Exploring Marvellous Malaysia

After leaving Kuala Lumpar we headed for Penang by bus! Penang is known as the food capital of Malaysia. Although the city wasn’t quiet as modern as Kuala Lumpar it had more charm as it contained cute colourful colonial buildings in Chinatown and Little India. We were staying in The Frame Hostel located in China Town. When we arrived and dumped our bags and went for an explore of the city!

I felt that Penang had the culture that Kuala Lumpar was missing, with an vibrant street art scene, with some fantastic paintings, obviously with streams of tourists posing by them. It also contained various different shops selling unique items and coffee shops specialising in juices and milkshakes. It also has a famous (chan) Chinese Jetty where families with the same surname have lived for hundreds of years on stilts above the water. The fascinating thing was they would run businesses from the front and in the back was the home where all their family would live!

That evening we headed to China Town for dinner as they had fabulous street food! Indeed, the system was so organised that we would go to the stand tell them where we were sitting and they would bring it over and collect the payments! As I was sat down saving the table this meant various people coming over requesting money from me and places wonderful delicious food in front of me! Indeed a whole meal would set you back about 4 ringet which is less than a pound! Will was also lot happier as the Beer was a lot cheaper here than in Kuala Lumpar about half the price!

The next day we ventured into the stifling heat to again explore the city. We visited several shops, temples and even little India. As Penang used to be under colonial rule it had various colonial traditions. One of these was an authentic British afternoon tea. Being the culture beaver that I am and also craving a good cup of tea we decided to try it out and treat ourselves to the nicest hotel in town The Western Orient Hotel. The tea was amazing a lovely brew of English Breakfast. There was lovely selection of finger sandwiches, my favourite truffle egg mayonnaise. The scones were served with strawberry and pineapple jam. Also several different mini cakes. That evening we again ventured to Chinatown for dinner and also to Love Lane filled with various bars which is where the night life is in the city. For several Beers which were reasonably priced.

The next day we journeyed to Langkawi by Ferry. Langkawi is a duty free island with beautiful white sand beaches. We managed to meet a great couple end went on a road trip to the 7 wells and waterfall, which after a lot of stairs gave a beautiful views of the mountains and Rainforrest. We also went for a swim down in the waterfall and slides down some rocks into a cool pool! We also went to a fabulous beach with aqua clean water and views of the mountains nearby.

As it was a duty free island, this meant that beer and chocolate were tax free! You could buy a big beer for the equivalent of 3 ringet about 60 pence, Will was very happy! On our final day, we also did a trip round the island to see different beaches and that evening we witnessed the most amazing sunset over the island. Before we headed for Thailand!