One Life ...

We don't need to rush because we have a lot of time to relax and explore in Alor Setar. However, breakfast at the hotel is only available from 7 to 9. On fact we were not expecting breakfast but it appears to be provided for free! It is toast, and Kaia (sweet coconut jam) with coffee and tea all day for free too. We were not expecting drinks to be included either but apparently they are. A lazy morning disappeared fairly swiftly. We were due to meet some travellers we had met in Penang at the train station. They were just passing through on their journey to Langkawi. We found them and searched for lunch. It was mid afternoon again, so many places were closed. However, we did find an amazing little Nasa Kadar stall that was open. Simple, delicious food that has a legendary, addictive flavour. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meal and shared stories before we needed to leave. The bus was due at 13.30 that would deliver our friends to the coast where they could catch a boat to Langkawi. ...

We are on the move again. Bags packed and a short walk to catch the free bus at Komtar. Unfortunately, the Nasi Kandar restaurant we really liked was closed but not to worry a few doors down there was another. Rotis all round washed down with Teh Tarik. The bus journey was short and we arrived at the jetty. Our next transport was the speed boat to Butterworth. All went well and we arrived in plenty of time to catch a KTM Komuter train to Alor Setar. Another short journey and we were in Alor Star! The hotel was a 20 minute walk from the station in the midday heat and we were glad to arrive to air conditioning. We checked in, dropped our bags and went exploring. It wasn't that easy to find food in the middle of the day. A lot of places seemed closed. Eventually, we arrived in Chinatown where street stalls and restaurants were beginning to open. We tried a small, very old and authentic looking Chinese restaurant but couldn't decide what to have. In fact, as noone spoke English and...

We had a bit of a lay in today after a few days of early starts to see the various festivals.  We headed out towards the site of yesterday's festival but having spoken to a few people along the way it was confirmed there was nothing going on until the evening, when the chariots we saw on day one of Thaipusam make their way back to the temple in the town.  Then.... it started to rain.... a lot!    It was lunchtime so we headed to the little restaurant where we had breakfast yesterday, as the tomato rice dish looked really good.  However, when we arrived they had already sold out. They did have white rice so we had a delicious chicken curry and veg with various sauces, all washed down with our favourite teh tarik.  Whilst sitting waiting for the rain to ease we succumbed to a second teh tarik, just before we were informed the restaurant was about to close.  We settled our bill and decided to head back to our accommodation as it was still raining.   The rest of the afternoon and into ...

Day 2. Another early start to walk to the stadium in Penang. This is where the Hindu devotees prepare to leave for the temple on the hill. It was still a little dark when we arrived but plenty of people had beaten us to the action, especially photographers, certain to get in everyone's way! At the side of the stadium there was a small temple. There was lots of drumming groups and an area cleared for the piercing to take place and the Kavaldi to be stored. The Kavaldi is the pretty coloured polystyrene sculpture that is carried on the devotee's shoulders. The piercing was interesting. The devotee eats a purely vegetarian diet for 2 months. This softens the skin and prevents bleeding, apparently. The devotees often have their face, back and some almost their whole body pierced. The back piercings once secure need to be pulled away from the body quite firmly. This ensures no pain and also prevents bleeding so we have been told. It was very interesting to watch the preparations bef...

We need to be up early today to see the beginning of the Thaipusam Hindu festival. We walked to the first temple for 6.30am. It was packed. There are 2 chariots - gold and silver - that do a 6km route that takes all day from 6.30am until late in the evening, mainly due to the crowds.  We followed the chariots most of the morning. There was free food given away every few metres with coffee and drinks for the worshipers too. We were surprised it wasn't Indian tea but there are lots of sponsors so thought Penang White Coffee may be one of them.There are thousands of coconuts smashed on every street corner, drummers played, dancers and singers joined in too. It was busy and loud and we loved it! We left at lunchtime and couldn't eat another thing however, we needed too! Our friend had planned a trip to A very fancy Haidilao hotpot restaurant in the Queen's Mall. It was so fancy that we were served by robots and Christine even had a manicure as part of the deal.  We had noodle m...

When we woke up we weren't really hungry because we had eaten so much the night before so we had a coffee and set off walking.   We walked through a park area which used to be a market and was being redesigned.  At the end of the park we spotted a little cafe which was full of people, so we went to check out what they were eating. It was prawn mee (prawn noddle soup).  It looked really good so, as we were not too hungry we shared one.  It was really tasty. The lady also recommended we try a local Penang drink - nutmeg juice.  This was also really nice and very sweet. Next stop was the clan jetties, there are 3 jetties you can walk along where historically the Chinese families lived in their different clans.  We went along 2, the first being very traditional and the second completely touristy with lots of shops and cafes.  The second, the Chew Jetty had a lovely temple where lots of flowers were displayed as offerings. In the distance we could see another temple that we had visited ...

Ok, so we didn't get up so early today. When we finally made it out of our friend's apartment it was lunchtime. Luckily we found a superb food court at the end of the street. We walked around the food stalls investigating the wide variety of foods available. Eventually, we settled on 2 separate dishes that were completely different. We ate them all washed down with a glass of iced tea tarik. The drinks seller was quite funny as he shouted his order back to base across the whole food court. Also the stall that made one of the dishes did a pancake flip to dry the noodles. It was great to watch. Street Art and temples filled out afternoon. We did stop off for a bowl of peanut soup as we explored. Our friend picked on us up at the park wher we were resting on a bench before we were whisked off to dinner in another area of Penang. We stopped for petrol on the way and we spotted a sign in the petrol station that we couldn't figure out. Basically, in Malay water is called air. The...