Traveller's Luck

I have realized that I love travel. I especially enjoy journeys. They are the truest free moments of one's life. One is right in the middle of two places- the one you have left behind and the one you are supposed to be at. There is no place you are supposed to be. Road, rail, flight- I enjoy all of them.

I have been taking the chance and travelling at every opportunity I get, here in Malaysia. The first few weeks, every place I went to was new and thereafter, I deliberately made plans to visit new places. The Bird Park at KL, the Museum, Sky bars (that deserves a long post by itself) and later on Malacca, Ipoh, Gemas and my latest was Penang. I have been to Penang before hence Penang is the first foreign place that I have visited twice. (Woohoo!)

With my travel buddy Jimena, I have been discovering and learning.

My trip to Penang, a few days ago has to be one of the best trips of my life. I rediscovered Martin, my guardian angel. Thanks also to Jimena.

Throughout my trip, I felt like luck followed us. And here I will share with you how.

We have a few friends in Penang so we had a few options of stay. However, I wanted to stay at one of my sweetest friends' place. I invited myself to his house and indeed he was surprised at himself for not having offered in the first place. He told us that there is a lock on his door which is quite complicated and directed us. When we reached his place, we tried the different combinations but the lock refused to budge. Just as we were going to panic, Jimena tried some combination and the lock opened! We stared at each other in disbelief! We had no idea how we did it.

The next morning, Jimena was adamant on taking the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) Tour. She thought it was the best option for us to see the place- save some money and also brain space. I was reluctant. However, I gave in, after lunch and decided to look for a stop. As soon as we walked out of a restaurant, my eyes 'fell' on the bus stop. What more, there was a bus right in front of the stop. We missed the bus because it moved just when we reached. I took a few seconds to think and suggested we run after the bus. And run we did. We caught up with the bus and were let in. As we prepared ourselves to buy tickets for the ride, we were informed that the service was free because it had just been launched! Could it have been any better than that? We saw the entire city in just a bus ride. And I do mean the entire city. Armenian Street with the murals, Botanical Gardens, Penang Hill, Gurney Drive and all the buildings and streets. We took the tram up to Penang Hill and back down. On the way back, I got the front and absolute best seat. I gave up my seat and half squatted on the floor and stuck my face to the glass of the tram. I could see nothing but the steep drops, the greenery, fog and felt like I was flying. We ended the day with dinner at a place where we bumped into other friends and colleagues.

Murals at Armenian Street

Wonderful Ginger Flavoured Chicken Spaghetti at China House on Lebuh Pantai. 

The next day, we were riding high on luck. We wanted to take the same ride and go on the other route. After waiting for an hour, we learnt that the second tour had not yet started. We were disappointed. We still decided to take the same route and see the places that we had just seen from the bus. However, we got a bit impatient and went looking for another stop. We stopped at a regular bus stop and saw that it goes to Tropical Spice Garden which is on the other route that the HOHO had not yet commenced. We waited for about 30 minutes and there was no bus in sight. We thought we would wait just for 5 minutes more and then give up the plan. We both prayed to our guardian angels. In about 3 minutes from the time we prayed, there were 3 buses that came. We felt like we were surrounded by magic. We took the bus. The ticket was just RM 2! We got a wonderful ride along the coast- same route as HOHO! The Tropical Spice Garden was like a dream come true for me. I could have stayed there for hours- lying on a swing and reading a book. However, we had to journey back to the airport. I did not want to shell out a huge sum on the cab and also wanted to enjoy the ride. I wanted to take a bus to the airport. However, there is just one bus in an hour and if missed, we would have to take a cab or wait for another hour more. I prayed. I asked that if I missed a bus, I should know. As soon as I walked out of the garden, the bus appeared. I showed my hand and the bus stopped. We hopped in and enjoyed the journey back to the airport for just RM 5.

Tropical Spice Garden: What Colours!

Reminded me of Avatar...

I also had no luggage. My friend, in whose house we were staying, was going back to Port Dickson, where we stay, by car. So we dumped our luggage in his car and saw the city with the bare minimal.

I have never taken a flight with a canvas tote that weighs at the most 700 gms!

As I look back at the trip, I wonder if anything could have been better. We were guided, watched over, and pampered. The Penang Trip was a gift. Jimena is a true believer in Traveller's Luck. I am glad she shared her luck with me and helped me discover mine.