Gong Xi Fa Cai

Penang was an interesting place and I say that in the nicest possible way.  

I arrived on Chinese new year's day (23 Feb).  It was late afternoon by the time I ventured into town and was surprised by the lack of activity.   Even people..... Just no-one around and hardly anything open.   I walked for around and hour before I found somewhere open for a beer ..... And that seemed to be the only place open.  I imagined CNY to be a big party time but it's actually very family oriented hence the lack of life in the place.  As it was, I ended up in a bloody Brit bar, eating fish and chips whilst listening to their "Best of the 80's" collection.  Reminded me of a few good tunes to download mind you...   :-) 

The next day was pretty much the same - I visited a few Chinese temples, hindu temples and islamic mosques.   This place us a real mix of cultures - in Little India, the bollywood music was booming out at top pitch and a few  cafes were serving really good food at rock bottom prices.  It was really interesting to see how the different religions happily co-existed alongside each other....I wonder why it doesn't work like this elsewhere in the world ?

In Chinatown (actually, pretty much all of the town is Chinatown),  I managed to catch a NY celebration at one of the temples - lion dancing, loads of noise and firecrackers.  I was conscious of butting into a celebration for the locals so kept a discrete distance from proceedings but one little old man beckoned me in and took the time to explain to me what was happening.  He was so sweet and invited me to join his family at the free buffet afterwards. I was not sure but felt rude to say no.  They were very welcoming but most of the time,   I had no idea what was going on or what  I was eating......however, when the pigs trotters arrived, I knew it was time to move on. I did not want to outstay my welcome so bade my farewells to Lin and his family and moved on.  

Life got a million times better (food wise that is) that evening.... I discovered a little wine bar near my hotel .  It's called "that little wine bar"..... And boy, did they do some serious wine.  I had a cheese plate for dinner (it was actually one of the desserts  but I have missed cheese so much   I had it main :-). ).  I could have eaten it all night despite the calories and cholesterol.  Pure bliss on a plate.  And the place was run by a scouser ?!?? 

Next day, I ventured out on the bus. The bus service in Penang is amazing, about 50p a ticket for anywhere you want to go on the island and all buses have air con and free wifi !!  I went off to Penang Hill - good views over the city, but personally, I thought it was a bit of a waste of time and couldn't understand for the life of me why it was so busy (with locals).   Next stop was the Kek Lok Si temple - an amazing Chinese temple in the hills. Stunning (wish I could post some pictures - google it and hopefully you'll agree) and full of locals celebrating NY.   Some amazing carvings and statues and the place was full of colourful Chinese lanterns.  I decided to purchase some "wish ribbons" as gifts for everyone at home.  These are coloured ribbons that have messages on them like "good luck in your career", "prosperity" etc..... They are then hung on the tree outside the temple so that the gods will look favourably on them. I got two lots - one to hang on the tree and one to bring home for people.  Let's hope what I have wished for you is what you would like and it actually comes true !! 

I took pot luck on the next bus leaving the area and ended up in Batu Ferringhi which is Penang's beach resort (must have been my natural homing instinct....).  Nice beach, reminiscent of Thailand but nothing too special.  Had some great seafood on the beach as the sun went down. Very nice indeed. 

Next and penultimate stop before home was Langkawi.  I had booked a beach front motel in Pantai Cenang.  Its one of the main resorts, but I was at the quieter end, within walking distance of the main strip.  No big features other than a couple of seafood restaurants and the view.....and boy, it was worth the extra money a night compared to the rooms at the back of the small resort.  At night, I sat on my verandah with a cold beer (back to cheap beer prices again, don't know how I will manage when I get home?!) and listened to the waves rolling in.  Some gentle music on the I-pod and a couple of candles. I wasn't sure it could get any better than this.....until I saw the beach the next  morning in full sunlight.   Stunning white  sands, clear blue seas with a few gentle waves and nothing else to spoil the view..... actually, would have been tonnes better to have shared it with someone else but it was not to be ..... For now anyway..... 

And that's  basically how I spent the next 6 days - lazing on the beach or lazing on my verandah. Excellent preparation for my last stop in Bali !   

I am kind of sad that this is almost the end of my trip but I am ready to come home.  I wanted to get the travel bug out of my system and I think this last 5m has been just the right amount of time to do it.  I have loved visiting new places and meeting new people but now I want to be back amongst friends and not to have to think about where I'm going to stay each night or what I'm going to talk about with the people I meet along the way.  Not that it's been difficult but you know..... I just want it to be easy again, back on familiar territory where I  know what I'm going to get when I order from a menu or where "it's"  going to be at. 

BTW everyone - You  have my express permission to remind me of this comment when I start to moan about day to day life back in Brighton ;-) 

The only thing I promise to moan about is the weather....I will certainly miss seeing the sun every day. 

See y'all soon !!!