The island of Penang was our home for our 3 days in Malaysia. Not the type of island living we have been use to. Penang is home to 1.3 million people and is connected to the main land by Malaysia’s answer to the Sydney harbour bridge.

We stayed at a 2 storied guest house in the Georgetown area on Penang. Oh, and did we find a beauty. The over energetic Chinese man with a yellow teeth smile at the reception stole our hearts. Plus his guest house met all our criteria, it was the cheapest.

Firstly, the aroma that lingered throughout the establishment. It smelt like the arm pit of a homeless mans shirt for the whole 3 days, until Mandy purchased some incense for our room.

Secondly, our room. It was partitioned off from the neighbouring rooms by the white fibreboard used in open plan office settings. Great for office use but not really the best bedroom walls.

Thirdly, the clientele. The guest house seemed to be an oasis for long-term staying residents, rotting, decaying men. The type of men that had come to Malaysia looking to buy a mail order bride, but not even enough money in the world could finalise this transaction. Men that looked like Paedophiles, taking advantage of an innocent countries lack of policing. The type of men that were lost, could not fit back into the western society, lost souls

I felt very much unwelcomed, sometimes I felt mocked. I think they found the backpacker type threatening. Backpackers disturbed their little self pitying bubble, a constant reminder of what life should be like, what they missed out on. When walking passed the couch in the tiny foyer where they sat drinking cheap beer all day, they never made eye contact, but you could feel their eyes on your back as you left the building. My hello’s were left hanging uncomfortably, so I just stopped.

As much as their unwelcoming behaviour annoyed me, I felt sorry for them. I wondered how their lives had been, how they ended up here. Did they have family? Did they have loved ones? Did they have anyone at all? Or did they just have their drinking buddies that shared the old couch in the rundown guest house in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia?