Penang

A love affair with food. My days here were spent thinking about my next meal and trying to convince myself that I am, in fact, hungry... just so that I can go eat again! What a change! Until now, I had been quite disappointed in the food I had been eating (overall). A sample of my new favorites: roti canai, char koay teow, wan tan mee, dim sum, chicken rice and my most favorite: banana leaf rice (that's basically a tali on a banana leaf with a pile of rice).

Besides stuffing myself, my few days in Penang were quite busy. Georgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage city, so just wandering around the city is like being in a museum. I spent my first day doing just that; taking in Chinatown, little India, and the Colonial District (and of course sampling all their food offerings).

My second day I ventured off to see the famous Kek Lo Si temple, under a torrent of rain. I also chose this day to go to the Botanical Gardens. The only "smart" part of that decision is that the rain kept me cool-ish.

My third day was reserved for the Snake Temple (didn't see any "wild" snakes unfortunately). I also finally got some shopping done and went to see a movie is a FREEZING theater. It was quite the experience to watch an animation with two sets of subtitles and a very vocal audience!

Tomorrow I get up early to take a ferry to Langkawi Island, my last stop before starting my long trek down to New Zealand. Looking forward to the sunsets, to getting sand everywhere (again!), and to just lie around...