The young man who seems to be the manager of the Jewel of the North Tandoori Restaurant here, in Penang, at Feringghi (not sure of spelling), was explaining the tax system here, which really puts extras onto your bill. We first encountered this in Thailand, where the addition is 10% service charge plus 7% VAT.

Here the tax is 10% plus 5% VAT. This is very hefty on a hotel bill, it is quoted as the price, plus, plus. He said the staff at cafes etc. very rarely see much of the service charge, it goes into the bosses pockets. Also next year or year after possibly, the charge will be increased by quite a lot across the whole Asia region, to get extra income from tourists. So get there when you can!

He was interesting to talk to, this young man, and I noticed his plucked eyebrows, his large diamonds in each ear and his long finger nails (again) beautifully manicured, with several large opal rings. Apparently the business, which also includes gift shops, is expanding to Australia, where there are fewer Indian restaurants. The owners had considered London, Newcastle, Manchester, but they are too overcrowded with this type of restaurant already. The food there I can certainly recommend, it was really excellent - all the usual favourites but much nicer than in South London.

Malaysia is a party place, he said. Because everyone is tolerant of eachother's religion, everyone celebrates at each and every possibility. Recently there was a big Hindu festival, now everyone looks forward to Christmas, and then there is the Chinese new year, which is a real biggy of a party time.

He always goes to Langkawi (the group of islands across the bay) for his holiday in April, because that is the low season. He made it sound very lovely there. Maybe next year?

We travelled to Penang by bus, a large coach with well padded reclining blue seats. Luckily we decided to leave most of our increasing luggage in the hotel in KL and had only one bag and a backpack. This makes an enormous difference, of course. After two hours, the coach thankfully stopped at a toll gate and then the toilets. I was wondering how I could survive a five hour journey. Then the driver turned on The Men and Black II which was a bit of a distraction from the scenery, but I tried to keep my gaze out of the window. Funnily enough the dialogue was in English but had English sub-titles as well. Perhaps that is how Malaysians learn English - a good idea for French in England!

When we got to George Town taxi drivers homed in, quoting 30 Ringits for the trip to hotel. This is about 6 pounds sterling. I asked a nice lad in a shop, who spoke good English, if the taxis had meters. He said hardly any of them. But why not take the bus over the road, it is only a couple of Ringits, and that is what we did. The ride was about half an hour. I noticed the school girls from various private schools in their uniforms. The Chinese girls wore white blouses and turquoise pinnafore dresses to the knee, the Muslim girls wore while headscarves pinned (forget right term for these), while coveralls with long sleeves, and turquoise skirts to the angkle. Wonder how the two groups will prosper in this changing world. There are more Chinese than Malays in Penang.

Meanwhile the rain has stopped and the beach is very beautiful, but nobody swims in the sea because of the worry about being stung by jellyfish.

The plan is to return to KL on Friday, then make our way to Malacca on Saturday.