Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Penang: Ferrying to Penang

The ferry is no longer like it was. First of course the fee has doubled since I last took it back in the late 80s. It is RM1.20 now per person yet still so cheap. Secondly the pedestrians level has to be shared now with some cars. Apparently there are too many cars and pedestrians have to sacrifice their space. I find that unjust but who am I to complain.

The ride across is about half an hour. We managed to enjoy sunrise on the ferry. Mr Khan was amazed to see so many jelly fish in the water. I on the other hand am not so amused.

When we got across, we took a CAT free shuttlebus to our lodging. It was quite a walk from the bus stop to the place though. I was sweating inside out and was on the brink of fainting when we eventually reached the place. I booked Armenian Suite for our night in Penang through booked.com. But don't let the name fool you. It is actually a pre-war shoplot, refurbished tastefully and comes with an unbelievably low rate at RM128 with WIFI though without breakfast.

The guy at the lobby thought I have paid when I insisted that having booked through booked.com, I was not required to pay in advance, so I insisted to pay right then. He seemed obviously surprised that I reminded him of that since I could easily get away with staying the night for free. Perhaps honesty has long disappeared in Penang, I don't know. My perspective is, it wouldn't be halal if I stayed for free illegally even at his negligence. It would unethically and downright unIslamic. After all, the room rate is already so low and he allowed us to check in 6 hours earlier at 8am.

The guy at the lobby claimed to be from Georgetown, Penang, yet doesn't speak a word of Malay. I wonder who is he kidding. What kind of Malaysian can't speak Malay? Puii.

Upon checking in, Mr Khan collapsed into oblivion in bed haha. He had granola bars for breakfast and was stilk talking about having a hearty nasik lemak. My Pashtun husband is so Malay now lol. The bedroom is tastefully decorated and since I have a thing for canopy beds, this room has officially become my favourite hotel room to date. But wait tilk we get to Langkawi. The room could be better, Inshaallah.

I'm enjoying this immensely with Mr Khan, but for some reason I am missing my bestfriends. This would've been an amazing experience with you two, just jumping into trains and ferries and thinking (or travelling, rather) on our feet. I have always been so spontaneous and I know Mr Khan loves that about me, that I am carefree and enjoy doing fun stuff without prior planning. I imagine a girlfriends trip would've been an eye opening experience.

My eyes are rather heavy now. Time for a nap before we have lunch. For my beloved besties, majulah ikan dan petroleum untuk negara. Muahahaha.

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