Next, we went to Batu Ferringhi, an oceanside marketplace selling cheap souvenirs. There are a lot of fun (and very cheap) activities available there. For example, you can jet ski, parasail, or go on an inner-tube. Or, you can simply sit back and enjoy a fresh coconut juice with your feet in the sand. Nikki and Tessa decided to go parasailing together. That's the one where they attach you to a giant parachute, which they tow behind a jet boat. The boats and parasails are in a constant loop from the beach, out to the ocean, towards the cove, and back to the beach again. They were strapped to the parachute, and in a matter of minutes were soaring high above the water. To come back down, they had to yank hard on the parachute straps while the boat slowed in front of the beach. The landing was a little haphazard. (Apparently you're not supposed to land on top of each other.) But they both lived to tell the tale. You'll have to read a more descriptive account in Nikki's blog.
Our next stop was the Batik factory, where we watched skilled craftsmen hand paint and stamp fabric in beautiful designs and colors. I was most impressed by the freehand designs that were painted by one of the women working there. We learned about the different stages of the dying and setting process, and got some souvenirs too. (Because what's a museum without a gift shop?)
After that, we went to the Chinese (Taoist) Snake Temple. They have an altar draped with venomous snakes, and side rooms where you can pose with boa constrictors (or another giant snake I didn't stop to identify). There were snakes in the trees outside the temple too! TOO MANY SNAKES!
From there we completed our drive around the island. We were dropped off at the mall at about 2 pm and we were starving! The closest food was DOME cafe, so we went there again. Nikki, Eugene, Meggie, and I ate together. It was very delicious, and honestly it just felt good to have food in our systems. We had all been experiencing a strange combination of giddy slap-happiness and hangriness. Food was much-needed!
We shopped a bit at the mall after lunch. The exchange rate is so good for us right now. The USD is about 4.3 Ringgits, and the Ringgit has even dropped since we've arrived. Every shopping experience makes me glad to have memorized my multiplication and division tables. (Thank you, Mrs. Banks!) To make labeling easier for international brands, each item is listed with at least four prices including the Euro, Yen, Ringgit, and more. So the first step is to find the right price for whatever country you happen to be in. Then I have to convert that price to American Dollars so that I have a bit of perspective on how much I am actually spending. Then if the item's on sale, that throws a whole wrench in the system. My easy shortcut is to find multiples of 20 or 100 in whatever price I'm looking at, because 20 Ringgit = about $5, and therefore 100 RInggit = about $25. The money here is so colorful, and there's four times as much of it as I would normally have, it almost feels like we're playing Monopoly.
We walked from the mall to nearby Little India, where we were able to finally try Coconut Jelly. It is made from coconut water and put back inside a coconut shell. It was so refreshingly delicious!
We walked until we found a cab to take us to the Gurney Plaza mall and shopping area. We found a Marks & Spencer! (My favorite!) We also got some lovely tea from TWG and looked around some of the other stores. Eugene showed us where to buy groceries for a good price. I was put in charge of finding breakfast supplies for the group. Tomorrow morning we will be leaving so early that our hotel won't be serving breakfast yet. We divided up the shopping list and got lots of supplies in record time! Not wanting to buy shopping bags, we stuffed the groceries into our backpacks and shoulder bags and carried the rest. Looking like a trail of sherpas loaded down with food, we made our way back to the hotel. We dropped the groceries at our hotel room, then went back to Gurney Plaza for dinner. It is only about a 10 minute walk, so it was pretty convenient. We went to an all-vegetarian, gluten-free, coconut-milk-free (not sure why people would want that, but oh well) Chinese/Malay/Japanese fusion restaurant. It was very good! My favorite were the steamed bao buns in the shape of pigs with pumpkin filling. They were so good!!
After dinner, I got some fresh fruit juice (I'm not gonna get sick, I'm not gonna get sick...) and Nikki went to find a pharmacy for some stronger cold meds than 7-11 has to offer. The pharmacy at Watson's drugstore was closed, so she and Eugene found a traditional Chinese pharmacy. One of the amazing things about Malaysia is that you don't need prescriptions for medications here. Nikki simply described her cold symptoms, and the pharmacist handed her prescription-strength drugs. The best part is that it only cost $6 USD for a week's supply of three different medications. Before you get too worried, no, he was not a witch doctor. And yes, Nikki is doing great! She still has a cold, but she's up and at 'em.
Dr. Looi was so nice! He came and picked all of us up and took us back to the hotel. It has been great to spend time with Eugene and his family while we are here in Penang. They are all the very essence of hospitality, and they gave us a personalized tour of their beautiful island home. Thank you, thank you, Looi family!
Before we left, I tried to get money out at an ATM. My card had been declined twice that day, but that happens sometimes with different cashier systems. I went to a well-known bank's ATM in the shopping mall to do a balance inquiry and try and withdraw some cash. I put my Credit/Debit card into the machine, punched in my PIN, followed the prompts, and waited for the machine to think while a "Processing your request..." screen appeared. The next screen came up, but instead of my account balance, the screen displayed the message "Your card has been retained. Please contact your bank." I stared at the machine. "Could this be a bad English translation? Perhaps they had meant to write 'declined' instead of 'retained'. But the machine switched over to the "Welcome" screen again, and my card was nowhere to be found. *Insert mini panic attack.* I thought of calling the bank or the ATM people, whoever that might be, but it was almost 10 pm and my card had been declined twice that day anyway. Even if I could get the card back, it would be unlikely that it would do me much good. Now I know what you're thinking--Zoe has overspent and there's no money on her card. But I assure you that is not the case. The next challenge is getting ahold of the bank to figure out what in the world had happened to my card.
When I got back to the room, I was able to check my bank account online. As it turns out, someone has been using my card on a road trip from Los Angeles to Yosemite while I've been all the way over here in Malaysia. It's a public holiday on Monday (Labor Day) so I'll have to wait to contact the bank until Tuesday. Don't worry! I'm not stranded! My parents are helping me figure everything out with the bank back in the States. Plus, Nikki's here and she's loaded. Haha ;) It's just frustrating to be so far away from my Northern California credit union when something like this happens. :/
But other than the ATM experience, I have really enjoyed my time in Penang. I'm sad to have to leave tomorrow!
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