Bangkok By Train 2013 - KL SENTRAL - BUTTERWORTH - BANGKOK

Day 2, April 26, 2013, Friday

Penang and Butterworth - Bangkok Express, Coach 9, Berth 8,9,10,11, 12,13

I got up properly when we reached Bukit Mertajam at 6.00am. The journey was a non event so far as I slept through most of the journey. The train will always sway and shake, and those that are not used to it will find it very difficult to be on the train. Let alone to sleep comfortably like me ha ha. I am a veteran I would say as train ride is a second nature to me now. Regardless whether it is a bunk or seat I will just go to sleep if I want to. 

The attendant came around at 6.18am to alert everyone that we will be arriving at Butterworth soon. We were ready. I was more then ready for the Line Clear fish head curry ha ha ha.  We arrived at Butterworth station at 6.29am, on time. The station was still a makeshift one as the new station was still under construction. It has been years and still not completed. I guess it is following KTMB’s planet time schedule as usual he he. Nevertheless, we made do with what we had as the boys went to say their Suboh at the Surau, I used the station’s restroom to clean myself. I came out fresh and ready for Penang. The next thing we need to do was to store our luggage at the station so that we do not have to lug them around Penang. I asked one of the train attendants in the office was there a place we could store our luggage and he said yes and one of the porters at the platform could help us to do it. I waited for a while until I saw the porter walked in. I asked him nicely and he showed us their office and where we could store our luggage at RM3 for a bag. I paid him RM18 for 4 backpacks and two cabin size luggage. With that we walked out of the station towards the ferry terminal about 800 metres away. The walk was taxing for Sam and the boys helped her going up the staircases. On the way to the terminal we witnessed the progress of the construction of the station. I do not like to bet but I can say we are lucky if it is ready by next year. 

The ferry terminal is getting very old and need renovating as well. My observation is that they do not have to do a major one as all they need to improve is the waiting area to make it a bit more comfortable for the users. Although we had enough change with us we still struggled to get in. The attendants duly helped us. The ferry fare was still RM1.20 each for adult and RM0.60 for Mar. We did not have to wait long as the next ferry arrived after few minutes. Once the ferry docked and the gate opened the attendants let the cars in first. It is their logical system so that the pedestrian would not be in the way of the cars moving in to park.  Furthermore pedestrians can walk in to fill in the gap left by the parked cars if necessary. That was actually the case as there were limited seats for us, pedestrians. Clearly their main customers are all kind of transportations and not pedestrians like us. I sure hope the ferry operator knows the value of the service and what it means to their customers. The ferry service is not just a mean of transportation across the strait to Penang island but more than that. 

The name of our ferry is Pulau Payar and that should give someone a clue as to why the ferry service is important and nostalgic to some people. Mar and I stayed standing at the side of the ferry looking out enjoying the breeze blowing against our tired faces. Once in awhile I took a shot at the sea or anything I fancy capturing. The ferry ride ended when we were about to enjoy it. The anticipation of our longest train ride yet brought out the best in us. We seem to be enjoying everything now especially each other company. Traveling together as a family is always the best for me. I am pretty sure the train ride over other country would not be our last and we will take whatever opportunity that we will have to do it.  

We walked across out of Penang ferry terminal. I did not feel that hungry but I know Sam would like to have a light breakfast before we push on to Penang Road. I have only one thing in mind - Line Clear. I would like to have breakfast there. As we walked out under the covered walk-way we stopped at one of the stalls selling kueh. They are the normal kueh-kueh so I did not bother to buy. Sam and others picked up some and Mar started munching one of them. BTW the name of the stall was Pak Ya Kueh. The strange thing is that the name Pak Ya is always associated with people from the east coast. As we walked out of the walk-way I was still thinking on how to go to Penang Road. My options were the cab, bus or walk.

We were standing outside of the covered walk-way thinking what to do next. The town bus terminal was on our right and the taxi stand on our left when a gentleman, the taximan as usual asked us where we would like to go. I in a way ignored them as we had to take two taxis and it would not be fun. The bus is an interesting option but we had to find out the right bus to take. While we were standing there and the rest waiting for my decision a taximan, also a good samaritan, came over and asked us where we were going. I told him so. He explained that we can either take two taxis there at RM10 per taxi, take a bus or to go on the Hop For Free shuttle that was already waiting by the roadside. We thanked him and Hop For Free we went he he he.

The bus pulled out at 7.57 am. The Hop For Free tourist bus took us around the heritage sites around Penang and looped back towards the Jetty. It was an enjoyable ride accompanied most of the time by senior citizens or unties and uncles going and coming back from their morning tai chi or walk. Their happy faces and banters among each other were really refreshing. There were a couple of office workers on board as well at times. 

We disembarked at Chowrasta Market bus stand along Penang Road and walked back towards Line Clear for breakfast. However, when we got there I discovered they do not have Chappati. Its neighbour also did not have chappati for me so we walked back to another mamak restaurant that I knew would have chappati in their menu. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant but it is opposite of Cititel about 20 metres to the right. I ordered my chappati and kopi o. Actually I wanted to have more but with fish head curry waiting at Line Clear I paced myself ha ha ha. We spent a good time there talking and joking what lay ahead of us. Eventually we walked out of the restaurant and up towards Chowrasta area. We were too early for Penang’s shop owners to window shop. With nothing to do and while waiting for Line Clear to really operational we explored the area around the Chowrasta wet market. Interestingly we discovered the unexpected. Unexpected like a Chinese guy selling a fresh four season meat. It was katak my friend and they look delicious ha ha ha. Only RM12 per kg. Several good eating places were also available around the wet market and since we just had our breakfast we just settled for titbits here and there. After awhile we got tired and need a rest. We lepak ourselves at the bench on the five foot pathway. By now I was like a zombie due to lack of sleep and I tried to catch few winks sitting down at the bench. By now the new morning world of Penang took shape in front of us. Street vendors getting very active, shop owners opening their shops for the day. All kind of business from different walks of life. We just stood there admiring and observing them. Their actions indicated to us the time of the day and without looking at our watch we knew it was 10.30am and the fish head curry should be ready soon for us to devour ha ha ha.  

Eventually we walked back towards Line Clear and without missing a beat ordered our fish head curry and our other favourite dishes. We focused ourselves on the food ha ha ha and hingga menghirup kuah kari. As big as the fish head was we finished it effortlessly. Fresh, hot, spicy and super delicious. What can I say I am a sucker for fish head curry. 

We walked out of Line Clear satisfied, at least I was, and clueless as to what we should be doing next. Wandering along Penang Road the obvious hit us. At the bus stop in front of Chowrasta we waited and hopped onto the Hop For Free to the ferry terminal. 

Luck has it, it was the same ferry we took this morning. The weather is getting very hot now and I already could imagine, although short, the unbearable walk to the Butterworth railway station. As we were walking up to the ferry terminal I noticed a Mat Salleh carrying a big and heavy backpack. When I saw the flipper I knew straight away he was carrying a diving gear. The backpack must be really heavy as he was really perspiring and puffing when he arrived at the top. He just drop everything on the bench and walked to the kiosk to buy a bottle of 100Plus. He dried it immediately and, must be to his dismay, soon the ferry arrived.

The plan was to retrieve our luggage, settle ourselves at the surau and wait to board our train at 2.45pm. That what we did as soon as we reached the station. It was Friday except for musafir like us we did not expect anyone else to be at the surau. It was a makeshift surau made of a cargo container. A bit unpleasant with one or two of the fans not working. The boys and I took turn to take our bath at the toilet. I must say the public toilet was not well maintained. It crossed my mind to walk over to the restroom inside the waiting area to take my bath. But it was a bit too far to walk in a sarong.

There was still a lot of time after we said our prayers so we had a short siesta. A good one hour sleep did wonder to my demeanor. I was even more positive about our long impending ride to Bangkok in a short while. We tidied ourselves and left the surau for the waiting area. There were a lot of people already waiting and I thought all of them were fellow riders to Bangkok until an express train arrived from Singapore. I checked the platform and saw our train was already there. I enquired from the attendant and he told me the crew was cleaning the train we will be informed when to board. At least I knew we would be departing on time. There were several Caucasians in the waiting area and I was pretty sure they were going to Bangkok with us including the guy that was carrying the heavy diving gear. He must be going diving in Thailand

We were called to board eventually and everyone was really excited. We walked on the platform with a gait of someone going to collect the biggest prize ever on stage. Oh yes, we were that excited ha ha ha. It was a four coaches orange-purple train with Express Butterworth - Bangkok plague firmly attached on the side of the train. Our joy was almost dashed the moment we boarded when we found out an Indian family was occupying out two of our seats. I double checked and they were indeed at our seats. I asked them for their seats number but there were none and I told them that they were at our seats. They, in Malaysian English, made don’t know of my concern. I asked them where were they going and they told me Padang Besar and only then I realised why they were there. I happened to read this from somebody’s blog before. For the information of those reading this, KTMB to make extra money would also sell tickets for locals travelling between Butterworth and Padang Besar if there were empty seats but their tickets would not be numbered. So the Indian family just picked and choose. Furthermore each seat, before it is turn into bed, is big enough to sit four people each side. Not wanting to spoil our mood and since there were a lot of empty seats and we definitely going to get our seats back at Padang Besar I asked the boys just to sit somewhere.

Feeling tired and still needed to recover some lost sleep I dozed off after we left Bukit Mertajam. I woke up when the train was slowly entering Alor Setar. I knew straight away  that I will be awake until Padang Besar simply because of the breathtaking scenery of vast paddy fields along the way. By now, at 3.28pm,  several of my friends already knew of our adventure after we posted our status and shared few photos. My phone could not stop beeping either of FB replies or Whatsapp queries. A few of them were excited and thinking of doing the same with their family. Of course I fully recommended them to do it but if you do not like train at all better not to do it. If do not like train you would not like train what can I say.

As I predicted I spent most of the journey looking out the window soaking in the view as well as thinking about the adventure the next few days. At times I was asking myself why I could not do what I was doing for a living? Traveling on the train and writing about it. I know certain authors like Palin and Theroux are doing it but I do not want to be just that or at least a little bit different. Maybe different in style or model. Both of them no doubt already famous and their books sell. But me, I need a good business model and point to start. 

When we reached Padang Besar we immediately disembarked to clear the immigration which was on the other side of the platform. You can leave your luggage on the train but make sure you secure them. The process was quick and we did it in few minutes. We had enough maggi and bread on board just to make sure we decided to tapau some food. As advised by the train attendant we went up to the cafe at the station to buy rice and snacks for our dinner for the night. The food were nothing to shout about and if you have better option along the way buy somewhere else. I just wish it was the train in the early 70‘s. For sure you will get to a lot of food sellers on every platforms that we stopped selling their food. The train stopped there for about 30 minutes and we had more then enough time to buy our food. When we boarded the train again both the engine car and the crew had been replaced with the Thailand Railways engine and crew. Soon enough after we boarded the train pulled us out into unfamiliar territory. We left Padang Besar at around 6.30 pm Malaysian time and with that the train took us into Thailand night. Looking out with Thailand getting slowly dark and with the horizon getting red brought certain kind of feeling in me. I thought it was just me until I realised that all of us were a bit quiet. The cool early night maybe or maybe because everyone was thinking of what to expect.  I knew that it would be a short ride from Padang Besar to Hatyai

We arrived at Hatyai at around 7.30pm their time. Immediately our coaches were detached of the engine car and hooked to the Hatyai Bangkok Express making it a 10-12 coaches train to Bangkok. Slowly our fellow passengers to Bangkok fill up the seats making it a full capacity train. The new passengers being still fresh created a vibrant atmosphere inside the train. By now another set of crew came on board and most of them ladies. These ladies started getting busy preparing and I was not sure for what at first but when they were going up and down the isle with a menu only I knew they were there to serve dinner that was pre-ordered by the passengers. Seeing others having dinner we started to unpacked our own and chowed down with vigour even though the food were tasteless.

After dinner the attendant started to make the beds for everyone and we cannot wait for him to do ours. It was not just the beds that we were anxiously required for our tired bodies but also to watch the process of converting the seats into beds. Being very experience at it the attendant took less than five minutes to do ours. With the bed ready we were ready to call it a day. Of course we did what we have to do as a muslim and once done I started to change into my version of a pyjama. The romantic me was telling me not to sleep and to enjoy the train journey as I used to do in Malaysia. My body though said I need a rest and my practical mind agreed as I would be doing a lot of walking when we arrive in Bangkok.

I was warned before about the uneven track at the early stage of the journey after leaving Hadyai. I thought it cannot be any worse than what we had at home.I was wrong! As I was trying to sleep or already in a slumber I was jolted by a lot of rocking and shaking. Quite interesting though ha ha ha. On one of this episode I was awaken to see a beautiful moon up in the sky. It somewhat lit the space outside a bit. I checked my watch and it was 8.54pm. I just stared out a while trying to make a sense of the place. I could make the silhouette of secondary bush and intermittent of patches of low land. After a while I saw a lot of small shiny dots everywhere in the bush. Initially I thought I was seeing a reflection but as I focused my eyes better I instantaneously knew there were fireflies. Straight away my perspective of looking at the scene as a whole changed. With the moon spraying a bit of light on the ground the fireflies flickered like ceremonial lights. Amazing sight.  

I was in a deep sleep most of the journey after the rolling and shaking experience. I woke up to the stillness around me. For a while I thought I was in my bed at home. The train actually was on a platform stopped for quite a while. It was 2.39am very early in the morning. I was initially clueless as to where we were until I saw the sign saying Cumphon. I checked my map and found out it is a town by the sea. I saw on the platform disembarked one Mat Saleh who was carrying a very heavy diving gear from Butterworth. Obviously this is the station for divers going for excursion. After about half an hour waiting the train rolled out of Cumphon at 3.09am. I did not go back to sleep immediately trying to enjoy the night ride. We crossed with an antique train at a small station. I was amazed by that for two reasons. The first was of course the train itself and second the fact that we were on the outside track rather than inside as usual. It was getting really dark outside and nothing much to see so I dozzed off again.

My FB friends could view photos of Day 1 and 2 here

Cuti Cuti Malaysia 5: Dec 25, 06, 3rd Day, Monday, Penang, Alor Setar

I woke up early, as usual, and spent sitting alone in the dark after I’ve said my Suboh. Looking out I regretted not having my jogging shoe with me. At least with it I could have walked the entire stretch of Gurney Drive

I actually left the day’s plan opened for Tariq and Intan if they would want to explore Penang still, there were still a lot to cover, but they decided to hit the road home with the idea of stopping at a waterfall somewhere. I had no issue with that as we could hit for Alor Setar immediately ourselves. But we had to have breakfast first and I took them to the Khaleel Nasi Kandar on the Gurney Drive's waterfront. We took our own sweet time eating and then took the ferry out to the mainland.

We were in Alor Setar in no time. Now it was three years in a row we were in Alor Setar at the end of the year already and I could not see myself doing the same next year. We had no plan of staying for the night there but as we walked around shopping for school clothes and the like, yes we did this three years in a row as well, I felt very tired. My children’s friends would not be surprise to hear this kind of conversation about their school attire anymore. ‘Hei! what did you do during the holidays?’ ‘Ah, we went up North again and I bought this shirt and shoe in Alor Setar; and this pant, as always, in Bagan Serai.’

I was really tired, I guessed the food that I took beginning to have an effect of my system, and I just concluded we need to stay a night. Seri Malaysia had connecting rooms and we settled for that. The Seri Malaysia was next to the Stadium. We checked in and I rested my tired body for a while before we went out again.

I have not discovered Alor Setar enough to make the night a bit more interesting for us. We ended up at the same shopping strip and eventually had our dinner at the Char Kue Teow stall opposite the Maybank. It was a simple dinner for everyone as we did not want o eat any elaborate. We were just enjoying the moment and the togetherness. After dinner we just drove around town to check out if there were anything worth stopping for. It was the tower again and I had the pleasure of witnessing ugly Malaysian there. My main purpose there was to take a shot or two of the tower at night using my new Nikon. Whereas my family to sample another rojak buah and to answer the call of the nature. On the way back from my photography session to my car I came across two couples, my guess around early 20’s, were animatedly talking at the edge of the park but what pissed me off was when I saw ‘kulit kauci’ scattered around them on the ground and bench. Come on!!!! They were surely big enough to have an inkling of civic conscience. I mean the place is a tourist attraction and it was a tourist season and ‘tong sampah’ were available there. Didn’t they have even an inch of brain!!!!! . I was really that pissed and writing about it now makes me even more pissed off. With that I just quickly gathered my family and left the place with me complaining aloud to my family.

Cuti Cuti Malaysia 5: Dec 24, 06, 2nd Day, Sunday, Penang

I tried but we could not leave the hotel early enough. After having breakfast along the way we reached the foot of the Bukit Bendera around 1000 and only managed to get the 1200 tickets going up. This meant a two-hour wait and dented my whole plan of Penang adventure. Not my lost though as my family and I have probably nothing else to miss in Penang. Certainly a lost to others.

We did not just sit idly waiting at the foot. We made ourselves useful by exploring the stalls for t-shirts. In general the t-shirts at the foot are slightly expensive compared to those you can get at the top of the Bukit Bendera. Ironic isn’t it? Normally it is the other way round. While browsing for t-shirts at one of the stalls I saw one hat that I like and asked the gentleman stall owner the price and I was told RM 18, it was tagged at RM 38. I could not believe it and decided for something that slashed by half could actually only cost around RM8-10. I bargained hard to get a better price and the owner would not willing to go down further and I left it like that. Towards the end of our waiting period I happened to be walking passed his stall and asked her daughter, I presumed, and was told the price was RM38. I smiled and left the place. I guess the price would go down and up according to who is asking and at what time of the day one ask.
We were up at the top of Bukit Bendera around 1230 and since it was pleasantly cool we walked under the sun enjoying the sceneries and place. The last time we were up there, there wasn’t much to explore and enjoy and now they have built an eating place, stalls that sell, most of them, t-shirts, street vendors, mosque, temple as well as places to stay. Since it was school holidays they have organized activities and while we were they the second snake king of Malaysia was performing. I was up there just to enjoy myself and take photographs. In fact when my family was busied at the t-shirt stalls I took Mar to one of the eateries to busy myself with laksa and ABC. The taste was not what I expected. It was good which normally not the case for places like that.

Since we did not have enough daylight time to explore Penang Island anymore I let everyone stayed longer and decided to take the 1415 car down.

Once back at the foot of the Bukit Bendera the first agenda was to find a place to eat and I have Nasi Kandar in mind. With that there were only two possibilities for me. In the end after much deliberation and to cut the story short at around 1500 I was devouring nasi kandar at The Lineclear. I didn’t hear any comments from the others but I take it they were fine with the delicacies. But, what do I know I was busy digging in.

As I intended I took them walking along Penang Road towards Chowrasta Market where we stopped to window shop and buy some asam-asam. As we started walking we stopped at one normal looking shop that sell various shirts, t-shirts and other stuff. I saw the hat that I asked before at Bukit Bendera and straight away I asked the price. RM18 I was told and I started to bargain as I knew it was the right starting price. Actually Baqir did the rest for me he simply said we will take if she could give us RM15 for it. Somewhat reluctantly the sales girl relented and I have another hat for my collections. I am sure she still made a profit. The heat was a little bit unbearable, even for locals, which prompted us to abandon our desire to walk straight to Komtar. We backtracked to our cars and drove out towards no where. Seriously, I did not know where I was heading until we had to circumnavigate Komtar again when I saw the Madrasah that I meant to stop to say our prayers. Expecting miracle there was not even one parking space for us and just before we were about to go around Komtar again I saw the parking sign at Parangin Mall and jammed the accelerator up the circular pathway to the 7th floor.

For malls as big as Komtar and Parangin the management could only afford a measly square peg on the ground floor parking area for a surau. It was really pathetic. Not only it was small the condition was so uncomfortable for worshipers. I just could not understand why!!!!!!!

As usual we ended up buying few things there and we left the Mall just after Maghrib. Since we can Jama our prayers I decided to take everyone to sample the Telok Tempoyak’s ikan bakar. Confidently I took the Bayan Lepas highway and proceeded towards the Airport as I knew I need to pass the area to get there. To cut the story short I made a wrong turn and we ended up going around up to Batu Maung luckily most of the holiday makers in the Ranger were fast asleep. Longer route would suit them fine :). Anyway, still trying to smart it out I just followed my instinct and to my surprise we ended up going back towards downtown via the coastal road where the hitech industry area was. As I was driving I recognized the area as the place where we used to stop to have dinner recently. I decided to just stop there for dinner. At least they could have a view of Jerejak Island at night :).

We drove back to the hotel realizing that it was Christmas eve. As expected the town centre was jam packed with people partying and waiting. Luckily we were from KL and traffic jam’s veteran. No sweat for us. However, the number of people out on the street with a good reason to party the night away was amazing. Be it Hari Raya, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Merdeka Day they are all the same to these people.

We were back safely in our rooms around 2330.

Cuti Cuti Malaysia 5: Dec 23, 06, First Day, Saturday, Kuala Kangsar, Penang

We departed at 0642 from BSP and hit the Elite Expressway immediately. I expected to get to Tapah R&R around 0900 but due to the early start we got there at 0820. Our intention was to have breakfast as well as rendezvous point for us there. The place was packed with holiday makers when we got there. We decided to just buy something and had a breakfast picnic at the gazebo near the parking lot. While at the Tapah R&R also marked the beginning of the official used of my new Nikon D80.

The air-condition to the Ranger was still problematic that I had to try something that seemed to be working. I pressed on hard as usual but then as I was climbing the hill after Jelapang Tol I realized that Intan, Tariq and others in the other car would not be able to explore more without me if I press on towards Penang. Since we were a bit early I decided to detour to Kuala Kangsar.
As I was driving into Kuala Kangsar I saw the sign that says Asean House Crafts intuitively I followed the sign and had us at 1030. As the name implies the place was a place that has Asean handicrafts collection. So our shopping spree began as I ended up buying a table lamp and few other things. Baqir slept through all this experience on the comfortable couch inside the display area. Our second stop was our favorite labu sayong and vase factory just after the new bridge towards Sayong. We spent quite a bit of time there exploring and learning on the arts of clay. Few more RM changed hands for few pots and vases.

Inevitably someone asked for Laksa and for a change we decided to try one of the stalls with ikan bakar in front of the Perak river. We made the right choice as one look in front of me were delicacies that easily came out from my list of top ten local recipes. Wit hardly rice I piled up my plate with ulam-ulam, ikan and others to form an acceptable small hill. It was lunch time indeed and I buried myself without any care to my dietary constraint. If my doctor were to chance on me then he would probably yell our, ‘you fool!!!!!!’ and I would just give my best smile J. Well, it was not that bad really I took ikan bakar and a lot of ulam and vege. Kuala Kangsar never cease to amaze me really.

Our third stop in Kuala Kangsar was just a normal small town shop in the middle of a busy street on the way out towards Fajar. The main attraction was the cheap Thai made Toto (bed comforter). Trust me it is cheaper in Kuala Kangsar even if you were to drive up to Bukit Kayu Hitam. Of course I did not just satisfy myself with just one Toto. I threw in one carpet as well and the back of the Ranger began to make me look like I was one of the Thai’s traders themselves. Thinking that we were done with Kuala Kangsar we drove out toward the highway and sped towards Penang.

I was planning to avoid the traffic congestion on the Penang bridge as well as the traffics into Georgetown when I exited at Juru but I blundered a turn and ended up on the same highway that led us to the bridge. Angry at myself aloud I startled everyone in the Ranger. It was almost 1500 already and we slowly cruised into town. We were at the lobby of the Northam Tower just around 1515. After we have checked in Intan asked, ‘ What’s the plan for today?’ I said, ‘we are hitting the pool and then go out at 1800 to do Penang.’

The Northam Tower suite is a modern hotel suite that adopted an open concept. The bathroom and shower were just encase with clear glass, in our case there was nto even glass separating the bed and the Jacuzzi inside the bathroom. To those who are not familiar with this setup, especially if you have to share the room, could be a daunting experience. But what could we do as pricey and open as it is it was the only option that we had. Hey, the view was nice!
To do Penang to me for that evening was Padang Kota to walk around and have Pasemboq and later to Batu Ferringhi to check out the night life and the tourist night markets. It was a Saturday with Dec 25 two days away night crowds that we had to brave through while browsing at Batu Ferringhi. We enjoyed ourselves walking and window shopping until some of our walking equipments could not carry us further. My damages were limited to few DVDs. Hey! eleven is a few to me, ok. We in the end drove out slowly, I could not drive any faster anyway due to the heavy traffics, to make two stops along the way. The first was to meet My Good Friend the ATM machine and second Subaidah 24 Hours Nasi Kandar joint. I thought just for a cup of coffee, but full dinner course for Baqir and others. We made it to the hotel around 2300 and specifically mentioned to everyone to have a nice early sleep for tomorrow. I intended to leave early tomorrow for one day adventure in Penang.