Penang
We started our long coach journey (10 hours) from Singapore to Penang in Malaysia early in the morning, the coach was so modern, it was like flying in business class for Virgin (although I never done that before)They had reclining seats with lots and lots of leg room, foot rests and leg rests that moved up and down, forward and back, individual video screens with a choice of films to watch. Jasper got so excited and started playing with the remote control finding out what films they were showing, although Jasper and Mia ended up sleeping most of the journey.
We arrived at the hotel in a resort just outside George Town and there were no room booked for us, even though I had confirmation of the room I already booked back in September, they were very helpful and we got a room in the end, we were very lucky as it was the Christmas period. It was a lovely old Colonial style hotel, we had sea view from our balcony to this beautiful beach with palm trees swaying all along the beach. Although I can't write much about the resort we stayed in, very touristy and no character to the place at all. We talked to some people who were going back here year after year, why I have no idea of.
We had a jungle trek in Penangs National park where we saw monkeys and monitor lizards, it was amazing seeing these lizards, never seen such a big lizards before. We came across some amazing beeches and forests. We also visited a tropical fruit farm and sampled some amazing fruits, tropical fruits I never heard of before. We had an afternoon and evening in George Town and took a trishaw ride, I almost regretted doing this as it didn't feel right to have this old thin Chinese man pedaling us three around the town. However it was an event, slightly scary as we were cycled around in some areas with a lot of traffic and our Rishaw driver just pulled out in front of cars, buses and trucks hoping for them to stop, which they thankfully did. We saw some beautiful buildings but we didn't spend enough time in George Town to get a real feel for the place.
Langkawi
We continued our journey to Langkawi which took us 3 hours on the ferry from Penang, when we arrived I was shocked how many taxis there were, but no drivers. Can you believe it we had to que up to get a taxi. I been so used for the past 2 months being hassled by 10 or so rickshaw drivers as soon as I arrive to a place and in Langkawi we had que up and wait for a taxi.
We arrived to our room that was right on the beach and it was absolutely beautiful. We had some very lazy days on the beach before we did a couple of trips, one day we went out to an island snorkeling which was amazing saw so many colourful fish, swimming so close, almost touching us. We also saw a baby shark, a bit scary. However the best day was when we went out on a sailing boat sailing for a whole day, there was a really nice group of people and we had such a fun day. Stopped at a beautiful bay swimming of the boat, canoeing and eating a fantastic lunch. We then continued to a deserted island which I swam to from the boat, Mia had seen a water snake but I don't think it was dangerous, so I swam back to the boat as well, it is nothing better than swimming in a calm sea. We spent quite a few evenings watching the sun set at the Babylon Matt Lounge a beach bar that we loved with great music they also had BBQ's a live band in the evenings. The sun sets were especially nice here as there were so many cloud formations in the sky which created some fantastic colours in the sky. New year was great and Jasper and Mia said it was the best New Years Eve ever, not bad considering they were spending it with their mum. It was a great big beach party with lots of people, live music, fireworks and I got to dance in the sand barefoot we had lots of fun.
Then it was time to head back, we had one more night in Penang before we caught the bus to Singapore. We stayed in George Town in Penang in a World Heritage building that was just so amazing, we loved it. It was so nice just strolling around in this huge mansion called Cheng Fatt Ze Mansion and adore all the beautiful details and interiors. If you ever go to Penang I can highly recommend it.
The children left early this morning and it feels very empty after they gone, but I flew to Bangkok this morning and am also very excited coming to a new place and looking forward to see this part of the world.
It is interesting travelling from one country to another studying and getting used to the differences in people such as language, the way people look, act and food etc. Somehow it becomes very noticeable
