Penang

After 12hrs cramped up in a minivan we finally arrived in the China Town district of Georgetown, Penang around 8pm. The place had a nice feel to it & very much reminded me of China Town in London (except warmer of course), with lots of Chinese restaurants, signs and the hustle & bustle. Steph & I were on backpack watching duty whilst East & Rod went off in search of accommodation. You get slightly less for your money in Malaysia than Thailand, so if you want cheap cheap, you get a cardboard room that wouldn't look out of place in a brothel. We settled on a slightly higher class of room at Banana Guesthouse - another Lonely Planet recommendation! By this time we were starving, so bags in & off we went to get some grub. We were based really central, so didn't have to look far for the hawker market street food, which we'd heard was gorgeous. We ordered big plate of noodles, but I think all of us agreed that they were not a patch on Thai street food.

Rod had been suffering with really bad ear ache so the following morning he & Steph went in search of a doctor whilst East & I, armed with our map, went to check out the city! We saw a few of the architectural buildings & paid a visit to Little India to have a look for a good place to go for dinner that night. In the afternoon we caught a local bus (something we hadn't done since South America) and went to visit the Botanical Gardens! It was really nice to have a relaxing stroll around the park & seeing the little kids feeding crisps to the cheeky monkeys, which I'm sure isn't part of their staple diet. Later that evening the four of us went to a traditional Indian restaurant where it was common practice to eat with your fingers. Rod & Steph were in their element as it reminded them of being back in India, and the food was delicious! However we managed to save room for a BBQ'd corn on the cob on the way home (my favourite!)

We had originally come to Penang because the Lonely Planet had said that you could catch a boat from here in Sumatra in Indonesia, however the boats had been stopped the end of last year. So after working out our plans for our last three weeks East & I decided that we were in need of a relaxing few weeks that involved as little travelling as possible, so a week on the Perinthian Islands it was! As it would be the last time we'd see Rod & Steph before we were back on home soil we all spent the day together just checking out the sites, cameras happy snapping & visiting the huge shopping mall, that looked a little out of place for its surroundings. Even though we didn't really buy a great deal, it was nice to window shop! To finish for the day we went to a proper Malay restaurant for dinner before East & I had to catch the overnight bus to Perinthian…where we will be seriously working on our tans!!