George Town

Neat little town/city. Really interesting history. British beginnings, as a trading post for spices, etc., hence the name. We only spend a day here, so we didn't have a lot of time to really get into it. It seems like the kind of place you could really soak it up if you stayed longer. There are so many people from different ethnic backgrounds, it was really refreshing. We went to a museum(30 cents!) with a lot of really good information and displays about the island (Penang). It has such a rich history--people from all over the world call it home, and there's the most amazing mix--Chinese, Malay, Indian, Burmese, Thai, European, Indonesian, and on and on. All their different religions too, and everyone gets along!! Gives a really neat look to the town to. So much different architecture.

We went to a big mall there--bus companies sell tickets from the basement, which is why we went. Decided to wander around a bit check it out, maybe go watch a movie. Didn't in the end, but it was really crazy being in the mall. It was almost overwhelming. The noise and the people and the colours and the sales and music. Haven't seen anything like it since we left Korea. I could have stood there and watched for an hour. We even saw a big and tall store, that actually carried big and tall sizes!!(nonexistent in Korea)... Big purchase for the evening, a $1 watch. Mine stopped working 2 days into the trip, and Sean lost his on Phi Phi... Funny how many other travellers don't have watches--some people use the time displays on their cameras when they need to know the time!! Still have my alarm clock though, which is handy for early wakeups!!

Took a bus over one of the longest bridges in SEAsia, to the mainland, and continued on to Tanah Rata, in the Cameron Highlands. Really neat drive, we drove into a BIG thunderstorm on the way up(it's a hill station, up in the hills), and had lightning almost the whole way. I read somewhere that someone once counted over 650 corners in the last 2 hours. That's a long ride if all you're doing is counting corners!! There sure were a lot though. To the town at 7:30 at night. Because it's so high the temperature is a lot more reasonable. It's probably around 20 degrees right now, and I'm sitting comfortably in my zipup hoodie. A nice break after the heat of the beaches!!