Since we returned to Ipoh from Auckland after Christmas, we’ve experienced the rainy season. Most days it has been heavily overcast with torrential downpours that never last very long. This means that the temperature is a little lower and lack of sunshine gives the impression that it is a lot cooler. The rain of course makes it even more humid than it is normally, so it’s swings and roundabouts. Most mornings we get up when we hear the first call to prayer. One of the mosques nearby has a particularly devout muezzin, who starts hailing the faithful (and everybody else!) through his powerful loudspeakers at 5 am. He continues till 6 am, takes a short break and then joins the other three mosques within earshot in the actual first call. By that time we are wide awake and ready to go for a walk in the rain. We skirt the golf course and walk up the steep hill on the far side. Our route takes us past the fantastical houses (see my previous post  https://janeburnett.com/2016/04/25/cloud-cuckoo-land/) on the jungle side of the golf course. We are usually early enough to walk back along the course itself and as we near the club, we see lines of golfers waiting to tee off as soon as it is light enough. There is always a delicate balance between going out too early so that our whole walk is in the dark or too late so that, if the sun does make an appearance, we are dripping with perspiration by the time we get home. It is much cooler to be dripping as a result of precipitation.