Langkawi

During my final evening in Penang I went to Red Garden, a food market. I was one of two westerners there - the other being my companion. Everyone else was Asian. The food on offer was a amazing. Each stall offered something different and you could sit in the middle and order food from anywhere to your table. I ordered a selection of food from one stall including Tawainese sausage, catfish and tofu. The highlight of the evening was the keyboard player on a podium in the middle, playing out sings that reminded me of an organ on Blackpool beach. Many chinese couples were dancing away in the middle, some looked as if they had tried lessons but were still very wooden. Nevertheless the smell of roast duck, fried noodles and sweet sauces, combined with the red of the tables, the green of surrounding trees and the happy atmosphere, it didnt matter about the quality of the dancing.

I'll have to cut this short as I suddenly feel really sick. Could be the hangover or something i've eaten. Basically I caught a ferry to Langkawi yesterday morning. Arrived at the jetty 8.15 am - Langkawi by midday. I met a girl in the ferry port and asked her if she was going to Chenang beach, which she was. We shared a room last night in Kamzar. Air conditioning and a hot shower and tv for 30 ringgit each which is quite good. However, I found Gecko hostel yesterday afternoon and i'm staying there tonight, and the rest of my time in Langkawi no doubt. Its basic and i've opted for dormitory to save pennies. 15 ringgit a night. The communal areas and bar are made from wooden trunks and tarpaulin ceilings with trees dotted about here and there. Its about 2 minute walk from the beach was is beautiful. White sand stretches across a bay of about 500 metres. There are small huts along for either accommodation or restaurants. People fly across the blue sky on their paragliders or across the crystal sea on their jet ski. I order a tiger beer and a malaysian chicken dish whilst Elizabeth my companion orders fried noodles and vegetables. We sit and chat for a few hours under the hot sun. Elizabeth is from Minneapolis in the US. She is travelling for 2-3 months but is currently living in China teaching English. Interesting - I grill her on the lowdown for China in preparation for my time there in May.

Yesterday evening after the beach we have a wander down Chenang beach looking at the shops and travel agents and the spa facilities it has to offer. Before long I'm ready for a shower and we head back to the room to get ready for the night ahead. We have dinner in what calls itself a thai restaurant. Its bordering on thai/indian and the service is poor but the tom yam seafood soup is the best i've had so far out here. The Thai basil is full of fragrance and flavour and the noodles are more like the ones i'm used to in china town Birmingham. Ho Fan noodles which are flat, wide and white and are so good in the hot sweet soup. Baby squid and prawns also float around in my bowl and i take my time as the spice clears my airways. Leaving the restaurant we walk back to Gecko guesthouse for a drink. There we meet Melissa and Adrian. Melissa is 30 and from Rotterdam. Adrian is 26 and from london. We are all travelling alone. Somehow we get chatting, I order a Pina Colada which is like the answer to my prayers after all we've had on offer is beer and crap wine. Adrian goes off to meet friends and the girls are left chatting to Zaimi the barman. He's Malaysian. We make a plan to go down to Reggae bar together. This bar is recommended in all the guide books and also by the locals. Lan - another local - gets us a free shuttle to the bar. As we approach we see its the 'reggae bus'. Yellow bus with the door hanging off and its like a little adventure all of its own. Especially with Melissa pissed and giggling about the whole scenario. At the bar the reggae band is brilliant, the wine is half decent and the whole ambience is quite Jamaican. The red, yellow and green striking colours found everywhere from the lights to the flags to the wall coverings. The heat is still cooking up the atmosphere and I really like the group we have sat round the table. Adrian comes back with two friends who work for Sky and are having a few days break here before covering the grand prix in Kuala Lumpar. They claim to be rich and buy our drinks all night. No complaints from the travelling budgeters. After an evening of dancing and laughing we get the 'reggae bus' back to out room and Elizabeth and I are asleep by ...oooo...as early as 4 or 5am. Sorry Mum, but these facts have to be recorded. Ask Dad to censor the drunk bits out if you'd prefer. ha ha.

Today Elizabeth left at 8am making her way to Thailand for the March full moon party this weekend. I sleep in until 11.30am and then have to rush to check out by 12noon ready to make my way to Gecko. As yesterday the heat is unbearable carrying Ric the rucksack and his smaller mate Robert who carries all my important stuff for me. He's blummin heavy still as my guide books are in there also. I've left Ric and Robert locked up in the dorm as they dont like to socialise. (suddenly I feel i'm a case for psycho-analysis...maybe they'd say I have created my own imaginary friends in the absence of real ones). I think I'm a classic case of a literature graduate who has been subjected to reading an array of experimental writing delving into inner thought processes. I am reading an anthology at the moment. It is based on travel and journeys. I really liked the introduction and found the paragraph on independent female travellers really apt. I was going to quote from it but i've forgotten to bring the book. In short, and very much in general, female travel writers do seem to pay more attention to recording their own feelings on their journeys. Hence the last few rambling sentences I have just written. My sickness has passed though!

I've just remembered the fortune I received from the Thai temple. I had to put 50cents in the machine and it randomly picked a number for me. The inside of the temple was unbelievably vibrant, like a scene from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory but think more gold and ornate! Within Wonka's temple their was a machine that reminded me of the wish maker in the film Big (lots of film associations but i'm trying to conjure up these images in your mind). The money went in, the wheel spun and the tiny LED light came on over the number 15. Next to the machine is a drawer with the corresponding number. I select paper 15 and this is my fortune........

Chaiya Mangkalaram Buddhist Temple, 17 Burmah Lane, Penag, Malaysia
Chiam See No.15
No 15 is the very best one. Who gets this Chiam See is said to be very lucky indeed. whatever you are intending to do is good and will mostly be successful. Trading is your best career. your wife who is now in pregnancy will give birth to a boy (Kate?!). You are lucky in love affairs. It seems that many people are loving you and trying to make love with you but you may not realise about this. (think i'd notice ha ha). Your property previously lost will come back to you. Your luck in doing business speculation is excellent. An invalid in your family will be better in short time. (Dad - hows that knee?) You will meet your absconded debtors. Your family will get health and happiness.

Folks - the time to invest in me is now as the offers are obviously going to come flooding in. Check that for a fortune. I thought everyone might get similar but other people told me there's were bad to average. Certainly put a spring in my step the other day. Ok, back to today, just had my legs massacred..sorry I mean waxed at a thai spa. Its raining for the moment but looks like clearing for later or tomorrow. I'm going to head back to get some laundry done and eat some food.