Day 19 - Penang

I don't have very long here in Penang, but that might be a good thing.  Penang is supposed to be mostly a beach town and I don't have time to go to the beach.  That means I am looking for all the other things in Penang to enjoy.  So far, I have found a few cool buildings, but not much else.

As soon as I got off the ferry, I searched for a shower.  Luckily, there was a shower available for RM1 right by the ferry platform.  Unluckily, it was the scariest shower of my entire life.



It's tough to clean up when you can't touch anything.

 Positives:
The water was wet.

Negatives:
Sink did not have running water.
Toilet did not have running water.
Floor was filled with an inch of gray, murky water.
Shower smelled like homeless people.
Cold water only.
Drain was clogged with french fries.
Walls were covered in layers of grime.
Cigarette butts floating in murky shower drain water.
Shower attendant told me not to drink water from the shower.

Other than my feet, I ended up pretty clean.  Well, that is assuming the water was sanitized and not from the polluted stream outside.

Then I went to find food.  The only option I could find was Abu.

This is Abu in his kitchen.

This is what he made for me.

He asked whether I wanted fish heads or fish tails.  I've learned that everyone loves fish heads here.  I said tail, but he had already made me a mix.  Above you see the shredded pankcake, sambar, and fish curry.  I also had tea with sugar and cream.  All this for less than $3 USD.  I can't argue with Abu's prices, but how fresh can the fish really be?  I just told myself that this was "dark fish".  There is white meat chicken and dark meat chicken.  I pretended my meal was the "other" type of fish, because it sure tasted strange.  Then again, we don't eat fish eyeballs back home, so that might account for it being strange.

After my curry, I searched for a store bathroom.  I learned my lesson with the public bathroom earlier.  I found a coffee shop and ordered myself a snack just so they would let me use the bathroom.

Iced coffee and buttered toast with sugar.

I wasn't hungry by this point, but the coffee and toast were $1USD, so that seemed a fair price to pay for using the bathroom.  However, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  The bathroom was in the attic!  Remember, it's crazy hot here.  Imagine yourself in a Port-o-potty in the hot Texas sun, only cover the vents up at the top because there are no vents in the attic.  The air is stale and about 120 degrees from the greenhouse effect and being up high.  I bet people have passed out inside and been rescued.  So much for taking a shower...at least the toast was good.

Time to go search for medicine from a real pharmacy.  Most of the pharmacies in Asia are of the Chinese variety.  Apparently bear bile and bull testicles can cure almost any ailment.