After feeling like an unwanted foreigner in Thailand for the last 6 weeks, Joey and I were in dire need of a place with people who were friendly and wanted to show us a piece of their life. This is where Annie's homestay came into play. It was a little out of the way and our cabbie got lost, but in the end we were on the doorstop of a cute suburban house.
Later on that day after settling into our room and walking around Batu Ferringhi (a suburb/beach are of Penang), we met our other housemates and Annie! Annie was a cute little Indian woman with a big heart and you could feel this from the moment we met her. Both of us felt at home. Her husband Raj and her kids were as equally awesome.
We were able to do what we wanted, which really made if feel like home for us. Able to cook, watch tv, sleep, and lazy around as we pleased. We met another couple named Hayley and Tim who were really awesome. We went out for a couple of meals and just sat around and talked. Joey and I were glad to have friends again! It had been a while since we had another couple to talk to, especially ones that were cool and easy to get on with.
That day Joey and I went for a walk to the Spice Garden that was about 4km out of town. Oh it was so so so hot outside. Joey was sweating buckets and his shirt grey shirt wasn't so flattering. I wasn't feeling to sexy myself. We stopped off a beach to take pictures of a big monitor lizard that we had seen playing in the waves. Little did we know that Joey couldn't get out of the beach because it was surrounded by walls. Finally he used a slimey two by four to climb up! It was quite funny. At the spice garden we got a guide to show us an assortment of spices and herbs. He told us about the origin, related plans, and my favourite: the medicinal purposes! I had a lot of fun, and Joey pretended too. I am glad that he is so supportive of my interests! I don't many people's partners that would join them to see a Spice Garden!
The second night we were in Penang, all four of us met Annie and Raj for some late night cheap beers at a bar close to their house. It was really great conversation on the beach with the stars. Lots of laughter and learning about eachother's culture. We extended the invitation of a place to stay to Annie and Raj if they ever dare to come to Canada. They are a bit too afraid of the cold. The bar that we were in was filled with Malaysians, not expats which is a rarity for most of the bars we've ever gone to. Most SEA countries we have gone to, the locals don't drink that much. We were glad to finally be drinking with some locals again!
The next day me, Joey, Hayley and Tim went to check out Georgetown. Unfortunately the town closes down on Sundays because most people want to spend that day with the family. We went to Little India for some lunch and attempted to look at the limited shops that were actually open. After lunch we decided to take a stroll down Love Lane, which was a road highlighted in our Lonely Planet. Apparently it's an unsafe place at night because travelers have been mugged, so we didn't think that it would be bad in the day. Little did we know that taking a picture of Love Lane would turn into a full on confrontation from a homeless Indian man. Hayley took a picture of the road sign and wasn't really paying attention if anyone was in the picture. Next thing she knows there is a really tall lanky Indian guy running from across the street trying to steal her camera. Yelling at her in broken English.
The other 3 of us went to her rescue. The man started saying that she was "snacking" at him and that Joey and Tim shouldn't allow her to speak to him like that. When in reality all she said was something along of the lines of "what are you doing? I am taking a picture of the sign." He got quite irate and in her face. Pointing his long gross finger at her face and yelling at her. At this point Joey stepped in and said that it was nothing and that Hayley wasn't doing anything wrong. The guy quickly realized there were 4 of us, and 1 of him. That didn't stop him from threatening Hayley by saying "Next time, I will break your head." He walked further down Love Lane and then disappeared. We walked past him a bit later while he was sitting on a chair. We didn't know what to expect, so we just ignored him and went on our merry way.
Later on that night I helped make a feast with the Swedish couple that was staying at the homestay and Annie. We made pouli's (an Indian flat bread), potato curry and a vegetable dish. It was a lot work to do, but thankfully Annie was such an expert and guided us along the whole way. The dinner afterward was very delicious and rewarding. After dinner Annie thought it would be fun to dress me up in one of her saree's. Oh boy was it ever fun. I have always thought that the saree was a very beautiful dress and I was very excited to see how flattering it would be on me. Annie got all of her gold jewelery and bangles for me to put on as well. It was so much fun putting everything on. I could almost compare it to getting dressed for prom!
After I had the saree on, I came down the stairs of the house like I would have on prom night while everyone looked at him, and Joey snapped pictures. It was like playing house! So much fun. I'm so glad that Annie shared this experience with me. I can't wait to go to India one day and maybe wear a saree.
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