Plunging into Penang

I finally did it. I took the plunge and took a real vacation.

The last two months have been rough. It's been a steady stream of non-stop 7 day weeks, late nighters (into the wee hours of the morning) and an occasional all-nighter. There's been little time to really plan and think as it's been almost all about execution. This culminated in a lung infection that bordered on pneumonia. So it's almost needless to say; I needed a break.

So I cut off all emails (except for one 5 minute session at my friend's house) or phone calls related to work, took my new camera and headed off to Penang, Malaysia.

This was my third trip to Malaysia, but my first trip to Penang where my buddy and fellow blogger Pat lives. So in the grand tradition of cross-over events on TV or comic books, this is our first cross-over blog entry. The first picture above was taken by Pat with my new digital camera. It's set on the high shutter speed so he could snap a shot of me with my friend Candy as we take the plunge together into a much needed vacation.

This next shot was on the first day we all met up in Georgetown, which I believe is the biggest tourist city in Penang. We took bicycle taxis together through Georgetown in search of a restaurant for brunch. Pat's in the bicycle taxi in front leading the way. I think this picture captures the basic feel of the streets of Penang on that day. It was warm, sunny and a touch laid back, but also a bit manic. The buildings and architecture felt tropical and not unlike the buildings I've seen in the outer parts of Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

After a great lunch by the bay, Pat took us to the southern tip of the island where he and his wife live. It was awesome to finally see the people and places I've been reading about in his blog for the last year and a half. His wife Kelly is deaf so we had to learn sign language to communicate with her. I learned about 10 different signs including basics like yes, no and several relevant city and country signs like Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

After visiting Pat's home (and a quick 5 minute email check), he and his wife accompanied us to Genting Hill. This is Pat's favorite place to watch the sunset. We road a long winding road to the top where there was a restaurant and had a few beers while the sun set. I took this picture of Pat and Kelly during the sunset. I had the camera set at a higher ISO and exposure so it's a little grainy, but could get the decreasing light from the sunset. We all thought this picture looked fake. The sky and the skyline almost feel like a flat picture while the foreground elements almost feel like they're artificially lit in a studio or something. Anyway, I thought it was a fun shot and worth putting in this blog entry. So here it is.

As the saying goes; the third time's the charm. This was my most enjoyable visit to Malaysia yet. It was due to the absence of work and the presence of some great friends. I really enjoyed seeing Pat whom I haven't seen in almost 3 years and meeting his newly wed wife. It was also great to meet Candy face-to-face as we've only collaborated on Skype for the last three months on a Spider-Man 3 related project. This last shot is about great company and a variety of choices. Candy took this shot of me at the tallest building in Penang. It showcases why I love theaters in Asia. In the same theater I can choose from American, Hong Kong, Thai or Korean films. But according to Pat, the negative part of theater-going in Malaysia is the enormous censorship. Sex, violence and profanity are all edited out. So I decided to skip out on movie watching in Penang. Instead I enjoyed more sun, fun and good times with good friends.