Penang

After the painful evening in Ipoh, we take the 5 hour coach up to Butterworth so we can get the ferry over to Penang.
Whilst in KL, I had heard everyone raving about Penang so I was expecting a more or less 'party beach town' and quite looking forward to going to a) get a tan and b) get drunk! (only the latter happened).

A very nice Chinese lady started talking to us on the coach and she was literally going to the same street, 'Love Lane' which is where our accommodation was, and she showed us the way as soon as we got off the ferry.. again, saving us around 30 minutes of asking people and getting the trusty map out.

We had booked into Reggae Mansion (the same company as our hostel in KL) and we aimed straight for it. Ben led the way and we tried to check in but there was no booking for us? We asked and Ben got his emails up as he had paid the deposit. Then, a very helpful young man told us the hostel we were in, wasn't the Reggae Mansion, but another one, and the one we wanted, was simply next door. Ben lost major captain points for this. (Just to fill you in, if you do something wrong on the trip, you lose your captain staus and go down in the ranks. Ben managed to fully downgrade himself on this occasion to the bottom rank, Community Support.

Now one person I must mention from Reggae Mansion, is Smart Casual Man. Smart Casual, is a man who works there but just can't seem to decide what he wants to wear. Most guys would wear a shirt with trousers, or a t shirt with casual shorts. Not this dude! He would wear a shirt, waistcoat, beach shorts, trainers and on some occasions, a Michael Jackson esque glove! Ahh we love Smart Casual!!! He also had very few teeth and we could never understand what he was saying but we just nodded and smiled! Oh bless him.

Finally sat in the correct hostel, we all de-Ipoh ourselves with lovely showers, a decent meal and for me, a nice little nap! As soon as I wake up Caroline and Ben are on the ball and lookimg at flights for our next stop, Borneo. Within 30 or so minutes, flights booked and that was that.

Our first full day in Penang and all we could think about was the beach. We hopped on the 101 and low and behold, it was only an hour and a half away!!! Good thing that bus had AC! Not impressed.
During the bus journey a girl started talking to Caroline... and she literally has not left our side since. Becky is from Essex and on a round the world trip for a year. She comes to the beach with us that day, then says she is off to Langkawi the same day we are and we obviously invite her along (always more the merrier) then she comes back to our hostel for a bit and then all of a sudden... after knowing us for approxiamelty 6 hours, she had booked her flight to Borneo with us! We like to call this day, 'the day Becky picked us up on the bus' or 'the day we found Becky'.

To celebrate our new found friend and travel companion, we go out for a nice curry which almost blew my head off. Walking back to the Raggae, we bump into Michael.. Michael is someone we briefly knew from KL and after dinner, he came by for some ahem, many drinks and then we pretty much didn't get rid of him either for a few days! :) Beer, vodka and gin seemed to flow rather well when Michael was around (and then blaming us youngen's for keeping him out late).

Me, Michael, Becky, Caroline and Ben (taking a break from some intense card playing)

Beach on Penang

Now, I'm going to be quite complementary here.. Michael suggested that we all go out and try some street food (which I have no idea why we hadn't done that yet) and it was incredible. We sat on the side of the road, I had my Starfruit juice in a bag that cost 30p and then my pork noodle soup was a shocker at 50p! So, thank you for that. Also, Michael proved to be quite the interesting American. He is a travel blogger/writer (www.goseewrite.com) and has been to over 60 countries and more or less travels only by land.
More £1 drinks started to arrive and later on Shithead starts (a card game) and the competitiveness is rife! The banter gets serious and no one wants to lose.. apart from Ben who just can't help it, and the fact that he is still learning whether a 7 is higher than a 4! :)

Smart Casual Man!

Overall our time in Penang wasn't what I expcted but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Apart from the beach issue, but I can get over that. We find Becky, Michael (who then decides to come to Langkawi with us). Find out about amazing street food, share ridiculously drunken stories, and learn that card games really are serious fun and not to be taken lightly! Oh, and finally see the famous 'Old Trafford Burger' van!


Next stop, Langkawi Island.. and jeez.. have I got a story for you then!