Solo in Penang

I hadn't traveled on my own at any SAS port yet, mainly because it wasn't encouraged by both the faculty and my parents. But I was in need of some solo time, so why not test it out in Malaysia? My first day involved a whole lot of exploring via foot, starting with the Goddess of Mercy Temple and then traveling to Kapital Keling Mosque, Yap Konsi, Acheen Street Malay Mosque and Khoo Kongsi. Each offered an array of beautiful paintings and architecture.

The neat thing about SAS is that, even when in a big city, you're bound to run into people from the ship. So after taking in the culture on my own during the day, I found Paula and we decided to head to a street restaurant called Mustafas in Little India. Boy was it good! We split tandoori chicken with sauces galore and a dessert crepe filled with banana and sugar. What a lovely meal with even better company!

I had signed up for a field program on day two during where I enjoyed many more religious sites as we bused around the city. We saw giant goddesses, a huge lying Buddha, and a sitting Buddha. I even went back to two of the places from my wanderings the day before.

After the field program, Alex, Robbie and Kevin invited me along to explore Penang Hill. We took a taxi from the ship and bought tram tickets to take up the "hill".

Though it was overcast, we could still see the expanse of Penang below us. And we even made some new friends...

After making the decision to walk down instead of take the tram, it started to rain.

We made it four miles before a truck let us hop in their bed to reach the bottom where we found some street food.

The next day was another solo adventure and I was on a mission to get to the Tropical Spice Garden. Though I'm not a huge fan of buses, I decided to try it out for two reasons - 1) It was safer than traveling alone in a taxi and 2) The $2 ride was way more economical. So I got directions and was on my way, checking my surroundings as often as possible for fear that I was going the wrong direction. Luckily I was not and arrived at my destination in 45 minutes, paid the entrance fee and was walking along the garden pathways in no time.

As I went, I noticed that I had gathered a rather large and frighteningly close monkey following.

I was so busy monitoring their distance behind me that I almost ran into a 3 foot long lizard directly on the path in front of me.

After an afternoon of plant and animal adventures, I made my way along the beach and enjoyed some fresh mango juice before jumping back on the bus. With some time to spare before getting on the ship, I decided to go back to Mustafas in Little India for the second...okay fine...the third time. That's the nice thing about solo travel - you can eat at the same place as many times as you want!