Penang Malaysia

I had an eight hour straight sleep last night so I woke up very refreshed. We have a pod coffee machine in our suite so that was my breakfast.  No food!  We had to meet for our tour at 9.35am in the lounge area on Deck 6 (we are on deck 11) so it was a leisurely morning.

The tour we chose today was called “Heritage Jewels of Georgetown”.  This is the description of the 3.5 hour tour:

“Drive to Thai Buddhist Temple (approx 20 min) and visit for 40 minutes. Drive to Chung Keng Kooi Mansion (approx 15 min) and visit for 40 minutes. Drive to Knoo Kongsi (approx 15 min) and visit for 30 minutes. Drive to Chew Jetty (approx 10 mins) and visit for 25 minutes. Return to Pier (approx 15 min)”

As you can tell every minute is precisely calculated!  But things do go wrong.  Sometimes passengers forget the time or can’t find their way back to the bus as happened to some several times today or traffic jams hold the bus firmly in place. Inevitably it puts the tour behind schedule.  Our tour ended up being an hour longer than scheduled.

Our Buddhist tour guide was once again very knowledgeable.  I understand they have to go through vigorous training to become a tour guide so you know that you are in good hands.  I loved every bit of the tour today and I truly believe I was a Buddhist in another life as I get an immense feeling of calm when I enter one of the Temples. The reclining Buddha in the temple was the third biggest in the world and the entire ceiling and walls where covered in tiny carved Buddhas. Hundreds or urns containing peoples ashes where placed in small cavities in another section of the temple where seated Buddhas lined the hallway.

The two story mansion was impressive and each room was presented in such a way as to be able to easily imagine the life of the Chinese family that lived there.  They were such tiny people.  The beds are so small and the clothes look like they would fit a ten year old.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon a bride having her hair decorated when I was making my way to the toilet and asked if I could take a photo.  She was so beautiful.

I didn’t really know what Chew Jetty would be like and was surprised that it consisted of hundreds of houses built out over the water.  We walked the length of the jetty where little stalls sat proudly side by side.  This was a photographers dream.  At the end of the jetty we looked out over the bay to the bridge in the distance that our guide told us was 15km long.

Most people were complaining about the heat and humidity today but it didn’t worry us all that much.  I’m just excited to visit places that I’ve only dreamt about.

This evening back, on board the ship, we are going to Seven Seas Lounge to watch Tap Pack.  These talented Aussie tap dancers started a long time ago back in Brisbane and have become quite the celebrities.  But before we go to the show we have a meet and greet in the hallway.  The gong sounds at 6pm and everyone comes out of their cabin to meet their neighbours.  The butler will serve wine and nibblies.  It should be fun!
Phuket tomorrow.  xx
PS
I am having a lot of trouble writing my blog on the Ipad and can’t edit the post once I’ve written it. My apologies for any mistakes!