Twin Towers and BATU!

BATU! BATU! BATU! BAAA-TUUU! It has a nice ring to it. 'Batu' means 'rock' in Malay. Ferringhi means 'foreigner'. On Friday, I visited Batu Ferringhi (Foreigner's Rock) which is on the northern part of the island and is the only decent beach on Penang. I headed up after work just in time to peruse the Yahong Art Gallery which had some great Chinese pieces.

I left the art gallery just in time to catch a magnifique sunset from the beach. It was very romantical, but alas I was by myself; a stray dog came and hung out with me though and I talked to some nice people. The sun set, and I headed back to the street where the vendors were just setting up shop.



At Batu; bargaining is a very useful skill! I have been making deals on taxi rides (30 downto 24), souveniers (18 downto 12), and figurines (49 downto 5!). I have been perplexingly unsuccessful in getting a significant price reduction on magnets though. MAGNETS! Really!?! The demand for souvenier magnets must be sky-high because these vendors won't budge!

I also enjoyed a Northern Indian meal of Tandori Chicken and Nan. I washed it down with a fav local beverage, Anchor Beer. You can't go wrong with a tough beer name like that. "GIMME AN ANCHOR." "It's ANCHOR Time!" It just sounds right.



A crazy rainstorm moved in and I headed back to G for the night; I was anxious to get rested for a much-anticipated Saturday hike up Penang Hill.

Before I close the book on Friday though, I want to mention the great lunch I was treated to by my co-workers. They took me to a traditional Chinese place, Double Good. Great restaurant name. We had chinese broccoli, fried bean curd, chicken in a sweet sauce, "noodle" vegetables, big shrimp in medium sauce, rice, and sting ray. The sting ray was a tasty fish, reminded me a bit of trout; they say it tastes like shark.

One co-worker, Woon Sin, took a picture of Hui Sian and I. She has dubbed us the 'twin towers' because of our imposing stature!