Penang, malaysia

It's hot. Really hot. And humid. The air is hot and thick and makes you want to lie down and not move until it rains which is the only time you're going to get a break from the hot. I have tried very hard to be descriptive without being rude, but I have swass. That is short for swamp ass. That means that the contents of my shorts are hot and wet and getting even less of a break from the heat because of their locale. I apologise for that, but there is a cost to being a tropical part of the world, and a sweaty crack is that price.
 Moving on.
The old part of Penang is a world heritage site called Georgetown, full of old colonial style buildings with street names like Carnarvon and Stewart. It seems a little dilapidated, there's not been much in the way of upkeep in these Asian cities, with the emphasis on building new rather that repairing old. That being said, there is a small portion of Georgetown dedicated to religious harmony, aptly named Harmony Street. Mosque and Hindu temple sit peacefully next to a Chinese temple dedicated to the old gods and still frequented by the locals and tourists alike, little India is one street over with accurate replication of India itself, the noise and music, the incense and food smells, the shops with clothes and kitchen implements and religious pictures and icons and and and. The only thing missing is a cow and smell of diesel and urine and the combination of animal and human effluence.
Night in Georgetown brings a completely different atmosphere, one where you could imagine yourself in a hip capital city, with it's cafés and food stalls, smells and sights and lights transform a tourist haven into a cool urban centre, somewhere to see and be seen. The streets are nowhere near as busy, meaning that people congregate, walking freely down the streets. To be fair, they do anyway, it's just easier going at night. We didn't really  venture into the newer sections of the city, honestly new holds very little interest for us. Maybe we didn't give the rest of the place a chance, but we have 3 days to see the place, and a little boy who is just not interested in what time you went to bed or what you were doing to keep you up that late. He knows what time breakfast is, and he feels that we should too. We quit drinking when we found out Dominic was on his way, so now there's not much reason to frequent the bars and clubs. There is the occasional tug from a part of the brain that remembers my days as a Viking, but that part doesn't say much for long. The reason we can afford to travel is because we don't drink or smoke or go out for dinner or movies or gigs or football matches or clubs or dogfights or underground bare knuckle bouts. We travel, and that's about it. Very strange to think how much my priorities have changed. Once upon a time I thought a good life was getting drunk with friends, barbeques and backyard fire pits. No thoughts to a wider world, and I didn't care overly. The world was bigger than I cared to think about, so I didn't think about it. Every new place I go, the world shrinks just a little. I understand people a little better and cultural differences are just that. Differences. Not insurmountable hurdles, just differences. Sometimes there are things I don't get, some political moves or religious ideologies which make ordinary people do things they wouldn't ordinarily do in the name of a cause I can't get behind. But for the most part, people are just trying to achieve the same goals that I am. Live well, love your family, keep those around you that you trust and know who you don't. Do a good turn knowing that no one may do it back, but that's not why you did it. Work hard in your own way, try to enjoy what you do. Be remembered for the lives you touched and die painlessly.
I don't know exactly how much of this I can apply to my day to day life, as I don't actually like people that much, I trust basically no one, and I don't even like massages because I don't like being touched. I think the philosophy is sound still.
I have strayed. Penang is groovy. There is still more to see, and I look forward to seeing it. We are headed to the Cameron Highlands in a day or two, so more when we get there.