More touring Langkawi, and met some fellow nomads

We belong to a facebook group called "Senior Nomads" that has about 8,000 members, and Ruth had posted asking if there were any other nomads in Langkawi who wanted to meet up. Jim and Laura responded, so we got together for a coffee yesterday morning.

They are a little younger than us, and are from Devon, England. 

Beach time in Langkawi

Continuing our exploration of the island of Langkawi, we headed over to the tourist beach south of the airport... Chenang Beach. 

Oh, but first... some laundry! Our host here at the budget hotel pointed us towards a budget place to do laundry. And we found a nice breakfast spot a short walk from the laundromat.

Into our rental car, and off to do some exploring!

Our host here at the cheap hotel set us up with a cheap car rental. With an all inclusive cost of RM50 ($10.75 USD, $14.50 CAD) per day, we decided to take the car for a full week. 

No papers to sign, and pay cash in advance. Gotta love the island way of doing things! 

On holiday!

Yesterday was a busy travel day as we made our way from Georgetown, Penang Island to Kuah, Langkawi Island.

Penang Island and Langkawi Island are two totally different types of places, despite only being 110 kms (68 miles) away from each other. Langkawi Island is more of  relaxed vibe, and more touristy. Also, Langkawi Island is totally duty free, so it's much cheaper. 

Thursday is a travel day!

Thursday is a travel day for us! So we're going to get up and pack, have breakfast and get out the door! We're headed to Langkawi Island for 8 days. Most people would probably take the direct 30 minute flight from Penang Island to Langkawi Island, but it's actually kind of expensive for such a short flight. 

Besides, we're not most people!

Too hot for hiking

We did come to this part of Penang Island to get some hiking in, so that is what we have been doing... every day.

And we've been doing it... but I have to say it's not as enjoyable for me. Ruth doesn't seem to mind it as much, but with the 30C (86C) temperatures and the humidity, it's too hot. Dripping with sweat.

Penang Waterfall hike with a fellow Canadian

Down for breakfast at 8:00am with our host couple Summer and CB. They are maybe a bit younger than us. Breakfast is included in our homestay, and summer was making porridge... salted egg porridge!

We've been eating a lot of different foods here!

Moving day, and out for a hike

We were up just after 6:00am to say goodbye and thanks to Han and Michelle. We had so much fun with them, and it will be interesting to see where in the world we will meet up again! 

Then we were downstairs ourselves after saying goodbye and thanks to Michelle's brother Peng and his wife MooiKuan. We got another Grab taxi, and of course being a Sunday morning at that hour there was hardly any traffic.

Hospital verdict, historic Georgetown, and an unfortunate change of plans.

We were back at the Penang Gleneagles hospital at 9:00am Saturday morning to finish the other two tests that we didn't have time for on Friday. 

Once again, very efficient, and we got the results almost right away and had another consultation with the cardiologist.

Spent half the day at the hospital!

Just some background... the male side of my (Kevin's) family does not have good genetics when it comes to heart health. So when I got the laser eye repair done in Tashkent in October and the cardiologist there said that both my blood pressure and my cholesterol were too high, I was a little concerned. 

And, the doctor had said to give it a couple of months and get my blood numbers checked again. So here we are in Malaysia where these tests can be done at a reasonable price. And I wanted to get some more tests done just to satisfy myself that there is not something more serious on the go.

Visit to a mansion, and lots of different food!

Yesterday, Han and Michelle took us up to the Georgetown area to visit the Pinang Peranakan Mansion Museum. It was built in 1896, but spent many decades in neglect before being fully restored in 2002. 

Really quite spectacular, as you'll see in the photos...

Busy day with a lot of stops between Kuala Lumpur and Penang Island

We were downstairs at 7:30am Wednesday morning waiting for Han and Michelle to pick us up. 

We originally met Han and Michelle in May 2019 in Singapore when we were on our way to Australia. They are originally from Malaysia, but live in Singapore. We kept in touch, and then we bumped into them again in Kosovo where we went out to dinner.

Wandering around Kuala Lumpur

On Tuesday, we decided to stay in the central area and try to scratch some things off our "to do" list. 

When I bought this Honor Magic 5 Pro phone, it came with a very flimsy protective case and I wanted something a little more heavy duty. But because the phone itself isn't readily available in North America, options were limited as to accessories. Here in Asia though, choices are better.

December Expenses and 2023 Expenses Review

Well, 2023 was our most expensive year yet since we started out in 2007. We knew that we were going to spend more in 2023 than we did in 2022, so it's not surprising. We just didn't plan on it being that much more!

For December, we had a planned budget of $2,400 CAD ($1,780 USD). However that was before we decided to come to Malaysia, and the flights and accommodation here added to that. Also, we did some things in Thailand that were unplanned, like flying from Ubon to Chiang Mai.

Another one of those big lizards!

We slept in a bit after our late night on New Year's Eve, and just coasted through the morning. Not the most logical choice though, since the morning tends to be a couple of degrees cooler than the afternoon and we had some exploring to do!

Kuala Lumpur has a fair bit of park space, and one in particular showed a lot of different trails.