Had to do the second part of penang blog separately! sorry guys.

Friday 16th Oct - I slept so well last night, in my big bed :-D Today I am off to meet my friend Ray Chang, who I met in Phuket last week in Georgetown, the capital place of Penang. I took the bus from outside the hotel, and did not understand why the staff at reception were making such a big fuss about my safety and my belongings - I think they want to scare you, so you don't go out of the hotel, and spend more money there!! The bus was clean and everyone on it was friendly...all 3 people! It was great to see Ray, a friendly face after days of not really talking to many people! It was absolutely swealtering walking around in the heat, we got on the free shuttle bus to cool down! the town is very small, there's not much to see really at all. We stopped for some lunch in little india - which was manic, as it's deepavali!! the noise, the hustle and bustle, the smells, it was madness. In the indian restaurant there were many families eating a celebratory divali meal, which consisted of bannana leaf, instead of plates! on the tables, then the staff pouring huge mounds of rice, and gloopy looking meats and veg in absoulte heaps onto their "leafs/plates" then they all started tucking in, eating with one of their hands! pinching their fingers together and scooping it all into the mouths. The food was goine within a minute and they were leaving. It was interesting to watch! but I am a proper westerner, I don't like the idea of people eating with their hands! it's how I've been brought up - shows the difference in culture aye?! We stopped for a drink at a backpacker bar, and watchd the world go by. I left on the bus around 6pm, after Rau kindly gave me his spare USB cable, as I lost mine!! think I actually threw it out with a pizza box! whoops. The traffic was heavy and I didnt get back to the hotel until 7.30pm

sat 17th - stayed on the beach today, it was unbearably hot, so spent a lot of timein the sea hiding from VJ! lol There is a wedding tonight on the beach, and because it's divali, the beach was very loud today with people doing activites, so I found a little cove all to myself...and VJ still managed to bloody find me on his jetski!! damn bloke lol. he means well I suppose. 2 more days and I am off to Borneo it's decided!! then I have 10 days to play with, before I head to Bangkok to meet Rick. He suggested he came over to Malaysia after his tour, but I really want to go to Bangkok with somebody.

sun 18th - same as yesterday, stayed on beach. This evening all mushy wedding songs were playing, and making me sad! luckily a huge gang of indians started letting off fireworks on the beach, right in front of my balcony! it was great, and they were making loud music with some banging instruments, so it drowned the mush out! They were having a whale of a time, and there was me in my pants watching it all and laughing from my 22nd floor lol!! There were lots of fires on the beach, and people dancing around. Someone had made a huge heart shape out of fire and candles in the sand, which again made me get mushy, and look at my little bracelet and let out a little sigh (me and rick bought matching little bracelets to wear while we're not with eachother in Singapore where we said goodbye to remember eachother by, incase I was to go home and not see eachother for months) I do miss him, when I've got all this time on my hands to think about things.

mon 19th - My last day in penang!! I lay on the beach, even though it is cloudy and overcast. The chinese are so amusing, they are making the most intricate complicated sandcastles i have ever seen, so much effort and deadly serious, with their parents madly taking photos every half a second! and they look about my age too! not young, they are funny. I booked 2 nights in a hostel in Kota Kinabalu (KK) Spent my last evening packing my things, relaxing. It's actually weirdly spiritual sitting on the balcony in the sunset, with the men in the mosques preying/singing into the speakers in the high towers, it echoes all over the mountains, it's really nice. Looking forward to being in a hostel and talking to people, and also the couple I met in Phuket who are from derby are in KK the same time as me, so hopefully can meet up with them.