One of the things we have enjoyed most about our time in Penang has been our ability to travel a lot through Southeast Asia. In the last 6 months we've seen a lot of the Malaysian peninsula, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. (which I know you know I know you know already.) In 2 weeks, we are headed to the island of Borneo for jungles, hikes, rivers and wildlife. After that, hopefully Bali, then definitely Cambodia and Vietnam...Sigh. Uh, where was I?Part of the reason we've been able to do so is the low cost of flying throughout this part of the world. There are a handful of budget airlines -- AirAsia, FireFly, JetStar, etc -- that bring these seemingly far-flung places much closer and more easily accessible for us who want to explore. Who cares about the lack of food (it usually sucks anyway) or the total lack of accountability when the flight is late and you miss your connection (hello, you knew that could happen so why didn't you allow 4 or more hours for your layover??) And the hotels -- such good rates for places that have have blown my mind (or at least not blown my bank account)! Alas, airlines and hotels in America could really learn some lessons here -- make it cheap, make it spare but beautiful, make it straightforward.
In this travel-friendly climate, we have been busy bees. A few friends have visited and there have been many holidays. However in June and July there has been a weird lull. No days off and not much travel planned. So we fixed that. Off we went on a Friday night back to the little island of Langkawi, which is just a half-hour from Penang. Awesome. It's the off-season so it wasn't crazy-busy, which made it more awesome. We booked a cheap room in a half-full place. We sat back and enjoyed the sounds of the rolling surf, we dipped in the pool when the hot sun was too intense, we drank in the ice cold duty-free beers under shady palms. There was a structural-engineer's dream of a jenga game. Did I mention the pints of Tiger?
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