In Penang

Sunday 24 August
We've made it to Penang. Terry and Dallas were up and gone to Kuasla Lumpur at sparrow's fart and Leigh and I didn't have to leave Singapore until 11.00am. We jumped in our taxi only to discover the main highway was closed for a big run/walk event so we had to go the long way! However, we made it with plenty of time to spare.

The plane was only 1/3 full and we got lunch which was a bit of a bonus. We were met at the airport and had a 45 minute ride to our hotel, Golden Sands Resort at Batu Feringhi. After check in and unpack we wnt to the pool bar for a beer and satay. It is hard to get used to the prices. It might be 20 ringit for a beer, but that is abouit $9.00 so things seem very expensive at first. Though, to be true the prices in this resort are much higher than out on the street.

When the rain stopped we walked down the road. There are a large number of food, clothing and other shops along this strip of beach. At night, apparently it is alive with hawkers selling lots of copy brand stuff. We bought some rambutans to chomp on and at a bar across the road from the hotel I had a couple of beers while Leigh had 2 Singapore Slings (buy one get the second free).

Because it is raining and we are very tired we decided to use one of our vouchers and had a meal in the hotel restaurant. It was a buffet and I had fried rice, vegetables and roast duck followed by ice cream I chose what I thought was vanilla, but it turned out to be durian, which is the fruit banned from hotels because it smells like an open sewer. The ice cream was OK but burping afterwards is not very pleasant!

We're watching the Olympics closing ceremony in Chinese before crashing. The plans tomorrow are to loll around the pool and generally relax.