First impressions of Malaysia...

We are required to leave the country every 90 days to get our visa stamped - last weekend was our first little international excursion since coming to Thailand.

We spent the weekend in Penang, a beautiful Malaysian island just south of Thailand.

We couldn't believe how different Penang was to Thailand - Penang is littered with European colonial buildings, English speaking is prevalent, the food and culture seemed to be a mixture of Indian and Chinese (We saw a Chinese wedding taking place in a Hindu Temple) and the religion is predominantly Islamic. The people don't seem to be as laid back as in Thailand.

We indulged in a relaxing few days which was needed by us both - beaches, the historic city of Georgetown, good food, massages and hot showers!

It made us realise that being in Thailand doesn't feel like holiday it feels more like home. We even found ourselves defending the merits of Thailand compared to Malaysia with the Malay taxi driver on the way back to the airport - not a good idea when you are locked in a taxi!

Anyway that was a brief, yet informative summary of our first experience of Malaysia!

When we arrived back at our apartment we found we had a friendly new guest - Mr Echo the Gecko(he eats our mosquitos)!