It's the final countdown

After being on the road for 62 days, visiting 6 city's in 4 countries it's now time to travel back home to Europe and Stockholm.

Top 4 things we will miss when back in Stockholm (in no particular order)

• Restaurant prices - there is no problem going from starving to full for 8 SEK (3 PLN).
• Laundry service - so cheap you almost feel ashamed when paying.
• Service minded and genuinely nice Malaysian people.
• Freshly squeezed orange juice - from 5 SEK (2 PLN) a glass.

Top 4 things we now love about Sweden (in no particular order)

• Drinkable tap water.
• Right-side traffic without the jams.
• Fast Internet connection.
• Tunnbrödrulle

Top 4 things we won't miss about Malaysia (in no particular order)

• Being followed around in stores by sales clerks
• The traffic jams
• The lizards
• The Absolute Music 5 CD (or whatever was hot 25 years ago) that all stores insists on repeating over and over again.
  

Most useless thing we packed
Socks. Last time we wore socks it was still January.

Best restaurant we found in Malaysia
La Sal at Pantai Cenang, Langkawi. We have been there 3 times and between the two of us we must have tried half of the dishes on the menu. So it feels safe to say that you can't go wrong at this place. Don't miss out on the drinks either!

George Town, Penang

We've been talking about going to George Town since we arrived in Langkawi six weeks ago. But for various reasons we never got around to, until this Wednesday. We blame our guide book for not writing a selling enough description of this charming place. Now after we've been there we only wish we would have discovered it sooner.

George Town is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. From its humble beginnings as a swampy British colony in the late 18th century it has developed massively, yet somehow kept the historic touches and can now be described as a busy modern city with the small-town charm intact. Here you'll find an interesting mix of nationalities, religions and cultures co-existing harmoniously.

Since teleportation isn't invented yet the communication network between the two islands is as good as it gets. You can choose to go by ferry (3 hours) or plane (25 minutes). For obvious reasons we chose the later. The trip went as smooth as smooth gets and not long after leaving our apartment in Langkawi we found ourselves checking in at G Hotel. We liked our new found "G-spot" right from the start. The homemade ice cream they treated us to didn't hurt.

After a nice shower we took a cab to Chinatown, a short while later we ordered some local Chicken Ginger with rice and BBQ Pork with noodles, delicious and the bill read only 12 Rinngit (24 SEK or 9 PLN).

Nelly was getting tired, it was time to head back to the G-spot. We found a cab and this time we instantly liked the driver so we made plans with him to pick us up at our hotel the next day for some sightseeing. In Malaysia taxis are cheap which makes them a convenient way to explore a new town.

After Nelly took a nap we went out again for some Bibimbap. That's a popular Korean dish with rice, egg, vegetables, carrots and sliced meat, very tasty. Later on we went back to the hotel for drinks in the lobby. It was still happy hour and all three of us felt very privileged to be there. Especially Nelly who was cruising around all over the place in her own very characteristic and flirtatious way.

Next day we called our taxi driver Ahmad who we met the day before. He picked us up right away and took us on a tour of the city. He showed us Little India, Chinatown, Fort Cornwallis, Pinang Peranakan Mansion and the very impressive Buddhist temple Kek Lok Si. Ahmad proved to be a terrific guide who knew Penang like the back of his hand so if you ever need a pleasant cab driver/guide send him an e-mail: ahmad.badrul@yahoo.com. We will definitely contact him next time we visit Penang or "The Pearl of the Orient" as the slogan says. Hopefully that's very soon cause our stay here felt way too short.

Nelly admiring herself.


The relaxing lounge Lobby at G Hotel.


Nelly takes a short break from raising hell in the lobby at G Hotel.


-These coasters go down real easy, are you sure it's just carbon paper?


Super cool make-a-wish fountain at the Dhammikarama Burmese Temple. One of the oldest temples in Penang, founded in 1803.


Guy with dragon tattoo in front of a dragon statue at the Dhammikarama Temple.


Vietnamese temple.




Bicycle taxi passing through a narrow alley in Chinatown.












The century old Pinang Perenakan Mansion (privately owned but opened for public).




Balcony at the Peranakans, also known as the Babas and Nyonyas.


Nelly and our Chinese Charlie Chaplin look-a-like guide at the Pinang Perenakan Mansion.


The Pinang Peranakan Mansion displays the typical home of a rich Baba 100 years ago.


Kek Lok Si tempel (or in plain English the Temple of Supreme Bliss). Construction begun in 1890 and hasn't ever really stopped. Sky's the limit!








Our nice taxi driver Ahmad taking a well deserved break with Nelly.






The pool at the G Hotel.








Finally after two busy days it was time to fly back to Langkawi. Check out the rhino on the woman in the seat in front of us.

Help save the cockroaches

We saw this clever sign when we visited the Langkawi Wildlife Park a while back. It's so Malaysia, not only are the people here nice and considerate to tourists, they care about everyone down to the smallest cockroach. That's good karma!

100% Dundee

Today all 3 of us paid Taman Buaya Langkawi a visit. It's Malaysia's largest crocodile park. So this post is croc galore if that's your type of thing. We mostly found it nerve-wracking to tell you the truth.

For one thing they have this bridge that crosses a pond. And that small... puddle really, is home to 400 hungry crocodiles. It's exiting and absolutely terrifying at the same time, mostly the later.

Then after crossing the bridge it's time to check out the crocodile show. Paul Hogan get bent! What you get to see is 3 courageous but foolhardy Malaysian mini "dundees" who does various death defying tricks with 4 big crocodiles. And when we say big crocs, we ain't talking about the Bambi cute version depicted on this sign.



No, we mean 4 x 1 ton predators, each with more teeth than the tooth fairy at their disposal. Apparently these beasts don't appreciate being poked in the eye with a stick. But somehow our brave mini dundees didn't read that signal cause that's exactly what they did to the crocs, just to provoke them to show their deadly teeth for the amazed tourists.

We have to say the whole thing left us with a bitter taste in our mouth. We felt guilty that we with our entrance money contributed to the mini dundees salary. Cause really we think they would be way better of even as unemployed. No one should have to put their arm inside a crocodiles mouth just to pay the rent, but that's exactly what they did, for our amusement's sake.

Life's a bitch

We keep hearing complaints from friends and family back home that it's the coldest winter since Elvis left the building and how everyone been carrying around the same cold for weeks while waiting for a bus that never comes, and so on, and so on. Stop complaining people, we also have problems, not everything is peachy here in Malaysia. So with that said, please stand back and let us bitch a little.

• First of all it's really hard to keep beer nice and cold in this heat.
• The local Starbucks uses regular milk in the latte, not Barista milk.
• If you do not park in the shadow it takes the air con at least a minute to cool down the car.
• When you eat mango, your hands get really sticky (unless you have a napkin of course).
• During our vacation so far it has rained for more than one hour.
• Our swimming pool can get crowded (we spotted at least five people this morning).
• We have been eating seafood for over a month, how much more can you take?!
• And finally, it's hot! The heat makes you tired and it takes at least one nap a day to recover.
  

Wow, so glad we got that off of our chests, it actually feels a little better now ;-)

Sailing away

Yesterday we went for a 6 hour afternoon and sunset cruise and spent the day drifting among the 99 islands of the Langkawi archipelago. We appreciated the fact that we were taken to secluded areas away from the tourist hot spots, for hours we were the only boat around except for a few local fishermen.

The drinks were freely flowing all day long and the freshly cooked food was delicious. After a few hours of cruising we jumped from the yacht into the water and swam to the uninhabited beach in the middle of nowhere! Instead of exploring the beach as some of the other passengers did, we just stayed in the water, holding each other and drinking champagne. It's cool to feel rich for a day!

After this "exhausting" adventure we got back to the yacht and while Eva (our captain) and her staff were cooking dinner for us, we were laying on the cushions on the deck relaxing and enjoying the stunning scenery.

The dinner was served at sunset and we were still amazingly enough the only boat around. It was quiet and peaceful, the wind was cooling us off while we were eating dinner and enjoying the breathtaking view.







Martin chatting with a lovely Scottish couple (Glasgow Rangers fans) who got engaged on the cruise.