N-n-n-n-nineteen

We’ve been on the run for nineteen days and in that time we’ve taken three flights and seen three different countries, Hong Kong, Cambodia and now Malaysia. After fourteen days in Cambodia, we shook off the dust, cleaned our shoes (again, again, again) and headed to Penang, a small Malaysian island in the Indian Ocean.

We flew in via Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia (Easy Jet of Asia) and arrived to beautiful sunshine, clear blue skies and a welcoming 34c of dry heat. This is a fantastic time of year to visit the region as we’ve had hardly any rain and the humidity levels are very low. I think we made the right choice staying out here instead of heading back to the UK.

 

Our AirBnB is located between the airport and George Town, which is roughly a 25 minute taxi ride away. Everyone here uses GRAB which is a fantastic app that lets you order cars, food, hotels, cinemas etc. It works in Malaysia, Singapore and even in Cambodia where it can order a TukTuk. Anyway, a GRAB taxi to George Town costs no more than £2 which is SO CHEAP! Our apartment is in a new modern looking building with a pool, gym and various lounges. It’s clean, and spacious and most importantly it has fast internet and no dust (sorry Cambodia)

Now, Cambodia had some amazing supermarkets with shelves stocked with the finest imported goods, from Cadburys chocolate to Birdseye vegetarian Shepards pie. I even saw Brains Faggots in a freezer. Do they even do them in the UK still??? The problem was that the cost for these delicious fineries (the waist line as well as the purse-strings) was even beyond Hong Kong prices! So coming to Malaysia and seeing a TESCO was a breath of fresh air for sure. The prices seem to reflect what I remember of the UK, roughly 50p for own brand Pringles? So far so good… Malls, Tescos and McDonalds.. Hmm maybe not the latter.

So after a week of catching up with University work, my wife busy with school work and my daughter with her home work we took to the streets of George Town. In my daughters words, “this looks like Huddersfield.” I’m not convinced on the resemblance, however there is a strong hint of British colonialism in there. Food wise there was everything from Indian to local Malaysian with a focus on meat and fish. We’re yet to try the street food which I’m told is some of the best in Asia. Below I’ve added a few pictures from Art Street, located in the old part of George Town which is listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

So that’s it for this update. We’re looking to spend around another week here in Penang before positioning ourselves in Kuala Lumpur, ready for the possibility of heading back to China sometime soon. I’m sure one of us will update again soon.