The SO and I

[nik.hisham]

Hi,

Just thought to share pics from a recent over nighter to Penang Island I did with the wife. It was a long weekend as Monday was a public holiday here. The recent weeks at work has been very stressful and I just wanted to go somewhere and be together with the missus. So we did this.

Hope you like the pics.

A pose in front of the house before the trip. Notice the belt I'm wearing. It's got handles on em so that my wife can hang on. Since getting this, we've had almost zero helmet banging.

Making sure she's comfortable in her helmet...

We headed north on the highway. Stopped for breakfast not far from home...

Rode for about an hour before taking a break here.

Wife took this of me as we were getting ready to leave.

Along the way, we stopped to sight-see at the royal town of Kuala Kangsar. This is a replica of what used to be the palace used by the sultan in the 1400s.

If you read the description, second line in the last paragraph says that the entire building was made without the use of a single nail. I was tempted to retort, "yeah, didn't use a single nail - they use thousands of them... bwahahaha..." Anyway....

This is the entrance to the modern day palace. Unfortunately, the palace itself is too far in so I have no pics of it.

And this is the mosque where the royal family normally attend Friday prayers

As we left, I saw this and decided to stop for a pic

We continued our journey towards Penang. Stopped for lunch along the way but for some reason, I didn't take any pictures during lunch. It was only when we got on the island ferry did I start taking out the camera again..

There are two ways to get to Penang island, either the ferry or the bridge that you see in the background. I can't remember the data but I think that is the longest bridge in South East Asia or something like that. They are also building another bridge to connect the island to the mainland as both the ferry and current bridge are not enough to handle the daily traffic.

And this is the GPS telling me my bike is in the middle of the ocean

So we got to the hotel, checked in and cleaned up before going out for dinner. My wife just had a bowl of curry noodles...

While I had a bowl of mixed fruit with gravy (local delicacy - not in the pics), an ice-cream sandwich (yes, you read that correctly - see pic below)...

and a bowl of noodles. I'm still wondering why they served my noodles in this mickey mouse bowl.

After dinner, we retired for the night.

Next morning, we got up bright and early and had breakfast here..

We were going to do a tour of the island. No real itinerary planned - just basically wander around aimlessly.

The Sunrise at sunrise..

We decided not to wear any gear - just t-shirt, jeans and the camera. As a result, I was going pretty slow - so slow that even the scooters were overtaking me...

Lots of high rise apartment buildings on the island..

Some of the night spots. We wanted to come to this part of the island the night before but it started to rain...

Roads were quite decent...

If I'd had my gear on, I'd be scraping a peg here

Stumbled upon this dam along the way.

Lots of cyclists out on this road..

Come on hon - let's explore some more!

Typical Malay village house

Scooters are a primary form of transport. This might seem dangerous, and it is, but it is commonplace to see an adult with one or two, sometimes, even three kids on a scooter.

Another common sight is the paddy field. Rice is our staple food

Continued in the next post...

 

[n2osx]

Great pictures! I would love to visit some day.

 

[James Burleigh]

Thanks for the ride report. I feel like I was right there with you. Great pics! When you coming to San Francisco?

 

[azitlies]

Yeah hey enjoyed that! It's interesting, the different worlds we live in, and yet there's similarities too.

Thanks! Enjoy.

 

[nik.hisham]

After wandering around for an hour, we came across this war museum and decided to stop and have a look.

According to the guy at the entrance, this facility was built by the British and used to defend against invading ships and aircraft. Most of the buildings are exactly as they were when the British occupied the country. The Japanese invaded after the British and took control of this facility, but before the British gave up this post, they destroyed all the big cannons.

Entrance to a maze of underground tunnels

There were some really tight places. Not the place to be if you're claustrophobic.

Back outside..

There used to be a huge cannon here. The size of the shells in the background gives you an idea of how big the cannon was. It had a range of 15 kilometers.

We spent about an hour looking around this place. Very interesting history lesson for me, and gruesome reminder of how ugly war is.

We headed back to the hotel, and checked out. On the way home, we decided to use the bridge instead of the ferry. Here are parting shots as we left the island and headed home.

Thanks for looking

 

[MEM]

GREAT shots, Nik! It's a beautiful area. And what I like best about it (right now)is .....it's hot there !

How would you like this for an ice cream sandwich ?

 

[jet mechanic]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ahchiu]

Nik,

As always nice RR and great pictures.

 

[TomInPA]

I really enjoy your road reports. Great stuff.

 

[Joe]

Great report!!!!!

Loved all the beautiful pictures.

Would love to visit there some day.

Joe

 

[kman09]

nik.hisham,

Looking at your pictures, gives me and idea of what it would be like. To be in my wife's

home town of Thailand. Looks as if your FJR is the big bike on the island? Those are some great pictures and

nice roads also. Thanks

 

[FarWestFastEddie]

Nik, I just love it when you go exploring your beautiful country! Its an adventure for all of us. Keep up the good work!

FWFE

 

[rogdeb]

And yet again Nik, great stuff ..... sure would be nice to have you as a tour guide round your picturesque area.

 

[GeorgiaRoller]

You must be one badass rider to pull this off!!!! :lol:

Nice RR with good pictures that really tell the story of the trip for you and your wife. I hope you feel less "stressed" now! :yahoo: Well done sir.

 

[not2shabby]

As usual, great pics!

One question...fruit and gravy?!

 

[SacramentoMike]

As usual, great pics!

One question...fruit and gravy?!

They eat that in Canada too. Don't they?

Thanks for another great RR, Nik. Thanks to you, I feel like I have a pretty good take on life in Malaysia over these last couple years.

 

[ionbeam]

....One question...fruit and gravy?!

They eat that in Canada too. Don't they? ...

A collective shudder passes through the poutine aficionados.

 

[Hudson]

Great pix as usual, Nik. The family that rides together, stays together! Plus good for you that your wife is properly geared up.

The world always looks more interesting on the other side of the pond. Hopefully, either you will visit here or we will visit you there. Either way, thanks for sharing!

And love the food pix. You say "curry", we say "pie/cheeseburger/burrito".

 

[Tanker]

As usual, this was another great ride report Nik. Thanks for sharing...