Newest Adventure on the Island

Road trip time again! This time, though, was not so far away from home. Sometimes the neatest places are right under your nose, or around the Island!! Julia and I were finally able to take a day to explore what our Island has to offer. In such a place of tourism, people can basically choose which side of the Island they want to see - the "pretty" places, or real life. We recently got to see both as we decided to drive the Island loop - taking roads all around the Island.

Beginning with a mid-morning drive toward a popular tourist trap called Batu Ferringhi we preceded near to a fishing village for a breakfast of tosai (Indian bread served with different curries) and Julia's favorite roti Milo (an Indian bread with sweet chocolate Milo inside). With our stomachs happy we went to explore the many trails of the Penang Spice Garden - it was the best smelling hike I've ever been on. After cooling down with a nutmeg drink, we drove on and found out that the views of the Island are very diverse. Away from city life one can see beautiful placid jungle covered mountains, fresh fruit farms (with some of the most tasty treats), traditional kampungs (rural village areas) that give a glimpse of history, and even the supposed "most smelly place on earth" (where we opted to keep the windows up and air on recirculate). We ended up on the thriving industrial end of the island but even then we could look out to the ocean to see other jungle covered islands - a glimpse of what our Island used to be.

So now I've been from top to bottom, from most fragrant to the smelliest, from the dirtiest to cleanest, and all around in between. My explorations certainly aren't done, but I do have a good start.