la v and jak travel the world

July 16, 2006: Our day of laziness, and July 17, 2006: Going home

So James wrote and said, "When are you guys coming home?" Um... well, I guess we're home. I should really finish this blog.

Our last day in Penang. Were we productive? Did we get to see all the sights that we didn't see yesterday? Well...This is pretty much what we did after breakfast. Until 3pm. At that point, we were so tired from laying out that we decided to go back to our room to lay around. Even that got tiring, so at 5pm, we went downstairs and had spa services... again! (I know it sounds ridiculous, but it seriously costs 1/4 of how much it would cost in the states!)
By the time we got out of the spa, it was almost 8pm, so... guess what we did?? We ate! We went back to the night market that begins right at the doorstep of our hotel and worked our way down about 1/2 a km, before we came upon a huge food court/hawker stand area. PERFECT.We feasted on a meal of fresh sea bass grilled in a banana leaf, chicken vindaloo and aloo gobi, washed down by 2 huge bottles of Tiger beer. We rounded out the night by strolling through the market some more, then headed back to do some last minute packing at around midnight. Jack left his old Simple shoes in Malaysia... a little token to remember us by!
And here we are, a mere 5 hours later, checking in at the Penang airport, where we would begin our long day of travel back to California. We caught a short, hour long flight from Penang to KL, then a 31/2 hour flight from KL to Taipei, then a 12 hour flight from Taipei to L.A. where Ron picked us up in our Prius, which he now seemed very adept at driving. He even told us that he liked it so much that he also ordered one!

At 3pm, we began the drive home to Oakland, hoping to get back at 9pm or so. And we did! The trip was quite a success! Before we left, we really didn't know quite what to expect. I had never even heard of Borneo before I began looking into Malaysia. I just knew that I wanted to go somewhere in Southeast Asia that was a little more off the beaten path. Although it's becoming more of a popular destination among Europeans (we met a few Germans and some Brits as well,) Australians and other Asians like the Japanese and the Taiwanese, we didn't meet any other Americans aside from the folks in our group. Malaysia is one of those places that seems to have it all... beautiful beaches, incredible diving, great mountain climbing, jungle trekking and unique wildlife, and such an interesting mix of different cultures, religions and lifestyles all living together under one government. We didn't get to spend too much time in Malaysian peninsula, but that just means we'll have to return someday.

Thanks for reading our blog. We'll only get wordier with age!

Selamat Datang.