A Year in Exile: Langkawi to Penang

The days on Langkawi were spent walking along the beach, looking round the shops, coffee, reading and listening to music. We went for a swim about 6.30 when it had cooled down a bit, have a couple of beers, wander out for dinner then back for a nightcap and bed. Not very exciting but very relaxing and enjoyable. We decided that as we are right on the beach we would treat this as a sort of holiday! Well, makes sense to us.

We had some very sad news on Sunday (22^nd July) – Dan said that they are taking Luca to the vet tomorrow and he won’t be coming back, he has lost the will to live really, he can’t walk, doesn’t want to go out or drink so it is the kindest thing to do but I will really miss him and the Aussie Barrons will all be devastated.

We’ve been feeling really sorry for everyone in the UK as it rained its way through May, June and half of July, we had quite a bit of rain in Thailand ourselves but when it rains in Asia it really rains and we had a monsoon-type storm in Langkawi. It flooded the roads and we had to take our shoes off and wade down the entrance to get to our room. It was still warm though and exciting to watch, I guess that’s the real difference from the UK.

We had an unexpected text from Dan, apparently Lisa drove past our block on Tuesday and the walls were practically complete! We were stunned, Dan and Lisa had waited ages from the slab stage to walls but our slab has only just gone down. Might be nearer 6 months than 8 then!

We left our beautiful beach location to go to Penang, another island in Malaysia. We planned to catch the 2.30 ferry which would take us directly there but it was full so rather than wait more than 4 hours in the ferry port we caught a ferry to Kuala Kedah, taxi to the bus station, bus from Aloh Satar to Butterworth, ferry to Penang and finally a taxi to the hotel – a roundabout route but we arrived much earlier than if we had waited – and it saved us about £6!!! The hotel in Penang wasn’t the best but it did have sports channels and that had been our aim, to watch the Olympics, however, the screens were small, even when they gave us a brand new tele so a bit disappointing especially for Brian who could barely see the tele let alone the action! Still, we could listen and feel a part of Team GB.

We decided that rather than face a ferry ride back to Langkawi we would see if we could find somewhere in Penang. I looked online and came up with a few apartments in our price range and sent off enquiries but only one replied. We went to look at the apartment in question and it was really good, on a bus route, close to shops and eating places and a very decent apartment. The agent and the owners showed us round and we agreed to take it asap if they could get us sport coverage which they managed to do and we moved in after only 6 days in the hotel.

What a bonus, a 32” television, 10 Olympic channels and a great apartment! Wall to wall Olympics – it works quite well, the morning events in our afternoon evening and the afternoon/evening events when we get up the next day. If you don’t look online at the results it is just like watching it live. We have tried the local food hall and had takeaway fish and chips, settling in very nicely with plenty of time to do the touristy bits later on.

We did have one day out however, when KT and Bee Yong, the apartment owners from Swiss Garden, came to Penang to collect their next tenant, an American, from the airport. They picked us up and took us for a culinary tour of the island. Penang is widely renowned for its food and there are certain dishes that can only be bought here and then only at certain places. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant followed by chendol, (ground rice, pandan jelly, kidney beans and palm sugar) – strange but quite refreshing. KT drove around the coast to Batu Ferringhi, the main tourist area, then through a Durian plantation up in the mountains. We stopped again for Siam Lakse, apparently the only place you can get it, a sort of fish noodle dish and a nutmeg drink. That was literally all they sold but it was packed and apparently at weekends and during holidays the queues are massive! It was great to see something of the island and I’m sure we will explore much more once the Olympics are over! They dropped us at Queensbay, a huge new shopping centre (they love their malls in Malaysia) and we got a couple of buses back to the apartment – a very nice day out – thanks KT and Bee Yong.

We loved the Olympics and probably watched more than anyone – we would get up and watch the evening session from the day before and as soon as that had finished the live coverage would start, worked out very well. Now that they are over we can start to explore Penang!