Penang, Malaysia

Hello to friend or foe reading this Blog,

Another blog post detailing my travels around this beautiful planet; this chapter reveals all and nothing of what happened when I visited the Island of Penang for the first time. Accommodated by Air Asia; Asia's low cost airline and now with a thirst to see more of Malaysia I ventured with the beautiful Miss Cindy Ng Mei Yuin to this simply wonderful part of Malaysia.

Cindy had worked for DHL and for CEVA Logistics in Penang and had lived here there for about 10 years, she had been so keen to show me this part of Malaysia since we first met; more than willing to indulge her we arranged to stay for a long weekend with an ex-colleague of hers called Rajesh. Rajesh is similar in height to Cindy and of Tamil descent but a Malaysian through and through; she is married to a very photo shy (but cool) Irish guy called Chris. Chris and Rajesh met in Penang about 15 years ago when Chris was sent by his Irish based company to help set up a new business unit in Penang. Rajesh met Chris by having a white-man hungry friend who was chasing Chris but Chris found Rajesh first and so far like a fairytale they have lived happily ever after. Chris is now MD for this company and through the fruits of capitalism has a beautiful three story house near Batu Ferringhi (Foreigners Rock) the North of Penang. Through the long standing friendship of Cindy and Rajesh we managed to hitch a ride so to speak in Chris & Rajesh's beautiful place for the weekend..

An old Land Rover with the over exposed Malacca Strait in the background

Upon meeting Rajesh it was clear why her and Cindy were such close friends, she is a wonderful person but upon meeting Chris I was unsure. He was very held back at first and trying not to stereotype typically not Irish or the Irish I was used to anyway. Being from Sunderland and by nature having a strong regional accent and Chris being from Ireland we both have a humorous subconscious "telephone voice" we put on when meeting a stranger for the first time. Chris and Rajesh took us to a bar somewhere in Upper Penang Road and after a few beers my phone voice wore off as did his and any holding back he was doing, conscious or subconscious was gone and he fit right into my textbook definition of an Irish person which is a one word definition; Awesome.

After a very late night on the Friday, we slept till early afternoon on Saturday and took a leisurely stroll along Batu Ferringhi beach, once of the impact spots of the 2004 Tsunami. We chilled at the Bora Bora beach bar smoking sheesha and drinking beer until the Sun set then took a stroll in the rain to a nearby Punjab BBQ restaurant and ate to our hearts content, the food was outrageously good.

Batu Ferringhi just before Sunset with the Penang mainland in the background

Waking up on Sunday morning I had an urge to go out with the DSLR and to do the tourist thing of taking photos. I'm adventurous with my Camera after paying nearly 1000 GBP for it I feel obliged to be but unfortunately being adventurous doesn't mean being good.

Penang is rich in culture; Indian, Malay, Chinese and Thai sprinkled with a bit of British from the Colonial days. With the Asian cultures comes beautiful temples, the Reclining Buddha temple is an assault on the eyes:

The Reclining Buddha in Wat Chayamangkalaram Thai Temple - Penang

The Wall of The Reclining Buddha Temple - Covered in mini gold plated Buddha's donated by people

Me & Cindy outside the The Reclining Buddha Temple

Across the road from this beautiful Thai temple is a Burmese Temple with equally beautiful and splendid scenery, a plethora of breathtaking colours and culture for you to feast your eyes upon:

Buddha Looking Down Upon You

Two monks giving blessing

The largest Buddha I've ever seen

Probably the most famous of all the Temples in Penang is the Kek Lok Si Temple which is Penang Hokkien for Temple of Supreme Bliss, it's located in Air Itam and is the largest Buddhist temple in South East Asia. It's simply massive and full of photographers joy.

A Chinese lantern in the Kek Lok Si Temple

A line of Buddha's 

Chinese Text across the wall of the Kek Lok Si Temple

On the last day of my first trip to Penang we checked our Georgetown and Gurney drive:

Penang Parking Meter near Georgetown

View from the end of Gurney Drive with Penang Mainland in the background

The trip was a total tourist trip; I feel a bit sorry for Cindy as I just wanted to constantly take photos. The other thing great about Penang is the food! It has the best food I've eaten so far in Malaysia; it is food heaven! Some shots to either turn your stomach or get you salivating..

Assam Laksa

Mixed Fruit Rojak

Char Kway Teow (a bit out of focus - was messing with the Macro lens - sorry!)

For my facebook friends; all the pictures from my first and second trip to Penang are here: Click Here

Thanks for reading all, speak shortly.

TGM

Romanian Speed

Forgot about the following useful information below that I acquired during my Christmas trip back to Amsterdam. One night in the Blues Brothers coffee shop I was with Danny and two randoms from the UK. These geezers were long time acquaintances of Danny's, they were cross European couriers. They were based in the London and collected and delivered cargo across various destinations throughout Europe.

Getting paid ridiculous amounts to their testimony to drive across Europe? Countless transshipment stops in Amsterdam? Sounds awesome right? Well they frequently have to drive through the evening and sometimes for days on end but fear not, these long distance drivers have a cure for petty tiredness..which they call Romanian Speed.

It's not illicit, narcotic or illegal.. and it keeps you up all night with ease laughing in the face of fatigue and slumber.

Ingredients are:

- A tablespoon of Nescafe Original Instant Powder / Granules
- A can of Diet Coca Cola

 

Instructions:

- Take the spoonful of coffee granules and chew rapidly

- Wash down with a diet coke drinking it as fast as you possibly can.

- Give 10 - 15 minutes for the Caffeine to kick in.

Having not tried this I cannot guarantee it works however these two guys were adamant it was superior to Pro Plus. I guess I have to put a disclaimer here NOT to try the above (unless you are crazy of course) especially if you have a dodgy ticker.

There you go; Romanian Speed information for all the long distance drivers out there.

Malacca, Malaysia

Melaka in Malay or as the Colonialists called it; Malacca..

So just back from the Christmas break and just before the Chinese New Year Rush (which, believe it or not Is a big thing in Asia....) me and Cindy decided to go to the wonderful city of Malacca on the west (well it’s central west-ish) of Peninsula Malaysia.

This was to be my third city visited in Malaysia, the 1^st being Cindy’s current place of residence Johor Bahru or JB as the locals call it and the 2^nd being Kuala Lumpur although we didn’t really go to Kuala Lumpur we kind of went to this weird Bermuda triangle of Kuala Lumpur only known to civilization as “The Curve”…will tell you all about that trip another time..

On the morning (well early afternoon) of Saturday 13^th January 2012 we jumped in her Civic, that’s right folks a Honda Civic and a nice one it is too, with the 2 Litre V-Tec engine, even has flappy paddles but she won’t use them because of the fuel consumption; doing her bit for the environment I suspect. On paper it was 2 hours or so to Malacca but as it always is the case with these type of car journeys it always takes longer than planned. Nevertheless the sun was shining, we had a full tank of fuel and wallets full of Ringgit, nothing was spoiling.

On the road to Malacca..

After the joyous road trip and getting slight lost in the early meters of the city centre we finally reached Malacca. Cindy had booked us a fantastically located hotel right on the main street in Malacca “Jonker Walk” and we were both in need of a bit of a break, those post Christmas Blues one gets when they realize they have to wait another 365 days for those festivities. Malacca is a rich city; I don’t mean rich in the context of wealth but in the context of culture, cuisine and history. This is where Stamford Raffles negotiated and acquired the Island of Singapura (Lion City) now known as Singapore in 1819. The Baba Nyonya’s (15th and 16th century Chinese immigrants in Indonesian Archipelago of Nusantara and Malacca] it also has elements of other colonialists such as those efforts of the Dutch and especially the Portuguese.

Originally built in 1521 as simply a chapel known as Nossa Senhora da Annunciada (Our Lady of Grace) or the Nossa Senhora da Annunciada (Our Lady of the Hill). The chapel was built by a Portuguese fidalgo or nobleman, Duarte Coelho, as an act of gratitude following his escape from a storm in the South China Sea.

The City is also known (as many Malaysian cities are) for their wonderful variety of food on offer, the variety and diversity in cuisine here also stems from the several invasions the Malaccans experienced by the Colonialists but also by the heavy Chinese populations inhabiting Malaysia. I did nothing but eat from the minute I arrived in Malacca to the minute I left, the calories consumed in 48 hours was simply   unquantifiable and thank fuck for that; I really do not want to know!  Below is a selection of some of the wonderful dishes I got to sample during the weekend:

Pai Tee - Seafood, Turnip, Chili Sauce in a crispy Nacho like cup

Baba Curry Mee

Cendol - Malaysian Brown Sugar based iced dessert dish

Portugese Egg Tart

After you have been in Johor Bahru it’s evident that Malaysia is made up of many nationalities, many , races, creeds, colours and religions but the three that stand out most are the Malays the Chinese and Indians. The Chinese have a huge influence across Asia and no less in the City of Malacca.

Chinese Pots in Jonker Street

Not only was it my first time in the wonderful little City of Malacca but it was also my first Chinese New Year since my move to Asia in August last year. For 2012 it was the year of the Dragon and a year of prosperity. I witnessed a spectacular show of the Dragon chasing the ball of prosperity through Jonker Walk right through the middle of the bustling night market; I also got to witness a display of Chinese musical accolade only moments after the passing of the Dragon which was also very beautiful and special to see.

Serenaded by a wonderful Chinese Orchestra - not the blurry face of death in the background :)

In the main stretch of Malacca (Jonker Walk) was a woman with no arms (lost below elbow) doing calligraphy. Yes, that's right no arms and yes doing calligraphy. She was doing customized pieces for passers by without a fixed price, cheap Singaporeans giving her 5 Ringgit for work. When I saw her in action and the amount of effort and human love she put into her work I had to get one done; I gave her 40 Ringgit for my piece.. To be honest, I don't exactly know what it says, my Chinese could do with improving somewhat but here it is in progress below:

I now have this piece framed on my wall

The current marketing and advertising slogan of the tourist board of Malaysia is “Malaysia Truly Asia” and from what I’ve seen so far it seems very similar to Singapore, notably less developed yes but similar in the sense it is a conglobation of cultures living together in harmony each bringing their own diversity to the nation; there are a few gems I saw in Malacca from Jonker Walk itself which contains some amazing food, colours and people, to the Mr. Malay statues, the Cavanthe Art Café, the Geographer Café, the beautiful and unique architecture 

Jonker Walk @ Chinese New Year

If anyone is visiting Malaysia, especially either the Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur areas you need to set aside a day or two to see and sample Malacca; what a wonderful place.

Just before I sign off I’d like to formally introduce all readers of this Blog to the lady in my life; the beautiful Malaysian Miss Cindy Ng:

Cindy in the centre of Malacca

In November last year while working for the Big D at our Tuas site in the west of Singapore close to the Malaysian Border a girl used to walk back and forth from the office of our 3PL and WMS company IDS past the entrance for the Diageo employees, I thought she was very pretty but thought also she had one of those faces, the boys will understand if I say one of those faces with “fuck off” written on it. Being the shy boy that I am I wrote a note and placed it under the windscreen wiper of her car telling her I thought she was very pretty and asking if she would like to go for dinner one day, signing off with my phone number and my email address and to my surprise I got a text back that evening saying she would love to go for dinner and as they say everything else after that is history. Four months later we’re still seeing each other and she’s the first one I’ve cared about this way since NL. 

It’s funny the fact Cindy actually saved me from that feeling you get when you go through a hard end to a relationship, the feeling that you will never find anyone to replace the previous one. I’m very cautious about using the L word after what happened with NL so I’ll refrain as long as I safely can but right now I’m writing this sitting in the passenger seat of her civic with the laptop on my knees glancing over at her every few words with a very strong urge to tell her I do, I need to be strong and keep the barrier up a little longer…just a little...

If you're unlucky enough to be my facebook friend; For a full set of pictures Click Here

Chrismast back in The Dam

First of all apologies for blogging about the past, It's the first of April and I am very much of aware of that bu I've been trying to find the time out of my busy capitalist life style to get on here..

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the New Year; we all know start as you mean to go on..should imagine a lot of you were extremely drunk when 2012 crept in as is the usual way to celebrate the most overrated time of the year..anyway, less negativity throughout the rest of the blog I promise.

..So it is the 27th year of my life as 2011 becomes 2012...sh*t...27? Slowly but surely creeping up to the big 30 - which scares the shit out of me but once some very intelligent  man once said "Time waits for no man" and they were not wrong. Alas.. onto my adventures below:

Singapore -> Amsterdam -> Sunderland -> Amsterdam -> Singapore 

So, a 14 hour flight back to Amsterdam but at the time to be honest I couldn't have cared if the flight was 140 hour I was desperate to get back to Amsterdam. Four months in Singapore and I was missing Europe as a whole never mind my special little friends at the Coffee Shops; luckily for me Claudio was on the same flight, we had both convinced our bosses it would be beneficial for us to work from Amsterdam over Christmas..ahem it in fact left us with more annual leave for 2012 and also to be back in Amsterdam was simply priceless; evenings spent in the clouds in the beautiful little city I used to call home..

The old hangout...Blues Brothers 

My time back in Amsterdam over the festive period was of mixed emotions; main emotion for me was that I had missed this dirty little windy city and its attributes both positive and negative and that I was indeed happy to be back, very happy. The second emotion was that of Sadness, Sadness that I didn't live here anymore; I spent two full years here, straight from University, I started to become a man here, I met wonderful people mainly inside work..which is where the sadness really kicked in. After the Big D made it's reorganization announcement last year the office where I had so many happy times has taken on a metamorphosis of depression, solitude and has this swamp like negative atmosphere induced by the simple fact the wonderful and diverse pool of people who made Customer Service what it was will soon go, May 31st and the entire CS Operations in Amsterdam will cease it exists. 

I am so thankful that I got to spend two years here; yes it was hard work; late into the evenings and on throughout some weekends but without all the strife I would not have meant the scores of wonderful people who aided me on my journey in life and the journey from boyhood into manhood.

Below a few pictures of some of the great people I miss..

Claudio Claps (Left) and Marijn Baaij (Right) - The Handsome Duo 

The lovely Serbian Jelena Dzida

The beautiful Slovakian Erik Linhartova - before you ask, no I didn't..

Rebecca Smith (Left) and Diedre White (Right)

The Epic wonderful and perpetually lovely Dieuwke Swain - hope she doesn't get offended but kind of my like my substitute Mother away from home :)

"Do not dwell on the past, do not dream to the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment" - Buddha

If any of my old colleagues or friends from Amsterdam are reading this, thank you for everything and I will see you again :)

Thanks for reading...
TGM