PENANG, Malaysia

We left beautfiul Borneo behind us and have landed in Penang after deciding not to go back to Kuala Lumpur for a second visit. Penang is a alot like Melaka in that it has a lot of colonial influence on the acrchitecture and is really quite a cool place. Upon checking into our latest hostel (the Banana Guesthouse) we asked for some directions on where to get a good curry as we had heard from the customs officer weeks ago that Penang was famous for curry and food. So we headed off the Little India (which virtually every Malaysian town has one of as well as Chinatown) and found ourselves in this really cool Indian restaraunt. There were a couple of American students just leaving when we got there who assured as the food was good and we werent to be disappointed by any means. The picture shows a devilishly happy Tama with his plate that has all different sauces - roti and curry all served on a Banana leaf. What is missing is all the rice that came next! Man was Tama in heaven when the man kept on dishing it up!
We then went on our next eploration of yet another city and ended up at an incredible Buddhist temple that overlooked the city. It was truly beautiful and so ornate! It really makes you think too about the imbalance between what is spent on religion in this country and the income of its people. Anyway we had to walk up this long flight of stairs to get to it and through a gauntlet of clothes and cheap tourist apparel stores but the pain and sweat was worth it. The scale of this place is hard to put into perspective but here goes nothing - there is a statue that stands at the peak of the temple that is made totally out of bronze. You have to take a cool sort of tram to get there and then you see how massive it is. It stands at 33 metres tall and absolutely towers over not only the temple but the city too.
What is even more incredible about this place is that they are in the process of building a roof for this statue. There are massive pillars being constructed that will eventually have a pagoda over it! UNREAL! We then went out the beach area called Batu Ferringhi to check out the night market and the food as well. Its famous for having great fake purses, watches etc and it didnt disappoint one bit. We resisted the temptation to buy anything as we still have a long way to go and dont want to be carrying anymore unecessary stuff with us.

Then it was back to our room to pack our bags, a much needed rest and then off to..........
Arohanui
Liv and Tama x