6 days

It has been a while since I go back to Penang for Chinese New Year. With the new job and everything else going smoothly, I managed to have a quick trip back home to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family and friends. It was good to know that everyone is doing well. I had a lovely trip and had heaps of fun catching up. However, there are a few things that isn't great. The weather was awful. Humidity was probably 15000%. And the traffic... don't even go there.

I arrive Penang at about 11 pm on the 12th of Feb. William, a close friend of mine picked me up from the airport and he was late. Not that I really mind that much, I was happily sitting outside having a drink and a smoke. While I was waiting, I couldn't help but noticed how busy the airport was. There are absolutely no road rules. Park anywhere you want. Doesn't matter if you are picking up or waiting for someone. Double park if you want to. It's ridiculous but guess this is Malaysia.

11.30 pm. William arrived. Two minutes into the ride home, my phone started to ring. Then William's. Then mine again. It seemed that everyone was at the club, waiting for us. My body told me to forget about it and just go home but my mind said go for it. After a few minutes of persuasion from William, I decided to go home, drop off my bags, say hello to Mom & Dad, have a shower then off to the clubs where friends were waiting.

Soi 11. That's the name of the club and as soon as we walked in, we saw our group right away. There were a quite a few of them there and a few girls. What really caught my attention as we approach the group was two huge barrels of beer on the table. How are we gonna finish the drinks? The club closes at 3 am and it was already 1.30 am. To top it up, William ordered another barrel. It was a loooong night...

The following day (Saturday), I got up at 7.30 am even though I didn't get home till 5 am. Surprisingly, I was alright. No hang over, nothing. Got up, showered, dressed and ready to get on with the day. There wasn't much planned and nothing exciting happened today except for catching up with my grandma. Has been a while since I last saw her, so it was good to catch up. She couldn't stop smiling when I gave her some money. Yah, I'm a good grandson.

I spent most of Saturday relaxing, caught up with Daniel and William for lunch and coffee. In the evening, my parents, sister & I went to my aunt's house for reunion dinner. Most of the cousins were there and there were lots of food. We spent most of the evening eating, catching up and gamble a little. It is a Chinese thing to be gambling during Chinese New Year. Don's ask why.

On Sunday, everyone in the family visited the monastery to pay respect to our other grandparents. Most of the family members showed up, except for some of those who had prior arrangements. After that, we all meet back at Mom & Dad's for home cook lunch. After lunch, I was kinda over the family thing and William and another friend visited, so we had a dip in the pool. I must say, nothing beats dipping in the pool with a can of beer on a hot and humid day. We were there for hours, while my family was playing games upstairs in the apartment.

The rest of the trip back home was pretty much the same. Late night partying till 4am (that's average night out) food, drinks, relaxing and the occasional gamble. I won about RM200 in total I think, which is alright. The last time I was in Malaysia, I won about 2 grand. 

By Wednesday, I was ready to come back to Melbourne. I was exhausted, felt as if I lost weight (from lack of sleep and too much partying). The flight back was not bad, however, the queue to check in was ridiculously long. I wasn't gonna queue so I did what I have to do. I walked up the Premium Check-In counter, gave the women sitting at the desk and bunch of bullshit and manage to check-in my bags without waiting for more than 10 minutes. Most of the people there waited for more than an hour. It's despicable, I know, but I don't have to queue. It was a very swift move. *wink*

Anyway, that's about it. I think I've covered most of what happened back in Penang. Most of what's worth mentioning anyway. Check out the pictures I took. They will give you an idea what I was talking about.

At grandma's. The area where I grew up.

My grandma. She is now 90 years old and She has never had any vegetables in her life. So what they say about vegetables are not entirely true. And a picture of my grandpa, passed away long time ago. Don't remember how long. Oooops.

Mom & Dad. Not sure when this was taken. Most likely before I was born because they look fairly relax and stress-free.

The altar at Grandma's. The one sitting in the middle is Guan Yu which is the same as my tattoo.

View from the balcony at Mom & Dad's. I love this spot. It's nice and quiet.

A visit to a friend's workshop. He do all kinds of joss sticks here. What you see are hand-made dragon heads and phoenixes which will be attach to 7 foot long joss sticks after the colouring process.

Daniel. Justin. William. Too much attitude these three.

Upper Penang Road, where most of the drinking sessions took place. If I'm not mistaken, there are more than 10 clubs in this area.

Mud crabs and lobster. Seafood dinner is a must whenever I go back to Penang. You feed 10 people with all kinds of seafood for less than AUD100. How can you say no??