"One of the joys of travel is visiting new towns and meeting new people." - G. Khan

            This weekend we met up with a co-worker and his family for a get together at the local bazaar, Chinese temple, and a mountain top trip.  The bazaar was a series of local bartering booths that contained an assortment of tourist ‘stuff’.  The trick to isolate the Wal-mart stuff from the handcraft goods was to locate the “made in china” sticker on the item.  If it did not have this and wrapped in the local newspaper odds were that it was local craftsmanship. 

            The heat was amazing.  It was like sharing a crowded steam room with a couple hundred other people, most of whom did not speak English.   The point of interest for lil Sis. was the turtles.  Her affinity towards all creatures’ great and small has only increased since being here.  Big sis. is ever on the look out for something to buy for all her friends back home.  If her purse was as large as her heart we would likely have needed a U-haul.  Kore. enjoyed the idea of coming back on our own and exploring everything when there was more time.  My golden moment of culture faux pas came when I removed my t-shirt from under my button shirt, both of which were drenched.  Apparently, it was not enough to be the only white people around.  The sight of my big, hairy, white chest gave some of the locals something to giggle about.  It is always of interest to me that many of the locals take pictures of us as we take of ourselves.

            The trip of Penang Hill was a great idea.  Apparently half the island population thought so as well because I swear we shared the trolley cart with all of them.  So how many Malaysians can fit inside of a phone booth? – I can testify quite a number of them.  The trip was about half an hour at ~ a 45 degree angle the whole time.  It was like traveling in a gondola.  But instead of poles and skis there were just lots of people. Instead of snow, there was an abundance of heat and humidity.   The view was incredible.  It was at the top that we came to realize the extent of the island and the many places we have visited thus far.

            The adults had a leisure dinner while the kids played bad mitten with the locals in the street.  The dinner, company, and sunset were superb.  All in all another very good weekend excursion.