Paradise Sandy Bay Pinang

I was awoken by two things: 1) the pompous English couple faffing about clearing away their bedding. 2) The catering manager gently saying "sir, breakfast". I opened by curtains and sat up so that he could place the tray of orange juice, pineapple and ham and cheese sandwiches onto my lap. As we chugged through southern Thailand I started chatting to the couple and I said goodbye to my Thai travelling companion. It turns out that they were from the Wirral but ...

... in some of our photo’s, was completed in 1901 and was, apparently, particularly magnificent. Therefore, no-one was surprised when the roof caught fire on the night it was completed. The builders put this down to divine jealousy of the ostentatious design, and so it was rebuilt slightly less extravagantly! However, as you can see, it is still fairly extravagant! As we were leaving, a wedding party turned up with a very strangely decorated (from ...

... their 30s-40s. And our tourguide is great! Everyone has gotten along so well. <br><br>Well, that's all for now. Tonight we will go to a night market, and tomorrow it's a 7hr journey by bus...yuck! But I will get to see a famous shadow puppet show as a highlight. Whoo hoo! I will update everyone from Thailand!<br><br>Cheers-<br>Michelle<br ><br>Our homestay<br>http://www.sukasuka.biz/por tal/news.php <br>

... and temples it is a heaven on earth for crazy scooter driving. The malaysian way of riding a scooter however, is quite contagious. After a short learning period we were on our "best" driving manners and blended in quite well. We even accomplished a wheely on our scooter. Back to the airport by bus to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur to meet up again with Robina our local "guide". <br>

... booked - so we booked it for the following day and fortunately our room in the hotel was available for another night (although not surprisingly the price had gone up). <br><br>Day 3: Snake Worship<br><br>Our last day in Penang - so we took the bus to Snake Temple. Ornate but much smaller than expected. Still, had the prerequisite snakes (pit vipers) coiled and looking lifeless on branches around the temple ...

... up some of the famous Penang party scene, so we headed to a part of town that has numerous otudoor cafes and bars and &#8220;happy hours&#8221; where the beer is marginally more affordable than during unhappy hours. We ended up at a place that sold overpriced Tiger beer out of a pitcher, but it was a hot night and the cold beer tasted fine, so we set up shop to people-watch. People-watching in Penang was really interesting because it was a true mix of people. Not only was there the ...

... mosque calling the faithfull to prayer while I travel by local chicken bus into the heart of this stressfull and chaotic city on a wooden bench and wondering what the hell I`m doing here. Than I see her...a lone young woman with a guitar dressed in a dark green short dress falling just below her hips, sitting on a bench mysteriously unscarved with big round dark brown eyes and raven black shoulder long hair. She looks strangely out of place in this mad to the max Muslim city!!!

... large spiders that might fall on our heads at any given moment (they were about the size of my hand). Seeing the wild monkeys and the 'flying lemurs' was amazing too. We basically spent the entire day walking around, looking out for wildlife, and chilling out in front of the spectacular views. In the evening, back near our hostel, Tom and I encountered our first Malaysian hookers (conveniently standing on a corner near Love Lane), being spoken to by their small fat FEMALE ...

... my engine blew up and I was forced to trade in Dorris for Dot, a bike of exactly the same age and vintage but now with panniers and a long range tank. It made all the difference and on the day my visa ran out I parked Dot on a cargo boat and flew over to East Timor to meet her. East Timor regardless of what you might have heard is epic. Awesome. Fascinating. The Government warning is sky high, the UN are everywhere as are the Australian army and ...

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia - December 9 - 10 Or Pinang. Or in fact, you can spell it either way. I saw two souvenir t-shirts right next to each other, one with 'Pinang', the other boldly stating 'Penang'. Your choice. We arrived the evening of the 8th, one hour late, and after yelling at taxi drivers who were trying to rip us off (I was particularly testy after the ferry - the beginning was bumpy - to me anyway, and I didn't ...