorm is extra careful to be extra quiet when moving about in the room-- very considerate bunkmates. It's Sunday ...

... 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 ...

We arrived in Penang late afternoon on Thursday after a pretty uneventful (thank goodness) bus journey and ferry ride. We went out for dinner with Andrea who had come from the Cameron Highlands with us. We tried some Malaysia style noodles in a vegetarian restaurant in Georgetown where our hostel is. Then we walked around checking out the area. We saw the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion and were quite taken aback by the shocking blue colour! We weren't allowed to go inside as you ...