Welcome to Butterworth

We have arrived in our seventh country!
On the 23 hour train ride we met two very nice Thai girls who spoke fluent English. Nathan had ordered a beer from the meal car, thinking to spend his last Baht. When the kitchen collector showed up for her payment we were shocked to learn that the price of a single beer had tripled (train tax). Nathan didn't have enough Baht and our US dollars were given a laughable exchange rate. The younger of the two girls, April, insisted on picking up the tab. We had a great time hearing stories about their travels and studies in China, England, and Australia. The train manager Let us postpone lowering the sleeper bunks until 9pm. Once the bunks were fixed we all crawled into our curtained areas to attempt sleep.
We got off the train at the Malaysian border to get our passports stamped and our fingerprints taken, then boarded the train for another 4 hours to our destination. Ten minutes from our stop we both started to feel a little anxious. For good reason. We realized we had done absolutely no preparation. We knew there was an island off the coast of Butterworth with Unesco status..but didn't know the island's name, how we were going to get there, whether we had to find a boat or a bus to a boat, and we didn't have a map. Nathan told me to go make some friends. So, I introduced myself to an older couple who turned out to be ex-teachers from the University of Maine. The woman was teaching social work while I was studying biochemistry. We chit chatted while Nathan took a quick look at their guidebook.
Thankfully Butterworth is a city with sense. The train station, bus terminal and ferry are all in the same place. We showed up in Georgetown and promptly got ripped off by a taxi claiming hotels were 'quite far' and refused to use a meter. Four dollars and five blocks later Nancy the cabbie stopped at a hotel she likely gets kickbacks from. We took a look at the room but the whole place felt like the set of a horror movie. We were shown to the room by a man with terrible scoliosis and the room looked like a prison cell with less charm. No kickback for Nancy.
We found a guesthouse on our own. After a couple hours in our aircon room we decided to get some dinner. I found a traditional Nyonya restaurant which happened to be the spot that Jimmy Choo likes to grab a bite when he's in town. I appreciate someone who appreciates a good shoe..so I assumed Jimmy had good taste in Nyonya as well.
We had some amazing dishes. I can't say yet whether the food is better than Thai cuisine, but I plan on doing extensive research.
We'll explore Georgetown today, then spend some time planning our last month. It's almost time to buy return tickets..hard to believe.