Pe-nang Me – Is It Turkey Day Yet?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008. We left Singapore today (boo) and flew to Penang (an island about 600 miles northeast). Penang is part of Malaysia, but very much like Singapore, it was colonized and developed by the British Empire. Our guidebook says it offers all the best of Malaysia, and we’re quite excited.
First, can I tell you how great both Singapore Airlines and Changi International Airport are? The airline is great – super friendly staff, everyone wears smart uniforms (the flight attendants looked hot), and even though our flight was only 45 minutes long, we got two drinks and a nice little sandwich as a snack. Asian airlines blow their U.S. coutnerparts out of the water when it comes to service.
Changi International Airport was amazing as well. It looks nice, it’s huge, it’s very open and friendly feeling, it’s pretty easy to navigate, and they have one of the smartest security setups I’ve ever seen. Once you check-in, you can do whatever you like in the main concourse (like Bangkok). Security is a breeze because each and every flight has it’s own security team. When it’s time to board your aircraft, there’s an x-ray machine and security staff waiting for you at the gate. It doesn’t take long to get through security because the only people you’re waiting on are also on your flight. If there’s a problem in security, good news – YOUR FLIGHT WON’T LEAVE. Everyone that’s on your flight will be waiting, just like you. Very smart indeed – but I imagine it takes more people to provide security to each flight, so I doubt I’ll ever see this in a major US aiport.
Once we landed in Penang and made the long drive from the airport to Georgetown, we were hungry. Penang has a large variety of Hawker centers (like Singapore), but they aren’t as clean and nice. While searching for a place to find a nice meal, it occured to Sara and I that Thanksgiving, the famous U.S. holiday, was tomorrow. We started thinking about finding a real Thanksgiving meal, and we got a little homesick I think. What happened next, well, it’s funny but I’m a little embarassed.
WE WENT TO CHILI’S! There was one right down the street from our hotel in Georgetown (unbeknownst to us), and when we turned the corner and saw the sign, we both knew that’s what we wanted.
We justified it by saying it was “almost Thanksgiving” and we deserved some food from home. We ordered queso dip and chips for the appetizer, Sara had a rum and coke and chicken fingers, and I had an “Oldtimer with cheese.” My burger tasted like fish a little bit (they must have just cooked fish on the same spot on the grill that my burger cooked on), and Sara’s rum and coke was a huge task (you have to order them separately), but BOY OH BOY WAS IT GOOD.
Chili’s for Thanksgiving – not the high point of my life but certainly not bad. You try being on the road in Asia for 9 weeks…you miss some things you never realized you liked that much. Like Seinfeld re-runs, smooth sidewalks, clearly marked road signs…and Chili’s.
