We bought our train tickets a few days before we were due to leave Hua Hin for Malaysia but we hesitated getting a return ticket because we were not a 100% sure how long the trip/ visa process was going to take us.

Jon gave us a lift to the train station to catch the 18.24 south bound train – Bangkok to Butterworth. We all felt a little down as we had moved into our new house just four days before and Tehya was incredibly excited about her new bedroom, she had managed every night in her bed (without slipping into our bed for a cuddle until about 7.00am). It was perfect and in just four days we had all settled into a nice routine of lounging round the house and playing in the garden.

We got on the train with a takeaway from one of the local food stalls outside Hua Hin station, plenty of water/juice, fruit for breakfast and healthy snacks to last us until about midday when we expected to arrive at Butterworth station.

If life could be that simple….. man – we moan about transportation and the lack of sleep way to often!!! It has proven to be our down fall and the one part of travel in Asia that really bothers us in a negative way. The train was really old and rattled and banged its way through the night – we were stuck by the doors and had to listen to them hush open and then slam closed all night. We got little if any sleep all night and woke feeling grumpy and tired – things did not improve as the train ended up being delayed and we did not arrive at Butterworth until after 2.00pm. We headed off on the now familiar route over the the bridge and across the ferry – we arrived at Star Lodge to be greeted with the joyful smiles of the Chinese staff that work there. They managed to be even more helpful than ever and gave us the run down on the local visa service – which we decided to use.  If the forms were completed/handed in that night then we could have the completed passports back the next day.

We went up to Number 75 and handed over all our paper work and money – they insisted that we did not need a visa for Tehya and we reluctantly took back her paperwork. That night we talked about it at length and decided we would get Tehya a visa anyway as we did not want to take any risks. We spoke to one of the managers at the guest house and got him to call the boss runner for the visa service and the boss agreed we did indeed need a visa for Tehya. As we already had the completed forms it was an easy process – we just took everything up the road and dropped it off when we collected ours.

Gavin rushed off to the train station to book our return train tickets. We were feeling very excited as even with the delay of  Tehya’s passport we looked as thought we could finish the process a few days earlier and be home quicker. We had left Thailand on the 16th arriving on the 17th – we had not expected to start the visa application until the following day – this was bought forward by using the visa service. Unfortunately when Gavin got to the station there were no tickets available on any day before Sunday…. we had hoped to be home by Sunday morning but we were not going to be leaving Malaysia until Sunday afternoon!!! Gav bought the Sunday tickets and returned to tell us the news – we all sat feeling very glum at the prospect of more time away from our little house.

We decided that we would make the best of our time in Penang – we love the food and went to all of our favorite restaurants to eat amazing Indian food. We re visited Tehya’s favorite Bindi and Bangle shop and got her lots of little bits (including some stuff for her Christmas stocking). We found a cafe we have not eaten in before called The Rainforest Cafe and had fab fresh homemade bread and great sandwiches, beans on toast and cookies. It was a real treat to have such good homemade bread in a very friendly atmosphere.

We did some Christmas shopping for Tehya and had real giggles tricking her with funny stories about the contents of some of our bags – we also got two bottles of Port!! You can’t have cheese without port at Christmas!!

We also went to the Pulah Pinang Pesta which is a big fiesta that takes place every December – it was a fairground and we took Tehya along to it as a late night pre Christmas treat…. it was great fun!! We left the guest house at about 4.30pm, got the bus to the Pesta at about 4.45pm and arrived there at about 6.00pm. It was very exciting for Tehya – we could see the flashing lights, the Ferris wheel and hear the music from across the bus station. We stayed for about three hours and Tehya got to go on five rides and a bouncy castle (to those of you that know Tehya! bouncy castle = heaven). We got fizzy pop, candy floss, a princess balloon and left exhausted and cheerful ready to try and find a bus back to Georgetown.

Georgetown always has a seedier side and this time other than the usual old man homeless that you get used to seeing. This time there was also a very young women sleeping rough on Chulia Street -  she would wander around vacantly holding/sniffing a bag of glue!! She was obviously pregnant and it was disturbing and distressing to see. We had to get passed her on a few occasions and she would stare at Tehya as we walked by – trying to speak to her. It was uncomfortable and I kept her very close to my side………!!

On the Sunday morning we got up late (tricked Tehya by hanging towels at the window so she thought it was still night) it was a luxury to lay in and we made the most of it. Packing took no more than five minutes as we arrived with only a small blag bag with a few changes of clothes. We went for breakfast at a local cafe on Chulia Street and then got a cab to the ferry terminal – we got to Butterworth early and had lots of time to sit and wait. I shot off to the market food stalls by the bus terminal and bought various Indian snacks – we also had a bag full of nuts, fruit, fresh bread, buns and cookies to last us the journey!!

The trip back was less awful thank heavens – the train was delayed again by about three hours. It stayed in several train stations not moving anywhere and the lack of motion meant that we slept pretty well. We got up at sunrise expecting to be close to Hua Hin – we weren’t!! I had made friends with the very cheeky and effeminate train usher the night before and he bought us several cups of coffee, we left Tehya sleeping next to us and lay on the bunk – drinking our coffee and watching the sun come up over the Gulf of Thailand – the sea was flat calm and they sky had barely a cloud it was very beautiful.

We got off the train at Hua Hin station and arranged a taxi back to our house – it was a warm sunny morning and we all felt chilled out and relaxed even though we were tired. I walked to the local shop to get milk, bread and eggs – and then made us all boiled egg on toast with Lady Grey tea. We sat watching TV for a while – then the three of us piled into bed to sleep until well after midday. We got up feeling refreshed and ready to start getting excited about Christmas.