Malaysian Vacation: Day 7 and 8

Day 7 Lesson: Check Who Your Message Is Addressed To Before Pressing Send

Day 7 in Malaysia began, as usual, with a good hearty laugh. Ben picked Rafael and I up from the hotel, and as we got into his car, he handed me his phone, laughing.

I quickly realized why.  Alvin Lee had intended to send his wife a message, but as often happens in our media-(over)saturated world, he sent it to someone else.

The actual recipient, being Ben, responded accordingly if not appropriately:

We laughed ourselves silly, and kept laughing all through brunch (that label is more a matter of timing than menu).

And the laughter was just beginning.

Trying to explain the leftover Vietnamese in my beard.

When we rolled up in front of the Northam to pick up Alvin, he was standing outside the hotel, with assorted tourists and employees, which was just what I’d hoped for.

Because I jumped out of the car, ran up the steps, hollered “BB, I really miss you!” in Cantonese and hugged him.

The Mainland tourists next to us quickly moved away, as if homosexuality is contagious.

Gee, you mean like SARS?

The rest of the day was spent in chronic irreverence, laughter, and discussion.

And calling Alvin ‘BB’ every f@#$ing chance we got.

Filling out an application for me to be a 2012 Mean Machines model. Note 50″ chest.

Alvin had a photo shoot set up for his car. It was in a parking garage in downtown Penang.

Luckily for us, one of the upper floors was essentially deserted, and so we pretty much had the run of the place.

There were security guards, but they seemed more interested in the cars than aggravated by them.

They even directed the occasion car around the area we were filming in.

I wanted to take a photo with the security guards, but was unsure of asking.

Maybe I’m overly educated, but I didn’t want to come off like agweilo tourist who wants his picture taken with the brown-skinned Other.

Honestly, I wanted the picture because I was amused and appreciative of the guards’ rather, uh, diminutive stature.

What I mean is that on one hand, it struck me as odd to have such un-intimidating figures of authority. 

But on the other hand, its kind of a nice thought to know that they obviously don’t need overgrown brawlers to keep the peace.

Turns out that corporeal fascination was mutual. Before I could even work up the courage to ask them for a photo, they asked me!

I also have to say as an American that it’s an interesting concept to spend a week in a country where a significant number of women wore veils and the world didn’t come to an end. I got your Islamophobia swinging.

Something tells me she is not someone to suffer fools gladly. I mean other than me… 

“ Anda seorang keparat yang besar, anda tahu ini, ya?”

Later on we had dinner in a Chinese restaurant. I am sure Ben remembers where it is (he does live there, after all), but the food and the ambiance were great.

Sorry my photo is so crap.

I know you’re tired of hearing it, but the weather was exquisite.

Living in Hong Kong, you get used to being in air con 10 months out of the year, so it was a real treat to actually have fresh air and breeze while eating in an indoor restaurant.

Alvin took off for Kuala Lumpur, and Ben and I hung out until the early hours, since he was waiting to pick up a friend from work and bring her home. I got back to the hotel some time after midnight.

I was awake again by 5:30 or so, because I unfortunately had an horrifically early flight.

But Ben very, very kindly picked me up and drove me to the airport. I wouldn’t have blamed him for telling me to arrange my own transport, but I am very glad I didn’t have to. 

Because that meant I got to go tear-assing around the streets of Penang a little more, and it was especially, uh, entertaining because at 6:00AM the streets are nearly deserted, allowing for rather exciting driving.

I was also glad because we got to eat breakfast. A number of Penang’s best and most popular eateries are near the airport,  so Ben suggested we try them out.

Naturally, I agreed.

Joo Leong Café (179-H, Sungei Tiram, Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang) was not yet open for business, so we drove to another place nearby that served noodles. Hopefully Ben can refresh my memory with the name and location, as well as the specific noodles we ate. 

I think ours were literally the first two bowls of noodles served that day, and it was, as you may guess, great.

I ate the noodles, drank the soup, and would have licked the bowl if I thought I could get away with it.

Since we still had some time before we needed to go to the airport, and since it was there, we drove back to Joo Leong Café, which was now open for business.

Breakfast twice. And why not?

We ate some of Penang’s best toast and eggs:

It’s so good that words literally cannot describe it. 

Sadly, after we ate it was time to leave. Ben brought me to the airport, and too soon I was on my way back to Hong Kong. 

I had an incredible time in Penang, and the lion’s share of credit for that goes to Ben Lo.

I met a lot of great people, laughed myself silly for a week, ate incredible food, got to go drifting, saw hundreds of amazing cars, watched a gymkhana, and got my nipple tweaked by a car model. 

I can’t wait to go back!!!