On my way back from Kuala Lumpur a few months ago I remember a family who was talking about their amazing weekend on Penang (an island off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia). At that point I knew that I would be making a trip to that island and hopefully other areas of Malaysia since I felt that I did not get the full experience of the country by only visiting the capital. SO. Fast forward a few months and a long break anndddd here we go back to Malaysia!
I had night, actually, 14 hours, between when my flight from Hong Kong landed back in Bangkok to when I was scheduled to take off for Penang. I had thought about just waiting it out in the area but after Sarah Barr made me through away my only dress when we were in China (for good reason... it was see-through and had holes in it) I had a mission to go shopping and get a new 'go-to' dress while in Bangkok. I headed to Central World (the mall that the Red Shirts burned down in May... it had partially reopened only a few weeks before) to visit an old and familiar friend, Forever XXI. I picked up a t-shirt and a tank top then headed to the airport!
It was sooo nice to see my friend Sarah Cortes after being apart for 3 weeks. Seemed like an eternity. We spent the whole plane ride chatting and catching up on each other's lives and adventures, much to the displeasure of all of passengers seated around us. Once we arrived in Penang we had to take the 401E bus in order to get into Georgetown (the town on the island that we were staying). On the bus we met 4 Cheque boys who had been backpacking around SE Asia for a bit as well as a Korean guy named K who was going to school and working in the Philippines but was on vacation to Malaysia for the weekend. We ended up hanging out with them that night and we all stayed in the same hostel (The Blue Diamond, a foul establishment that we knew we would be vacating early the next morning in search of cleaner accommodations). After we got settled we went hostel searching for the next day and got dinner in the Little India area at a restaurant called Kapitans. It was really yummy.
After walking around the town for over an hour we could not find any bars or suitable hostels! What kind of a paradise was this anyway?!?! We finally stumbled upon Old Penang Guesthouse, which was awesome, but only had availability for the night after next, so we booked, but still had to find a place for the day day as well (Banana Guesthouse). While making arrangements with Paul, the manager of Old Penang, this guy Jason started talking to me (while i was 'slyly' ripping out pages of a Lonely Planet on Penang so I could figure out where the good times were to be had) and invited himself out with us. Okay, fine, random Canadian/Dutch/American/Arab guy. He was alright but the BEST part of hanging out with him was discovering the bar/club area of Penang that was an entire street, closed off to cars, where beer towers and dance parties coexist in happiness. It felt like home (Thailand home, that is..).
We got beer towers (he didn't pay, even though he was a lawyer, negative 10 pts) and we eventually met up with the backpacker boys we had met earlier that day and drank and chatted until 5:30am. Oops. Fun night for sure.
A few hours later we moved to Banana Guest House, got kebabs at Kapitans, and went shopping at Queen's Mall for clothes. They also had a Forever XXI and since I had neglected to find a new go-to dress while in Bangkok I finally picked one up here, yeah! It was wayyy to short but cute and had pockets to help me constantly pull it down. Hehehe. For dinner that night we went to a seafood place that the Penang Food Trail had recommended (you got you pick your own seafood out from whatever they had fresh that day, tell them how you wanted it prepared, and they cooked it up. Awesome. I also had to admit that later that night I had a burger from a burger stand. It had an egg on it, an intriguing combination that I had been to scared to try in college for fear that I would immediately keel over from a heart attack but it was amazing and I do not regret it one bit. That night we went back to the same pedestrian bar area but went into the clubs instead. It was fun but we didn't make any new friends, a rarity in the Sarah/Lizzie saga of life.
The next morning we woke up to vicious banging on our door. Terrified and disorientated I opened the door to find the hostel staff standing there. Apparently it was 12:15 and check-out was at 12. Oops again. I mean, really Malaysia, if you supplied rooms with windows so that some natural light could get in maybe that whole situation could have been avoided. We grudgingly but apologetically got our stuff together and walked down the road to Old Penang Guesthouse. We really took on the 'hostel-hopping' mentality in Penang.
After we checked-in we headed to Batu Ferengi after yet more Indian food for lunch. We got off the bus at the Holiday Inn, walked in like we belonged, and hung out at their beach and pool for the rest of the day. Thank you Holiday Inn.
When the sun started setting we took a walk on the beach, being sure to avoid the AVs roaring around us, and chilled out with a beer at a beach bar to watch the sunset. Not too shabby. This bar was extra special because it came with a puppy that the owners kept trying to shoo away but after seeing the interest that Sarah and I took in its cuteness left it alone for us to play with. After our drink we roamed the night market, picked up Merrick (a freaky stack of cups and bowls with a painted Asian face on it that freaked me out to no end), and headed back to Georgetown for another burger stand burger for dinner. Mmmm.
Our last day in Penang was spent on self-navigated historical walking tour of the old city. It was good, we saw temples, mosques, and churches as well as a cool graveyard and interesting buildings and clock towers. We ended at the jetty and took the 'Free Cat' shuttle back to our area, showered, and headed to the airport for our 6pm flight to Kota Kinabalu.
Before leaving we came up with a series of code phrases to help each other decipher whether or not we were into a guy that was hitting on us. We decided on "DTF mai?" (are you into it) "Do you have any chopstick?" (do you want to get out of this situation?) and singing the opening to Usher's 'Baby, Let me Love you Down' "Ohhhh myyyy GOD!" (get me the fuck out of here right now). It needs some work, but its a good start. <3
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