'Peggers in Penang

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We arrived in Penang on August 7th via the ferry from Langkawi.  We found a cab and this time it actually took us to our guesthouse.  Traffic was crazy as it has been in most of the places we've been.  I have no idea why they actually paint lines on the road.  On a typical two-lane road, there are at least 3 lanes of cars.  And then there's the motorbikes.  They just squeeze in wherever they can.

Anyways, we did make it to our guesthouse alive and were disappointed to find out that for the second place in a row, we had a dripping toilet.  Not a big deal until you're trying to sleep.  The toilet however, would prove to be the least of our sleeping troubles.  We were located next to the shared shower and toilet area and people may as well have been showering, farting, or cleaning the phlegm from their throat right our room.  For some reason, the loudest, most disgusting noises were saved for late night or early morning.  If we did manage to sleep though all this, there was a mosque located on the other side of us that would wake us with its praying/singing/chanting promply at 6:00am every morning.

people may as well have been showering, farting, or cleaning the phlegm from their throat right our room

Ferringhi Beach
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There was one good side to our room though.  We had TV again and if we provided the guesthouse with a DVD, they were able to play it through to our room.  Conveniently, the night market was full of pirated DVD's for $1 a disc.  We managed to watch a few during our time in Penang; The Simpsons movie (disappointing), I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry (better than expected), and Knocked Up (I can't comment on this one as we could barely hear it but I think we got the gist of it).

Enjoying a delicious meal at Mario's.
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When we weren't trying to sleep or watching DVD's, we were either on the beach or on a patio somewhere.  The beach was great the first day but somehow, by the second day, it had turned a murky brown colour.  There was no swimming after that.  There was an endless night market and we did a bit of shopping - mostly DVD's and I splurged on a "Gucci" purse for $9 or so.

We've since arrived in Bali and are enjoying it immensely, but more on that next time.