I don't remember exactly when the brainstorm was first kindled.
Somewhere in the midst of the busy schedules of daily life, the humidity of hot season, and the realization that turning 28 is nearly upon both of us, we thought that a little getaway by the beach would be in order. Who says you can't celebrate
the milestone of "Turning 30" two years early? :)
We picked a place. Penang, Malaysia. Neither of us had ever been there or knew anyone personally who had, but flights were cheap, it was along the coast, and the location was outside of Thailand so it would count as a visa run as well.
The trip had been planned several months ago, but the timing of it couldn't have been more perfect. The past month has been hard in the terms of needing to make some weighty decisions, and I was feeling pretty drained. In retrospect, this 4 day trip was a precious gift from God, & here is a photographic tribute...
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| Yay for budget airlines like Air Asia. Except for when they charged to rebook us for our connecting flight because we checked in 8 minutes late :( |
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| Our hotel by the beach, compliments of Mel's thrifty travel agent skills on agoda.com :) |
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| The stairway going down to the beach from our hotel's bridge access. |
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| Sunsets by the sea... God's handiwork takes my breath away... |
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Our secluded spot on the beach where we spent a lot of quiet time reading and journaling.
The sea, the sand, and the salty air are so refreshing to one's soul... |
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Times like these are always better when shared with a friend...
[and being asked by strangers if we are sisters? I'll take that as a compliment. :)] |
On Friday, we decided to rent a motorbike to tour the island and the historic city of Georgetown. One tour guide tried to convince us that hiring a taxi and tour guide would be the better, safer option for us. We appreciated his concern (or his sales pitch to get us to rent the hotel's taxi service), but we preferred to blaze the trail on our own. The experience was every bit as adventurous as it sounds.
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| Our rental bike and fearless driver. This is after we figured out that Malaysia does not have full-service fuel pumps like Thailand. :) |
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| Yes, I am directionally challenged. But armed with a detailed map, on the look out for some specific landmarks, and we got around just fine. |
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| The waterfront view from downtown |
Georgetown is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang, and was first colonized by the British in 1786. Due to that influence, many of the buildings have been preserved in their original colonial architect as a World Heritage site. A simply charming city that is a fascinating cultural melting pot of Malay, Indian, and Chinese people,
as well as other ethnicities.
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| I don't consider myself a photographer by any stretch of imagination. But even I was giddy at discovering all this quaint Old World charm... |
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| Georgetown is famous for their rich and creamy blend of white coffee. We were not disappointed. :) |
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There were many evidences of different religions here with numerous Mosques, Hindi temples, and
Buddhist statues. |
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| More colonial architecture... |
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| Old Meets New: Pedal-bike rickshaws shared the streets with luxury vehicles. |
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| Have I mentioned the beautiful architecture we saw on every street? :) |
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Props to a passerby on the street who offered to take our picture when we were struggling with self-timer
camera settings. :) |
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| The waterfront yacht clubhouse |
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| I have a weakness for old churches with steeples and was delighted to find one in Asia! |
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Too many different ethnic restaurants to choose from? "Let's get a dish from all of them, " she said.
This was the Chinese dish, Laksa, I believe it's called. Made of fish and noodles in tomato curry. |
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| And this was the Indian food, complete with authentic Chai tea, tandoor chicken, roti, and dahl. You have to taste it for yourself to understand the deliciousness of that plate. |
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| The following afternoon, we opted for a countryside route, winding up and down the mountains. |
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| At one point, the actual road did not match my trusty map. But we bravely motored on and discovered the scenic route is sometimes the best one of all. :) |
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| Last stop of the biking expedition was to purchase some real White Coffee. |
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[And this is one of those "footsie" photos that I find strangely disturbing when I see them all over
Facebook & Instagram].
But instead of buying boring "I Love Penang" tourist T-shirts, we opted for a much cuter and more lasting souvenir. Mine are the red, hers are the navy. :) |
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"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood."
-Lucius A. Seneca
Thanking God for the gifts of kindred spirits, sunshine, sand, and the salty ocean air... |
