In Penang, Malaysia

We made it to Penang, only a day late. We left Hat Yai at 3:30pm, and by 8:30pm, were in Penang. We took a nine passenger minivan and the trip took four hours and one hour was added due to a time zone change. The trip was uneventful except in Hat Yai. When we were going from where we were picked by the minivan to the main bus station for more passengers, the driver found the road blocked by a river where a street used to be. The driver, backed up, then detoured and got to the destination. We did hear news of stranded tourists in Hat Yai on Asia News TV, and thought "We are them."

The night we arrived, after checking in at our hotel, The Tune Hotel, we went out for Tandoori chicken. After Thailand, the food here is a letdown, so we eat mostly Chinese or Indian. We generally have dim sum for breakfast and then Indian for supper. Anyway, Jim choked on the dinner and spent most of the night throwing up. So much for our start in Penang. Jim says it's a family trait, and that his mother had the same problem, which may explain why she ate so slowly. They both had the same basic cure, which is to drink a can of soda. Jim swears by Pepsi, while his mother preferred Coke.

We met with our Australian friends Pat and Alan. We had a wonderful lunch. Pat's sister is buying a house in Palm Springs, California. They’ve gone from real estate development to exporting stainless steel laundry parts from China to Australia.

“POTATOES TAKE CENTERSTAGE.” The Berjaya University College of Hospitality, held a potato workshop for chefs in the local hotels. The Black Box Competition gave the chiefs one hour to prepare a dish made from the American potato. The American Potato Board had provided the potatoes. The event was won by an Indian female chef from the Hyatt Regency with an Indian dish. Nobody seemed to care that the “American Potato” originally came from Peru.

We love reading the newspapers. The papers here are still providing news, both local and worldwide. There were articles in both Malaysian English language newspapers, “The Star” and “The Straits Times” on Romney winning the Iowa caucus.