Thursday, December 6, 2007

Brunei>Kuala Lumpur>Island of Penang> Batu Ferringhi

Hi there from Batu Ferrenghi, on the island of Penang. We arrived yesterday early afternoon, and enjoyed relaxing on the beach. Plan to head to a national park today, undecided if we will head to another island tomorrow.

Here's a quick pop quiz-

You know you are in a Muslim country if...
A- you see tourists being pulled behind boats up into the air fastened to a parachute, but whereas in Mexico you would see them in swimming suits, here some are fully dressed, and the women have on headscarves
B-you are browsing the market, looking over the pirated DVD's of US movies that are just getting into the theaters at home, and you are next to a couple, with the man in normal beachwear, but the woman only gets to expose her eyes underneath a full burka.
C-you are enjoying a Tiger beer on the beach, and the Air Supply Greatest Hits being played at the bar [complete with the male waitstaff singing along to all the words in falsetto], and it's just barely loud enough to drown out the afternoon call to prayer [you can hear examples of the call to prayer, called Adhan, by clicking here].
D- you are also awoken at 5am by the earliest call to prayer [they do it five times a day], because the building next to your hostel is a mosque. They pipe the calls to prayers out of loudspeakers atop the minarets.

If you answered 'all of the above,' you win!

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