Day 10 - Our First Beach

Today we decided to get our first taste of a South East Asian beach so we jumped on a bus in Penang and headed for the resort beach of Battu Faringi on the island of Penang. It was quite a drive but the bus was blissful as the aircon was pumping. We weren't sure where to get off so we kindly asked the driver to let us know - he nodded and smiled but you're never sure if the message gets through. Luckily for us he did understand and we hopped off with another couple tourists. Our first challenge was trying to get onto the beach as there are huge hotels that dominate the beach front but we finally asked for directions and were directed to a small goat path! Not really but it looked that way. The beach was pretty good, a long stretch of sand with hotels, restaraunts and touts trying to get you to sign up for some water sport. We managed to get free of them and found a some sand that met both our requirements:
Luisa's - it must have sun so her portuguese skin can get a healthy brown glow.
Phil's - it must be right next to shade so my irish skin can avoid going a crispy pink.

It was a great lazy day watching all the goings on - parasailing, people getting stuck on rocks, asians taking at least 70 photo's of themselves throwing up the peace sign etc. The water was really warm and the ocean flat. When our stomachs started rumbling we went looking for some food and as soon as we left the beach a huge storm blew in. Luckily for us we saw the golden arches of McDonalds in front of us so we went looking for cover and before we knew what was happening we had scoffed down some cheese burgers and chips. So much for the cultural immersion that I was going for. We were surrounded by another 20 westerners also giving in to the American dream.

Back at the guest house we prepared our bags for moving on in the morning and then went to go look for some supper. We ended up at the red dragon night market again and tucked into some pork and noodles. We decided to take a walk towards the embankment in Georgetown and discovered another food market right on the water. It was such an awesome setting we decided to get an ice milo and play some cards. A great way to end off a great city.

Phil