Monday, December 22, 2008

Bloody Tourists!

We have been travelling quite a lot. (Picture: Shangrila-hotel, Penang, Malaysia) Always making sure that our final destination had the same anemities and comfort we are used from at home. Backpack-tourism is not for us. We don't find any humor in sleeping in a tent bitten by millions of mosquitos and whatnot...
A few years ago, after 15 hours of flight we reached our vaction home - the picturesque half-Island of Penang, Malaysia. The Shangrila-hotel, which we had picked from a catalouge , turned out to be every vactioners dream - a tropic garden with pools and hot-tubs, shops, beauty spa, restaurants, nanny-services, business center etc..
At 07.00 am on the first day (we are known as an early riser) we took our towel, a book and went to the pool to get some much needed sun. Although the sky was cloudy the pool had comfortable bathtub-temperature. Perfect. However, we noticed that we were all but alone. We figured that the rest of the 800 guests was still asleep.
Some time after we had made ourselves comfortable we noticed that the hotel-personnel who had been cleaning the pool/garden suddenly abandoned what they had been doing. They were looking for shelter. We shook our head - strange people here in Malaysia, really.
We looked around.
Nothing out of the ordinairy, .....except out there at the ocean a white wall had formed. It looked like fog and it was slowly coming nearer. Well, we didn't care. It was warm, the fog would go away sooner or later....
A few moments later "the fog" had reached the garden and the heaviest downpour we ever have witnessed started. We seeked refuge under a sunshade but it did little to save us from the wet. It only lasted 3 minutes. Then the clouds parted and the sun came through again - stifling hot.
We stayed there 3 weeks.
Every time we saw the locals running for cover we did the same. After all those Malaysians were not so strange people after all. They knew a thing or two about sudden tropical monsoons...

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:45:00 PM

    You learn very quickly to do as the Romans do,What a beautiful place to Vacation..I can see you in my minds eye watching thel hotel staff,it was nice you enjoyed there for three weeks,it's to see different places,I love traveling to other countries,meeting the locals

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  2. My friend joked about it the whole vacation. Better watch out and listen to what the locals say!
    I was soaking wet but after the rain ended it was hot and muggy again.LOL

    However, travelling in the US - to and from - has become such a hassle that one has to think twice befor boarding a plane.
    Yesterday , I watched "60 Minutes" and one of the TSA members admitted that from the 3000 people they singled out as suspects on airports since 2002 NO ONE turned out to be a terrorist..

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  3. When you saw the thick fog I thought you were looking at a tsunami.That would have been an interesting holiday.
    It sounds like a tropical paradise.

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  4. It is. The tea fields and the palm fields are gorgeous. Unfortunately May to September are monsoon months - meaning frequent showers during the day are normal.
    Well, yes.
    It was a sight for the Gods. Everybody was seeking shelter and I was sitting on my towel with ??? on my face. I even dismissed the first drops of rain......

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  5. fortunately,it only takes one lesson of that nature.
    Will you go back there?

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  6. I drew a cartoon of Caruso.It's kind of dirty.I'll color it and put in drafts.Maybe you can look at it and tell me if it's too tacky or rude for the blog.After all we have our standards.I just don't know what they are yet.

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  7. one lesson of that nature.

    Yup. I was just behaving like a very ignorant tourist . But I enjoyed my stay a lot.
    I would visit again if the possiblity ever arises. The main problem is that the country is predominantely Islamic. Especially the Arabic guests made it a point not to sit in the same area as Western tourists.
    If you are able to ignore the women in black burkas, the harsh punishments, you'll behaving a good time.

    I don't mind a dirty cartoon. However, you'll have to sent it to my e-mail address since I have to copy/paste it on my desktop to be able to upload it.
    So feel free to send it to me
    annagetagun@hotmail.com
    I am looking forward to it. I am just writing a new article...

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  8. What do you mean'harsh punishments'?

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  9. Malaysia has Islamic rights when it comes to law/punishment.
    Blows with the cane for offenders are the norm - tourists or not.
    Death penalty is enforced regularily and womens' rights are not as bad as in Iran but they are very restricted.

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  10. Jeannie - FUCK standards okay... bring it on. You'll find my e-mail address among these posts...LOL

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  11. I drew a cartoon of Caruso.It's kind of dirty.I'll color it and put in drafts..

    WANNA SEE IT PRETTY PLEASE!!!

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  12. The cartoon is in the saved drafts of this blog.Go to edit posts and look for the title"OH NO!"

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  13. ROFLMAO! It is great. I already copied and pasted it to my desktop.I'm loving it.
    OMG that is so funny... You are a real talent. Thank you.
    It'll get a place front and center on my blog during the day.

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  14. ...a serious judgemental mistake/error....LOL.

    A bit of grammar: Can one say that?

    ReplyDelete

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