Penang 1

It has been exactly a week since I last blogged about anything. Well, I had intended to at least write a few things down over the past two days after I had returned from my trip but I decided against it because I really had no way to describe what I wanted to say and I also decided not to blog because I needed a short break from writing. But since I have been constantly been bombarded by so many feelings of delight I told myself to start writing it down before it all goes away. So here goes.

As most of you have already known, I just returned from a trip to Penang two days ago. While the construction of the sentence may make it seem almost trivial, I would like to stress that this trip has been absolutely amazing for me. In fact, the trip was so amazing that I really did not want to return to Kuala Lumpur. I had already come to a state of mind where all I wanted to do was to stay as long as possible and continue to experience what I was experiencing for as long as possible. But obviously this wasn't possible. So even the thought of returning seemed almost evil. Imagine what returning was like.

The reason I produce such sentences is because, this trip has really reinforced my belief that my friends are the most important people to me. Nowhere on earth, have I been able to experience the deep emotions that is often associated to very strong relationships among people. But I guess this is what happens when you have such respect and admiration for your friends. Parting, even for a second is just evil.

The trip started of as any other trip would start. We had planned for it about three weeks ago, but the finalization of every detail came on the week prior to the trip. We were scheduled to leave on the 10th of November 2007 at around 10.30 in the morning at the Duta bus station. The build up to the trip was amazing in its own rights because I was so excited that I really could not sleep. In fact on the night before, I was up watching video clips on you tube right up to about two in the morning until my mother forced me to go to bed. But even then, my eyes were wide open.

Then the day of the trip arrived and we all met at our designated location well before our scheduled departure. Nickie and I arrived first, followed by Chong. Leonard, Maryanne and Justin arrived not long after and the last one to arrive was Ignatius. So, while waiting some of us stocked up on our "supplies" for the trip. I got a tube of Pringles and a bottle of water while a couple of us stocked up on other things. Then, after waiting for some time we boarded our bus all ready to thunder down the road. But much to our horror, the bus remained stationary in the station for almost an hour and a half because some of the roads were closed due to the political demonstration held in Kuala Lumpur. But once the green light was given we proceeded on our five hour journey towards Penang. The journey was pretty uneventful except for me being a real prankster by capturing pictures of those who slept on the bus. The funniest sleepy face was Nickie because he slept with his mouth and eyes slightly open. It took me a while to play that prank on Maryanne because she took a very long time to get to sleep but when she did, it was picture perfect. We made only one stop along the trip. And after a good four to five hours, we reached the Nibong Tebal bus terminal. We then got our stuff together and waited for Maryanne's grandfather to pick us up. After some waiting, he arrived. He also brought along another taxi because one car was not enough to fit us all. And after some driving around, we finally reached their lovely home.

We immediately felt comfortable thanks to the warmth showered upon us by Maryanne's family. Plus they even took the trouble of arriving two days before us to get the house ready. Plus, they were even kind enough to prepare us a delicious meal which I am very, very grateful for. All we needed to do now was to get ready to have fun and we sure did. After some waiting, Sek Khong arrived. Once he had arrived, we introduced ourselves to him and immediately felt like good old friends. I guess people from Penang must be very friendly. So, once he had eaten, all of us, including Maryanne's grandfather went to Gurney Drive for dinner. And the journey itself was amazing. I was captivated by the beauty of Penang and its beaches. We could see people lined up all along its shores to watch the sea. The food was marvellous. We all bought and shared so may varieties of food. Plus I even managed to eat something that I had always wanted to eat which was Ikan Bakar. After eating, we went to Gurney Plaza to do some window shopping. We also went to get Maryanne's grandparents a fruit basket as a token of our appreciation for their kindness and hospitality. After shoppimg, we took a walk along the beaches in Gurney drive where we took a few pictures. The night scene was absolutely amazing. After that we "hui jia". Took a bath then arranged our sleeping positions and amazingly, slept.

The next day, we got up at about 7 am in the morning thanks to "someone's" wake up alarm which just happened to be our very own National Anthem. Amazing. We quickly got ready, most of us didn't take a bath because we would be going on a very long hike at Air Hitam Dam. Which was incredible. As soon as we got there, we were quite impressed by the scenery. There was greenery almost everywhere we turned. Even the mighty Kek Lok Si towered in the glory of the hill. Even more impressive was the hike. Simply because, we had to trail some very steep uphill terrain to get to the dam. Which was very, very exhausting. I think we hiked for a good one hour before we reached the dam. But upon reaching the dam, the long hike was worth every drop of sweat. The view from atop the hill was breath taking. We could see the city of Penang from there. We could see the layer of beautiful but dangerous smog blanketing the City of Penang. Plus, the greenery and the tranquility of the place was peerless. Again, we took some pictures and played around before continuing on our hike down to lower ground. But pity Nickie, because, along the entire hike he had a rather irritating stomach ache. But fortunately, we had managed to find him a decent lavatory. After the hike, we returned home and took our shower. We were scheduled to go to the beach later in the evening. So, while waiting to go, we played some card games. I joined them much later because, I was not too much of an Einstien with poker cards but I did eventually learn three new games as the holiday progressed.

After some waiting, we proceeded to the beach at Batu Ferringhi. We arrived around 4 pm. That too was so much fun because, the beach was beautiful. The sun was up kissing the beach, the waves were gentle yet compelling, the skies produced amazing clouds and the hills to the left made it a picture perfect scene. Most of us save for a two others did not go for a swim. Oh yes, before I forget, prior to going to the beach, we were introduced to Shin Ying, another one of Maryanne's friends from Penang. At the beach, we swam, and we also did something most of us had not done in a long time, which was to build structures out of sand. Which was quite fun. We built our very own dams in which we could fit one person into. In fact, we built two. This too was fun. And after building the dams, about six of us took a ride on a banana boat. It was the first time I ever did something like that. That too was fun. Because, the boat was going really fast and it took a huge amount of strength to hold on to our seats. Fortunately, none of us fell into the sea. I sat at the front of the boat which was quite frightening and exciting at the same time because you could really feel the effects of the speed. The bumps were extra hard and if you were not careful you could fall onto the person behind you, setting up a domino effect which will then throw others out of the boat. But we did manage to do a few high speed stunts. I did a "titanic" while some just let go of the handle which they were supposed to hold on to. Chong and I even managed to punch each others fists while riding the boat! Then, after the banana boat ride, I took a para sail ride. No one else joined me, so I went alone. But even then, I had enormous amounts of fun. The view from the heavens was a breath taking one. Everybody on the ground looked like toys. Too bad I did not take my camera up. Or else, I would have been able to snap beautiful pictures. Later, we buried Ignatius under the sand and created some very interesting anatomys for him. It was very funny. Even other tourists laughed when they saw our piece of "art work". Once we had our fun, we took a shower which cost us one ringgit, took some more pictures then proceeded on our next adventure.

That next adventure was to look for a gift for Sek Khong. We wanted to thank him for driving us around for the past two days. We took quite some time to look for something good. But finally, after some walking, we found what we liked. And whatwe liked was a Ferragamo wallet. After buying his present, we gave it to him and proceeded to have dinner at a hawker stall somewhere near Air Putih. The food was amazing. I has Asam Laksa. Then some of them bought fried oysters and pork and chiken satay. We also craked many jokes during that time. And the one which I remembered most was the competely unexpected "Chopstick" line which made all of us erupt in a burst of laughter. But it was all in good fun. Pity Justin though. He was on the recieveing end of the line.

Then, once we had eaten, we went back home, took our bath and then played some card games. Shin ying joined us this time around. We playe poker right until Ying left then all of us went down to watch television. We had originally wanted to watch Bourne Ultimatum but the DVD player was in a bad mood so we switched to Juwana Man. But I did not watch it because I was too tired to do so. Therefore Justin and I went to bed much earlier than the rest. But later on in the morning, I regretted sleeping so fast because I heard it was a very funny movie.

Guess I'll have to pause here for now. I will continue the story of my amazing vacation in another post and then explain just why this trip was such an amazing trip for me.