Stop 4: Penang: George Town

After a rough night with a rather dodgy stomach I really wasn't looking forward to  our 10hr journey into Malaysia today. Plus Thailand had been beyond incredible and it was sad to say goodbye. Boom was fantastic and took me to the pharmacy and so I was well drugged up and adviced to sleep, this I could do.

About 5hrs in and we had made it to the border. It was quite odd, we had to officially leave Thailand and then walk across No Man's Land to enter Malaysia. Another stamp in my passport. It's annoying that they always want to stamp the same page though. On our new mini buses we noticed a change immediately, there were roads and so much traffic. It took us another 7hrs from the border to finally reach Penang. We did stop at a fancy Tesco department store hybrid on the outskirts on the way, which was pretty funky.

Our hotel was the Grand Inn, and by the time we had arrived it was dark and rainy. By this point I was ready to sleep on a proper bed to hopefully wake up refreshed in the morning. Alas, we had an Orientation Walk planned, so dumped bags in rooms and met back in the lobby at 9.30pm. We are quite close to all the main attractions, and have booked a tour tomorrow too.

The others went to the pub but me, Amy, Jen and Dan headed home. Happy 30th Birthday Amy :)

~

We met Boom's "favourite Malaysian" Steven for a whistle stop tour of Penang. He quickly became my favourite Malaysian too, so knowledgeable! First we drove to the Fort Cornwallis, where we learnt a brief history of Penang and the beginnings of Malaysia in general. It was a hot day and he could tell we were sweating standing out in the heat so it was soon back onto the buses.

Our next stop was a Chinese Temple and a lesson on the Soltans and Prime Ministers of past and present. It was fascinating hearing the different ways the Chinese worship and tell their fortunes. We had a few sceptics in our group, and although I did agree it sounded rather sketchy, the fact that people base major decisions on the outcomes is amazing.

We walked along Chew Jetty next, the longest functioning jetty in Penang. It was littered with small shops and cafes. Me and Alison stopped to get water at one shop, only to hear "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.." Our first hint of Christmas so far! It was a clear day and we could see for miles from the end of the jetty.

The next stop for us was the Botanical Garden, my favourite part of the tour. I love a good garden, and this one had it all. There were palm trees, a cactus house, fountains and we even saw a grass snake. As we were leaving we saw some monkeys, an idiot foreigner had just given one of them an ice lolly as we arrived. Luckily he seemed to quite enjoy it.

A long windy drive took us up the hill to the Temple of Supreme Bliss. The three-tiered Buddhist temple, called Kek Lok Si, domineered the hill. There was a humongous gold statue of the Goddess of Mercy at the top and several smaller pagoda and gardens surrounding the area. I loved exploring around here and learning more from Steven about each of our personalities according to the Lunar  Calendar. Being of the Year of the Dog apparently I am gentle but set in my ways?

Lunch was the last stop of our tour, strawberry cooler and chicken rice for me, and we said a fond farewell to Steven. In the morning Boom had given us a Street Art Challenge and so we set off in different groups to try and win. I was with Jen, Dan and Amy. We had to take a selfie with "family on a bike", and find hidden Minions and the Simpsons.

The Street Art was amazing. Some of the pieces were so clever, others were witty and all so well painted. It only started a few years ago and now has become a thing, and quite a tourist attraction. We found the family bike picture quite quickly, and then found a cheeky minion dressed as a ninja. We really struggled to find the Simpsons. After a few hours wandering the streets we decided to head back. I stopped down one alley as spotted Mr Bean, fab photo opportunity, and the others were gone. Unfortunately this didn't improve my Simpson hunting skills and I still got back defeated.

Later that night we celebrated Amy's birthday. We all got dressed up and walked to the Food Garden, basically a food court with various stalls of all the foods possible. I decided to have some plain nachos, I didn't trust my stomach just yet. Boom "surprised" Amy with a cake and we all ended our meals with a slab of delicious black forest.

Now it was time to boogie and so we made our way to Reggae Mansion. Being a group of seventeen, we seem to cause chaos whenever we arrive somewhere. After a fair bit of table shuffling and chair stealing, we took our seats outside. It was a warm night and a reggae band were playing. I was having a great time dancing and singing along, until it rained and we had to run inside.

Cue the "music" and awkward dancing. I was not feeling it at all and it didn't help that the same songs kept playing. Me, Steffen and Amy crept back outside to listen to the band. They played some classics, including Delilah and Smoke on the Water. The others kept bugging us to get back inside, so we danced to a few songs and then straight back out until close. They were a great band I actually  really enjoyed the night.

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