Singapore, Penang, December 3

After breakfast at Starbucks we had an hour before going to the airport so we walked towards the river. Was that a nice surprise - a very beautiful walk, and most amazingly many many beautiful buildings - both in the Colonial district around City Hall and the more modern downtown buildings. And hardly any shops, malls, hustle and bustle! Across the river there were many smaller, colorful buildings and lots of waterside cafes - we'll definitely go back there later this week.

The airport is also beautiful and we enjoyed strolling through it on our way to the gate. They have a beautiful orchid garden with a koi pool - the largest koi fish we have ever seen!

We had decided to pamper ourselves and had booked the Oriental and Eastern Hotel in George Town. It's one of those old British Empire hotels and looks like a place out of a Somerset Maugham book. We were greeted at the door by a guy in khakis, knee-high socks and a cork hat - "Dr Livingston, I presume?" seemed like a good way to greet him but we held the urge back. The suite is charming and we have a nice view of the ocean from our window. (of course, on closer scrutiny we found all kinds of things which are not quite right, like the TV panel which is held together with masking tape, but the British Empire has declined after all.)


The staff suggested we take the shuttle to their sister hote (not half as grand) on the beach about 40 minutes away.  That was a very good suggestion - Avi swam both in the ocean and in the hotel pool there. He also had a long conversation with a very nice young woman from Bahrain. (We are very impressed at how modern and western Malaysia seems - you see quite a lot of very Moslim looking women but the vast majority are not covered at all. Reading the local paper also seems to indicate that this is a progressive country with rather liberal laws - a different kind of Moslim country). Then we walked through the overnight market (the normal watches-electronics-clothes stalls you see everywhere), and arrived at a square full of tables with lots of food stalls all around. It's a very nice system - you order from the food vendors and tell them your table number and they bring the food over and then you pay them. Was very nice and tasty - lots of Indian, Chinese (no pork!) and Malay (which seems rather similar to Thai) food. Also very cheap...

Then it started pouring and we got back to the hotel lobby to wait for the shuttle completely drenched. We were completely exhausted by then and dozed off on the ride back. It was wonderful to take a shower and fall asleep in this fancy suite!

Today's photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/115788154995936631095/albums/5818342125026015009?authkey=CLTcs_7h77OxBg