1130 - 1360 KM (Penang)
Posted by Stuart at 08:57 PM on October 16, 2003Piyawat and I were both a little nervous and excited when we crossed the border into Malaysia. It's not that we were scared or worried, we just had no idea what to expect on the other side.
So far, our experience in Malaysia has been wonderful. First impressions: great highways, delicious food, women with covered heads, mosques everywhere, English letters that still mean nothing to me, and confusing yet charming cities.
We left Hat Yai, Thailand this morning and drove to Penang, Malaysia. Once we were safely over the border, we stopped in Alor Setar to visit a big mosque, exchange money, and get a snack. From Alor Setar, we took the backroads down the western coast to Penang. Once we got to GeorgeTown, we circled through crooked one-way streets for almost an hour until we finally found our hotel.
Luckily though, on the way to the hotel, we passed a Chinese restaurant that was full of customers (always a good sign). We parked, went in, and told them "table for 2 please". The looks of disbelief had nothing to do with a language barrier, but instead we quickly realized that every single table in the restaurant had 10-15 people eating huge plates of delicious-looking food.
Luckily, though, the menu listed all of the dishes in small, medium, and large sizes. We had the small version of sweet and sour pork and chicken in plum sauce. It was amazingly good. As we ate we marvelled at the gargantuan plates of food (big fish, small pigs, etc) coming out of the kitchen.
Tomorrow we will explore the island of Penang and then head to the southern-most part of our journey: Kuala Lumpur.
