Friday, 22 November 2013

Penang

We took a ferry and then cab to Kimberley Guesthouse.
Arrived at guesthouse around 11am, knackered from the journey. Very friendly reception, big living area, large dorm.
Went out exploring with a tourist map and found the blue mansion - too late for the tour and you can't look inside on your own.
So near, yet so far!
Next, we had a look around a temple.
So near, yet so far!
Then we stopped at a pub run by a friendly English chap from Brighton, and played some pool while receiving advice about TEFL courses and living abroad. On our way home we passed the camera museum, and decided to give it a look.
It's hard to tell from this angle, but this is a 3D piece of art. They're all over Penang.
See? The cameras are protruding from the wall.
Ah, the bygone days of male toy marketing - just use the word 'mission' as much as possible.
Andy taking full advantage of this opportunity to flex what I have dubbed his 'Sam Gardiner bicep' - I hope you read this Sam, you massive Hollister fanboy
This was interesting - you stand where Andy is and your picture appears as below
Going for 'let me out', ended up with a rave pose.
007 in lime green shorts? Why not?

We had a quick peek at a mosque.

We went back for a little siesta, got a bite to eat, and then headed out with a clue of friendlies from the hostel - German Rudi and French Justine. We went to a Reggae bar, which was pretty cool!
Justine and Rudi
Shamelessly nommed on these on the walk home

The next day, we had arranged to meet Justine and catch the Blue Mansion tour. Despite us oversleeping, she was still about, so off we went.

Breakfast

The tour was full, and Justine wasn't going to be around for the next one as she had to catch her flit, so we took more pictures of the outside and vowed to return again tomorrow.

We walked through the market, I picked up a present or two for people at home. We went to the English bar again and played pool. Then we walked Justine to the bus station to see her off. She gave us this nice message before she left:

I spent a nice moment with both of you, It was nice to get to know you and you proved me how bad I am at pool ! Hope to see you again one day ! Maybe in England :)

Justine

Next to the bus station was a typically extravagant Malaysian shopping mall, so we checked that out.

On the way home we got dinner, and I was finally able to try the Marmite chicken I had been lusting after since I saw it on the menu when we arrived (it is only served from 4pm, and sells out very fast). It was surprisingly scrumptious, definitely one I'd like to try cooking myself at home.

Marmite chicken
We went back to the Reggae bar in the evening, and had some shisha. Here's a picture of the wall, on which patrons have written many pearls of wisdom.
Marmite chicken

My favourite: Man made money. Money made man mad.

After this, we grabbed an Old Trafford burger and headed home.
The next day was our final full day in Penang and we wanted to make the most of it. First of all we went back to Blue Mansion (third time!) to once and for all see the inside. The real name for it is Cheung Fat Tze mansion, after the self-made millionaire who built it. Sadly, his legacy was frittered away and the house is no longer in his family's name, but he is still remembered as one of Malaysia's greats.
This room is often hired out for important meetings
Playing 'angry chairman'
Fun with mirrors
With that done, we jumped straight onto a bus and went to snake temple. The bus driver was very helpful in telling us when to get off.
King cobra
Omnomnom
Sivan Temple
We jumped on the bus back, and despite having lost our return tickets we didn't have to pay thanks to the girl in front causing a huge fuss by trying to pay with a 50 ringgit note (stupid Gwai-Los). We went back to the same place as the previous day for dinner and I had another round of delicious Marmite chicken.
Sivan Temple
Marmite chicken chef - yummy!!
In the evening, Davis came with us to the Reggae Bar for some shisha socialising. Rudi joined us halfway through. After shisha we had food from the Man Utd burger stand, then tried to find a good bar or club to spend the night in. We tried a couple of places, including the worst pub I saw for the whole trip: expensive drinks and expensive pool games, unwelcoming atmosphere, uncomfortable seats.. We were halfway out of the door when we realised Rudi had already bought a beer, so we were stuck there for a while. I managed to crowbar my way into the winner-stays-on pool situation that was going on, after we were denied the chance to play against eachother. I beat the winner, who then went to get someone who looked like his dad. So I beat him too. Then Davis had a turn, and I beat him. I was getting into my stride, but everyone had finished their drinks so I was going to have one more game against the first guy. It seemed they had had enough of me though as he and all his friends insisted that I leave the table. So we went off in search of a new place, laughing at our conquest.
Marmite chicken chef - yummy!!
No luck finding a decent bar, so we decided to do a 7/11 run and bought the strongest, cheapest beers we could find. They were absolutely disgusting, we couldn't finish them. After Andy and I took the others to the English bar and found it empty, we admitted defeat and headed home.
Marmite chicken chef - yummy!!
7/11 crawl
Davis, Rudi and Andy

We packed our stuff in the morning and went out to seek a bus to Phuket. We found one that was leaving at 4pm, and caught that, bidding farewell to Malaysia once again, but knowing we would be back very soon.

 

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