Back to Penang

When I came back to Penang yesterday I found Carl still here, still downloading music and now living in the dormitory, where he has secured himself a bed next to the door and, more importantly, to the electric socket. "Now I can download music all night" he told me, handing me my kindle, which he had looked after, carefully since I left. "No thanks, I don't want to share that room. I got a bit fed up with the graffiti on the walls."

The usual band of old men, washed up in Penang, were still hanging out around the guest house. But there was some new blood:

I met some French women today, who were working in China for several years, teaching French, and learning to speak fluent Chinese. One also studied Chinese medicine and now lives in Penang. A Japanese woman who lives in Penang told me, with a sigh, that she earns her living teaching Japanese. There is a huge demand for Japanese teachers here, it seems, but her real profession is graphic design. "Absolutely no graphic design here", she lamented. There is also an Iranian staying here, who also lived and worked in China and learned Chinese, studying at the University to learn it properly.

It's very hot and I'm off the the Cameron highlands tomorrow.