Penang, Malaysia

We have a day off school on Monday, so I decided to take a trip over to Penang. I took a short one hour flight from the airport in Johor and arrived at about 10am. I went to the hotel and just thought I would leave a bag there until I could check in at 2, but they had a room available, so I was able to get in a little rest before heading out for the day. Beautiful views from the hotel of the city and China Sea.

Heading to the airplane

Hotel View

View from the hotel

There is a hop on hop off bus that takes you around the island so I paid 45 RM for 24 hours. There is a city route and a beach route. So, I took both. The scenery was beautiful. I stopped off at a butterfly farm and enjoyed the beautiful insects and plants.

I hopped back on the bus and finished up the beach route and stopped off on the city route at a huge mall. They had a food court and so I tried some of the famous Penang food. A noodle dish, and ice-cream made with ice, noodles, milk, and kidney beans. Yes, it sounds weird, but it was tasty.

I got back on the bus and spent 2 hours getting back to the hotel. Traffic was pretty bad, but got to see lots of sites. I'm loving this opportunity to get out and see a new part of the world. I am independent! I did enjoy meeting a couple of interesting people. One couple from Austria is on a four month honeymoon and have traveled thru Russia, China and not Southeast Asia. Another guy I met on the bus was from Australia, and just on a holiday. He can't understand our political situation.....and I can't either. But I'll leave it at that. Some of the best parts of traveling are meeting new people and making connections. All of us are just trying to make life work and find happiness on the way thru this journey.

The other day I had dinner with the missionaries and while talking with one of the newest missionaries found out that he was from Provo, my home town. I went to school with his mom, aunts and uncles. His grandma played the organ in my ward when I was a little girl, played for my parents funerals, and is still playing! It's indeed a small world.