Penang

29.7.04 00:33 link

again again I wrote a story and something went wrong... so in a few words: look in " thailand" to read more about my changed planns the police is your best friend.. and sometimes taxidriver aswel.. (at least in Maleisia....) Cable car in Lankawi is worth wile. You get a very nice view on the islands and the sea. I sometimes feel like a tourist.. sometimes I am the only western person in hotels or at touristic places.. Lankawi is very beatifull and perfect if you want to relaxe on the beach and see some beatifull nature. Penang is very busy, the whole island is more like a large city.

31.5.04 10:37 link

Go with the flow II-> Satun I didn't know how I wanted to go to Samui (an island on the eastcoast of Thailand), but it seemed that coming from Lankawi I had little options. I told you about a very nice cafe/restaurant at Lankawi. The name is Jungle cafe, near Lankawi Village. They will close for the weekend and go with all the staffmembers to Satun (Thailand). A few members of the staff come from Satun and have to go back to vote for something... I haven't figured out yet whatfore, becouse some don't speak english well. A few other do, so I will ask again when I see them. So, they asked me to travel together with them and spent a weekend in Satun. Of couse for me.. "an offer I cannot refuse". Friday I will go back to Lankawi, Saterday I will go with them to Satun where they can show me around and I think sunday or monday I will travel further alone by bus to the ferry for Samui. That means, tomorrow finally one day alone and that again with a group of locals for a day or two. A friend of mine borrought me her backpack and a few books. I would really like to thank you again for that. I've started reading in one of the books " thailand, zacht als zijde, buigzaam als bamboe" (soft as silk, flexible like bamboe) and this is a very good preparation for my visit to Thailand. It really gives me better understanding of the local culture and the way they think and act. I think I should have done that for Maleisia aswel. Mabey for my next trip....

27.5.04 12:36 link

Go with the flow-> Penang My planns where not very strikt and I had some Idears on what to see and where to go. The most important thing for me was to relaxe, meet interesting people, see new places, learn more about other cultures and learn more about myself. Therefore I decided to follow the group I met at my "islandhopping tour". So on 25th I took the ferry to the mainland (all rusty and wouldn't be able to get through the security check in Holland..., but it took me there.... They did call it the superdeluxe luxurous.. bla, bla bla... ), then took the bus and another ferry to get to Penang. The last two days was very relaxing. Hanging out with the "beach boys". They are at the beach all day for watersportfacilities and do jetskiing, waterskieing, paragliding, andso on. Of cours I have been out in a speedboat and did some waterskiing myself, whitch I really liked again. I usually don't do it enough. The weather cleared up very well so I am getting well colloured now.. I almost look like a beachboy.... Penang is much busier that Lankawi, though the more touristic restaurants are still almost empty. Everybody here complains about the present situation of the tourist industry. The guesthous where I stay here at Penang is very nice and about 15 euro for a bedroom with airco and own bathroom. They told me that the last years there where many travellers from europe who quit there job and went travelling and didn't worry about getting a new job when getting back to europe. This doesn't happen anymore so they have little customers. After two days I want to travel again so tomorrowmorning I will take the boat back to Lankawi. Now I will go for the shortroute. On the way over it costed about 6 hours to get here. Direct to Lankawi with the boat will be about 2,5 hours so that is much better. They say that these ships are much better so I don't have to worry about that.

27.5.04 12:24 link

rainy days Some rain is ok, but I still see too little sunshine... they say that it is better on the east coast, so... I'll let you know when I've made my planns. It isn't raining all day, but I feel like having sun all day, for at least a few days at a stretch.. yes I know, I sometimes have too high demands.... Don't worry, I am already much darker and without being sunburned! I hope you will all recognize me when I'm back...

24.5.04 10:24 link

People The last 24 hours has been quite busy with getting to know more people and socializing. It started on my boattour yesterday. It was the islandhopping tour where they take you with a long boat, without tail.., because here in Malaisia they have normal outboard engines of 115 horsepower. Here I met two girls (uk/ korea, and two guys from Penang (another island of Maleisia)) After the boattour I went to the same restaurant from the day before and had some nice talks with all the staffmembers there. After diner and some drinks the manager of the bar (Mike) took me to "the hideout cafe". It is a cafe for all the owners and managers of the bars/restaurants/touroperators from this island. No tourists allowed and only invitational...., so I felt a little bit an intruder, but of course liked to see it and have some talks with some german women who had set up their own business there. After this we went to Raggae bar (had already been there a day before). Here I hooked up again with the group from this afternoon. They left around one and I stayed until they turned out the lights. So there we where in the middle of the night with a group of  7 local guys and one cheesehead. Mike has brought his guitar so he started playing and some of us singing.. including me.. "on a dark desert highway...."... Better would be; "on a dark deserted beach...." After we were still not tired back to the restaurant wich for some reason turned out to be the only bar after 2 o'clock on the island. There I stayed until one of the local guys brought me back to my hotel around 5. In short; lot's of local's, lots of talks, very nice.

24.5.04 10:17 link

Irri Tating I had just written a tekst for 20 minutes and than the computer/internet broke down.. In summary: Been on a boattrip to 3 of the 99 islands of Lankawi. I'm feeling hungry, so sorry guys, I will not type the same story twice, maby tomorrow.

23.5.04 13:26 link

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