Day 102 Thursday April 25, 2024, Penang, Malaysia

Arrival: 10:00 All Aboard: 18:30 Departure: 19:00

Prior to arriving in Penang a remembrance service was held on the pool deck to recognize Anzac Day April 25 which I attended. This is like Remembrance Day in Canada and the UK and Memorial Day in the United States. Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corp) Day recognizes those who made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts throughout their history. Many of the Australians and Kiwis on board attended the service, I do not think there was a dry eye after the service.

We have arrived at our second port in Malaysia. Penang is a Malaysian state that is separated in two, Penang Island where the capital city George Town is located and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula.

Penang is one of 13 states in Malaysia. Its population is 1.7 million while the capital city of George Town has just half of the population with 795K. The city itself has been recognized back in 2008 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca. You can see this in the city centre of George Town with its well-preserved architectural buildings.

It is for this reason we decided along with our friends Jean and Pete to go exploring on ourselves. As we make our way out of the cruise terminal we are hounded by taxi drivers who do not take no for an answer. They continue pressing until one of us succumbs and we decide to take a two-hour tour through the city.

Our first stop was to the Upside-Down Museum. As the name suggests everything is upside down. It took a while to get used to it. There seemed to be more staff than visitors while we were here. I will apologize right now if you think my pictures don't look proper.

Travelling throughout the Far East, every tour will make an obligatory stop to the Buddhist or Hindu Temples and here was no exception.

There were parts of the city where street art was common but we did not have time to walk in these areas.

A drive through Chinatown was also on the tour as roughly 41% of the population is of Chinese dissent.

The two-hour tour was coming to an end and the four of us wanted lunch. Our guide suggested a Malaysian restaurant of chicken and rice. When we arrived, it did not look promising. Across the street was the Pies & Ales Restaurant with air conditioning, sold we would eat here! Three of us choose Mexican dishes while the other one chose Meat Pie, Chucky Chips and Baked Beans. Who was different? They even had HP sauce.

After lunch we walked back to the ship. I had hoped to rest a bit and then wander out for some more pictures, but the high temperatures made my decision for me, I would remain on board.

It was going to be a very slow cruise to our final port in Malaysia, Langkawi only 75 nautical miles away.