Not even five minutes afer I left the shopping center full of Muslim women in their headscarves when it started raining. I jumped over a few stray dogs and ducked into a trendy bar with all white decor called "Bed".
But I am not in Bangkok.
I ordered a Guiness Stout and sat down in front of the big screen TV to watch a Liverpool football game. But I am not in England. For lunch today, I had a delicious chicken curry, served by sari-clad women. But I am far from India. The soft chair and cold beer go a long way to healing my sore legs that carried me past countless Hokkien coffee shops and dried herbs and medicine shops. But China is still far from here.
So where in the world could I be? If you guessed Malaysia, you are right. Penang Island to be exact. (By the way, in Penang I also saw a lot of signs that said "Pinang". So I have no idea how to actually spell it!)
There's not much to do here other than soak in the culture -- make that cultures: Malay, Chinese, Indian, and yes, still a small touch of British. It's quite like Singapore, without the rampant and over-done gentrification.
But that's OK, I'm just here for one night. Perhaps the best thing about Penang is that I think it's the cheapest and easiest place to to for a monthly visa run. This wasn't my first time here (Piyawat and I stopped over on our drive to Kuala Lumpur a couple of years ago) and I have a feeling this won't be my last.