Penang Pesta Dragon Boat Race

Para-sailing in Penang

Immediately after attachment ended on friday, I went home and was soon on my way to Penang after that. Bei bei was there to participate in the Penang Dragon Boat Race, and I accompanied him there. In summary, the three days there was about eating, eating, sight-seeing, taking buses, kena cheated by locals, playing sea sports (jet-skiing's really cool !), good steak and horse-ridding.

We tried the banana and parasailing too. To be honest with myself, the banana was a real disappointment. We went on it with a Macik on board. At the begining of the ride, I kept reassuring Bei Bei that the Banana was really exciting round the corners and the guy was just warming the speed boat up when we were simply going up and down along the beach. 2 more minutes had passed and we were still going up and down the beach without sudden cornering and violent flinging people off, it started to dawn on me that it was gonna be a kiddy ride till the ride ended. OMG... At the end of the ride, when Macik got off, she chattered excitedly to her daughter "wah! my heart pumping ah!". I looked at bei bei and rolled my eyes. Money wasted.

After the sports, we took a cab for some sight-seeing. We got cheated by some stupid cabbie who brought us to this seafood place, claiming that it's got fantastic chilli crab and it's chilli sauce is a must-buy, he followed us off the cab. After he spoke to the owner, he told us "Aiyah, no chilli sauce!" and walked back to his cab. We looked around the old and dirty place, wondering to eat or not. Finally when we decided to order, we were given a rude shock when the owner say they didn't sell any chilli crabs, only BBQ crabs. That cabbie probably spoke to the owner to claim comission for bringing customers (us) to the shop. I was quite put off by being cheated by the dishonest cabbie (making up things about the shop), that I didn't feel like eating there at all.

We found dinner at this magnificant The Ship that bei bei's been wanting to check out since he was there the last year. The place looks exactly as the name suggests. There, we were served like Kings and Queens, and the food (baked escargots, soup, steak) was marvellous. That was our stay at Penang.

When we got back, I spoke to our colleague at the special school, she wasn't surprised at all, afterall, it is a very commercialised tourist spot. She advised me not to heed cabbie's recommendation. Other than that, the trip had been most wonderful, and not to mention having bei bei for company day in day out!

Almost forgot to mention, my first pool game and my first dragon boat experience also happened during this trip. At the food centre in Penang, I play my first game of pool (so orh-bit right, haha...). In the water of Penang, I paddled my first paddles in a dragon boat. As a result, I suffered the first ultimate back muscle ache in Penang. I also ate my first alf-done steak all by myself at The Ship in Penang. It ahd been a most unforgettable trip with my bei bei !