malaysia: penang

(no original pics…i forgot to pack my camera battery charger. dang!)

update: uploaded pics from ishaq’s video camera, 7.28.07

the flight from KL to penang was super quick.
penang is an island city
– at least part of it is —
off the north-west coast of peninsular malaysia

source: malaysia-maps.com

the flight to penenag seemed shorter than the drive
from our KL hotel to the airport
(about 30 miles outside of the city).
the KL international airport (KLIA)
is one of the nicest looking airports i’ve been to
and apparently one of the best functioning
because it was voted
“Best Airport in the 15-25 million passengers per annum category” in 2005.

after our arrival in penang
there was another long 45 minute car ride to our hotel,
this time a holiday inn
in the city of batu ferringhi.

this holiday inn had two buildings connected by a walkway over the main beach strip.
one side — the beach wing –
was right on the beach, of course.
the side we stayed on
– ferringhi tower — was on the other side of street.
ma fi mushkilah (no problem), as the jordanians say.
it was nice.
the breakfast was a feast.
the rooms were spacious and comfortable
and the room service menu was delish.

we spent a while recovering and
languishing in bed with HBO,
then we headed out to the beach.

ishaq and i did another tag team,
this time parasailing.
they fitted me with a harness,
attached the parachute that lay on the ground behind me,
and gave me the instructions:
“when i say run, run.
when i say pull, pull THIS rope,”
showing me a rope with a big, red, plastic ribbon tied to it.
“don’t listen to anyone but me.”

so when he said run,
i ran,
holding up the two main ropes of the parachute as i did so.
i ran towards the water at an angle
as a jet boat pulled me and my parachute towards the water.
the instructor — if you can call him that
for the 52 seconds of instructions he gave me –
ran behind me helping to hold up the parachute ropes.
i think there were two other guys on each side of the parachute sail itself
holding it up and running themselves
helping the chute catch the wind.

my butt got wet,
and i was a little uncomfortable in the harness,
but it was so peaceful above the beach water,
and the view was spectacular.
yes, spectacular, ma sha Allah.
it seemed longer than it was,
but when it ended,
it wasn’t long enough.
as the speed boat curved around and steered me towards the beach
they started calling out: “PULL! PULL! PULL!”
i leaned on the rope with all my body weight
and landed nicely on the beach,
thank you very much,
ma sha Allah.

the instructor asked me if i’d done this before.
i replied that i hadn’t.
maybe he was trying to get some more of my money,
but he said i did very well.

after ishaq did his thing on the parasail
– we’ve even got video, folks –
we walked down the beach a bit with the girls.
ishaq waded in the water with sanaa and rahmah
while i walked with aya, just getting my shins wet.
sanaa and rahmah took turns swimming either on ishaq’s back
or with ishaq holding them up.

we walked back up the beach to our hotel area
and let the girls get in the kiddie pool for a bit.
after they took showers
and we all took naps
we went out on the strip.

there were sidewalk vendors up and down the street.
i mostly just enjoyed the market experience
and eye-ed and priced what i would like to get later.

we went to a restaurant
– i wish i could remember the name —
where not only was the eating area open to the air,
but so was the kitchen!
well, at least one entire wall was open.
it looked clean, as did the cooks,
so i was thoroughly pleased to be eating there.
our waitress was friendly,
as was the other wait staff that darn-near doted on us.
the food was delightful,
and the bill was just a bit better than free.

the next day we did an island tour.
it was just us,
a big, white, diesel 80’s mercedes,
and a soft-spoken chinese man
who did tours to pass the time
after retiring from being a food inspector.

we rode through a fishing village.
it seemed the houses were works-in-progress
made from tin, wood and scraps.
later on our tour
we’d see these types of houses along side
housing developments where the houses were all the same
and very modern.
there must be housing booms all over the world.

we checked out the butterfly farm
which hosted many friendly, colorful, butterflies,
as well turtles, scorpions, beetles,
insects that looked like leaves and sticks,
and a variety of other insects, reptiles, fish and plants.

glow in the dark scorpion

there are 2 frogs in this picture

we tasted tropical and, to us, exotic fruits at a road-side stand,
featuring the infamous, spikey, foul-smelling durian.

it’s like a brownish-green, spikey, canteloupe.

it definitely has a distinct smell even from several feet away.
our guide said it was called a merciful fruit
because no one has been killed by a ripe durian dropping to the ground.
those spikes were serious.
it can’t be picked, he said.
it is ready when it falls of it’s own accord.
that’s why we saw these strings of thick plastic
around the durian stems,
as well as nets below the trees set up to catch durians
so they don’t hit the ground and crack.
the inside is like…how do i explain?
imagine several mini, kinda-mango-shaped seeds
covered in onion-flavored custard.
our guide tore it up,
i tasted half a piece.
i think even sanaa had a bit.
ishaq was able to manage a couple pieces.
ahem…it’s an acquired taste.

we also tasted fresh mangosteen

and rambutan.

source: geographia.com

source: rambutan.com
i think rambutan was my favorite tasting like a big, sweet grape.

in both of the hotels we stayed in during our trip,
guests were prohibited from bringing both durians and mangosteen in the room –
durian because of its smell and mangosteen for its irremovable stain.

as we drove through the island
the scenery alternated between
fruit-filled forests, ocean views,
small villages, and modern cities.
we saw many roadside mosques, temples and shrines.
tourists drove through the winding roads in 2-seater sports cars.
traditional chinese merchant architecture
was mixed in with huge malls.
we also saw part of the penang bridge,
“the longest bridge in Asia and 5th largest in the world”.

the snake temple was our last stop.
the outside was undergoing renovation at the time,
but it looked like a typical buddhist temple.

when we entered i saw some snakes seeming to be resting on
small tree-like structures of what looked like leafless wooden branches.

(source for the above pics: www.malaysiasite.nl)
they were so still and perfectly colored that i initially thought they were fake.
then i saw them move a bit.
one man offered to take a picture of us with the snakes
for a small fee.
i declined, but ishaq, sanaa and rahmah were interested.
he gave rahmah a snake.
i think she thought it was fake too.
she took it in her hand easily enough,
but then it moved and she freaked out
and dropped it.

sanaa, on the other hand, found the experience delightful.

it was free to enter the temple
– although donations were welcome –
but for a bit of change
you can use one of the cleanest bathrooms at a tourist site i’ve ever seen.
they also had a small snake zoo next to the temple with tons of snakes.

after we entered they happened to have a short demonstration.
there was a cage in the center of the open air courtyard of the snake zoo
about the size of the average full bathroom.
in it was a huge python.
the snake handler was saying it was harmless to humans.
he asked sanaa if she would come in with him
and she did!

(sanaa kissing the huge snake)
as she stood inside with him
and gently, tentatively, but bravely caressed the snake
he informed the group that the snake was big enough
to easily eat a small child like her.
thanks for that mental picture, dude.

after that demo sanaa went around holding every animal she could get her hands on
including an albino boa and an iguana.

the snake handler also took an agitated cobra out of box
and told us that if we ever came across one
we should remain calm and motionless
as it only gets agitated
(from being in a box all day, or)
when it feels it is getting attacked.
it hissed and flared its head
like the best of movie snakes.
much respect.

after that, we wound are way back to the hotel.
ishaq, sanaa and rahmah went back to the beach.
i chilled with aya in the hotel.
that evening we went back to the street market
to buy gifts and a few things for ourselves.
then we went to this beautiful restaurant.

again, the name escapes me,
but if you’re ever in penang, in the batu ferrenghi area
this is the restaurant you want to go to.
if you’re leaving the holiday inn ferrenghi tower,
cross the street and turn left.
it will be the most beautiful restaurant,
with a garden terrace made of dark woods,
gently lit with strings of white lights.
the inside will be open to the night,
the napkins artfully folded,
and it will feel just a bit extravagant.

maybe we were early,
but the people were so friendly
and again we felt like welcomed guests.
after we ordered and they brought us our food,
one waitress asked me if i wanted her to hold aya while i ate.
i replied, “no, thank you”.
she asked again.
i told her that i could manage,
but another waitress asked me, yet again.
i handed aya over
and about 3 waitresses ooh-ed and aah-ed over her chunkiness.
they took her around the restaurant, too.
they also gave sanaa and rahmah free ice cream cones, too.
they seem to love the children in malaysia.

all throughout our trip
sanaa hand to endure
people fondling her hair.
in KL and penang
they would comment on how they liked her hair,
ask who did it,
and touch it without asking.
they were really attracted to it,
i guess because they don’t see hair like that often.
sanaa had to endure countless numbers
of unsolicited, curious caresses,
but after a while she felt like a super star.

the next morning we went back to KL
and check back into the wonderful novotel.
we thought we’d try to get some shopping in.
KL had all the stores i’ve been accustomed to the states.
– they’ve even got ikea! i SO miss ikea –
i wanted to walk around the mall
and get some stuff that i couldn’t get it amman,
but the girls were tired and fussy
so after getting a couple activity books for the girls to work in on the plane
we headed back to the hotel
and got some satay chicken
– a delish grilled chicken on skewers served with a chunky, sweet peanut sauce –
and fish from the hotel room service.

a few hours later, at 1 or so in the morning,
we had to catch a ride back to KLIA.
the driver was scaring me.
it was very early,
few cars were on the road
and he was acting very strange.

i couldn’t quite tell because of the shape of his eyes
and the darkness,
but i think he was falling asleep.
i was tired like the rest of my family,
but seeing his erratic driving was enough to make me
lose my desire to sleep and repeatedly call on Allah’s name for protection.
snatched from a greedy sleep by my alarmed call to the driver
as he veered too far out of the lane,
ishaq asked him if he was OK.
he gave some lame excuse about how he couldn’t drive too fast
for some lame reason.
but i saw the van slowly veering to the left,
and i heard the engine’s hum slowly lowering.
i kept my eye on him and the road
as i thikr-ed, saying “La i-laha il-Allah” over and over,
and i think that helped him keep his eyes on the road
cause he kept looking to me
to see if i was looking at him.

we made to the airport and the departure gate
before the gate even opened.
the took away my beloved tom’s of maine toothpaste
because it was above the ounce limit.
i almost wanted to take it back and squeeze it into a plastic bag
so i could have SOME.

we had a long layover in doha,
but if you have to have a layover,
that’s a nice place to have it.

we made it back to amman and through customs with no problems.

back to the grind
in this somewhat of a normal life
in this blessed place.