penang: so that happened

pengac1

Driving through Malaysia on the way to Penang Island

Sorry for the long silence, Gravyheads.  The wheels kind of came off of the Gravy Train about a week and a half ago, when we started out on our first road trip together as a family, up north to the island of Penang.  Our purpose of taking the trip was threefold: first, to introduce the Gravy Baby to the open road; secondly, so that the hubby could tend to some business in George Town, the capital; and thirdly, to eat our faces off with our friends Jeff and Meredith, who would be flying from the U.S. to meet us there.

6a011570d70884970b0147e2e3c7ee970b-600wiClockwise, from top left: what’s a sink doing on a sidewalk; the bridge to Penang Island; our arrival with the Gravy Baby; shutters and storefronts in colonial George Town; chappati (wheat bread) balled up and ready to grill; our favorite roti canai at our favorite little hawker (for a bigger view, click on the photo to enlarge)

The ride up to Penang was pleasant enough; roads in Malaysia are very drivable.  We can’t read road signs here because they’re all in Bahasa, though, and to compound the situation, exits aren’t numbered and in most cases don’t even tell you which road the exit is for (instead, the sign tells you what city or destination that particular exit will lead you to).  Thanks to our trusty marriage counselor/other person in our marriage, Samantha the GPS, we ended up where we needed to be.


It was the ride back where things started to go cross-eyed for us.  Somewhere in between inhaling the wonders of bacon candy and catching up with Jeff and Meredith, I got food poisoning.  Amazingly, it’s only the third time it’s happened to me while we’ve lived in Southeast Asia, despite all of our haphazard eating at less than 5-star places over the past two years.  The timing couldn’t have been worse.  Not only was I too sick to provide my friends with the detailed city tour of KL (and since this was Jeff’s second visit to KL in two years, I had new places in mind for us to try), I was also too sick to do much for the American Association of Malaysia’s Annual Ball, which I was a co-chair for this year.  A year of planning went into this event, which was this past Saturday, and I spent most of the days leading up to it willing myself to get better.

In the end, I pulled myself together in time to enjoy one last day with Jeff and Meredith (which we spent eating, naturally) and made it to the AAM party without incident.  The Gravy Baby also came along for the ride, and when the dust settled yesterday, all of us — hubby, Gravy Baby, and me — collapsed into a 3-hour nap.

It was fun.  But we’re looking forward to a little peace and quiet, a little blogging, and of course — more eating.

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About me

I’m Ann, a mom / wife / lawyer / certified culinary enthusiast. I share recipes, travel guides and home life tips while living overseas. Currently based in São Paulo, Brazil.

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