Impressions

We've been in Penang for 4 days now and I'm impressed. Very impressed. I love the quaint, vibrant city of Georgetown with its numerous temples, churches, mosques and museums. I love the mix of races living together side by side, Chinese by Indian, Indian by Malay, Malay by British. I love the variety of food options, the possibility of eating a Malay breakfast of Laksa with a spoon, eating an Indian lunch of curry, rice and Chapati with your hands and a Chinese dinner of noodle soup with chopsticks. The people are overwhelmingly friendly and eager to talk. We've been approached eight, maybe ten times by people on the street who just want to chat, not to ask us a line of rehearsed questions, but who want to ask us our opinions on their country, share their opinions on ours and offer up information. This is how we found out about the celebration of Thaipusam this morning, through an Indian man on the street who came up to us and said "Don't leave Penang" and then offered up information on what we were in store for. The only downside to Malaysia that we've found is that alcohol is extremely expensive. I can eat two meals for the price of one beer. And the internet situation is slow at best, hence this slew of blogs as I try to upload my 100-some photos to the web. High praise for Malaysia Truly Asia.