And another 3 months passed by in Penang!
But this chapter started with a 4-day trip to Bangkok, where I visited my good friend Philip and his wife Kate. The 4 days in Bangkok were full of many delicious meals (Philip is one of the best food guides ever! :D), cycling around an island in the rivers of the city, boat trips, rooftop bars, a lot of walking and sweating. On top of that, I used that short trip as a visa run to activate another 90-day-visa free stay in Malaysia on my way back. At the time of writing this post, I am trying to manage a 1-year-long term visa for Malaysia (it's a pain in the ass to manage a legal long term stay here) but until then I need to help myself with visa runs every 90 days.
Back to Penang, to Jelutong and my hood, it already felt like coming home. At this point I already knew most of my neighbors, hawker uncles & aunties, Indian chai sellers and the entire condo staff by name and entire life story :D It's kind of cool that you don't need to introduce yourself again and again the entire time.
The next 90 days just passed away superfast with similar activities as in the first 90 days: Working a lot, reading, meeting friends, hosting Couchsurfers, eating 100+ different dishes, cycling, swimming and connecting with new people. On top of that, I had 2 trips within Malaysia, twice to beautiful Pangkor Island and once to Ipoh.
Another big highlight was a visit of my friend Felix, attentive readers might remember him from the Taiwan post, who came to visit me for 3 weeks. We had a super cool time, spending 2 weeks in Penang where he immersed in my everyday life and another week traveling around other states of Malaysia.
My two visits to Pangkor Island were awesome, I can't recommend that island enough. A perfect sized island (for both, scooter or even walking), no mass tourism (most tourists are Malays from KL during the weekends), really beautiful beaches, very cheap prices, delicious seafood, amazing wildlife (especially the hornbills!) and some interesting fishing towns with a majority of Malay culture and some Chinese touches. Driving along the coast by scooter, hiking to lonely beautiful beaches and fresh seafood & fish every night is just so amazing. I even thought about renting a bungalow for a month the next time I return. Life is so slow there, locals sooo friendly and the sunset among the best I have seen so far. 10/10 recommendation.
In a nutshell: Life in Penang is awesome. Now some photos :)
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| 60 min motorbike taxi from BKK to Chatuchak |
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| Dinner in Bangkok |
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| Couches around the world :D |
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| Ferry on a river in Bangkok |
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| Cycling around an island in Bangkok |
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| View from Philip's place |
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| Delicious dinner in a mall in Bangkok |
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| Bkk at night |
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| Amazing roof top bar |
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| CAN cafe in Jelutong |
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| Clever Cat pottery |
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| 0.5 USD Nasi Lemak |
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| My balcony view |
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| Hosting Bin from China |
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| and Margareta from Poland |
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| New jerseys |
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| Aol, cycling his way to Mecca |
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| Off to Pangkor Island Pt.1 |
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| Kampung life on Pulau Pangkor |
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| Worth the hike |
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| Fishing villages on Pangkor Island |
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| Probably the best purchase of my life, companion for 7 years now |
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| Best coconut shake ever! |
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| Fish and sea food dinners every night |
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| Sunsets on Pangkor |
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| Asking for a horizontal photo, getting this :D |
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| Hornbills, the coolest birds in the world |
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| My youngest Couchsurfing guest ever |
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| Scooting around Jelutong, not everybody enjoyed it :D |
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| Enjoying the Teh Ais after tho |
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| Thai dinner in Jelutong |
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| Durian season! |
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| Philip visiting me in Penang |
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| Cycling on the main highway at 11 pm :D |
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| Ginger babies! |
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| Southern Indian breakfast in George Town |
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| Chinese tourists in George Town |
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| My favorite coffee shop in my hood |
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| Tandoori feast |
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| With a kind marriage from Jawa, sorted by size (r to l) and intelligence (l to r) |
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| Love Lane at night |
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| Mangosteen season about to start |
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| Curry Puff uncle, who I have a chat with most mornings |
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| Around an upscale condo in Penang, where most tenants have fancy bred dogs in even fancier outfits |
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| Banana leaf lunch |
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Felix's first time enjoying Indian food with hands
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| Turtle pond at Kek Lok Si |
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| Hot Pot! |
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| Cheap beers and UNO at Antarabangsa |
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| Traveling in style |
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| Clubbing in George Town |
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| Dim Sum brunch next morning |
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| Cycling trip around Penang |
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| Hiking Bukit Hijau |
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| Sunrise from my window |
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| Pangkor Island pt. 2 |
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| Protecting turtle eggs from Predators |
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| 10 USD hotel room on Pangkor Island |
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| Playing football challenges on a beautiful lonely beach |
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| Our beach base, afterwards we had to build a monkey defense system |
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| Crafting |
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| Tic Tac Toe at a beach on Pangkor Island |
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| Falling asleep with a beach cat joining us |
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| Climbing around the coast .. |
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| .. with some fatalities :D |
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| Small talk with an uncle from KL |
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| That hornbill pooped on me!! |
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| Premium Lounge at the Pangkor ferry |
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| Don't worry, still alive :D |
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| Ipoh |
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| Former jail transformed to a bookshop |
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| Walks around the center of Ipoh |
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| The famous Ramly Burger |
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| Durian auction in Ipoh |
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| Cave boat trip outside of Ipoh |
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| Ipoh White Coffee with Nasi Lemak |
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| All sibling, saw that gang several times |
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| Walks around my hood in Jelutong |
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| Peanut Butter Waffles |
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| Felix on a jet ski in Batu Ferringhi |
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| Another Indian feast |
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| A parking lot in George Town at night |
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| The last 6 am sunrise in my apartment after 6 months :( |
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| Painting pottery |
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| Off to Amsterdam! |
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| Airport lounge in Penang Airport |
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| In Xiamen, China |
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