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We spent our time in the hotel hong ping - the hotel where you can smell the "culture" in the building (but pay more not to), hanging out in the "Cafe Hong Ping". We ended up chatting to 2 european guys now living in Thailand. One was a 50 year old Swedish guy who took in stray animals (mainly cats) off the street and kept them as pets, and the other a 40 year old Italian Pizzeria Owner who was bragging about how he recently aquired a 21 year old thai wife who doesn't speak much English - and no Itialian. They came to Penang so they could get their visa's "renewed" - ie leave thailand and re-enter it with fake passports, thus giving them another "tourist" visa. The Swedish guy was complaining about how the price of getting their visa's "renewed" had gone up quite substantially in the 6 or so years he had been there while the Italian guy was entertained us with a story about how Slash - the guitarist from Guns and Roses - once frequeted a bar that he owned in Thailand. It was an interesting conversation to say the least.

Also entertaining us at the Cafe Hong Ping was a lady of about 60 who had no teeth, spoke in giberish (but wouldn't let you get a word in edgeways) and had been dancing pretty much non-stop all night to nothing in particular.

Strange Days...Indeed