One of the more interesting conversations I have loved having with the girls this year is this clash between what our expectations of the year was and what we have been experiencing.  Would it be hard, easy to get along all together, how different would the world feel. They are flexible and hard working, but we really have never taken then away from their comfortable environment for this long.  How would they deal with the heat? Time away from friends? Different foods and languages?

We all have different answers to these questions and it depends on the day and the mood for sure.  For me, I have been floored. They have been more flexible, loving and funny than I had expected. They have looked for ways to challenge themselves and at the end of Croatia they were both saying they were ready for something different, something new, something to “burst their bubble”

A few short weeks later in a street stall sweeting in Penang Malaysia eating chicken feet for breakfast, they looked at us and said “ok this is bursting my bubble”.

Penang is an island off the coast of Malaysia.  It has become a travelers destination, hosts a large community of pension retirees and a booming medical tourism industry.    It is cheaper than Singapore, better healthcare than Indonesia and benefits from the small history of shipping and cultural mingling with a vibrant blend of Indian, Chinese and Malay all mixed together.   Street food is ridiculously cheap, a huge lunch for all four of us was $4.30. Dinner at a nice restaurant ran us $20, the same price as a 90 min massage. It is hot, noisy, colorful and delicious. The people of Malaysia smile all the time and have been incredibly kind.   Huge Mosques sit next to Hindu temples and the blending sounds and incense leave us feeling like the US has nothing on Multiculturalism compared to here.

Everywhere you turn there is street art, some of it famous, but always gorgeous, surprising and wonderful.  Old buildings fill George Town and tell of its colonial history. Walking became an obstacle course of colors, sounds, motor bikes, bikes, grates, water ways, trash bins, sleeping people, food stalls and all other forms of humanity.  It is like the messy intense little sister of Singapore. Running was attempted twice but after aggressive iguanas, getting lost among trash dumps and temples, surprise cattle, two skinned knees and numerous near collisions with motor bikes, I opted for yoga and walking.

Short and intense, our time in Malaysia has been a warm, wonderful introduction to a form of traveling and living the girls have never seen.  They have embraced the change, eating anything and everything and making the most beautiful and wonderful observations I might not have noticed.  As we were sitting in a small Indian restaurant in little india, clearly the odd people out with everyone staring at us eating off of banana leaf plates, little one said “India reminds me of ravens, black as night and in love with shiny things.”  Traveling with them is like traveling with a new set of eyes, and it is wonderful.

Temples of Penang.

mmm chicken feet

Local spa where we enjoyed inexpensive massages.