Sometimes traveling is like that
This morning I woke up at 6.54. I got a message from Michael, the new tennant of Volkstraat nr 45, my old apartment. Apparently he's been getting bills and warnings from the internet company on my name, and he got my electricity bill on his name. I guess both companies stuffed up.
At 7AM I was behind the computer, making use of the hostel's free internet, trying to rectify the problem of the bills.
After that I had a wonderful breakfast at a Chinese place, 2 steamed red bean buns, shrimp dim sum and fabulous Chinese tea for only 5 Ringgit (1 euro).
Then I tried to find an ATM, while doing this I saw a dead rat, a ladyboy with a very real looking boob hanging out of his/her top while he/she was joking around with an Indian prostitute and a man who asked me whether I wanted free sex through the car window.
After getting money from the ATM I organised my Thai visa. I also managed to swap that brick I've been carrying around, that Indonesia Lonely Planet for a Thai LP at the second hand bookshop.
For Lunch I had vegetable fried noodles with egg. I organised my busticket to Koh Pha-Ngan for Thursday. And while walking up and down Lebuh Chulia, people driving by honk at me, apparently thinking I somehow like being honked at. Others start talking to me, pointing out the obvious. "Wow, you are tall! Where you from? Mmmm, Belgium must be a fine country" while looking at me from head to toe. Or asking me whether I'm a model or a basketballplayer. Some days I hardly notice any of this, but on days like today I just want to shout "Fuck off!", but I never do.
Yesterday I went to visit a Tibetan buddhist temple in the street where I'm staying. A Thai guy immediately offered to guide me, eventhough there really was no need for this. At the end he offered to take me to the beach of Batu Ferringhi (which by the way is quite dirty and not interesting, at least that's what I've heard) for free. When I declined and said I had to go, I tried to shake his hand and he tried to kiss me! On the cheeks, but still, I was quite shocked, though I managed to duck away right in time. Kissing is simply not something Asians do, they should only put their hands together and bow, and maybe, if they want to greet like westerners, shake hands, but kissing? never...
Anyway after getting my busticket, I went to the mall to buy some showergel. I got a capuccino at Starbucks. It was my first time ever going into a Starbucks and I soon regretted it. I thought I would enjoy a decent capuccino, but the guy behind the counter was very unfriendly and they didn't even have coffee spoons, they only had these plastic "stirrers". That completely ruined the experience, cause I like to scoop out the foam with my spoon :-(
When I left Starbucks I ran into that guy who tried to kiss me yesterday, I looked at him angrily and walked on.
When I returned to the hostel I finished the book I'd been reading, "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss. I really liked it, especially the last part.
For dinner I ended up at Ecco, an Italian restaurant, for the third day in a row. For some strange reason many restaurants in Georgetown close right before dinnertime and Ecco is one of the few decent and not too expensive places that stay open. The pizza was great...
I guess I have been rambling a bit, don't worry, everything is still great, but sometimes traveling is simply like that...
Ik ga zelfs niet eens proberen dit te vertalen
At 7AM I was behind the computer, making use of the hostel's free internet, trying to rectify the problem of the bills.
After that I had a wonderful breakfast at a Chinese place, 2 steamed red bean buns, shrimp dim sum and fabulous Chinese tea for only 5 Ringgit (1 euro).
Then I tried to find an ATM, while doing this I saw a dead rat, a ladyboy with a very real looking boob hanging out of his/her top while he/she was joking around with an Indian prostitute and a man who asked me whether I wanted free sex through the car window.
After getting money from the ATM I organised my Thai visa. I also managed to swap that brick I've been carrying around, that Indonesia Lonely Planet for a Thai LP at the second hand bookshop.
For Lunch I had vegetable fried noodles with egg. I organised my busticket to Koh Pha-Ngan for Thursday. And while walking up and down Lebuh Chulia, people driving by honk at me, apparently thinking I somehow like being honked at. Others start talking to me, pointing out the obvious. "Wow, you are tall! Where you from? Mmmm, Belgium must be a fine country" while looking at me from head to toe. Or asking me whether I'm a model or a basketballplayer. Some days I hardly notice any of this, but on days like today I just want to shout "Fuck off!", but I never do.
Yesterday I went to visit a Tibetan buddhist temple in the street where I'm staying. A Thai guy immediately offered to guide me, eventhough there really was no need for this. At the end he offered to take me to the beach of Batu Ferringhi (which by the way is quite dirty and not interesting, at least that's what I've heard) for free. When I declined and said I had to go, I tried to shake his hand and he tried to kiss me! On the cheeks, but still, I was quite shocked, though I managed to duck away right in time. Kissing is simply not something Asians do, they should only put their hands together and bow, and maybe, if they want to greet like westerners, shake hands, but kissing? never...
Anyway after getting my busticket, I went to the mall to buy some showergel. I got a capuccino at Starbucks. It was my first time ever going into a Starbucks and I soon regretted it. I thought I would enjoy a decent capuccino, but the guy behind the counter was very unfriendly and they didn't even have coffee spoons, they only had these plastic "stirrers". That completely ruined the experience, cause I like to scoop out the foam with my spoon :-(
When I left Starbucks I ran into that guy who tried to kiss me yesterday, I looked at him angrily and walked on.
When I returned to the hostel I finished the book I'd been reading, "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss. I really liked it, especially the last part.
For dinner I ended up at Ecco, an Italian restaurant, for the third day in a row. For some strange reason many restaurants in Georgetown close right before dinnertime and Ecco is one of the few decent and not too expensive places that stay open. The pizza was great...
I guess I have been rambling a bit, don't worry, everything is still great, but sometimes traveling is simply like that...
Ik ga zelfs niet eens proberen dit te vertalen
posted by Ine Beerten at 2:21 PM
1 Comments:
Ik zou daar toch maar op mijn tellen passen! Lb.
Stay safe (Wikitravel)
Be extra careful in shopping malls and crowds, as they are the spots of petty crimes such as pickpockets and snatch thefts although rape crimes occasionally happens.
Local men like to yell things to women walking alone, and sometimes they can get "too friendly". It is not rare to get suggestions to see the sizes of local men's "organs" for example. You should travel in a group, if you are a woman. Local men think that westeners are much more "open" to such suggestions, because they have been taught in schools and newspapers that the westerners are infidels with no moral, and that they can have lots of promiscuous sex with multiple partners.
If you look like a tourist, you will get considerably higher prices from the salesmen in markets, like Batu Ferringhi Night Market, or the market near the Kek Lok Si temple. The real price of the product is always a lot less than you would pay for it in western countries, and at times "the best price" is five times the normal price.
Taxis generally do not use meters, even if it is compulsory by law. The meters are always "broken". You should anyway ask for a meter, because you might get lucky. The metered price is always less than a price given in advance. Again tourists are often cheated, sometimes even left by a roadside in a middle of nowhere, if they refuse to pay a considerable sum of money. Serious crimes are pretty rare, but you should find out about normal prices for taxis somewhere in advance. Taxis taken from Penang Airport are safe, you pay using slips given in a small office in the airport building.
Do not use drugs, and stay away from them! You can easily get a death sentence even from a possession, because the local police are ordered to raise charges of trafficking instead. Synthetic drugs are quite widespread even with this kind of legislation.
There are lots of beggars around, because they are not controlled in any way. Some of them have mutilated themselves with knives to remove large parts of skin from the legs, and/or have learned to crawl around without using their legs at all. Sometimes children are kidnapped and used as beggars. This is more about the security of the poor people than your own, but you should think twice before giving them money. You should use some charity organizations instead. Five ringgits will buy more rice for an organization than for a single beggar.
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