Day 4: Penang

I love Penang! It's a welcome change from a big imposing city like Singapore. I much prefer these smaller towns with heaps more character. Plus I don't have to sell my body to buy a beer around here, everything is so cheap. The people are friendly too. On my way to Chew Jetty I was accosted by a group of young teenagers telling me how beautiful I was and asking to take a photo with me. Obviously i was suspicious and thought it was a ploy to steal my bag or something. But no, they really did just want a picture with the pale Scottish girl. 

There are no pavements here and I've only seen one people crossing, so trying to get from one side of the street to the other has been rather challenging. But I've decided to adopt the locals approach and just start walking and hope for the best. I have travel insurance anyway so it's all good. 

I'm staying in a traditional heritage house which is really cute. They insist on you taking your shoes off before you go upstairs anywhere here which is rather inconsiderate given how much of a hassle the buckles of my sandals can be, not to mention the state my feet were in by the end of the day. 

I went to a cafe called Jawi house for lunch. On my way there I walked past a chicken stall with rows upon rows of crated chickens. The stench was hideous. However, two minutes later I was eating one of them, and my god it was delicious! I had lemuni rice with chicken curry. If I get the shits tomorrow, it's been totally worth it. 

Tonight I paid £1 for my dinner. I couldn't even get a chomp for a pound back home these days! I wasn't even that hungry,  but I'm only here a couple of days and I have a list of foods to try, so I didn't have a choice. Tonight was Nasi Lemak (fried chicken with rice and curry sauce). The chicken was yum, and nothing like KFC. Just the right amount of spice for me too.

I then headed to Upper Penang street for some drinks. It's a bit like your typical holiday spot there where they try to hustle you into bars, but there's no 18 year old girls falling about with their baps out and puking into their handbags. I found Chulia Street to be a much better bar scene. I ended up in a bar called Reggae Club and it was fab. All the travellers that stopped by, the barmaid would just heard us all onto one big table and it ended up being 7/8 nationalities squeezed around this tiny bar. Everyone was lovely, other than some weird Essex lad who sat smoking on the periphery the whole night. The plan is to meet up with a few of them again for more of the same tomorrow. Random nights like that are always the best. I was going to walk by it but decided to stop for one drink, and 3 hours later I'm stumbling into bed at 1am...

Day 5:

This morning I went to the China House for cake. I chose banana and coconut which was amazing. I pottered around for a bit to kill time before a tour of Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si temple. I have a feeling that by the end of this two month period I'll be sick of the sight of temples. Penang hill was worth a visit though for nice views across the city. There were only 3 of us on the tour, some whiny American chick and a scrawny guy from the netherlands whose personality was on a par with Andy Murrays. 

Tonight I went to Hameediyah Tandoori House and had beef rendang. It may have looked like shit on a plate but it was really tasty. Curry is never going to be the same when I get back home now. I'll always be disappointed. 

Early night for me to catch my flight to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow!