HOT and noisy stay in Penang! Party hostel, paper thin walls, tiny spaces, locker barely big enough for my laptop, AC turned off in the afternoons (the HOT part of the day). City was hot but I explored anyway. Found some lovely food spots, got a SIM card for Malaysia, got really good at walking in the shade and such.
Few lovely spots including Chinese Association of Doctors for acupuncture and treatment for cold, 54 Love Lane where I stayed years ago, and staff at local restaurants. Nice coffee and selection of treats at Mugs!
Very nice people at Holy Guacamole Restaurant for my birthday dinner!
Left early for the five hour trip to Ipoh. Didn’t know why but felt drawn to see that place. Mostly Malaysian tourist town. Few tourist out and about. Lovely hostel! Friendly, spacious, AC all day, close to central part of town and areas to sit and relax. It’s summer holiday here as it’s too hot for kids to sit in classroom’s so you can gather your own sense of the heat and humidity here. I woke one night around 1:30 am and saw that Penang was still over 90° with humidity of 88%.
Brookstone Homestay in Ipoh
Night market, Old City, quiet walking streets, Guinness on tap, interesting people, good coffee…a short visit but I really enjoyed it! In the mid afternoon, it was really too hot to be out and about…are you seeing a theme here?
Went into the lovely Briyani King restaurant one day and had three staff come help me with lunch decisions! Their recommendation was exceptional! Had my photo taken with all of them at their request before I left.
They LOVE food and cooking and serving people and I could taste that in the meal! One is in pastry school learning to bake cakes and I promised to send a great recipe for making croissants. Imagine, on the other side of the world sharing recipe’s! Awesome!
Later, I went back to a restaurant named D. North Star for fish and chips…again! Wasn’t sure why other than it was exceptional, I wanted something different and didn’t know when I would see it again.
Arrived in Tanah Rata yesterday from Ipoh. No wifi in Penang so no writing. I arrive to a place that is finally cool, refreshing and peaceful. This homestay is a few blocks off of the main road. Slept with the window open, no traffic noise or mosquito’s. Sitting at just under 5,000 feet, it’s nice having no humidity for a change. Especially for a break before I get to Kuala Lumpur!
A casual hello lead to a lovely conversation with a man who retired at 50 from teaching and has been healing with Qi Gong energy for 38 years. First, he uses the energy to heal himself and shared his daily practice with me! He’s nearly 80 years old and you would never guess it! So lovely sharing conversation and connection with you Raymond Tan!
Refreshing and confirming on so many levels!
After walking and finding awesome Indian food at a favorite restaurant from my first trip here, I settled in to read for the evening.
And today, I’m feeling lethargic, really sluggish. So, I’m surrendering to it! Resting, reading, getting laundry done, enjoying the cool and catching up with photo’s and writing here! Perfect!
Here are a few images from my walking around Ipoh.
I have one more day in Tanah Rata. Tomorrow I’m going searching for fresh strawberries, taking a hike along the stream and just enjoying the environment before heading to Kuala Lumpur Monday am.
That will be my last bus trip and it’s only 4 hours. Wow! Time has flown by. Since leaving Colorado in September, I’ve had a ton of flight legs and who knows how many bus, boat, boat, taxi, tuk tuk, motor bike, truck ride and such.
The Mexico and Guatemala part of my trip included 5 flight segments. Over here, during the past four months, I’ve been on planes a lot! Just from the US to Kuala Lumpur and back is 4 flight segments. Getting to Bali, Raja Ampat and then on to Sri Lanka was 6 segments. To India and them to Myanmar was 3 more segments. Flying Myanmar to Malaysia was 2 more.
That’s 20 flight segments in four months and I feel like I’m missing something?!?!?
After my hike tomorrow, I’ll post some photo’s of this area and the vegetation.