Penang for Diwali

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We spent the Diwali weekend in Penang staying at the beautiful Eastern and Oriental Hotel. It turned out to be a wonderful weekend weather-wise. Clear blue skies in the morning and huge clouds building for the afternoon downpour, which kept things cool and fresh. We’ve never seen the Strait of Malacca look so blue! We swam in both the pools at the hotel, ate delicious food and wandered the narrow streets of George Town. Exploring the Pinang Peranankan Mansion was a highlight. This is a restored 19th century house that belonged to wealthy Baba (a locally acculturated Straits Chinese businessman) and is filled with collections of photos, furniture, jewellery and china. Well worth a visit.

I can see clearly now

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The monsoon has come and the haze has lifted. Hallelujah! It is such a pleasure to see blue skies and watch the huge rain clouds build over the hills. It is even more pleasurable to watch the rain teeming down and see everything gleaming when it has cleared. The birds and animals around us seem to have a new lease on life. Our resident squirrel is very active in the trees outside our balcony and we managed to get this photo of him the other day. I’ve resumed my early morning walks and feel more energetic. Long may it last!

Weekend in Port Dickson

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The company’s annual dinner was held last weekend at a resort in Port Dickson, which is on the Strait of Malacca south of KL. The resort is lovely – old and a bit dishevelled but it has heaps of character and this beautiful adults-only pool (there is another pool for families) in which I had a fantastic swim. Our room was a wooden chalet on stilts over the water, with a shower that was open to the sky (skylight) and the sea (slatted wooden floor beside the stone shower floor). There was also a day bed beside a window that opened over the water – perfect for sitting while reading or having a coffee accompanied by the slap of small waves and the sounds of the birds. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The next day we explored the Cape Rachado Forest Reserve and walked through dense jungle to the site of the lighthouse. The original structure was built by the Portuguese in 1528. It has been modernised and there is now a radar transmitter on the site. It was well worth walking up there despite the heat. We hope to return sometime to catch a glimpse of the migratory raptors that use the cape as a resting place on their way north.

Hold your breath

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The API (Air Pollution Index) for Ipoh at 11am today was 138. Any reading between 101 and 200 is regarded as unhealthy. The temperature reading at the same time was 35 degrees. Guess where I am? Inside with all the doors and windows closed and the fans on. Schools are closed and some airports in Malaysia are reporting disruption to flights. Pity anyone whose only form of transport is a motorcycle or who has to work outside. Some news reports are now saying that the fires in Indonesia are impossible to put out and only the monsoon can do it. There are predictions that this haze will continue into next year, maybe as late as March. And that’s in addition to an outbreak of typhoid in KL this week.

Interesting snippets

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We’ve just spent a few days in KL, which is an interesting mixture of cultures that is reflected in the city’s architecture. I had some enlightening interactions with three different people while I was “foraging” for food and other items unavailable in Ipoh. A young man in a mobile phone store very competently helped me sort out my phone, which had had a hissy fit probably because of some daft thing I did. We talked about the Malaysian state of the nation and his opinion was that there is nothing the ordinary person can do to bring about change. And he concluded by saying that the people in power were cleverer than him. If they are, I’d be very surprised! A woman ahead of me in a bookshop queue smartly told a young man who was casually pushing in to go to the back of the queue. Then she told me that it was our duty to educate people about the polite way to behave. I am so inured to being pushed out and shoved in the back while queuing that I was greatly impressed. Another woman in another queue, this time in the ladies’ room, disputed whose turn was next and pointed to a sign saying “the queue starts here”. I smiled and commented that signs like that meant very little in Malaysia and she retorted “if you don’t obey them then they’ll never mean anything” as I let a young woman go ahead of me. She’s right of course. Maybe I should stop being such a wuss!

Hello kitty

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My Dutch grandmother used to say “nu gaat mij lampje uit” when she was amazed by something. I understood the equivalent English expression to be “now I’ve seen everything”. We would both have been right today – I saw my first Hello Kitty Cafe at the KL shopping centre I visited. I had to go inside not because I wanted anything to eat or drink but just to gawp. It is quite cute with neat little tables and chairs, white china and napkins decorated with the ubiquitous kitty and glass cabinets filled with cakes, iced biscuits and lollies. The overriding colour is of course pink. I guess it might be fun to take a party of small girls there for a treat but other than that I can’t imagine who it is aimed at. Nevertheless the place was packed, not just with little girls but people of all ages all tucking into the overpriced confectionery.

Everyday adventure

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It seems that almost every time I venture out into Ipoh I have some kind of adventure, mostly of the “heart in the mouth” type. After days spent indoors because of the haze, I went out at lunch time today to meet Jim and a colleague. They kindly invited me to join them for a delicious (though calorific!) lunch of chapati, biryani and dal. I parked my car at a row of shops that I am familiar with and they picked me up on their way to the restaurant. After lunch I suggested they drop me at the side of the road to save them some time. What I hadn’t realised was that a deep drain separated me from my car. I looked to the right for a place to cross and saw a dead dog. It couldn’t have been there very long because I hadn’t smelt it. I immediately veered to the left and found a rickety ramp across the drain. Driving back towards the golf resort I had to negotiate some road works that have closed down one side of the road. This means the traffic on my side of the road has to take over one of the lanes going the other way. This can be tricky because there are no cones or barriers dividing the two streams of traffic. One has to rely on everyone else’s good sense. The driver speeding up behind me didn’t possess any such thing. Impatient with the slow traffic in front of him, he swung over into the far lane and drove down the wrong side of the road at breakneck speed. Fortunately the only vehicle coming the other way was a motorcycle that hurriedly took evasive action. I will need some down time before I venture out again!

International coffee day

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Apparently that’s today. Who decides these things? But I have to say that sipping a coffee while reading a couple of chapters of my book is one of the greatest treats I can think of. My favourite coffee mug is the one in the pic above. It is exactly the right size, the thickness of the rim is perfect and it celebrates one of my favourite authors. What more could you want? The book in the pic is My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. I have mixed feelings about this novel and have not yet read the others in the series. I wrote a “review” of it which you can find in the ‘Reading’ section of this website. I’d be interested to know what others think about the work of this generally well-reviewed and mysterious writer. Happy international coffee day everyone!

Traveller’s palm

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There are two of these enormous palm trees in front of our balcony. The new leaves sprout from the middle and the old leaves on the ends slowly wither and eventually fall down. As the weight of the leaves lowers the sturdy stems, the hollow part of the stem faces up and is filled with water when it rains. Hence the name – traveller’s palm – a thirsty traveller can get a drink, though I don’t think I would risk the brackish water unless I was desperate! However, the birds love it. I have seen a pair of sweet little bulbuls dive in for a bath and then sit on the sturdy edge for a good shake. Our resident squirrels use the horizontal stems as a convenient pathway from one tree to another. They scurry along the palm’s leaves and stems and then take a flying leap into the tall tree beside it. We’ve never managed to get a photo of these lightning-fast furry creatures but often watch them with great delight. It is also a treat to watch the rain splattering off the palms (we’ve become Kiwis who love rain!) and  during one storm we took these photos.

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The glorious 5th

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We heard Beethoven’s fifth symphony played by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra last Friday night. The conductor was Roberto Abbado, nephew of Claudio. He was wonderful – at times up on tip toes and at others sweeping the players along with exaggerated arm movements. It is dramatic music that requires a dramatic conductor. Although the symphony is so well-known, it is amazing to hear it live and see the all the instruments, from piccolo to trombone, from violin to double bass, played with such rapid proficiency. It is hard to believe that Beethoven wrote such music over 200 years ago. Apparently the French composer Lesueur said after its first performance in 1808 “It moved and excited me so much that my head was reeling. One should not be permitted to write such music.” To which his student Berlioz replied “Calm yourself, it will not be done often” and he was right.