Ginger Exchange: Party in Penang

They say that you really shouldn't get on bad terms with people that know you too well, or friends that you've been acquainted with for too long. The saying basically says that they have so much dirt on you, that if you ever stopped being friends - they would literally have enough ammunition to destroy your life. 'Destroy your life' seems a bit heavy - but it's funny how when the sun is out and the $3 beer is flowing old friends from college will walk, hand in hand, down memory lane.

Stories from our time at NEU have leaked out; and unfortunately for me, I seem to be the topic of hot discussion. ‘Remember when Caty did this’… ‘remember when Caty said that’… ‘remember when Caty thought this’...jeepers creepers, apparently it's all so blooming hilarious; my misfortunes, mistakes and outright awkward moments. College certainly was a time where we all engaged and took full advantage of our ignorance and our youthful nature, but you wouldn't believe some of the stuff I’m copping from them here.

It's also a wonder how time can allegedly change your memory and change one's recollection of what actually happened (cough cough ANNIE). It's not 'remember when Caty fell off the car' but 'remember when Caty fell off the car that was moving at 100 miles an hour whilst she was tap dancing whilst the police were chasing them down'. Like it was an episode from Top Gear. Absolutely ridiculous.

Ridic, even.

So, good news; we're staying nearby Upper Penang Road; which is Penang's nightlife central. We have also befriended quite a few waiters and been awarded with many a free drinks. Bridge has a Malay boyfriend at one of them who is totally in love with her and has a habit of buzzing around, which is kinda annoying but his presence is compensated by free alcohol, so we oblige.

Rooftop bar eyyy

One night we ended up at an Asian (dare I say it) club, because these Asian women wanted to party with us. Asian clubbing - perhaps my first and last time ever. I always said that if I were to pursue a sociology minor I would engage in sociological research to gain insight to the wonder that is clubbing behaviour. Ages, sexualities, and differences alike, the interactions between different groups of people is fascinating. Like animals around a watering hole, kids. Hilarious stuff. Let's just leave it at that - the sociology of human interaction is and will always be a wonder. But this club srsly – the Asian band sang Zedd and had matching tartan shirts and the guys were rocking tight white jeans and sneakers. Need I say more.

We've been catching teksis around Penang - where the cabs have no seatbelts, no mechanisms to wind the windows down and hit other motorcycles/pedestrians on a daily basis. The driver has literally handed his mobile to Bridge to chat to his mate, who had to rely information about our destination in English. We sit on crocheted mats on the backseats, and the front dashboards are decked out with so many pictures of gods and things hanging off the mirrors that there's enough colour and sparkle going on up front it’s enough to induce epilepsy. Much like the rest of the glorious city, really.

Things are a little backwards here; instead of the common theme park name ‘Wet n Wild’ in destinations around the world, only in Penang you’ll find Asian men with no shoes on calling out to you to sell you tickets for ‘Wet World Wild’.

P.E.N.A.N.G H.I.L.L

Alleged 'friendship swing'

That's more like it

I had a lizard crawling up my leg here

Alleged love locks

For Dice; a group of Asians ran up to me, to compliment me on my minx cat tat..they loved it! They started jumping and saying how much they loved the kitty. The Western world just isn't ready for minx cat tats yet, man. I'm tellin ya.