Malaysian Chinese New Year

I spent the first part of Chinese New Year in Muar at Waka Lily’s hostel.  Lily, who is one of the owners, invited me to her family home for her a meal and her aunties and mum were all kind enough to give me a red packet ‘Ang Pow’.  I also ended up in one of the local news papers in an article about foreigners learning about Chinese New Year in Malaysia. Here’s the link:

http://johor.chinapress.com.my/20190215/%E3%80%90%E6%9F%94%E4%BD%9B%E4%BA%BA%E5%A4%B4%E6%9D%A1%E3%80%9130%E9%97%B4%E5%85%A5%E4%BD%8F%E7%8E%87%E8%BE%BE90-%E9%BA%BB%E5%9D%A1%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%BF%E4%B8%80%E6%88%BF%E9%9A%BE%E6%B1%82/?fbclid=IwAR2CZ0k_zLwLJ3RVvecZAYJaRmppyirELY-JXHQjhmHKeVPjgM7hp0_oLBE

I went to Penang Island to experience even more Chinese New Years Celebrations. Penang Island is the place to be for Chinese New Year – loads of things to see and do, lots of lion dancing, fire crackers, fireworks etc.

 

After Penang I went back to Muar to start to get ready for my next cycle touring adventure Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok.  It’s been a long time since I’ve actually cycle toured which I was really looking forward too.  Before leaving Muar I had one last look around the town and Lily and her friends were kind enough to have a leaving meal for me.

 

 

 

 

I finally waved goodbye to Waka Lily’s hostel,  Lily and Bart who was doing Workaway at the hostel and who was the chief of entertainment – he had me in stitches especially as he has such a big smiley face. (Workaway is an international hospitality service that allows members to contact one another to organise homestays and cultural exchange. Volunteers or “Workawayers”, are expected to contribute a pre-agreed amount of time per day in exchange for lodging and food, which is provided by their host.)

 

I then jumped on my bicycle and rode to the bus station and put my bike on the bus down to Singapore.  I was flying to Ho Chi Minh City from Singapore and I have cycled from Singapore to Muar before so I thought ‘nah’ I’ll save my legs for Ho Chi Minh.