Penang, Malaysia

For three days, during the day, our work group worked, and each night, we had fun together. I experienced one of Debbie's favorite things to do in South Korea - a karaoke bar, with a buffet that included kimchi! We got a party room for just us, with a Wii as well as the karaoke. I didn't know hardly any of the songs, but they had interesting music videos. Our group was pretty darn bad, but we made up for it in volume. I found out that I am not a big fan of kimchi. But they had sushi, one of my faves!

It really poured down rain every afternoon. There was a flood in the Penang airport, the building had leaks at work, and we couldn't hear ourselves talk over the pounding. But it was in the 80's, so it was nice for us from the frozen north.

The second evening, we all went bowling. I made a fool of myself, but it was fun to bowl again. Friday was nice. We worked in the morning, reporting out on what we did the first 2 days. Then we spent an hour and a half driving to the beach resort where they had us play teambuilding games. But first, I checked off a new "sea" in my list of which of the Seven Seas I have been in. Here's what Wikipedia says the Seven Seas are:

After the European discovery of America, some people used the term "Seven Seas" to refer to seven of the largest bodies of water in the world: The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

I've been in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, and now Indian. I'm not sure if I was in the Caribbean on our cruise. It might have been the Gulf. I may skip the Arctic!

I cannot believe that our team lost! We won the 4th event, though, which was to make a roll with newspapers and glue that we all stood inside and moved like a caterpillar tread over the finish line. It was fun to win that one. :-)

Bowling with coconuts

After the formal events, we hung out or went swimming at the pool (guess which I did) drinking pina coladas (yes, it was after 5 somewhere, and that somewhere was here) until the people flying back to Norway had to leave.

Saturday, I hung out with the local Lean Six Sigma Champion, Michael. Michael and I walked up 821 m Penang Hill in the suffocating heat. We started among the monkeys at the Botanical Gardens.

Long-tail macaques

It took 2-1/2 hours to go 5 km. The humid heat makes it much harder than hiking in Norway. At the top is a brightly painted Hindu temple, a fairly raggedy mosque, and the Bellevue Hotel.

Michael and the stair-climber trail

Tea stop, using the honor system

Yes, the sign says 30 degrees!

I'm at the top! That says Penang Hill in Malaysian.

Entrance to the Hindu temple

We ate lunch overlooking Georgetown and the bridge, sitting under a pit viper who was sound asleep in the rafters.

Buckminster Fuller stayed here, hence the geodesic dome.

He didn't move the whole time we ate lunch.

We paid for 10 minutes on Segways for the fun of it, and then visited the tropical birds garden.

Silly grin was plastered to my face...

Polly want a ticket to the bird park?

From the temple

We rode the funicular down and took a taxi back to the Botanical Gardens, where we had started.

Michael helped me look for a battery charger for my camera, and then we agreed that the best next step was a shower and a nap, so we said goodbye. We talked about Malaysia and about teaching Lean Six Sigma.

Buying stuff here is a trip. Even in a shopping center, your are supposed to bargain. The battery charger costs $4 on Amazon.com, which would be 13 RM. (There are about 3.2 RM per dollar) The first place that actually had a charger that would work wanted 130 RM! The second place seemed more honest. He wanted 80 RM, and when we showed him Amazon.com on Michael's phone, he said he paid 40 RM for it, so I should buy it from Amazon. I did buy a new battery from him for 90 RM, which is maybe 2/3 of the Amazon price. Then later in the evening, I found another camera store that had the exact same charger, and bargained down to 50 RM. That's the one I bought, and my battery is happily charged now.

Prices for other things than battery chargers are quite cheap. I bought one of each type of curry powder, which totals up to about 1-1/2 kg of the stuff, for only 20 RM. I bought a dress and a skirt for 68 RM.

One last day in Penang, which will be blogged later.