continued from PENANG
Fast forward several (indeed many) years…I arrived on Penang island (after dental appointment in Bangkok). Immediately awestruck at the huge amount of highrises that crowded the once forested landscape. The 2 hotels I had chosen via internet for Georgetown were surprisingly ‘night + day” in difference. Thankfully my first accommodation, after a room relocation to a quieter corner, was enjoyable; management, staff, location, and banquet style breakfast was much appreciated.
Several days of relative luxury there did not prepare me for the next accommodation. First impression was negative at this hotel’s entrance. As I pulled a roller bag, carried a computer bag over one shoulder, a purse and string-bag pillow on other shoulder, I encountered a step leading up to the non-automatic door! I struggled to pull my roller-bag up the narrow step, simultaneously pushing a door that seemed determined to push me back down the step! I practically fell inwards with my baggage as 2 expressionless women behind the reception desk watched. Without doubt, I was not the first guest to awkwardly enter the lobby in this manner.
Without grungy details, the old (decrepit) hotel was depressing. After 1 night’s stay I checked out even tho’ I had booked a week there! Hey, it looked nice on the internet which can be deceiving at times! I promptly returned to hotel #1 where I was greeted warmly, and later learned of the departed hotel’s bad reputation.
My reason to come to Georgetown was to attend university to earn a Bachelor degree. Admission was denied without my transcripts that are not available/accessible due to their/my age! Return to Canada was now eminent but searching return flights was put on hold due to a respiratory illness that struck me. As I recovered, searching for flights overwhelmed my days without finding a reasonable itinerary at a reasonable price, as my final destination of Prince Edward Island requires a costly ‘add-on’ flight.
My breakthrough idea was to stay in Georgetown and ask my husband if he wanted to join me! No sense running 2 households. The entrepreneurial project he was working on is portable so he packed up, gladly shook off the Canadian chill and arrived in Penang several weeks later. I had rented an apartment next door to 2 high-end shopping malls located on the shore front promenade. Sounds expensive but not—it was an older building with only 7 levels as opposed to newer 30-40 level condominiums. Whether new or old, all individual apartment entrances are caged with metal bars! Nice security feature but what is everyone so scared of?
After getting the ‘kinks’ out of a new dwelling such as sweltering for a week waiting for an A/C replacement, and waiting a few days to unpack because apartment had not been cleaned prior to my move in (and would not have been cleaned except for my threat to pro-rate next months’ rent) I started to settle in. Mosquito bites were another pain—literally, as I’m allergic to them—due to zero fly-screens. No cooking utensils were supplied, and a thin bedroom curtain did not block light but worst of all was no internet or TV for a whole month! I paid a big deposit for installation, then waited a a month for it! I had only a cell phone hot-spot to email with–no music, news, entertainment—nothing! Evenings were eerily quiet and hard to endure.
I was in the apartment exactly 14 days before a horrendous noise shook throughout. This deafening sound signaled the beginning of 3-plus months’ renovation of the apartment directly above mine. Concrete drills, grinders, hammers and general chaos forced me to vacate every weekday between 9 AM – 5 PM due to unbearable noise. I would run out of the apartment in a panic as the workday commenced, and wander streets and malls the whole day. I tried a few times to go home for lunch or tea but it was always the same deafening hellish noise; needless to say a most stressful period.
When my husband arrived he continued his project research of materials, manufacturing, funding, and acquiring a business visa. Start-up would take much more time than our tourist visas permitted so departure from Malaysia was inevitable.
One surprisingly fun weekend was attending International Hoops tournament at the giant shopping mall next door to our residence. The team from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (hooray) took 2nd prize, proceeding to next city on the tour. We cheered them (loudly) and chatted between games. Edmonton was home base for us in the past which made it even more special for all of us.
This pic has NOT been altered, sizes are real!
With warm climate a priority, and husband’s dual citizenship to apply for E.U. residence, I chose Cyprus as our next locale. No direct flight from Malaysia to Cyprus, so Athens, Greece was selected for a 1-week stopover. Mindful that Greece may become ‘home’ to us at some point, Athens’ size/population overwhelmed us into deciding this city would not be considered…unless ‘way out in its suburbs!