m8888888's Blog

There was an amazing festival while I was in Penang last week. It's this Hindu festival. You can find out about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam

There were people with metal rods stuck through their cheeks, hooks in their back that people pulled on with ropes, and some people who had bunches of hooks with bells, oranges, or limes stuck all over their back and chest. It was fascinating. Everyone was dressed so colorfully and beautifully, too. There were also...

There is quite a lot of shopping in Penang, from malls to markets.

The biggest mall, Prangin Mall, is right next to Comtar. It's a bit run-down, but there are lots of trendy, inexpensive stores, restaurants and food stands, and massage places. It is huge- I think one guidebook said there are over 700 stores! It was quite crowded when I was there, with lots of young people hanging out.

Gurney Plaza, the other mall I went to in Penang, is much more upscale. They had more...

On the last Sunday of every month, there's a special market at the end of Upper Penang street, where it turns into a pedestrian walkway. It's called Little Penang Street Market. It's right across from the E&O Hotel, so it's easy to find. The Penang magazine I got from the tourist stand said, "What sets this particular market apart from Penang's other markets is the organizer's emphasis on promoting crafts and handicrafts by local artisans." So I...

We went to a Snake Sanctuary on Langkawi island last week. We just missed the snake show (twice a day at 11:30 and 3 or 3:30, I can't remember), but we did get to hold a large python and take some pictures! It was fun. My boyfriend is afraid of snakes, so most of the time he was cowering behind me while we looked in the snakes' cages. If we couldn't find one, he freaked out, thinking it had escaped. We saw afterwards that you can ask for a detailed tour with a...

The first day, we looked all over Little India for a normal restaurant where you can sit down, order off the menu, and they make it fresh. My boyfriend was worried about getting sick from food that's been sitting for awhile, and I was worried about the food being too spicy- I wanted to order it and ask them to make it mild. We finally gave up and picked a place. It turned out to be THE BEST food! Of course we didn't get sick, and they had mild choices. I...

Chinese Temple

There were so many Chinese temples in Penang. Which isn't surprising, since a large portion of the population is Chinese! I visited a few of them while there. They're really pretty, done mostly in red and gold. There are usually alters at the front, where people light incense and pray. They...

I visited the Snake Temple while I was in Penang. It is a temple that is supposed to have a lot of venomous snakes living in it. They don't hurt visitors because they've been "drugged" by the incense being burned. It sounded really neat, although my boyfriend hates snakes, so he wanted to wait outside! I had been wanting to do it all week, but I finally went on my last day there. And of course- no snakes! I was so disappointed!

There was a small reptile exhibit,...

This is a memorial to a woman unjustly accused of adultery and executed. Apparently she bled white blood at her execution which signaled her innocence. She laid a curse on Langkawi that nothing would grow on the island for seven generations, which is now up. There is a museum about the Mahsuri legend, some small stores selling souvenirs, and some birds in cages.

We went here by accident, while looking for the snake sanctuary. But I thought, as long as we're here, might as well...

We drove out to the site where the waterfall is, which is a very nice drive around the island. There aren't many houses, so it's a nice chance to see the rainforest. The hike up to the waterfall isn't very hard. It takes maybe 5 minutes, and is a little steep, but not bad. The hike up was nicer than the waterfall itself, which wasn't very impressive. It was nice, but not fabulous.

Seven Wells, or "Telaga Tujuh," is in the north-western part of Langkawi. There is a waterfall and a place with seven pools of water that you can hike up to. There's a fork in the path up, so you have to choose one or the other to begin with. It takes about 10 minutes to the waterfall, which is about 500 metres up, and 20 minutes to Seven Wells, which is 800 metres up. The walk is through a rainforest, and there are monkies playing right next to the path. There are...

When you arrive in Langkawi via ferry from Penang, you come to Kuah Jetty. There is a small shopping center there with a few duty-free stores and restaurants. Outside is Eagle Square, or Dataran Lang in Malay. There is a huge Eagle statue overlooking the water, and a large empty square behind that. There are a few souvenir shops nearby, but otherwise it is quite empty. There's a nice view of the Prawn Bay. It's nice to see the Eagle, and take a picture with the Langkawi sign, but...