Day 26 - 29 Nov 10 - 13 Penang Part 2

Mei has been under some stress at work, with pressing deadlines and other pressures and had to cut short her leave. So our plan to rent a car and head out to Banding on the Temenggor Lake for a few days did not come to pass. Still, we had a few days of pigging out and expensive cab fares. And we did get to meet up with Francis and Sunil for dinner and also with Sunil's wife and kids. It seems Sunil's son now thinks I'm cool for folding him a jet paper airplane...

It was good meeting the guys. Francis had been SMSing me regularly the closer I got to Perak and to finally meet - in Penang - was great. He provided the story of the night when he recounted how one night, when he was a teenager returning from a late movie on his bicycle sans lights and rear brake (he did the feet-on-the-ground Fred Flintstone braking method when needed), he was coasting speedily down a hill towards home when he spied a police roadblock at the bottom of the slope. The cop saw him, raised an arm and shouted 'Lampu tiada - berhenti!' (No lights! Stop!) to which a helpless Francis Lim sailed past calling out 'Brek pun tiada!' (No brakes either!) Hilarious...

The days in Penang passed in a blur of food, peace, quiet and the warm and loving companionship of my wife.

The wedding was set amongst the Casuarinas that stand tall in the gardens of the Lone Pine. I'd known Chris 5 years or so now and it was nice to see him tie the knot. I also like to think that I had some small part to play in him taking the plunge.

A couple of years ago, he was party to my plan to propose to Mei with an engagement ring specially placed in her birthday cake. Our wedding by the sea in Singapore was intimate, casual, friendly and very personal.

Chris proposed to Mong while on vacation in Cambodia. He took out his video on the pretext of videoing them both, set it up on a quiet path, then went down on bended knee and asked her to marry him. By this time, a busload of Taiwanese tourists had converged upon the scene and they all clapped and cheered when Mong said 'Yes'.

Too soon though, it was time for us to leave Penang. Mei and I hung around after we checked out as she had an evening flight. I had decided to take a cab to the Ferry Terminal so we waited until 3:30 then piled into our respective cabs and headed off.

I had no real mood to ride much so stayed the night in Butterworth, in a very clean but cheap hotel. The owner recommended a chicken rice stall just up the road and he was right - it was fantastic. It helped alleviate the mood I was in with Mei's departure.

Tomorrow would be like Tanjung Piai once again...

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Day 25 Nov 9 Parit Buntar - Penang Part 1

David and I had breakfast, posed for a couple of pictures and then I set off.

We had talked about his retirement plans and I encouraged him to continue doing what he was doing - his contribution to the tourism industry went way beyond the little money he earned from his efforts. I look forward to keeping in touch and hope one day to find he's earning a good retirement income from David's Homestay.

David assured me the ride to Batu Feringgi was easy if I took the coast road. And indeed, the start of my journey that day was fine. Until I got closer to Butterworth that is.

Like Kelang, it was a case of one bridge after another... and then another, before I got to the Ferry Terminal. Michael, my cousin Margie's husband, had told me not to worry about training too hard and that I would simply get fitter on the ride. I have indeed and the bridges now don't scare me so much. Or cause me too much hassle.

At one stage I recalled my fears of the Hills of Perak. Indeed, while in Parit Buntar I got an SMS from my brother Tony asking how the Hills of Perak were and I replied 'Hills? What hills?'. Well, after hearing of the Hills of Perak (capitalisation just seems so appropriate) from Singam and Francis, I must say I encountered..errr... none!

But it seems someone read my reply and moved the hills to Penang Island....

With David's directions in my head (finally he got them right!) I found the ferry terminal, survived the harrowing rush among the motorcyclists to get on board, enjoyed the trip over to the Island (where I met and spoke with yet another local who thought I was Japanese or Korean!) and did the ride through Georgetown and along Gurney Drive. It was after Gurney Drive that the hills were dumped on me.

A day later, when Mei and I took a cab in to town and we passed the same way, but in the opposite direction, I was amazed I managed without a problem. Some of the roads were very narrow indeed and some of the hills were quite long and steep. I noted the way in to town had no run off nor the security of a cliff wall - if you were bumped off the road going in, you ran the very real risk of falling over a cliff and into the sea. The few times we drove there reinforced my desire not to ride back but to take a cab instead.

The Lone Pine is a very nice hotel - low-rise and without the masses and throngs that blight the bigger establishments. Mei and I enjoyed our stay there, and the wedding of Chris Seow and Mong.

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