Georgetown III

Georgetown/Bukit Bendera/Batu Ferringhi

Third time in Georgetown, Penang in a year and each time is a different experience. With the air of excitement out of the way this time, I felt that Georgetown is increasingly overrated and too commercialised for my liking. Maybe because this time we went off track a bit by going against our ways of not conforming to the touristy stuff. Spoke lots to the locals too because what is the purpose of travel without talking to the locals right? I learned that Georgetown, despite the political differences, is more alike to Johor Baru (Especially Iskandar Malaysia ) than I thought. The locals there face similar plights as the people here and listening to their grouses came to me as a surprise. I guess you have to live in a place to truly get the real picture of the situation there.

Serious stuff aside, I went on a jet ski for the first time and it was gratifying. Being on the water makes me feel free yet slightly terrified, a feeling I can't quite describe. Next time I'll try to steer that thing.

One of the nights we went to a super mainstream spot called Nasi Kandar Beratur for supper and boy, was that a terrible choice. The restaurant (more like an eatery with an open kitchen) is located next to a ditch on lowered ground so we have to stand on the elevated curb to order. As I was picking out my dishes, I looked down and I was actually stepping on a piece of plank and a bunch of cockroaches (I'm talking about more than 30, imagine ants crawling out of a hole type of situation) started crawling out from underneath. The next thing I know, one of the roaches climbed up the pants of the man before me. The workers then started to kick the roaches back into the drain underneath the plank while those working behind the food counter just watched without batting even an eyelid (?!!?!). I looked back and my bf (who's super afraid of cockroaches) had began backing away.. I just gave him an assuring smile cos I was trying to keep it together for him but inside I was !!!!!!!!!!!!! freaking out screaming and kicking my feet!! Thinking about it now makes me feel like puking. I always knew street food and eateries are dirty but not like this! God. Never again.

We also rented a Vespa, which was the best decision of the entire trip because we could zoom everywhere and anywhere we wished, stop as soon as we spotted something we wanted to eat/drink. On the last night, we decided to get some hot cocoa for supper and it started raining. Out came the raincoats that came with the motorcycle and we went riding in the cold. YOLO right. That was definitely one for the memory log. That and the roaches.

♥