Sunrise again!

After we got off of the train, we had to take the ferry back to the island. (Penang is split into two parts: one is on the mainland of Malaysia, the other is an island.) Once we got off of the ferry, we had to walk back to the ship area and take a water taxi (tender) to the ship since it wasn't docked. On the way to the water taxi, I snatched this shot of the sunrise on Sunday. Happy Easter!

sleep? what's that?

So... we made the train for the ride home! We purposefully booked the overnight train so that we could get the most time in Malaysia. The idea was to sleep on train. We were warned that train was not a first class experience, but we didn't care. We thought, "how bad could it be?" Really, it wasn't that bad. But it is not too conducive for sleeping. It was loud, bumpy, and it kept stopping at other stations along way. I think I got about two hours of sleep on a 9 hour train ride. Eddie fell asleep a little early and Ashley and I stayed up and had some good laughs. I met a boy from Iran who had snacks! He had a lot of chips and he was just as awake as we were. He probably brought me 5 different kinds of chips. It was funny and if you aren't laughing now, wait for the pictures. Speaking of pictures, this one here is three of us (obviously) once we got off the train in Penang around 5:30am. We look about as well rested as we felt.

KL Tower

This tower, from the outside, looks strikingly similar to the Space Needle in Seattle. At the top, there is a restaraunt that rotates. It was pretty expensive, so we went with the cheaper option and had lunch at 1:30 to save some money (although it was a decision to splurge!) Funny how things turned out in the end, but we really got a great deal! Here we are on top of the world!

THEME PARK!!!

This was the crazy fun indoor theme park (inside of a mall). I have never been to Mall of America, but I'm pretty sure that this one would take the trophy. We didn't make it to the mall until 8pm and place shuts down at 10pm. They women that sold us the tickets thought we were ridiculous for paying for a day ticket when there were only two hours left, but it

was only $10 and that roller coaster looked like too much fun to pass up. Turns out, it wasn't even the best ride in the place. There was one that had us all shook up and feeling like we were getting too old for this find of fun. It was great fun while it lasted, but we didn't even last the full two hours. Oh, and can I just say... doing bumber cars with Malays was perhaps the most fun "cultural" experience yet! They really know how to hit ya.

Observing...

Just another shot of me. This one is from the observatory at the planetarium. It was a pretty good view. I took this one myself... just in case you couldn't tell.

Fun at the Planetarium!

Why didn't I go to space camp when I was little? Ashley, Eddie, and I had so much fun at the planetarium. We weren't so sure about it from the looks of things because we had to walk a little while in the rain to get to it. THEN, there was a million stairs to climb, and they were slippery. But, we bought tickets for a movie about the human body (not sure how it was relevant to the outer space, but we thought it sounded intersting). We had almost two hours to blow before the movie played so we spent plenty of time acting like kids on pretend rocket ship equipment. In the photos, I am "walking on the moon" and hanging out on an astronaut toilet. When we went to the movie theater, we were pleasantly surprised to find it was an omnimax (and it only cost $2!). The funniest part was watching a flick about the human body on a screen that big. Like popping zits in lifesize isn't gross enough... try watching it a thousand times bigger!!! ha ha ha!!

Petronas Twin Towers

These are the tallest twin buildings in the world. One of them is slightly taller than the other making it the third tallest building in the world. We tried to make it to the sky bridge because its free, but they only give out a certain number of tickets each day and we went too late. They were sold out.

One World Artist

So the artist we met at the National Art Gallery was incredibly talented. He was using ink pens to recreate pictures he had of his travels around the world. On the right is one small piece of his final product. When he is finished, he will have drawn one kilometer of drawings that depict various sites and monuments from all over the world. His theory is, "We are all one family, separated by culture. One world, one family." And all in one kilometer. When he completes the kilmeter, he will be in the Guiness Book of World Records.

Restroom fees

In Malaysia, but not only in Malaysia, you have to pay to use the restroom. It's about 20 cents, but if you want toilet paper, you have to pay more. I learned to take my own. Ready to go kleenex packs were really worth investing in!

HMMM

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses (or pansies)!