I was running low on cash. I had 6 x 1 bills (.35 cents each) + 2 x 100 bills ($35 each) which I didnt want to break and just convert them to Indonesian money for the next leg. I had spent 3.50Rm on lunch and had just enough with change to pay the 2.70Rm (.90 cents) bus fare back to the airport.

I left the city at 2.30 and it took an hour to get to the airport. There I went to exchange the 200Rm ($66) I had left over. The first counter offered to give me 550,000IDR which didnt sound right. The counter beside was only offering 500,000IDR so I went to the first one. Now he rounded it and gave me 580,000IDR ($58). I only had a .50 coin left (.15 cents) so couldnt buy a water bottle with that.

Penang is a large island and reminded me of Taiwan with the large city in the top and elaborate temples and small towns in the country. On take off I had a clear view of the airport and of the new land crossing being built close to the airport.

Every country in Asia will stamp your passport with an entry and exit stamp so I was trying to keep them organized on the same two pages as I had run out of pages on my old passport and had to get a new one made.

In Indonesia I had to pay $25 USD for an entry visa. He wanted to know why I was "one person" then proceeded to take a whole page with his visa sticker even though I'm just here for two days.

Medan previously had an airport close to the city centre you could almost walk from. However weeks before my flight I get emails from the airlines advising operations have been moved to a massive new facility on the coast about 40km from town named Kualanamur which I'm sure people will get mixed up with Kuala Lumpur

Fortunately this new airport is the only one in Indonesia to have an airport link to the city centre, but I was worried about my 8am return flight and how early the trains would start running.

Train fares are 80,000IDR ($8) but due to the new opening they were offering special fares of 60,000IDR ($6). They also gave me a schedule that says trains start from 4am so I would be able to catch my 8am flight on the 6.15am train.

The train ride takes 45 mins and is still using old carriages as the new modern Korean light rail trains have not been delivered yet. Its still a novelty as locals young and old lined the train route as it passed thru their rural homes. It was also nice seeing entire extended families come to the airport to greet family members

I had 4 seats to myself and the other four seats across the aisle had a young Indonesian guy. He kept staring right at me so I thought nothing of it but it became a bit annoying. Every time I looked up he was staring right at me then would look away. So I shook my head muttering to 'make sure you get a good look' wondering if he's ever seen a foreigner before.

Then he moved over from his four seats and sat opposite me which was even more strange. He kept playing this game of staring at me and looking away which I was finding all rather strange.

Then he started talking in english, asked me if I was a visitor, where I was from, what I am doing here. He actually spoke very good english, told me he had arrived from Aceh island, and was a nursing teacher.

He wanted to know if he could help me with anything which seemed a bit strange for a total stranger on an airport train but maybe he was just being friendly. I showed him a picture of a temple and he said its an hour outside town but that he could take me on his motorcycle

Again, this was quite strange to offer a total stranger on a train a ride for one hour there and back on your motorcycle. Then he was offering to take me to my hotel thinking I didnt know my way around, but I had maps and had checked the internet.

When we got out he took me to a tuk tuk driver that wanted 40,000IDR ($4) to goto my hotel. I just didnt feel comfortable going with the guy from the train, I didnt know who he was, he could be some scammer working the airport train with a fake piece of luggage. I've met people like this before so was being very cautious.

I decided it best to walk as I wanted to get my bearings so I knew how to get back here for my early train back to the airport. Plus the cab was asking too much and dropped his price to 30,000IDR ($3) when I was leaving. Actual price is 20,000IDR ($2) as I was to find later.

The guy from the train had given me his cell number and email so he could have in fact been innocent and just trying to be helpful and friendly. Maybe I would call him tomorrow to meet for dinner.