Finally...Bangkok to Butterworth

Wednesday, July 1
Singapore’s Changi Airport lived up to all it’s hype even when we arrived at 3:15 this morning. If only all airports were this great! We were dragging a little but our spirits perked up a little when I was upgraded to business class from Singapore to Tokyo (already had been able to get business from Narita to LAX when we originally booked our tickets.) Andrea was given exit rows which we will also take any day especially since we have lost our elite status this year. (Since we used miles to do this trip this past year, we haven't been able to earn any miles and maintain any sort of elite status – of which one of the many perks is pretty much always being guaranteed to get exit seats for the tall wife.) Seriously, I don’t know why there are still people who fly and don’t keep track of their miles and earning status. Frequent flier plans aren’t what they used to be but if you can get a few little perks in today’s travel, it is worth it. Our flight from Narita is delayed for a couple hours so I am in Delta/Northwest’s swanky Sky Club watching all the activity down on the runway. There’s a post that will come at some point on the Delta/Northwest merger but right now we know there are a few people wanting to know what has happened in the past month. Since we didn’t take our computer with us as we traveled, we had very limited internet activity – but we have been keeping notes and writing some posts so hopefully in the next few days we will catch you up on some of the highlights. We’ve covered a lot of miles and the beds have started to add up again as have the array of experiences and people we have encountered. Apologies if it seems like you are just getting highlights or snapshots of the past month since we checked out of our apartment in Bangkok - you probably are! We’ll do our best...

Monday, May 25
I’ve only done this train journey from Bangkok to Butterworth/Penang in Malaysia one time before. Twenty years ago when I had to do a visa run (leave Thailand to get a new visa) my mom and I made the 24 hour journey. Back then the train wasn’t airconditioned – aircon is nice and keeps you from arriving with black soot in every orifice of your body, but it also keeps out all the sounds and smells of the country as you snake your way down through the fields and jungles of South Thailand into Malaysia.

One vignette from the train…we ended up in a carriage with a large loud tour group from another country close by Thailand. Every country has them whether Americans, Chinese, Vietnamese, you name it – a group of tourists that just don’t represent their country that well and perpetuate whatever particular negative stereotype that exists. This group – especially the men did a grand job of this, taking off their shoes and socks, putting their feet(!) up on the window (something you really don’t do in Thailand…) Needless to say they had not endeared themselves to us. At one point Andrea walked down the carriage to go to the bathroom. Upon return they all started calling (shouting) 'Photo Photo' to her clearly never having seen such a tall white woman. Andrea politely obliged them taking individual photos with each one until one man wanted to get a little close and started puckering up and moving in for a kiss. At this point Andrea drew the line! Did I say the men had all been drinking? No one was intoxicated but they were all in good spirits! They had all been passing around a communal wine glass which they were pouring their country's brand of whiskey. After Andrea returned to her seat, one man needed to do a reshoot so she gamely stood up again. Shortly thereafter another of the men brought us a packet of Ritz crackers to show their gratitude followed by another man who brought me...you know it the communal whiskey glass. Nothing offered to Andrea though! Not being a whiskey lover I did my part not to offend international and cultural relations... and prayed. And this from someone who doesn't drink from the communal communion cup at churches!

My parents went to Penang (an island just off the coast of Malaysia – still often referred to as the Pearl of the Orient) forty years ago for their honeymoon. When my mom and I went we stayed at the YMCA and twenty years later, Andrea and I ended up at their too. Great, cheap, place to stay. Wish the Y’s in the US were a little like this. We didn’t see too much of Penang as we were only there a night – we did walk all around Georgetown and you quickly realize why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique culture and history most clearly revealed in the largest collection of intact pre-WWII buildings (over 1700) that show off the rich diversity of the people and architecture of this island.

Penang is now connected to the mainland with a 13KM bridge in addition to the regular ferries. It is not a sleepy little island any more but it still retains much of its charm. From Penang we caught a bus (about five hours) to the Cameron Highlands, the location of Chefoo School, where I went to elementary school.

(Photo to right - old temple in Penang)

(Photo below -Sign before you board the ferry to Penang - what you can't bring onboard with you - cats, dogs, birds and cows...clearly in the past there were some issues!)

Duncan