Soraya's on the road again: When the rain begins to fall

I was sleeping as suddenly the minivan stopped and everyone stormed out in a hurry. Not fully awake I thought we arrived and started to gather my things as a women screamed "Get out". I did not understand a thing until I noticed that there was smoke and a flame coming out from under the passengers seat in the front where the motor is located and I hurried out. It was not until a couple of hours later that I realized that I probably was quite lucky and was actually in serious danger because the motor of the car caught fire and a burning car is probably not the safest thing if you think of all the gasoline ... .

Georgetown

However, nothing serious happened and I safely made it to my next destination, located across the Thai border, in Malaysia. I decided to hang out a couple of days in Georgetown on the island Penang before travelling down to Kuala Lumpur where I'll spend my next to months (more about that later on). Pulau Pinang, as it is called locally, is a meltingpot of the different cultures predominant in Malaysia - Indian, Chinese and Malay and in Georgetown you can still see traces of the once colonial town. As I was exploring the streets of Georgetown I indulged for the first time into the broad culinary offer in Malaysia and tried tasty Indian Roti as well as Chinese noodles.

I used the days in Georgetown to explore the island, hide out from the pouring rain, do some administrative stuff online and exchange stories with other travellers. The monsoon-like rain set in daily at around six pm and from then I usually staid in the hostel and watched DVDs with other backpackers. Watching DVDs seems to be a popular activity in quite some hostels and restaurants and sitting in the common area of your interim home and seeing a flick with interim mates somehow creates a similar comfortable atmosphere as if you would hang out for a movie night with friends at home.
I therefore saw quite some movies while I have been on the road so far. I have been touched by "Slumdog Millionaire" for about four times (it is really popular around here), laughed at "Knocked Up", was disappointed by the "Curious Case of Benjamin Button", identified myself with the backpackers in "The Beach" and added "Milk" to my favourite movies of this year.