Day 14 - Penang

Day 14 – Penang - 29/5/12

Weather – Fine and Sunny. 29C – 34C.

Sunrise – 7.03am

Sunset – 7.28pm

Clock back another hour last night – now minus 3 hours ex Sydney.

During the night we sailed parallel to the Malaysian coast. At midnight we passed 3 miles starboard of the small island of Buloh, and shortly after at 1am, Pangko Island 9 miles starboard. At 4.30am we approached and passed around the northern coast of Pinang Island, then set course through the North Channel and boarded the pilot at 6.30am. We were alongside Swettenham Pier International Cruise Terminal by 8am.

We were up in time for the approach into Penang as dawn broke. We had the perfect view of the Pilot boarding this morning. I dunno how these guys do it, seriously, you could not pay me enough to jump from a boat to a ship at that speed. I wonder how many get squashed in the process.

Well considering this was a port we did not have any great enthusiasm for visiting, we ended up having a fantastic time. We had been here on a previous cruise, and it did not really connect with us, funny how things can change.

No tours arranged for here, we elected to just get off the ship and explore, and see where we ended up (i.e. hanging loose :). Such an easy disembarkation, onto the pier (last visit this was a tender port onto a pontoon jetty), then a rally through the armada of taxi drivers and out onto the street. After dodging cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes we only got a few hundred yards up the road when Donna spotted a sign at a bus stop that announced a free public bus shuttle , called Red CAT. We checked out the map on the sign, did not really know where it went , but noticed that where it terminated, the Green CAT made the return journey back towards the ships berth, so on we got.

I had my iPad map up (Triposo app), and we tracked where we were going against that. After about 15 mins Donna recognised the big multi storey shopping joint from last visit (cant remember its name), so we hopped off. It was 9.15am, but the sign on the door said the shops dont open till 10am. We were on the hunt to solve of phone dilemma so we elected to wait it out at Starbucks, which of course has free wi-fi.

An easy connection enabled a few Skype video and phone calls. They were such a success we have reconsidered our haste to restore a mobile phone connection. With communication capability via Skype to Skype, Skype to Phone, Email, Facebook, and of course this blog, we are not really sure if we are going to need more. If we have issues finding wi-fi, we can always resort to buying a local SIM to make calls, so we may just wait and see for now.

A few quick scans of a few shops and we were off in exploration mode again, making our way in the general direction of the ship through the streets of Georgetown. We wandered through the historic streets, taking in a little bit of history and just generally soaking up the atmosphere of the locals at work, rest and play.

Whilst waiting to cross the road on one occasion I felt a very heavy rain drop on my shoulder, and looked up at the sky which a clear blue, with not a cloud in sight. That could only mean one thing, which Donna confirmed with a laugh... yep a bird shat on me, and it was a big one. Luckily we carry half a chemist shop around with us, and Donna was able to clean and sanitise me well enough to continue.

A few photo ops along the journey, with the SHB visit to Penang recorded, and also one for you Wayne B – fire station, will be posted when we can. We came across one of those street malls where vendors cook meals for the locals. The aroma that wafted out of this open air mall was just delightful. We generally have a rule not to eat or drink anything from a street vendor, or a street mall joint...well the seal has been broken. I surveyed the vendors offering and we plucked up enough to have a go. Heck, how could bugs survive a good cooking in a wok.huh.

I ordered the Tom Yam Fried Rice, and Donna the Pineapple Fried Rice. Fried rice may seem like a tame meal for some (a la Nathan) to try, but for us it was good enough for our initiation. They were fantastic, just fantastic, so full of flavour..yummy yummy yummy. My stomach has still not recovered from the assault it received at the Equinox Restaurant in Singapore two days ago, and every meal since has been small and light, so a small serve of this rice was more than sufficient. I am writing this well over 3 hours after the meal, and the flavour is still in my mouth...soooooo nice !!!

We have a lot of port days earmarked as free days to just hang loose and see where the day takes us. Today was a good example of how you can get an enriching visit in just a few hours ashore, without the need for an organised guided tour. Lets hope they are all as successful as this one. :)

At 4pm we let go mooring lines and retraced our courses through the North Channel towards Malacca Strait. Once in the Malacca Strait various westerly courses were set to cross the northern part of the Malacca Strait towards Rondo Island off the northern tip of Sumatra, on route to Mumbai.

Another light dinner for us in the Regency. We have both dropped back to one course meals since the degustation delight in Singapore, although soufflé was on the menu, that can never be resisted – papaya and banana flavour tonight :)

Nothing on the entertainment menu really enthused us , so we had an early night.

Thank you for all the comments we are getting, here and on Facebook. We do read them all, but we just do not have the time to answer them all :) We are still getting reports of folk not being able to make comments. I have checked the settings, and it should all be working OK??? Another thing that must have been designed by Bastards Inc :).

I will load photos at the next free wifi spot when we have time.