It's soo funny.. at the border, the bus literally just drops you off and the driver doesn't say anything.. so the only thing you can do as you leave and enter the next country is follow the person in front of you. It really makes me laugh.
Penang was my first stop in Malaysia. I stayed there for 2 nights right smack dab in the middle of Little India in George Town!
I tried Roti Canai for the first time at the nearby restaurant to my hostel. It is thin, layered/flaky dough that is served with curry. I then explored the city by walking around all day, passing many mosques and a few temples, went to a cathedral too! I also walked to the esplanade because George Town and Central Penang is actually on an island surrounded by water, and there are 2 ways you can get on it; either by a ferry or by taking one of the longest bridges in Asia!
After taking a breather (and maybe a nap) in the aircon back at the hostel, I decided to check out Kek Lok Si Temple and then Penang Hill, which were both a nice hour long bus ride away. I asked the guy at my hostel if he thought it was too late to be able to see both, because by this time it was 3 and the sun sets around 6:30. He said I'd have perfect time to go see the temple and then to go to Penang Hill to see the sunset!
Well, by the time I got to the temple, it was about 5:00 or so, because of the traffic, then I ended up going too far on the bus so I had to wait for it to turn around, THEN I had to make the hike up to the temple, when finally, I saw a sign that said it closes at 6:00! Wonderful, I thought.. I figured I'd go in and see as much of it as I could until they kicked me out though.. I mean, I did make the trek all the way out there and I didn't want it to be for nothing.
So I was walking around, there were a TON of Chinese lanterns lacing the entire temple, it was pretty cool. At one point, it must've looked like maybe I was leaving, because a local came up to me and told me to stay until 7, because they will turn on all the lights! They were staying open late for the Chinese New Year I found out.. lucky me!!
I decided to climb up the Pagoda Tower in the temple, to just get away from the crowd of people. I stayed up there until 7:00, when I met a girl from England (the only other white person I saw there) who was living in Penang. We hung out for a bit, she asked when things were suppose to start happening, I said about 10 minutes ago.. lol. So we decided to wait. There was no one at the top of the Pagoda, so it was pretty nice and peaceful, whereas down below there were TONS of Chinese locals (or maybe tourists too).
After their meditation started, all of a sudden the lights came on.. all the lanterns were lit, the rooftops were laced with all different colored lights, and then.. fireworks started going off! They were amazing! And we were Soo close to them! I've never been that close to fireworks before. At certain points we stepped back (even though there was only a wall behind us) because the fireworks were soo loud and close.. it was pretty cool.
We said goodbye and left and I found my way back to the bus stop, where I ended up meeting a guy from England. It's soo easy to meet people here because you know who the backpackers are. We rode back to Georgetown together, but had hostels in different areas, so we said out goodbyes after a nice long conversation.
That night, I went to dinner with some people who were in my dorm, Lyndsey from Ireland and Rich from England. We went to this place with a bunch of street food and it also had and awesome horrible Asian show. There was dancing (non-traditional) and singing.. and the mic was waaay too loud for the gal's voice. It was soo funny/ridiculous/hurt my ears.
Rich is also headed to KL (Kuala Lumpur) next, so we'll be taking the bus together!!
<3
Things I've learned:
More people speak English here, and better.
It's more expensive.
And they give oranges as a gifts for the Chinese New Year!
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