Trip of a Lifetime-part 2

                                                      Trip Of A Lifetime~part2

                                                             PENANG, MALAYSIA
               Welcome back to our trip.....My name is Kristina and I'm a lazy blogger, enjoy~
                                                                 Selamat Datang!

We rushed to the train station and grabbed some KFC breakfast. On the train we had sleepers, which was awesome for napping.

                                                                 Tasty Food!

Bunks on the train

                                                          
I kept nagging the kids to look out the windows to see Malaysia, but they couldn't keep their noses outta the books......nerds. We arrived in Butterworth, took the ferry over to the Island of Penang., caught a bus to the backpacker area and started looking for a hotel.

                                                                   
We found one that was acceptable, at 12 dollars a night-2 rooms needed of course. Shared bathroom with 1 squat toilet and one western. Plus hot water! After the hostels the kids are cool with common bathrooms at this point.

                                                       Ferry ride from Butterworth to Penang

Backpacker street....AKA My old hangout-20 years ago!

                                                                  
About the backpackers area-we always find cheap/meager accomadations, affordable western food options, travel agencies and tour operations everywhere, and heaps of travellers-not tourists, which are typically more interesting and friendly. Overall, a cheaper way to go, (plus we can then act like we are 20 yrs old again.) We found a fantastic restaurant and had more rotis with curry somethin somethin for dipping. I couldn't have been more content. Been dreaming about roti canai for almost 20 years now. It was just as I remember~divine. Best food ever.

                                                         Soren and Sofia cruising the streets

  The next day we went exploring. I was determined to see the mall I worked in for 5 weeks-The Komtar. I worked in a hair salon and lived with a muslim lady and washed hair in her salon for 5 weeks~back in 1992-20 yrs ago..... the mall was a disgrace and nothing like I remembered. There is a newer, bigger, better one next to it, complete with a (badly needed/desired) Starbucks!

eating some jelly icee fruity dessert thing~

I know I'm biased but this is the cutest thing ever!

YUMMY

Trying some local fare at the deserted Komtar Mall food stalls on the roof. Dalila and Brighton chased the stray cats and climbed on the counters of the deserted stalls. Kinda weird but dang good food and fun!!
                                                   
                                                                 As-Salaam Alaikum

                                                                    Kapitan Mosque

The area called Georgetown, is now a World Heritage site. The place is old, old ,old. Buddhist and Hindu temples and Moslem Mosques. So beautiful and interesting. We did a tour of a Mosque and Soren loved seeing and learning about it. Truly eye-opening. Overall consensus-Muslims are kind and friendly.                                                       

Buddhist Temple

HUGE Incense burner.......

Lion statues with a fresh orange in mouth

My obsession with doors begins here.....

Loved the view down this street

Love everything about this photo, the door and windows, the water mark, the orange cone and satellite dish......

Batik Painting

The kids got to try Batik painting-Hot wax is applied to fabric via a cool little tool, and then you  paint and the wax  creates the design.  

Penang has changed a lot since the 20 yrs I was there, but still has the best food and plenty of charm I still heart Penang. The shopping was SO great as well, though we missed too much because the stores closed earlier than we thought and we had to rush.

Terima Kasih Malaysia!

Selamat Tinggal

To see more of beautiful, historic, crazy Penang and the Sheps-check us out at~ http://photobucket.com/sheppenang12

THAILAND

Sawatdee Ka!

 We hopped on a mini-bus to Hatyai, Thailand at 5am. Needless to say, the border crossing from Malaysia to Thailand was NOTHING like from Singapore to Malaysia. The whole thing was outside with big lines in the dirt. Fortunately it was in the shade and early enought to not be hot yet, and not raining. We continued onto Hatyai and found a place to sit and wait for the next minibus to the coastal town of Pacbara. Ordered a cup of coffee and I got another cuppa instant!!! SO sick of Nescafe. Almost drove me to give up the addiction.... But we did find a 7-11, in abundance, with slurpees and Thai Ice Tea in the dispenser!! Great find! Thai ice tea is truly hard to beat! We eventually hopped on a larger sort of tuktuk and headed to the bus depot and from there to the dusty hot town of Pacbara.

Riding iin the tuk tuk enjoying the breeze, a slurpee and plenty of fumes......

We had a few plates of PadThai and waited 2 hours for a very late ferry. Kids were sweet and patient and there was ice cream, food carts and locals-for entertainment.

                                                                     Ko Lipe!!!!!!



 We arrived on Ko Lipe at 6 pm. Matt started the stroll down the beach to look for some beach bungalows while we waited with the luggage. We all did a beach change into swimsuits and went for a swim. We ended up in 2 great little bungalows. No AC but fans and mosquito nets. The 3 kids all shared 1 big bed and Matt and I shared with the 2 babes. Cramped but necessary to stay under the nets. The mosquitos were horrendous.

Naked Dalila just getting comfy for nap time

Dalila totally cramping the locals style

                             Brighton and Dalila making the most out of the last bits of light

                                                                     Chillaxin'

A coke and a smile

Brighton and Sofia

Ko Lipe has a main 'walking street', that is all sand and dirt. It has numerous charming restaurants, stores, travel/internet shops and such. The food was amazing, again. More rotis and curries galore. Not to mention fruit shakes, thai ice tea and cappucinos for yours truly. We swam and snorkeled and worked on our tans while reading all day.

Entrance to 'Walking Street'

Another side of the island

 

Dinner!

                     Brighton would go to sleep every night in the stroller after eating his dinner.

Our bungalows at The Monkey Bar

I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful sand and beaches. And I've seen some of the best, it's a quest Matt and I have~perfect beaches. We didn't wear shoes the whole 6 days we were there.

Yes, it rained on us............

                                                                    The kids.......all 5

We took a day snorkeling tour. Even Brighton was able to do it. I, of course, had to stay in the boat with Dalila;) We enjoyed some more fabulous, gorgeous, unbelievable white sand deserted beaches. A perfect day.

Oskar getting ready

GO Sofia GO!

Brighton and Dalila feeling seriously left out.

Our driver and guide. Telling us to hurry up and get the heck out-the big ship has

come from the mainland and this spot is too crowded now.

Sofia's set to fall in-she's braver than me thats fo sho!

                                                                    Soren and Sofia

                                                                  Matt taking Brighton, he loved it!

                                                              BEACH BREAK!

                                            

                                                       Deserted beaches everywhere!

                                                                             Matt Mo


                                                                      Perfectness right here.

Oskar and his tricks and skills.

                                                                   More perfectness.

Boys will be boys.

                                                                        Our boat.

                                                            We love sleeping babies!

                                                               And back to Ko Lipe

                                                               Models in the Making

                                                              Goodbye Ko Lipe!

We eventually had to leave paradise. We worked our way back to Hatyai and got on a 17 hour train to Bangkok.

To see more of our family on Beautiful Ko Lipe,  visit here http://photobucket.com/shepkolipe12

      *****Continue on to the last leg of our trip where we travel to amazing Bangkok!