Monthly Archives: November 2017

Bangkok – last night

We spent two quiet days in BKK. Shopping was done at the MBK within 2 hrs. So time to enjoy the pool at Galleria 12 Hotel and for sure, we have been out for dinner at the same place as for the first night. delicious and yummy as always. BTS  was overcrowded but less than Sukhumvit road itself. Time for more beer at the pool and a little recap of this trip.


After all, it was great and I feel relaxed. Even I had some stress with myself for two weeks. But anyway. Went to bed early and get up early as well, enjoyed Malaysia, especially Penang and Pangkor, food was great everywhere.  Met some interesting people and some others to skip. Will not book everything in advance for the next time, gives us more flexibility , just in case a flight is canceled like the AirAsia one this year.  Unfortunately I did not finish all the things I had on my list. Postponed for next time. So tomorrow will go back via Milano and Zurich. And yes I’m looking forward being home again, see my friends and relatives, back at our house and on my desk.  Yes stupid german as I’m  ;)

Koh Payam – retro

We had a great stay st the island. as always. met old friends and spent plenty of time with nothing. nice chats and talks and tons of food. the only drawback at this time : sand flies. the most evil animals ever. got bits all over the body, more than 50 I guess. itching all over. horrible, the last two nights at Payam we were not able to sleep even we had this green herbal oil and antibiotic creme. now while being in Bangkok it seems to get a little better.


and right now in BKK sitting poolside and having breakfast 

Koh Phayam

The island. Again and again. And never get tired of. A very warm welcome and a nice bungalow (one of the new stuff with private roof top terrace) We habe power all night long which is really a benefit so the ceiling fan runs all night. We met Oi as well she returned from Canada couple of days ago and hasn’t established the massage business yet. She is doing cashews :) But she recommends Joys massage to go and so we did. Was good. Bunch of german people here and even a few small kids. But it’s still pre season which makes it affordable and still quiet. And again even we have seen this stunning view so often we never get tired of it.


and for sunset, as always ;)

last post Malaysia

right now sitting at KLIA2 , waiting for boarding and going back to Thailand.


We discussed how to kill the day in BKK , several options like access the pool at the Westin hotel for 500 THB each or hang around at Siam square before we need to be at the bus terminal. Bus departing 9pm. 

Bye Malaysia

Our last day in KL. Bus ride was short, 2 hrs. We were very warm welcomed at the hotel , we started here 14 days ago. Got an executive room (very large) , took a nap and I went for gym and later for pool. The infinity pool is still quite awesome.

me at the infinity pool with the Petronas in the back

We were searching around in Bukit Bintang area for a hawker center and found only Jalan Alor which is street food but in a touristic way and a kind of expensive. anyway. back at the hotel (über does it) got a Tiger beer from 7/11 and went straight to the roof top to have the last beer with a view on the illuminated twins towers. And no rain today. Tomorrow back to BKK , will try to stay the day ( 7 hrs layover) at the X2Vibe hotel before taking the night bus to Ranong and catch the most early speedboat to the island. And at the end it wasn’t that bad , may be a couple of hours to much rain but Pangkor was great and Penang as well. Street art , nice food and very awesome guesthouses we stayed in. Some lessons learned, and as an old guy (yes) I’m looking forward to stay the last week in one place, especially if it’s THE ISLAND. stay tuned will keep you posted

Melaka – our day

Slept well and got a roti canai for breakfast. Even my shoes got dry , lucky me. Went out to explore the small city, built by Portuguese and Dutch people in the past. We found even here wonderful street art

Melaka street art IMelaka street art IIMelaka street art III

and had some food from a small chinese stall. After that back to guesthouse and took a rest. It was so nice to sit on the balcony and had a Tiger beer before noon ;)

And Uber is back on duty , what a wonder. Best thing today was the E scooter ride.

E scooter

25 MYR for 30 mins but definitely worth the fun. Just cruised Melaka.

E scooter rulez

Next stop was the gym of the former Mr Universe which seems to be a local hero.

golden glory ;)

So now pickup the laundry, search for a place to have dinner and get some beer. Sounds like a plan ;)

don’t mess with - really?

Btw I saw this logo but afair it’s the motto of Texas, or am I wrong?

what a day ….

Going from Georgetown to Melaka sounds like an easy task. But it wasn’t. entered the bus 9am in Georgetown but officially started from Butterworth at 11. damn. the chosen bus company seemed to be one of the creepiest all over Malaysia. At the end it took us 10 hrs instead of 7 and we arrived st the guesthouse by 7 pm. and btw Uber sucks, I re-entered all needed information but always an error occurred so took a normal taxi. The guesthouse is awesome, made with lovely details and very well maintained. Which makes it one of the most expensive to stay in during our journey. We found a hawker food court at the end of Jonker street (which is at night a bigger tourist trap than the Chiang Mai night market…) and as soon as we had our dinner finished a heavy rain shower started. My shoes got so wet I stuffed them with newspaper to get them dry.

Wayfarer guesthouse room 1

Our room has a balcony to riverside and while typing this I have a nice view

Riverside view

Today’s schedule is findig a laundry and explore Melaka by feet. To rent a scooter seems to be not an option , too small. Tomorrow KL again, one more night and then back to BKK.

Penang – last day

As said we rented a scooter today to go to Botanical Spice Garden and discover the island by ourselves. I got familiar with the traffic really fast and it was a kind of joyride. The garden itself was great. Very well built and maintained. it felt a little bit like being directly in the rain forest. 20 mins after we started the garden tour the rain has started as well. But we got from the service desk „emergency plastic ponchos „ and these items rescued the day. Some pics from the garden will be added later.  During the ride we began to understand why Penang is listed under the top 10 destinations in Southeast Asia for retirement.

On the way back the rain gets heavier and we had a stop for food . Baba Nyonya food is a chinese and malaii mix (fusion) cuisine and tastes awesome.


Next stop was the largest chinese buddhist temple in Malaysia, some might say all over Southeast Asia (but I doubt this). It’s called Kek Lok See temple and yes it’s huge.


So how does someone look like with an emergency plastic poncho? Here is the answer


Next stop was Moonlight Bay (even it was early afternoon) which is pretty nice , but only if the waste has been collected .


Back in Georgetown we drove straight to old town because this city if famous for street art. Here are some impressions


After we returned the scooter (7 € per day) we stopped at an indian food stall to have a roti, which was delicious and quite enough as a snack. I did some exercise at the gym and entered the pool afterwards where I became “the master of the unicorns” have a look here


Time for dinner than so a hawker food stall is closed to our hotel and what should I say, it was awesome!! The small lane was packed with stalls and we picked up a lot of delicious typical local food. We had

  • fried noodles
  • chicken satay
  • assam laksa soup
  • charcoal grilled chicken wings
  • fried rice with duck
  • iced lemon tea

all of these dishes for less than 15€. So great


Now it’s raining again and we are sitting under a small roof, having a Tiger beer. Tomorrow we’ll heading towards Melaka, bud tickets bought already, 12€ pP for a 7 hrs bus ride in a VIP 24 . Not that bad . Will keep you guys posted.

Georgetown- Penang

Arrived by bus and ferry at the island. Hostel was chosen before, 16 Heritage directly in old town. So I prepared my phone for Über and it was simple fast and cheap. The hostel seemed clean and nice but …. to close to main road, no window shades for the night and toilet water was flushing and flushing and flushing. We ended up with the idea to change the location. In Malaysia you have to pay upfront so I was not sure if I would get my money back. But the staff was helpful and friendly so we were able to make it happen. I need to crawl my memories but can’t remember when we changed a location …… so now we stay at tjr NEO+ hotel which is only 10€ more expensive, have a quiet nice room and a roof top pool as a benefit. Last night food was great , a chinese restaurant where people were queuing to be seated, it was it well worth. View from the roof top

This morning Georgetown looked much more better than yesterday and we discovered old town , bought some stuff and saw the street of harmony where you can find a mosque, a catholic church , a chinese temple , a hindu temple and a buddhist temple all along same way. Really interesting ;)

Another attraction is the colonial quarter with an old english fort named Fort Cornwallis. Old cannons and walls to see, pretty. Best thing today was the 3D museum Made In Penang , which shows plastic images of ancient live st the island instead of pictures.  Second floor was funny , you were able to take pictures in front of wall paintings and it looks like real ;) See me as the dragon fighter here


for tomorrow we’ll rent a scooter and see the Botanical Garden ….