Malaysia - Georgetown - A Slow Train To PenangMay 26, 2008
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Penang Island
Georgetown, the British district
| Departing Singapore by train, i crawled up the east coast of the peninsula aboard the Ekspres Rakiyat, alighting just after midnight at Butterworth on the mainland. Having missed the last ferry to Penang Island, the Khoo family, who had adopted me during the 15 hour journey drove me to Penang across the causeway bridge. An intelligent and charming Chinese family, they were brimful of kindness and sagacity. The former British colony, our Straits settlement before the arch colonialists decamped to Melaka and then Singapore, is now a neon-lit, high-rise island of modernity. At 1am i checked-in to a flophouse on the edge of Chinatown. Although i have allowed myself a couple of days to explore, for me Penang is a staging-post on my journey to the tropical island of Langkawi As a foot note: I am compiling this entry in the bar next to my hotel; where an obese, middle-aged Brit is successfully chatting-up the petite barmaid in one of those transactions where financial resources are inversely proportional to self-worth. Dreadful. Diatribes now available by phone on: 6 016 4579185 |
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