Penang, Penang, How we Love You, Penang

Sunday morning after breakfast with Suzie we set off for the bus stop to catch a ride to Penang. We went with the first guy who asked us if we needed a bus and he organized the bus for us to Penang for RM$38 each. This was the price on the ticket so I think we got a fair deal. (And since this is essentially what we paid from the border to KL and it is approximately the same distance I don’t think we were ripped off – or at least not too much – on our first bus ride.) We sat on the bus about 30 minutes waiting for it to fill up so we could head out and then we were off. This bus was just like our last bus with the large, luxury seats, but only one story and we were right behind the driver.

Soon after leaving the bus terminal and shortly after we got on the motorway the bus driver received the first of about 15 call on his cell phone, all of which he proceeded to answer despite the full bus of passengers, busy roads, and crazy motorcyclists everywhere. He even answered a few during a torrential downpour we were in at one point during the ride. Now this type of behavior is totally unacceptable in America, and any other 1^st world nation, but over here there is just nothing you can do. You just have to roll you eyes, hope for the best, and try not to think about your current situation, barreling down the highway towards you likely demise from a bus accident.

About 2 hours into our 5 hour bus trip we stopped for our only toilet break. There was no food at this rest stop so there was no lunch on Sunday. After all piling off, using the toilet, and piling back onto the bus, we were about to take off when the bus was flagged down by an elderly man. Apparently his bus had left him there during their toilet break. After a long conversation with the bus driver he was let onto the bus. Now this elderly man was very, very slow at moving (I can see how he could get left behind although I do not understand why the bus driver actually did. They count all the passengers to make sure everyone is there before they leave.) and had terrible arthritis in his hands. His fingers were going in every which direction, he could barely grab onto anything. Elizabeth and I were right in the front row and this guy was having trouble moving. The bus driver was going to make this guy stand on the stairs (which I can only imagine would be a very difficult task for him to balance) so I told the driver he could have my seat. The driver understood English well and I know he knew what I said but still told the old man to stand on the stairs and then started driving the bus. The man obviously could not move at this point since he was too unbalanced, but I just felt terrible. Plus, since we didn’t know what was going on since we don’t speak Malay we didn’t know how long he was going to have to stand there.

About 10 minutes later we pulled into a bus terminal to offload some passengers and let others on. I thought maybe the older gentleman would be meeting up with his original bus at this terminal but he ended up back on ours. At this point I insisted he take me seat (as it was the first seat on the bus) and I moved farther back. We then continued like this for another 2 hours passing through another rain shower or two but rather uneventfully.

The passengers on are bus were all going to different places and not all in the same direction. About 30 minutes from our destination our bus pulled over and all the passengers for Penang (where we were going) were herded off the bus and onto another one. With our luggage in tow we followed suit, not really understanding at all what was happening. Onto another bus we went, switching places with passengers from that bus, and off to Penang. I’m not sure where our original bus was planning to terminate but at least one passenger on that bus was going to Myanmar. It’s so strange here being so close to so many countries. People are just going in every which direction all the time!

Upon arriving at the bus terminal in Penang we caught a taxi to our hotel and settled into our new “home” here in Malaysia, a children’s hospital where some of the rooms have been converted into a hotel. Yes, that’s right, we are staying at a children’s hospital that is still a working children’s hospital. If we get back too late or leave in the morning before the receptionist arrives (which here means before 10 am) we have to exit through the hospital doors. Now it’s not really that weird since it’s not like a big hospital and we aren’t sleeping in western hospital beds (although Elizabeth suspects the beds we are sleeping in were once hospital beds) but it does create for an interesting environment. Almost every wall is a different color, the place is childproofed and the decorations are interesting. Plus there are no shoes in the hotel or hospital so we are required to leave them at the front door when we are there. A bit strange but seems to be more of a custom here in Penang as we’ve seen this in salons and tea houses as well.

Settled in, we stayed true to our Malaysian habits and headed straight to the mall for dinner. These travel days tend to leave us hungry and craving a nice, big, healthy meal. Plus, most of the food we had in KL (and most of what we’ve seen in Malaysia) was covered in lots of sauces or fried or both. It was not the healthy food we were used to eating in Singapore. This in mind we set out looking for something healthy, like Sushi, and found just the place. We had a wonderful dinner, complete with something like 10 cups of green tea each and then ended up staying awake until about 2:30am from all the caffeine I would be happy not to repeat the green tea mistake again so close to bed time, but the food was fabulous and just what we needed.

Monday morning we woke to a rainy day. Elizabeth had picked out a nice café in town for us, Mugshot Café, and had planned a route to walk. Upon walking about 2 blocks, however, I decided I just did not want to walk an hour in the rain to get to the café, especially since the rain started to pick up the farther we walked. After trying to board the bus in the wrong direction, we finally got ourselves sorted and onto the correct bus into town.

The bus ride was maybe 15 minutes through a bit of traffic, but the stop ended up being right in front of the café. You couldn’t ask for something more convenient! We had their signature bagels (which were not very similar to American bagel – they were not very dense, more like bread than a bagel) a coffee each and a nice chat with the couple next to us, an American girl from NYC who had wonderful things to say about her trip to Minneapolis and her boyfriend from Milan.

Following breakfast we set out in search of a map which we found at a nearby budget hotel. Maps and brochures in hand we wandered the city for most of the day, stopping for coffee and tea once, visiting the information center to pick up more brochures, going to many of the merchants in town that still make goods the traditional way – by hand, getting our eyebrows threaded, having an Indian lunch, and generally walking in circles around little India all day. There was one intersection I’m sure we went through 6 or more times and in all different directions. We had a wonderful day, though the rain kept coming and going, and finally boarded a bus back to the hotel about 4:30.

Big mistake! This was peak traffic time, we were leaving the “CBD” of Georgetown and heading for the “suburbs” (if you can even use these terms) and I believe our bus driver had a goal of getting himself in the middle of as many traffic jams as possible. I’m sure it took us an hour to get home. Now I don’t want to complain too much as I got in a 2 minute nap, we got to see most of the city at a very slow pace, and we didn’t have to walk in the rain – priceless. But I will tell you right now, if I wave down a bus and that driver pulls up, I will be waiting for the next one.

We got back late and although we had no clothes and desperately needed to do our laundry it just wasn’t in the cards. There is no laundry at our hotel, you have to walk about 30 minutes, and we just couldn’t be bothered. The receptionist offered to give us a ride but the idea of having to sit there for 1 hour and then wait for a ride home was too exhausting. Instead we had a short rest in our room and then headed for dinner.

Since it was raining and we were tired from being up so late the night before we decided to take the bus back to the mall and have sushi again. No walking involved and another healthy meal. We waited at the bus stop maybe 15 minutes and the bus never came (side note: the mall is only maybe a 15 minute walk, we could have been there by now!). We finally decided to start walking towards the mall, hoping it would show up then, but it never came. We were waiting for the same bus number we had taken home earlier that day, the 10. There must be something wrong with that line.

One good thing from this waiting situation is we met a wonderful lady, Mira Jane, a native Penangian (spelling?). She was very nice and we have invited her to join us for Sushi one night while we are here. We have her cell number but we don’t have a cell phone here. Our goal for tomorrow is to find a phone we can use and get in contact with her!

We eventually got to the mall, had another great sushi dinner, went to Starbucks for a coffee and chat after, and got back after 11. I did my legercises, read a bit, and then it was off to bed about 1:30am. I’m not sure what happened but our sleep/waking scheduled has changed completely since getting to Penang. Well, I do know, it was the green tea, but man it has had quite an effect.

After a second night of going to bed late we did not even get up until about 9:30am on Tuesday. After showering and getting ready we headed back to town for breakfast. The rain was coming down even harder than Monday so it was clearly the bus again for us. We caught the fabulous 101 into town and got there in a flash as we were way past rush hour this time.

Elizabeth had seen a café the day before she wanted to try out so we got off at a different stop closer to that café. After reviewing their menu we realized it was  no go, so we went back to Mugshot. We got some coffee, some bread, and settled in for a little relaxed breakfast.

Lately we have been having so much fun meeting all these new people – Richard and Guessy, Steven, the couple from Monday, Mira Jane, etc… - that we are now trying to share most of our meals with strangers. This also lets us confirm that our guesses are correct (or incorrect) from “Where are the white people from?” There were a few good options this morning – people dining by themselves who could likely use some company – but the winner was Tom, an Englishman who has been living in Thailand for two and a half years. We spent probably about 2 hours with him, asking him all about his life – his past, his current life, his future goals and plans – and playing “Where are the white people from?” We had a fabulous time as Tom was very open to answering our questions honestly and enjoyed our game as well. We have invited ourselves to visit him when we pass through Phuket and I think he may take us up on the offer. Can’t wait to see you Tom!

At 2pm Tom had to go off an take care of his visa for Thailand. We said goodbye to most of the people in the café (since we had met most of them through our game by this point) and went off to see a few more of the local trade merchants. Then it was time for a proper Chinese tea service. We had found a Chinese tea house the day before but did not have time so we returned Tuesday evening for tea.

The daughter of the owner, Sui, helped us with the tea service. She is a wonderful girl – 11 days younger than me, we are both Aquarius - and we are planning to meet up with her again before we leave for a nice lunch or morning coffee. It is so nice to be making so many friends! Next – boyfriends for both of us – Asia, you better watch out!

The time started approaching 4:30 and we knew we had to leave or we would be stuck in traffic forever. Instead of making the mistake we made the day before and taking the 10 home, we returned to the every reliable 101 and had a rather quick trip back.

Then, it was laundry time. We both wore pretty much our last clean items Tuesday day so there was no avoiding it. The only problem is the lady who had offered to give us a ride the day before we not working and the girl who was at the front desk couldn’t read a map of her own city and thus couldn’t tell us where the Laundromat was. Elizabeth had seen one the day before from the bus window but it was so far away. Turns out it was the closest one.

We packed our dirt clothes in backpacks and headed off. After our long pilgrimage in the rain we finally arrived at the Laundromat. We were able to wash and dry our clothes for RM$10 (US$2.90) and it only took 1 hour total. While we were there a woman was washing more green items than I have ever seen at once. The items were already in the washing machine when we got there but when she took them out it just never stopped. It was like Mary Poppins’s magic carpetbag but where everything inside is green and made of fabric. It was amazing!

By the time our clothes were done it was approaching 8 pm and we were hungry and tired. We needed to eat – and knew Sushi was once again the answer – but didn’t want to walk all the way back to the hotel and then back again to the mall. About 2 blocks from the Laundromat we saw just down the street what could possibly have been the mall (from a different direction than we usually arrive). I suggested we just go straight to dinner and Elizabeth agreed. In my mind I was thinking I really wished I had something nicer to wear and then it dawned on me – I had most of my clothes in my backpack and they were now all clean! What a wonderful discovery! Now I understand why people get backpacks instead of suitcases, they can then always have their clean clothes with them. Ingenious!

We changed before dinner then had some great Japanese food and returned to our hotel for bed.

All in all Penang on the first 2 days treated us better than KL could in a lifetime. Since first arriving we felt safe. The people are friendly, the streets are clean, and there are so many fewer creepy men than KL you almost don’t notice them. There is character to the city, the drivers are better, and everything is just easier. The residents are welcoming and the other white people are interesting. We will likely overstay our original plan for Penang – extending to possibly 2 weeks all up – due to the wonderful nature of the city and the people. Penang, you have redeemed Malaysia for us, thank you!