Catchphrase: Saya hanya makan sayuran... no seriously.
Where were we... sorry, we jumped around a fair bit this week... so if it looks like i'm all over the place - it's because we were! Ha! Jealous much?
Penang happenings:
So we left the relatively cooler cameron highlands (insert sobbing here) for penang, just off the west coast. This meant we had to catch a FERRY which was all sorts of excitement. Not to mention it's amazingly sweet paint job. I love all the colours here, everything they paint is so welcoming and joyous.
Georgetown - the city on penang - is world heritage listed, so it's filled with all these beautiful derelict terrace buildings and mansions. We staying at the blue diamond hostel, a grand old hotel with huge rooms and EXTREMELY squeaky beds... which kept us entertained for a bit too long. The hostel was also home to a few local bar flies that advised us not to be like paul keating on this trip. It will be difficult but we'll do our best.
And because we were only spending one night in penang (before heading to langkawi the next day) we thought we'd be responsible and get an early night. Little did we know that the blue diamond GOES OFF with a live cover band right next to our room until the wee hours. The only person to sleep through it all was Clare. She is a strange one.
Langkawi happenings:
Ahh langkawi - the byron bay of malaysia. We came for the beach and then ended up taking some with us. We're still finding it in our bags. Unfortunately, langkawi was a well deserved tourist mecca, with idyllic beaches, hot weather and cheap eats. Although, it was difficult to find a restaurant that didn't cater to western tastes in the town where we stayed.
And the peeps here are super tanned! Here i was in a rash vest, broad brimmed hat sitting under the shade of a palm tree while folk were intentionally frying themselves silly. Not only that, but i managed to tan as well :( Mel = 0 Sun = 1 (Malaysian round) But it's all good... i can just buy some of that sweet SPF 90+ whitening cream before i go home to go back to pasty goodness. Never fear ;)
Malaysia happenings:
We spent a night in langkawi and then took another ferry (!!!) back to the mainland. To get back from Alor Setar to KL we boarded a SLEEPER TRAIN (which is exactly what it sounds like) We were all pretty excited, especially clare, who was so excited about being on a sleeper she didn't get any sleep at all.
We got to KL Sentral station at 6am in the morning... and while we were sitting getting our bearings there was a MINI YELLOW VULTURE in the food court eating leftovers. Truely! I thought i was hallucinating when i saw one back home in melbourne, but now we've all shared a collective hallucination in malaysia people believe me! These things are out there you guys!
And that's about it really. We stayed another fabulous night at yu's place, (thanks yu!) before flying out the next day to vietnam. But because this has gone on far too long i'm going to stop there.
Stay feisty,
xxx mel
