Pulau Penang, Malaysia

After all the exchange students got there Student Passes, Shelby, Tanya, Hannah and I headed to Penang, Malaysia for Chinese New Year. Since Penang is way north in Malaysia, we stopped over in Kuala Lumpur for one night. I remembered really liking Kuala Lumpur, but this time I wasn’t the biggest fan. Since we were only their for the night, we decided to do the Petaling Street market and then go out. Every bar we went to was a somewhat sketchy scene and at the end of the night Hannah got her wristlet stolen from a guy on a motorbike. Bummer. So the next morning, we willingly hoped on the next bus to Penang. Penang is an Island that has a great mix of culture and beach. It was sure a trek to get there by bus, but the route was so scenic! It was absolutely stunning. Penang are also known for the famous Char kway teow noodles, which are rice noodles that are stir-fried with egg, vegetables, shrimp and Chinese dark soy sauce. Yum!! I would have eaten them everyday if it wasn’t for it being the Chinese Holiday – which in other words means, NOTHINGS OPEN. Since the Indian community does not celebrate, all the Indian restaurants were open. I could not complain, since every meal we had was delicious!

Us with a member of the Nigerian Army aka Akon...yikes

Tanya, Hannah, Shelbs and I
We stayed at the Banana Guest House, which was about $5 a night. The rooms weren’t the nicest, but it was beside a cool reggae bar and had hot water (which actually has becomes the decision maker for me now…cold showers suck!). The first day we headed down to the beach by the city bus. It was perfect because the bus picked us up right outside our hostel and went directly to the beach. The whole beach community was beautiful, with posh condos and luxurious hotels surrounding the area. We spent the day lying on the beach and watching the parachuters make their landing. It was surprisingly hilarious because we discovered there is no subtle way to land in a parachute. Since it was the start of Chinese New Year, at night there was a random firework display outside our hostel. It was no millennium fireworks at Disney World, but it was a nice surprise. We celebrated along by having some beers and shisha at the Reggae pub next door.

The parachuters that amused us for a whole day haha

Weird signs at the Reggae bar beside our hostel
The following day, we decided to trek to Monkey Beach through Penang’s National Park. The National Park ended up being beautiful and a great place for hiking. Since we were trekking to a secluded island (they offer boat services to get there also), it actually felt like we were deep in the Malaysian jungle at some points. When we arrived at Monkey Beach, we were the only foreigners on the Island, so we really stood out. We were so obvious that people would come and take pictures with us. We started to call ourselves the local celebrities after a while. Sometimes it got annoying since they wouldn’t always ask to take our picture, but would act like paparazzi snapping out photos as we walked by. The day was beaming hot and we all got exactly what we wanted…great tans!

Shelbs and I chilling in the National Park

Monkey Beach...so secluded!

Hannah and I drinking a freshly chopped coconut after our hike
We ended off our trip with some Char kway teow and took the night bus all the way home. I would have preferred going to Penang on a non-holiday weekend to fully experience the culture, but it was definitely a worthwhile trip.

The famous and delicious Char Kway Teow

Probably one of the funniest bus rides home...after forced to change seats in the "big move", our seats were so wobbly that the entire ride was practically like being on a rollercoaster. Good thing we had seatbelts...yikes