Day 55
We had to tender off the boat in Malaysia. Tendering is a pretty complex process. First, they were only allowing people on morning SAS trips off the ship. So Josie, Kelly and I headed down to get a tender ticket at what we thought was a reasonable time: 0930. Kelsey was on a SAS trip. I asked if non-SAS trip people were being allowed off the ship yet, and the lady said yes and gave me a ticket.
When the letter on our ticket was called, we went downstairs to load into the tender boat. At the exact same time, Bob Frank came over the PA system and said that the ship had not been cleared by customs, and no one was allowed off the ship unless they were on an SAS trip. So we had to wait. We waited for a long time down there on deck 2. I don't understand why she gave out tickets to people if they weren't allowed to get off the ship yet. It was annoying.
Finally, they said we could go. So we swiped our cards and went down some stairs to a platform where a small boat was floating. It was moving all over the place because the water was a bit choppy that morning. Plus it was drizzling. I almost fell into the boat because it was high as I was stepping in, but then it moved down really quickly. Luckily, they had plenty of crew people helping the process.
When we got to shore, there was a host of teksi drivers waiting to attack us. One of them got us right away, but we weren't really sure yet what our plan was. We knew we wanted coffee; we knew we wanted internet; we also wanted to make dinner reservations. As we were standing there trying to figure out our plan, the teksi driver wouldn't quit getting in our faces and interrupting with tourist attractions. He was so pushy. We had to keep telling him, no, we weren't ready to go. Finally we got fed up and told him to take us to an internet cafe.
On our way there, we asked the driver if he knew of a good place where we could get coffee. And he said the magic word: Starbucks. Do you know how long it's been since I've had Starbucks? Ten weeks! I'm used to having Starbucks twice a day. (Yes, I know I have a problem.) Obviously, our first destination changed to Starbucks. They have internet there.
Our teksi driver dropped us off and said he would come back in 15 minutes because he couldn't wait out front. We told him we'd need at least 20 minutes. He answered, “It's okay, I trust you. I'll be back in 15 minutes.”So, about 15 minutes later, he walked up to our table in Starbucks and said he was parked across the street. This guy must've been on crack. We weren't about to walk off without paying, and we knew he would wait for us. He paced outside the door until we were finished.
Our next destination was the Blue Mansion. It is a luxurious hotel that used to be the Chinese embassy. Supposedly it's haunted, and they give daily tours. We wanted to make dinner reservations there. Unfortunately, they don't serve dinner. Our teksi driver recommended other places, but assured us that we didn't need to make reservations for dinner in Penang.
Then we gave in to his urging for us to go to a jewelry store. At least we didn't go to the expensive tourist one. This is where the locals went. But the jewelry was poorer quality. They were going to give me special discount because it was my birthday, but I wasn't impressed with their selection. They were showing me all the opal rings, but they were yellow gold. That's not for me. Then they tried to get me to buy opal/diamond earrings. They were still $500 with my special discount. I ended up buying a sterling/swarovsky crystal ring for 275 ringgit.
They also had stools in the shop that were just like one of the stools in my living room at home. They had shell inlay on the top. I was amazed. I guess we got ours in Indonesia.
Soon it was time to meet Kelsey at the dock and head to the hotel. Our driver was still on crack. The entire time he kept saying he would never over charge us, that it was bad Karma - though, I'm pretty sure I heard him say he was Muslim. They don't do the Karma thing. That must be why he tried to charge us for an hour extra. I was glad to get away from him.
We checked in to the hotel and searched for a place to eat lunch. We wanted some Malay food, and asked where we could get some. It was really hard to find a sit-down place that didn't serve Western food. We ended up at a place called Soho eating burgers after walking around for half an hour. There were a few other SASers there taking advantage of the free WiFi. We just got lunch.
After lunch we wanted to go to the mall and pick out something cute to wear to celebrate my birthday in. So we hopped in a cab to the Prangy mall. It was the where the Starbucks was located, and it was huge. There were so many different floors, but there was no difference in each store's merchandise. Every clothes place had exactly the same types of dresses and shirts. We did find some cute dresses in the first boutique we went into, yet we wanted to find something we couldn't live without. That didn't happen. Not that I'm dissatisfied with my dress, it's very cute, but I just wanted to try on more stuff I guess. Is that something only girls understand?
Anyway, we left the mall to go back to the hotel to shower and get ready to go out for dinner. The concierge recommended a place down the street called May Garden that served Chinese cuisine. They said it was famous. It was definitely good, but way too overpriced.
As we were paying a man whom I think was the owner came over and talked to us. He asked all the usual questions. When Kelly said where she was from she also added that that is where Starbucks was started. I guess he was a fan of Starbucks (who isn't?), and he called over to his friend that Starbucks is from Seattle. Then that guy came over. And we talked with them both for a while.
On our way to the discotec Kelly and Kelsey wanted to stop in the room and change their shoes. Josie and I ran into Daniel out on the sidewalk. I was really happy to see him. I would have been upset if I dhan'd seen him on my birthday. So he came to Slippery Seniorita with us.
It was fun. But I would have liked for my Boston Loves and some family to be there. Drinking really isn't my thing. I just want to be with the people I enjoy. We will have to have a new celebration when I get home.
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