In literature, the best authors can do so much with their descriptions, and the true power of a great storyteller is to bring the reader into the world, and have them use their imagination to think about what it looks, sounds and smells like. For each person their images may conjure up different things, but it takes a special kind of writer to be able to create those visualisations inside a person's head.
I've written before that I often feel like I am not doing a very good job of 'bringing you into my world', but thankfully I have the use of pictures assist me. Often I find it tricky because some of the sights, smells and sounds my senses are tested by are very unique and you would have to actually experience them to get a full appreciation of each one.
I try my best to use descriptions to give you a sense of what I am seeing and feeling, but it seems that so much happens each day that it is almost impossible to capture it all.
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One thing I haven't discussed too much in my blog is the weather. Aside from a couple of rain showers in Indonesia, it has been pretty prefect so far with humidity at least existing seemingly 24/7 in each one of the places I have visited.
Apart from when I was staying in the Dursley's Cupboard 'Hotel' in Yogyakarta, I haven't had too much trouble sleeping due to the temperature. I haven't had to sleep with the air conditioning on in any of the hotels that I have been in, but it has always been nice to come back to my room after a long day in the sun and be able to feel refreshed almost immediately thanks to the cool air.
Aside from a couple of the buses I have been on, there haven't been any horrendous and unbearably hot rides on public transport which I thought may be a feature on this trip and so far there hasn't been any particular day when I have felt so overcome by the heat that I've not been able to go out.
Quite a lot of the time, the hotels I've been staying in haven't had windows or been able to give me indication of what the weather is doing outside, so one day when I walk outside in shorts presuming it's sunny again I am going to get a shock!
Even though I am staying in a hotel, it has a guesthouse-type feel to it. I think I read online that it only has thirteen rooms and I certainly feel like you get personable service unlike in some places which I have stayed.
My last day in Malaysia wasn't going to be anything too hectic - I spent the morning finishing off booking my stay in Thailand which begins on Wednesday and then I set about making my way to the Penang Botanical Gardens in the city. I was torn between a few activities which I had read about, but made the decision to go to the Botanical Gardens last night after reading some good reviews. My other options were to go to Penang National Park or up Penang Hill which both seemed like reasonable choices and a good way to spend my second day here. I'd read some negative things about the National Park, and I wasn't expecting it to be quite up to the standards of Kuching's offerings - although there are beaches at the one here.
The view from Penang Hill is something which is often featured in postcards relating to the city, and it looks pretty spectacular, but I read online that it has now become a commercial tourist attraction which they have used to drive the price up - particularly for foreigners.
I figured the Botanical Gardens were a good place to spend the afternoon and would be a bit of a change as much of my stay in Malaysia has been in the urban environment as opposed to the natural one.
Aside from catching the ferry over here yesterday, I haven't used any form of public transport, though have seen plenty of buses running around the city. I looked into maybe doing the city tour today as well (Asians entertainingly seem to call these 'Ho-Ho' buses - as in Hop on - Hop Off) but the tickets were quite expensive to say that I saw a lot of the sights yesterday.
During my research I noticed that the Ho-Ho bus stopped off at the Botanical Gardens so figured one of the public buses would too. I asked at reception this morning and was given instructions to head to the main bus terminal, which is near the Komtar building and then to look for bus number ten.
I needed to stop and get some lunch on the way so I brought a few items from the bakery and a drink from the convenience store before heading towards the bus stop. It was a more of a terminal really as there were loads of buses there, but it took me a while to figure out which was the right place to be in as there weren't any signs for buses which run to the Botanical Gardens anywhere to be found.
Just then I looked up and saw that there was actually a number ten bus just pulling into the depot so I went over and asked the driver if this was the correct one to be on, and he said "Yes".
Upon trying to pay with a twenty Ringgit note he told me "No change", and considering the bus was 2RM I didn't fancy the extra expense. I quickly ran into a shop and asked the lady for some change, but she insisted I buy something so I ended up purchasing some chewing gum as that was the cheapest thing I could find.
Just as I got back to where the bus was, it appeared to have driven off, but when I looked again it was still in the terminal so I shuffled my way over there and boarded.
It hasn't happened so far very often in my time here, but occasionally there will be moments in Asia when it feels like you either have something on your face, or have suddenly turned a funny colour, because everyone will be staring at you. It's like the stereotypical moment in films or on TV when the record scratches and the music cuts out then everyone turns to look at something. If felt a bit like that when I got on the bus, but managed to find myself a seat at the front despite some giggles from a few teenagers sitting behind me.
The bus ride was a bumpy one and took about twenty-five minutes. We stopped at what looked like a depot briefly, but then made a U-turn and went back in the opposite direction as the bus driver looked back at me and asked where I was wanting to go. I explained and he said that it was the next stop, and eventually we pulled up in a huge car park which was most likely the bus' last stop before making a return journey.
As I couldn't eat the food I'd brought on the bus I went about as far away as I possible could from the monkeys as I figured their sense of smell probably was good enough to pick up the scent of bakery goods from a reasonable distance away.
The Botanical Gardens were pretty unassuming; There was a small sign at the entrance and a few people waiting near there to be taken on a tour around the grounds. A signpost indicated some of the routes which could be taken so I started following on which went straight on and was again treated to the sight of some wildlife:
Although I have encountered them a couple of times on my travels so far, the monkeys that are in this part of Asia still fascinate me and I can spend a long time (as I did later on just watching them). The few at the front of the park were pretty tame, and boldly going quite close to people, but they were more than happy to swing around in the trees and search for food in the leaves rather than looking to steal people's valuables.
I continued up the path I was walking along and eventually came to a fork in the road where I went right towards a few of the garden areas which they had. I wouldn't in anyway claim to be a botanist, but I think I can appreciate the loving gifts that natures gives us through plants and flowers - even though the latter often gives me allergies:
The cacti garden was probably the most interesting of the few that there were, with plenty of interesting varieties I had never seen before. There was an orchid garden which looked to be closed, and also there were a few trails off the main path - one of which took you up a lilly pond and another which took you down towards a fern garden:
As well as monkeys I saw a couple of monitor lizards roaming around, one dropped out of a tree about three of four metres in front of me, and I spent some time watching it trying to get close as it searched around for food:
Once I had finished circling my original route annoyingly my camera ran out of battery so I was unable to take any more photos of the monkeys which I encountered on my second lap around the park. There were about fifteen or twenty of them all following one another, and it was entertaining to see the trees shake followed by five or six of them at a time clambering down and then bounding off to make sure they stayed up with the group.
The presence of the monkeys definitely enhanced the park's appeal, and although you still have to be on your guard wherever you are, it was nice to just sit in the sun and take in the surroundings.
A couple of hours later and I decided it was time to head back to George Town so I went to where I saw a bus stopped on the side of the road. It looked very inactive, and didn't appear to be leaving for another 35 minutes or so. I was getting pretty thirsty in the heat to I walked away from the park, back towards the main road and found a shop to re-hydrate myself. Whilst I was there I saw a bus stop so I waited until I saw one that was headed in the direction of the ferry jetty and got on that, rather than waiting until for the same bus I arrived on.
I stopped off at the hotel quickly to recharge the batteries in my camera and then planned to make a move back out into the city to take a few photographs before dinner. I'm don't think I mentioned it yesterday, but I certainly intended too - on the bottom of the map that I have there are some pictures of street paintings which were completed in 2012 as part of the Penang Art Festival. They are dotted all over the city, but primarily down one street which I walked down yesterday on my way back to the hotel.
I decided to go and see how many of them I could find so following my map I headed out and tried to see if I could find them all. Some were pretty well hidden, and others I had no idea where to find, but I thought I would include a selection of the ones I did find to represent my (partial) success:
Due to their success, more paintings like this have started to pop up around the city, but these ones are part of Penang's heritage now, and close to each one of them there are little stalls selling notebooks, pictures and postcards with each one of the pictures on.
After spotting as many as I possible could I decided to head out for some dinner, and managed to find a little restaurant by the side of the road where I got myself some chicken and rice before heading back to my hotel.
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So tonight marks my final evening not only in George Town, but also in Malaysia. Technically this has been my third trip to the country having visited both Sabah and Sarawak earlier on, and aside from a half day trip to Johor Baru in 2012, I hadn't been to Malaysia at all before February.
I have to say that I have been very impressed by the whole place, not just the peninsular but also Malaysian Borneo too. KL goes down as one city which I feel like I must return to in the future and both Malacca and George Town have offered me everything I could possible need as a visitor.
It's obviously hard to sum everything up as I haven't visited the entire country, but I feel as though my experiences have been varied enough to understand the 'vibe' in different parts of Malaysia, and I think being here has made me want to explore a bit more of the country one day.
I definitely think that others would enjoy Malaysia as it presents a good balance of tourist-y with authentic which makes for a pleasant stay. The weather here on the peninsular has been particularly good, and the warm climate maintains itself throughout the day and night, which takes some getting used to, but is beneficial when you can go out for dinner late at night and still not need to put on anything long sleeved.
The standard of English in all the parts of the country I have been to has been excellent, and although I have mostly traversed by coach it is possible to use trains and planes to get to some of the other areas that Malaysia has to offer.
My stay in Malaysia has definitely been memorable, and it has been an interesting experience trying out some new places, visiting new things and sampling all the different culinary delights possible in a stay of less than two weeks.
As of tomorrow I will be moving into Thailand, and then starts the main bulk of my trip through countries I am unfamiliar with. It took me long enough to eventually memorise the order that I will be travelling through them in, so I hope that my route through each will be smooth, and more importantly safe.
Malaysia has made me feel very welcome, and although I am disappointed that my stay has come to an end, I feel like I accomplished everything I needed to here, and had some good experiences in my nine days here.
Fading Like a Flower
Rozette (1991)
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