i returned to bangkok from penang yesterday evening, and thankfully it didn't take me a full 24-hours to do so. instead of riding the train back, i purchased an airplane ticket and opted to budget more carefully throughout my trip.

as for my trip itself, while the main reason of me going to penang was to acquire a new visa at the thai embassy, i still had a blast and consider my stay one of the best vacations of my life. i've never really been a beach person because i get quite bored and could give less than two fucks about tanning, but something in penang had me wanting to just lay out in the sun all day. i think i got pretty lucky too because the few days that i was there happened to be the end of a long holiday week for malaysian students, and therefore the island seemed really empty. what i did notice the most were families out together, and i learned from a local that that's how most people spend time for the holiday.

for anyone who has considered going to penang, i definitely recommend checking out the island. the food was amazing and inexpensive, the weather was beautiful, and the people were friendly. the most popular area of penang is George Town, which is an alluring old colonial town that was declared a world heritage sight by UNESCO. it hasn't been very long since UNESCO gave George Town such an esteemed honor, so a lot of the property there seemed to be in the midst of transition and renovation, but i still really enjoyed exploring the neighborhood. another thing i especially enjoyed about penang was the fact that the public buses on the island went to most of the places i needed to go to, so it was convenient getting around. that's not to say though that i didn't have moments of cursing under my breath because the bus sometimes took forever haha.

here are some (or actually too many) photos from my trip. the very first one is of me at bangkok's hua lamphong train station, which i like to think was taken poorly by a random stranger as an auspicious indication of my trip to come.

i <3 penang.

last night i was sleeping around George Town, but i relocated today to batu feringgi, which is the most popular beach spot on the island.

i was expecting the place to be massive from the way i pictured it on the cab ride here. my driver was really nice and he answered all the questions i had, and because of it i imagined some major tourist spot teeming with people. i was relieved though when i realized that it's much quainter and quieter than i expected.

my driver dropped me off in front of a few guesthouses that are all next to one another, and this location is actually the only place around this beach that has guesthouses. i looked at a few establishments, and ended up picking the first one i saw---which was directly in front of where i stepped out my taxi. my room is sort of a shithole, but it was the nicest vacancy the guesthouse had. i'm staying in the very front room of the second floor and the view from my small window faces the beach, and the sand is literally steps away. i also have my own bathroom and balcony where i can see the street and beach, so i can overlook most of the other minor details here that would be nice if they were different. (haha and i know there's special about having my own bathroom and shower, but none of the other rooms i previewed had them). there's no tv in my room and it's nice and quiet. it's almost 2am and i'm in bed right now, and the only thing i hear are the constant waves that are crashing. aaaaahhh. i'm so grateful to be here.

i've been mostly eating street food and everything so far that penang has had to offer has been really really good. i had this noodle dish today across from the street from the Oriental Hotel and i could've easily eaten five of them, but i convinced myself to save room for other dishes to stuff my face with. penang is also known for something called white coffee and that was refreshing as well.

i'll be staying at this bath ferenggi guesthouse until i leave for bangkok on monday. it's the first of my three nights here, and while i was exhausted all day, i can't sleep. but i should try. alright, back to listening to the waves and my thoughts in the darkness.

the entire duration of my journey from bangkok to butterworth was 23 hours and 45 minutes. being stuck on the train for that long really got to me after awhile, and i was so happy to get some fresh air on the ferry ride from butterworth to penang.

i am at this very moment, in a pretty shitty hotel room in penang. its actual name is really Oriental Hotel, and it's at the very start of lebuh chulia. i think my room would be alright if i was with another person, but being here alone just seems a bit sad haha. i am pretty wasted, but i'm hoping to knock the fuck out because i couldn't sleep on the train.

i'm just about to head out of my apartment in order to go to the hua lamphong train station.

in a few hours, i'll be boarding a train for a 22 hour journey to malaysia. i believe flying to penang from bangkok should take somewhere around an hour, but since i'm perpetually on a budget, i am opting to take the old-school train instead. while being stuck on a train alone for almost a full day as it travels through southeast asia isn't the most exciting way to get to my destination, i'm pretty sure this is the first and last time i'm doing this, so i'm looking forward to the experience (being broke makes you do crazy things).

i'm going to penang, malaysia, in order to acquire a new visa because i've already been to laos and cambodia countless times. i'm actually super excited to get away from bangkok for a bit, and can't wait to wander and explore as much as possible.

anyway, have a good week and please send me some positive energy to keep me safe throughout my travels.

i just realized that for the past week, i've eaten every one of my meals alone.

it sure would be nice to have some interesting conversation.

"If I fail, if I succeed,
At least I'll live as I believe,
No matter what they take from me,
They can't take away my dignity."

greatest love of all from whitney houston's self-titled album.

ever since whitney houston passed away, i've been listening to some of her albums on repeat. and the more i listen to this song of hers, the more i fall in love with it. all the lyrics are beautifully written and so damn true. it's been decades since i first heard this song because it's impossible to grow up and not constantly hear it in stores and light-radio stations, but the lyrics have never meant so much to me until now.

r.i.p. whitney.

i do not know why, but this exists at the ekkamai bus terminal.

"He gave up writing his novel, too. He might sit at his desk, switch on the word processor, and watch the screen light up, but he couldn't find the motivation to write."

1Q84 by haruki murkami. page 400.

in the next week or so, i expect to be traveling to the island of penang in malaysia.

if anyone has any recommendations or suggestions about traveling there, please do share!

one of the great things i appreciate about thailand is that the culture here is pretty openminded when it comes to sexuality.

while i'm not too knowledgable about this when it comes to outside of thailand's capital, in bangkok, people are definitely free to be and live as themselves. couples of all variables appear affectionate in public as well, and i think it's great that no one is blatantly harassed or bothered about it. that's not to say that there aren't people who appose homosexuality here, but there's definitely something special about thailand. when i think about it, it feels as if the country is just not judgmental about things. that whatever attitude allows a somewhat forced acceptance of situations, that has in a way, made the country the success it currently is. i must state though that that isn't always such a positive thing because there are definitely other norms of the culture here that shouldn't be thought of so lightly.

i remember once hearing some tourists remark that "there are so many gay people in bangkok," but isn't this city what every society around the world should reflect? it's not that there are so many here, but the large percentage of the lgbt population here just choose to live as they are because they don't feel pressured to otherwise. the number may seem like a lot, but this is just the human reality.