Malaysia

We landed at the International airport in Penang, Malaysia, on Sunday afternoon and took a taxi into the island's main city; George Town. Looking out from the taxi's window I notice a quite distinctive difference from Thailand and Laos; here on Penang, an old British colony, things seem more modern and all signs and shops are written in both Malay and English. We ask the driver about what the local inhabitants think about the British people, who ruled the little island for almost 200 years. He said that they are very good people because they helped the island up on its feet, building hospitals and schools and setting up an industry. This I thought was surprising, I just assumed that the people of an old colony would dislike their past "owners". Then he added: 'but they took alot of our money'. oh well, it lasted for a couple of sweet minutes at least.

Penang is a very beautiful place. Lots of green trees and mountains, churches and mosques, old buildings etc. There are even some old heritage sites. But we are 20 years old, and we all like a good night out after a long day. The nightlife in Penang is... well, frankly a bit shit. It had loads of potential, but there just weren't any people there. Where are all the Singha-tank-top-clad British people when you need them?!
Today was a lovely day and we spent the entire time on the beach in Batu Ferringhi. I had a lovely fried rice with mixed seafood for lunch. Tomorrow we're off yet again to another island two hours by boat from  Penang. It's called Lankawi, but I call it Malawi for some reason. It's supposed to be really nice, so let's just hope!!

Peace