The Penang Invasion!

As promised, Penang post complete with pictures!

 We didn't really visit many famous Penang food places, but we DID manage to find the famous Penang Road cendol! Or 'chendul' as they spell it. Haha it's quite funny how we found it: we were just wandering down Penang Road, not really specifically looking for THE cendol when we stopped by a cendol stall cos it was hot and we were pretty much pooped. We were just about to order when the stall owner went "Oh, I'm not the cendol you're looking for.. that one is the fourth jalan from here". Bemusedly, we followed his instructions and voila! Famous cendol!

 Ok I may get some flak for this, but I don't really get why this is famous. Sure, it's yummy and refreshingly creamy but not too sweet, but I don't get why it's famous. I dont know, maybe I was subconsciously expecting fireworks to go off in my mouth. And maybe it's cos I'm not really into cendol.

 I may not be a HUGE fan, but Phua Chu Kang and Rosie sure seem to be! And that, folks, is all you need to know.

After our expedition along Penang Road, we went back to our apartment (Sri Sayang, where the rates are cheap and the bus you take to get around is the 101 one <--- IMPORTANT INFORMATION) in Batu Ferringhi and got ready to hit the BEACH! Yay!

 Decently covered because it isn't a good idea to traipse around scantily-clad. Across roads.

 But on the beach it's ok to be half-nekkid! Even though the Arab women in burqas stare (in awe or disgust it's hard to tell because they remained covered to their eyes. ON THE BEACH. what a sin) and let's not get into the men.

 Don't we look like shipwrecked survivors watching a rescue ship speed away?

 My failed attempt at turning David into a mermaid. The sand was a bit too wet BUT I WOULD'VE SUCCEEDED IF A BIG WAVE HADN'T COME AND SWEPT EVERYTHING AWAY *denial*

Next day was Toy Museum Day! Did you know that Penang houses the largest Toy Museum in the world? Fact! It's in the Malaysian Book of Records and everything!

 Look at those ginormous statues! Are they statues? They're certainly quite large in stature.

 Well hello there, Mr. Predator. I never watched any of your movies cos frankly you scare the shit out of me but you ain't so bad when you're propped up on sticks and you're immobile.

There's loads of stuff in the Toy Museum! All sorts of figurines, from gorgeous collector's item Barbie dolls

to life-size Captain Jack Sparrow (what do I call these thing? statues? figurines? mothereffing dolls?)

to Superman! Hello Brandon Routh *drools*

and I don't know who this is, but he's scary and has taken me hostage *quiver*

 There a crazy figurines from obscure movies that show all sorts of disgusting torturous scenes (so detailed I could see skin being pulled with hooks, brains, guts, etc etc etc) but I didn't take pictures of those because they made me nauseous. There are also Disney figurines - Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you name it, it's there! I came across a life-size display of Sully and Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc! And also one of the Joker which scared the crap out of me - I rounded a corner and there he was, grinning at me!

 After a shock like that, we'd need food, don't you think? To, you know, recover.

So we made our way to Lorong Selamat to sample the famous char koay teow.

Unfortunately,

It was closed! T____T

So we WALKED (it's not far by car but it's pretty damn far on mothereffing foot!) to the next famous char koay teow place - the Sister's shop on Macalister Road. Had a mini heart-attack moment when we thought it was also closed, but thank god it wasn't!

 Open for business! Yay!

 Us with one of the sisters. She's really friendly!

 AND she makes a mean char koay teow! Not too impressed, though. Tasted like anything I can get back here in KL. The crab meat on top (the white stuff) was something different, though.

Now parasailing, on the other hand, isn't something I can do in KL!

 Me and the Christinas, and no you can't go up in threes!

 I partnered David!

And I know you probably can't tell from the pictures, but I was super scared. Half worried I'd crap my pants up in the sky (I didn't)!

 But once you're up there.. My god, the view is beautiful. Just a sense of absolute peace and wonder.. I never wanted to come down!

Of course, until your partner kicks you in the leg and then starts talking about 'stunts' (that were fortunately not executed cos of jellyfish)!

Another thing one can't do back in KL is visit Hard Rock Hotel!

 Hello non-alcoholic drink because my liver hates me now. This was yummy, though!

 The famous live band. NOT awesome. The female singer was hopping around like she was high, and I swear the male singer's whiney nasal voice totally ruined a lot of my favourite songs!

Imagine listening to your ultimate favourite song, sung in some nasally falsetto by some guy who looks like a fake tattoo will help him stay in the closet. Damn mothereffingly tulan lor.

 The lights and stuff are GORGEOUS

 But we didn't really have a good time. Music was blasting waaayy too loud to have a decent conversation (at clubbing levels but we can't dance!) so there was nothing much else to do but to stone, or to 

 fiddle with phones!

The next day was our last day in Penang, and Chris and Pei Vin are missing from the final bunch of pics because they had to catch the 7 am flight. So Chrissy, David and I set off to wander the streets of Penang one more time before leaving!

We found this really retro old coffeeshop that sells nice popiah and

Durian ice cream! I hate durians, but the ice cream was quite nice!

40 sen if you don't order drinks! (I don't really get what they mean, but yeah, just order those damn drinks)

 Looks good, huh?

 A satisfied David.

 We wanted to camwhore, and then decided that we should honour the old cina-ness of the kopitiam! This is my best 'ah pek' pose! David beats me hands-down, though. T___T

 David and Chrissy, looking very civilised.

 We were supposed to catch the 3.30 pm train back to KL, but unfortunately we were.. uh.. delayed *scuffs toe*

Bottom line is, we missed that train. After rushing like mad and sitting on a super slow ferry - practically shitting bricks cos we were worried that we'd miss the train - that I swear, I could outswim in terms of speed. And I can't even really swim!

 "Mom? ... We won't be back quite on schedule..."

 We ended up heading back to the island, where Wei Qing bought us dinner and later sent us back to the jetty (thank youuuuu!!) where we took yet another ferry ride to the train station. We got there an hour early! And the train came an hour late. Eff you, Murphy. Eff your law too.

 Our cramped sleeping quarters. But you already knew that.

This was taken outside the Hard Rock Hotel, and seriously, this is the most fun we had there.

Goodbye Penang, see you soon!!