Malaysia Pictures: Alor Setar and Georgetown, Penang

Posted by Stuart at 10:19 AM on November 04, 2003

Today's set of pictures are from our first stops in Malaysia -- Alor Setar and Georgetown, Penang. As soon as we got out of the car in Alor Setar and saw the city Mosque, we knew we weren't in Thailand any more.

For more pictures taken on our first two days in Malaysia (Oct 16-17, 2003), see the Malaysia Photo Archive

Pictures of Kuala Lumpur

Posted by Stuart at 09:31 AM on November 14, 2003

It's time to get back to picture posting. Today's set comes from Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Malaysia and were taken on October 18-19, 2003. These two days were definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip. I've never been in a Muslim country before, so the architecture and culture were all very new to me.

Check out the pics in the Pictures of Malaysia Photo Album.

A Mix of Cultures

Posted by Stuart at 09:56 PM on March 25, 2006

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.

90-Day Tourist Visa in Penang?

Posted by Stuart at 12:22 PM on April 01, 2006

On my recent post about my visa run to Penang, "Bob" left a comment asking why I don't just get a 60-day (extendable to 90-day) tourist visa in Penang. I have never heard of such a thing. Does anyone have any details on how to get it? Is there a Thai Consulate there? If so, where is it? Do I have to do anything special to receive the extra days? Where do I extend it to 90 days?

Thanks for any info anyone can share!

P.S. And no April Fool's jokes, OK? :)