This was our one and only day on the island of Penang, as tomorrow we fly to Bangkok to meet up with Chris. We considered our options of how to spend the day - Cody had suggested hiking in the National Park - too hot, we could go to the beach - too hot, or get the bus to Georgetown and explore some of the world heritage city, hopefully including some air conditioned buildings - sold!

We got up at a reasonable-ish time as we wanted to make the most of our sight-seeing day, and took the bus into Georgetown. We'd picked up a map in the hostel so were able to work out where to get off and see how to get to the sights. We realised we were quite near Fort Cornwallis, but when we got there we couldn't find how to get inside so we gave up! We started walking into the pain part of the city and then decided to stop at a café for some breakfast/lunch. I was craving Western food so had peanut butter toast which was delicious! Dave also had toast (with sausage and cheese) and we got coconut pancake rolls for dessert. The coffees were, according to Dave, the best we've had during the whole trip - and cost 20p each!

Suitably refreshed, we headed out into the heat and towards an old mansion called The Penang Peranakan mansion. We'd read that they do tours so we went to see what time they were on. A very friendly man greeted us at the mansion and gave us a leaflet. When we asked about a tour he was very apologetic when telling us the guides were on their lunch break, but if we came back at 2pm we could do a tour then - perfect!

We walked a bit further in the stifling heat and found our way to a temple called the Khoo Kongsi temple, which belongs to the Khoo Kongsi clan and was completed in 1906. It features amazing Chinese architecture and must have taken so long to finish. On our way back to the mansion we found a barbers, and since Dave hadn't had his hair cut since before Christmas he decided to get it done. The young barber seemed surprised when Dave said he wanted it all shaved, but did a very good job, all for the sum of £2.

On to our tour of the Penang Peranakan mansion. We paid our cheap entry fee and were given a receipt saying '2 Adults White'! We were a little early but were introduced to our personal guide who started the tour straight away. The mansion is the former home of Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee, a Chinese immigrant, and showcases over 1000 antiques and collectiables depicting the life of the Chinese settlers at the time. There were tiles from England, steel from Glasgow, and lots of decorative furniture including opium beds (where people would lie to smoke opium) and the wedding bed which was only used on the night of a wedding. We were shown a small basket (see picture) which, the guide explained, would be put under the bed on the wedding night containing one male and one female chicken. The next morning the groom's parents would come in the room and open the basket. If the male chicken came out first that meant the child that had been conceived that night would be male, and female if the female chicken came out first. If they both came out together, it would be twins, but if neither came out it meant that there was no baby and the man could choose another wife! I'm not sure how long they gave the chickens to come out - seems a bit harsh on the bride! The tour was very informative and interesting - well worth the entrance fee!
Afterwards, we were tired out so got the bus back to our hostel and spent a few hours relaxing before heading out for the evening. Batu Ferringhi has a market every night, so we had a wander around on our way to find a restaurant. We ate in an Indian restaurant and had a Malaysian beef curry recommended by the waitress, along with Dave's usual of chicken tikka massala! After another look through the market, we headed back to the hostel to drink some apple vodka and chat with our fellow backpackers. We met a lad from York, who was pleased to meet some people who'd lived there!
Later on, we skyped Chris who was in Qatar waiting for his second flight to Bangkok. We worked out a plan for meeting him at the airport tomorrow! Really looking forward to seeing him and travelling around Thailand together!