Penang Island to Langkawi Island, Malaysia
I decided to take a speed boat between the two islands as it seemed to be cheaper than going back to the mainland to travel by bus (公車 gong1 che1) . I had taken the bus from KL to Pangkor Island and then up to Penang and both experiences were, um ... interesting. Most of the seats on the buses didn't sit up properly ... you were forced to 'lay back and enjoy the ride' ... the bathrooms (洗手間 xi3 shou3 jian1) weren't in working order ... the seats were very dirty and old and most of them weren't even straight ... so it was like laying back all slanted like ... ugh ... anyways, the boat seemed like a good option as the buses in Malaysia were very questionable ... cheap but questionable.
When I boarded the boat, you are to hand in your ticket and in return they give you a small black plastic bag. Now, my first thought was ... sweet, a garbage bag as I was carrying an orange and banana with me for breakfast. I soon found out the black bags were of no intention for the type of garbage I had originally thought ... they were puke bags ... yes, puke bags. I quickly began to realize why the boat trip was so cheap!
Now, I had to spend about 3 hours on this boat (船 chuan2)... I'm not normally one to get boat sick, but I was certainly counting down the moments until I was able to be free. I am kinda glad I choose a fruit breakfast that morning as I'm sure something heavier wouldn't have stayed down. Between the sounds of people gagging, the smell of fresh vomit, men carrying bigger puke bags to put the smaller puke bags into and the waves crashing up over the windows continually... I really thought we were going to tip over ... puking seemed like a natural thing to do.
Upon my arrival ... sweet, sweet land ... it was pouring rain and my stomach was feeling a bit queasy. I decided, for a change, to spend a bit of money on accommodations ... a bit of money got me a room with two beds, a TV and my very own bathroom with a shower ... it, unfortunately, wasn't hot ... but it was my own! I was kinda looking forward to my own space, a beer (啤酒 pi2 jiu3) and some TV only to find out that the TV had 3 channels and none of them were in English ... I mean, I shouldn't have expected anything else, right? I spent 4 nights in this hut on the beach before hopping another speed boat ... oh no ... to Satun, Thailand ... that is another story in itself.
Malaysia, all in all was a great country (國家 guo2 jia1)... I was lucky to be able to spend about a month in total travelling the sites. Melaka was my favourite place ... a quiet city with lots of character. Malaysia has some great Indian food and I believe this is where my love for Indian food developed ... I could hardly get enough! Believe it or not, quite a number of the restaurants do not give you utensils. I suppose traditionally, you eat with your right hand and your left hand is to lay in your lap as it's used for other things in life ... like bathroom duties ... so I hear. Anyways, being a foreigner and eating with both hands seemed to cause some giggles among the locals.
The only downfall to Malaysia was that the men weren't too pleasant to me ...I always felt the need to be covered up. I was followed once on my motorbike, I was constantly harassed with comments of 'hey baby', 'kissy, kissy' and the likes ... it wasn't overly joyful. I suppose a foreign girl with a shaved head is a bit out of place for them, so I forgive them all for being so rude!
Malaysia is definitely a country I hope to get to again in the next few years to experience some of the changes that may have taken place.
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