Cop Out's Big Adventures

Phi Phi Don

2012-02-07T23:46:00.000-08:00

Harvesting Birds Nests for China

2012-02-07T23:43:00.000-08:00

Towering cliffs

2012-02-07T23:40:00.000-08:00

Natures adornments

2012-02-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

Village adornments

2012-02-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

Rubber making

2012-02-07T23:29:00.000-08:00

Happy faces

2012-02-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

The best of the snorkelling

2012-02-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

Ko Muk cave and conga line

2012-02-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

How do you get home?

2012-02-07T22:58:00.000-08:00

Arrival in Thailand

2012-02-07T22:46:00.001-08:00

After one last shop with fresh produce we checked out of Malaysia from Telaga Harbour and were ready to set sail for Thailand.We had been told that as long as we took no longer than two weeks we could island hop our way to Phuket and enjoy the 120 mile cruise on our way north.We set sail along with Splashdown for Ko Tarutoa where we would make our first stop passing impossibly high karst formations arising from the sea. Most were small uninhabited islands but occasionally we would spot a cottage on the precipitous cliff side and wonder how on earth they could access it.The next anchorage was in a lovely bay on Ko Muk and we went ashore where several resorts were established. We had a delicious dinner at one of the resorts and found that many of the tourists coming to this area were from Sweden. One of the attractions of Ko Muk is a cave which you swim into and through a dark passage coming out to a lovely beach surrounded by high cliffs. This had been used for centuries past for pirates and other unsavoury types as a hide out. We had gone there with Bev, Alex and Colin and spent some time enjoying the beach with the few other tourists who had made the early start. As we were exiting a tour boat arrived with more than 100 Japanese tourists all of whom were wearing life jackets—we are realising that Japanese tourists cannot swim—forming a conga line and were moving en masse into the cave. We were thankful that we had already experienced it in relative peace and were not trying to exit as they entered!!We took our dingy over to Ko Kradon where the snorkelling is meant to be great. We were disappointed and are concluding that we have been spoiled having snorkelled in some of the most spectacular place in the world—Thailand is not one of them. We were quickly becoming aware of the huge tourist trade in these Phuket Islands. Once again we were thankful that we have been able to get to places and have the solitude which most people can only dream about. It was also a culture shock to discover that very little English is spoken and the Thai language is very Asian and more foreign to our ears than the Malay language had been. The written language is all symbols so we are not able to even attempt a translation.In this area there are many Muslims—as it is so close to Malaysia it is not surprising, apparently as you go nearer to Phuket Buddhism is the predominate religion.The locals all seemed pleasant but unlike the Indonesians were unimpressed by our presence and not particularly welcoming.We hiked a small way along the road on the island which was busy with motor cycles, the favoured transportation. As we walked we passed producing rubber plantations. Each tree has a small bucket attached to the trunk beneath a scored area into which rubber is dripping. It always seemed quite gelatinous and I am not sure if it is more liquid at different times of the day. We watched one family mixing it in an old washing machine like apparatus, running it through a hand wringer and laying the resulting mats over a line to dry. We were told that it is mixed with acid to solidify it.Our next stop was on the east coast of Ko Lanta, a long narrow island with beautiful white sandy beaches on the eastern side. We rented a motor cycle for the day and toured the island. Old Town on the west was quiet and quaint but the east was one resort after another. We were glad that we had picked a southern anchorage as the north was touristier. Once again Europeans made up the bulk of the tourists and the Swedish flag was flown along with numerous Swedish restaurants. We did succumb to a French Patisserie for our coffee and croissant fix on our way back to the boat.We both enjoyed a Thai massage for $12—might as well enjoy what is offered where we are!! Definite highlights in Thailand are the food and massages. We still find that many items offered on the menu are “finish” as opposed to “no have” in Malaysia.Our next stop was to Phi Phi Le which we had been warned was one of the most touristy of all but we felt the need to see for ourselves.The warnings were true but we managed to find a mooring buoy later in the afternoon—cruiser wisdom is to arrive later in the afternoon as the tour boats leave and leave in the morning before they all arrive again. The lagoon was the one famed by the Leon De Caprio movie of The Beach—we have not seen it but it is certainly a stunning backdrop for any movie.We had yet one more happy hour on the boat with Just Magic and early the next morning did a tour in the dingy around the bay enjoying the spectacular karst formations all around.We left as the tour boats arrived and motored around the coast to another inlet which is featured on the brochures. We were able to take a buoy there and go into the spectacular lagoon before most of the boats arrived. This area must have been wonderful 20 years ago!!Further up the coast are the men who harvest the birds nests from the cliffs—they have not discovered the advantage of building “bird hotels” as in Kumai.Our next anchorage was once again only done so we could say we have “been there done that” on the busy island of Phi Phi Don. This is backpacker central and we went ashore to find rows of tourist shops offering dive trips, food, drink, massages and trinkets. Queues of tourists were going on tourist snorkel boats into the harbour—one came out every couple of hours close to where we were anchored for an hour of snorkelling with a hundred or more snorkellers at a time. We did jump in to see if it was worth it but the most rewarding part was cooling off in the sea—which I am sure if you were staying on the island you would be thankful for!!I did have a manicure and pedicure and Ken yet one more massage before heading back to the sanctuary of Cop Out.We are now headed into Ao Chalong which is where we will check into Thailand and spend a few days stocking up and orienting ourselves for the rest of our Thailand cruising season. We have been warned that this town is one of many “girly” bars where old white men come to pick up young Thai girls for a night—or week—so will not stay long.I do not want to make this sound all bad as we understand we will be able to find anchorages where the tourists do not go and it is spectacularly beautiful. On the east coast up toward the Myanmar border the diving is meant to be great so we will go there also. We hope to get some interior woodwork done on the boat here as prices and quality are good and will look into having new sails made as well.

special friends

2012-02-05T03:18:00.001-08:00

Haka or soccer?

2012-02-05T03:12:00.000-08:00

Family and Chinese New year dragon

2012-02-05T02:56:00.000-08:00

cricket Wellington style--the sofa thing would be tempting in a Firebirds game!!!

2012-02-05T02:48:00.000-08:00

Wellington once again--a favorite city

2012-02-05T02:35:00.000-08:00

Wellington once again

2012-02-05T02:29:00.002-08:00

We experienced our first Air Asia flights to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Christchurch.The flights are cheap but you are nickel and dimed to death after the booking so need to be sure how much baggage you want to carry and if you would like to eat or drink ANYTHING on the way—even water is charged for.Despite that we managed to get to Christchurch without issue and then on to Wellington unaffected by earthquakes.We were met by Kristen and the kids and it was lovely to see them all again.We stayed at Lynda, my sister’s as they were away in Europe—unlike us they like to find cold weather on their holidays!!Sven, my nephew generously had a car available for us so life was easy.We spent the next few weeks visiting my mom and the rest of my family. My mom other than her mobility, which continues to slowly decline, is mentally alert and happy. She has mastered the kindle I had bought her so I was able to load on a pile of new books that I had bought for her.We had dinner with Anne and Harvey several times and it was good to catch up with them. We also enjoyed a visit from Devala and Mike from Sea Rover who came over from the Sounds to visit us while we were there. We had a great day touring the wineries of the Wairarapa after having introduced them to our favourite meat pie shop.Kristen and Kyle took the opportunity to take a few days in Queenstown and we made the most of being Nana and Papa again. It is definitely what we miss most with our lifestyle and will be the biggest factor in deciding to finish our cruising.We enjoyed typical Wellington activities, the cable car, botanic gardens and the waterfront which continues to impress us with the energy it offers.Ken went to another cricket game with Kyle and Grayson to see yet another woeful display by the Wellington Firebirds. It was overshadowed by Grayson along with the other kids who were all encouraged to go onto the field at half time to develop a new generation of cricketers; hopefully they will have more talent than the present team.We were impressed with Adleyn and Grayson when we took them for Chinese New Year for Dim Sum as they ate well although the dragons seemed to scare Adelyn a little.Grayson has worked on his haka since watching the impressive display during the world cup and it was hard not to laugh when he seriously would perform for anyone interested—he would instruct us not to laugh which made it even more difficult not too. He is sports crazy and needed to change his clothing regularly in order to look the part in whatever sport he was playing at the time. We had taken several “Rooney” shirts which added to his soccer wardrobe.Adelyn is amazing to have a conversation with and once you are finished with the negotiating is very mature and bright.All too soon it was time to leave again and return to Cop Out in Malaysia and ready to sail to Thailand where we will spend the next several months.

High in the sky

2012-01-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Birds and snakes and other animals

2012-01-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

Fun in the sun

2012-01-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

Carols and the tree

2012-01-05T22:12:00.001-08:00

Xmas at Rebak Marina, Langkawi

2012-01-05T21:50:00.001-08:00

We were happy to greet Dave, Maya, Arianne, Alex and Chris at Lankawi airport and bring them on to Rebak Island and find space for everyone. Despite the room we have on Cop Out seven of us made for a crowded boat!!We had waited for them to help decorate the tree which we hung high off the back of the boat anticipating damage control from18 month old Christopher. Cop Out looked very festive as along with many of the other boats in the marina we had hung lights along the boom.The marina is renowned for the Xmas season and despite being in the centre of a very Muslim world festivities abound. Even the stores play Xmas music as Muslim women complete with head coverings bag your purchases. Many cruisers make a point of being at this marina for the celebrations and many are joined by their families here.Carol singing, story telling and poems from talented cruisers was the lovely Xmas Eve tradition where all of the families joined together. This was followed by a pot luck which in true cruiser fashion surpassed expectations. It was a magical place to share with our family.Xmas morning was fun with Arianne and Alex opening the many little gifts we had collected and it was followed by a great lunch put on by the resort.The lovely pool area became the focus of the next week here and Arianne made a great friend with 9 year old Nina from Mojoombo—Australian, if the name does not give it away!! The two of them swam and played together for hours. We had worried about Alex—now 4—but he has a very easy going personality and was a delight happy to spend all day floating around the pool.Poor Maya spent a lot of her time off the boat with Chris as our boat is not childproofed for an 18month old!! He could see all kinds of knobs, buttons and many other things at his level which he could destroy.Unfortunately Dave was in the midst of launching a new Nike product which had been delayed so spent a lot of time on the computer and phone trying to manage the 15 engineers he has working for him in China and the US. He was able to spend some family time with the kids each day with the pool being everyone’s salvation.It was time to explore some of Langkawi so we rented two cars from Mr Din—these were $13 each for the day and as the best were already taken we got the worst!! We had Arianne in our red one—she chose it because of the great colour—note for future—NEVER choose a car by colour alone!! The rule is that you get one of his cars, no questions asked he hands you the key when you give him the money and then you drive to the gas station to put your $3 or $4 of fuel in which will last you the day. This time a previous cruiser had judged how much to put in perfectly and ours was out of fuel by the end of the drive way!! Mr Din had left so now we waited 30 minutes in 33C temperatures for him to return with a litre of fuel. Meanwhile Chris being a typical little boy practiced his driving skills.Once again we were on our way with the inside panel of Ariannes door almost on her lap as we drove to the Oriental Village and cable car.The village was set up for kids with a petting zoo, little cars, pony rides and huge pythons which they would wrap around your neck.We took the cable car which has one of the steepest pitches of any cable cars in the world which was quite spectacular.We returned to the cars at the end of the day to find that Chris had managed to turn on the headlights which we hadn’t noticed and a flat battery added to our “hire car” entertainment!!Another few days were spent around the pool until it was time for another “off island trip” for my birthday—oh no not one more birthday!This time we opted to drive to the mangrove area where we did a boat tour to the bat caves, fish farm and eagle feeding. The kids loved the dark caves with hundreds of bats and monkeys walking around. Arianne fed the stingrays and Alex loved the spitting archer fish. They can spit 3 metres to knock food from trees and will spit at your finger if they perceive it to be a possible food source. As we travelled on they put food in the water and the beautiful eagles swooped to feed.Next stop was Bird Paradise which also is set up for families where they sell you bags of food for the birds and animals as you visit them which the kids loved.After Alex had innocently mentioned that he could not wait for Nana’s party and cake we—realised that we needed to buy a cake. We stopped at a bakery where only individual cheesecakes were available so everyone was able to choose their flavour. They came with candles and as the lady was trying to sort out six, one for each cheesecake Ken suggested we bought the package of 10. In true Malay fashion we were told “no can do” as apparently you get a free one with each cake and if you want more you have to go to the candle shop. We no longer question the entrepreneurial spirit of the Malays so settled for the 6 as I no longer want to count the real number I need anyway!!The last few days of their visit was spent once again at the marina pool with Arianne asking us why we would ever want to leave here!!---as we look around at the palm trees and beach I can see her point.On New Years Eve sadly it was time for them to return home and we dropped them at the airport hopefully with the memories of a special Xmas.We treasured sharing Xmas with some of our wonderful grandchildren, something which our lifestyle has not allowed. When we return to “normal life” it will be a compensating factor. The marina put on a cruiser dinner for New Years Eve which was fun. They had the tradition a little confused with one of the highlights along with the strings of huge noisy banger fireworks was the “cake cutting” at midnight????? They do not drink and although encouraged us to bring our own liquor seemed to think they should do more and somehow thought a cake would suffice. One of the European cruisers wanted everyone to waltz to Strauss also so we bravely waltzed to Strauss and banging fireworks!!!—such are the making of memories!!We have now recovered from the busy season and most of the other cruisers are heading north to Thailand. We are readying ourselves for our New Zealand trip to visit my mom and Kristen and her family next week and will head to Thailand after our return.

Ken at the airshow

2011-12-18T00:50:00.000-08:00

With all of this why are there still pirates!!

2011-12-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

Chilling out all that stress

2011-12-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

Cruising Langkawi

2011-12-18T00:02:00.000-08:00

Sailors again--they miss you--well just a little!!!

2011-12-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

Once again sailboats used as backdrop in wedding photos

2011-12-17T23:57:00.000-08:00

Russian dinner

2011-12-17T23:55:00.002-08:00

The retiring President--much more accessible than in Indonesia!!

2011-12-17T23:49:00.000-08:00

Once parked it is shopping, shopping, shopping!!

2011-12-17T23:47:00.000-08:00

scratching parking coupons

2011-12-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

Oriental Pied Hornbills--common on Rebak

2011-12-17T23:42:00.000-08:00

Veg run

2011-12-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

Rebak Island, Langkawi

2011-12-17T23:37:00.001-08:00

We finally had wind to sail our last leg up the Malaysian coast to Pulau (Island) Langkawi and reached the beautiful island of Rebak. This area is the start of the karst topography of limestone cliffs which extend north along the coast of Northern Malaysia and Thailand. The rugged peaks covered in lush green vegetation arise dramatically from the ocean and are quite spectacular. The Sultan of this region has been ruling Malaysia for the last 5 years. He has declared it a duty free port and it has become a huge tourist attraction for Malays. His rule was finishing our first week here and some other regency will reap the benefits of having “their Sultan” rule for the next 5 years.We have reserved a berth alongside for two months in Rebak Marina which is in a lagoon within the island. It is owned and part of the Taj Resort which along with fancy condos has a lovely pool, restaurants, tennis court and a gym. Daily yoga and pilates classes will hopefully get my body back into shape as we live in air conditioned comfort—essential in these hot marinas. There are frequent small ferries to cross the 15 minutes to Langkawi. Fridays is the “veg man”. He brings his van to the Rebak ferry terminal on Langkawi and unloads the cases of vegs, fruit, meat, cheese and yoghurt which the cruisers quickly snap up. This is the first place since leaving Australia where “western food” is readily available.As the Caribbean is for North Americans many Australian cruisers use Langkawi as a seasonal base and alternate their year between Australia and sailing this beautiful area. It is near the Thai border and the sailing north from here is reputed to be wonderful. With the piracy in the Suez region spreading wider and wider many cruisers are faced with either shipping their boat to the Med--$50,000 for our boat—or sailing around South Africa so more and more boats are staying in this region. Unfortunately it is increasing the prices of boat work and decreasing the prices of used boats.Upon arrival we went to the final dinner for the Malaysia rally at a nearby resort. They had put on a lavish spread but unfortunately a seasonal monsoon literally put a damper on the festivities and it became an “eat and run” occasion.The next day was an open day at Rebak and we were able to bid a final farewell to many friends who had left Darwin with us and are readying to travel in divergent directions.Ken was in seventh heaven as there is a huge military air and marine show held every two years which was starting as we arrived. This meant that there was a constant flow of fighter planes flying in formation and doing loops right above us at the marina.Mr Din runs the car rental where for between $13 and $20 you can rent a car for the day. He meets our ferries and you hand him the cash and he hands you the keys and instructs you to leave it unlocked with the key under the mat when you return. We had reserved a car to pick up Ken and Tracy Calderwood (from Calgary) who were arriving on the ferry from Penang. We lucked out and got a great minivan which we drove as instructed directly to the service station to purchase the $5 of fuel we would need for our day!!We drove the 20 minutes to the ferry terminal where we purchased one of the scratch cards used as a parking ticket all over town. The system allows you to scratch either, 20 minutes for 6 cents, or 1 hour for 20 cents. If you want to park for a long time you scratch as many as you need.We met Tracy and Ken and realised the duty free attraction of Langkawi. We were excited to find a chocolate shop with all kinds of imported chocolates and liquor at amazingly low prices. As we walked the area we realized that there are dozens of similar shops with the same prices.The next few days were filled with a combination of enjoying the pool and gym at Rebak alternating with shopping trips. A huge craft exhibition was being held where we found some wonderful hand painted wall hangings. Tracy found some great jewellery and Ken found yet another knife—not hard to guess which “Ken” that was!!!Mr Din’s cars did not all live up to the standard we had lucked out with our first vehicle and it was a dash from the small ferry taking us to Langkawi to try and pick the “best car”.Ken spent a great day at the air show where you could purchase anything from fighter planes to missiles—luckily his visa card does not go to the billions required for such purchases.Tracy and I had fun finding $17 dresses and I will now be able to throw away some of my well worn “boat dresses”. This area is very Muslim and alcohol is not served in many restauarants but with perseverance we found one of the few restaurants which sold beer with food—a must for Ken C.We wanted to take Tracy and Ken for a few days sailing amongst the many beautiful islands. Our first stop was at Telaga Marina for fuel—marina fuel here is 90 cents a litre rather than the 65 cents we have been used to so will have to find a better way in future---The outer harbour was windy enough for pleasant anchorage and we went ashore to choose from the string of different ethnic restaurants—this is a yachtie strip so all restaurants serve beer. We opted for a Russian restaurant—odd choice in this part of the world but the food was good and a pleasant change from Asian. The next day after a bakery stop we set off with windy conditions to another pretty anchorage. The following day we sailed to an island which apparently has the best snorkelling in the area. We had great sailing conditions and were doing 8 knots for the 20 miles out there. Unfortunately great sailing conditions do not translate into great snorkelling conditions so we turned and had an equally fast 20 mile sail back. We hiked to the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden which is frequented by tourists who trek in to swim in the lake. We had a quick swim being sure that we did not swallow any of the questionable water and returned to the boat and sailed back to Rebak.One last shopping day and one more day hanging around the pool and it was time to take Tracy and Ken to the ferry for their return to Penang.We enjoyed having them with us and sharing our lifestyle—they were great company and left us with a huge amount of alcohol—we will have to lie our way through customs for the next few years—or drink quickly!!! We are settling into “marina life”, several musical evenings entertained by cruisers more talented than ourselves and we are adding more lights to celebrate the festive season.Dave and family will arrive later this week and we look forward to a “real family” Xmas.

Georgetown and the causeway connecting Penang to the mainland--will we fit under?---whew made it!!

2011-12-04T01:16:00.000-08:00

Cultural Georgetown

2011-12-04T00:59:00.001-08:00

Streets of Georgetown

2011-12-04T00:49:00.001-08:00

Baba Nonya mansion--including opium bed

2011-12-04T00:38:00.000-08:00

British Colonialism

2011-12-04T00:29:00.000-08:00

Little India--- Bollywood

2011-12-04T00:22:00.000-08:00

fruit bats and fruit shopping, chestnuts, won ton wrappers and cleaning up--no electric dishwasher here!!

2011-12-04T00:15:00.001-08:00

Jerejak anchorage

2011-12-03T23:54:00.001-08:00

Penang

2011-12-03T23:50:00.001-08:00

We left Pankor with a rebuilt windlass motor to travel the 15 miles to the first anchorage which would then allow an easy day sail the next day to the island of Penang.We dropped the anchor to find that it would not drop properly or pull up again—aaagh!!!We made the most difficult but only sensible decision to motor back early the following morning and have the mechanic look at it again.After adjusting the height of the spline which he had not tested adequately we were ready to head off once again.We wanted to make the rally tour and dinner so motored overnight to arrive at Jerejak Island anchorage at dawn. We actually had a few hours of sailing which was a rare treat.The tour turned out to be a visit to a shipyard—not a great attraction to cruisers but they were the sponsors so were promoting their yard as a place we may have work done in the future on our boats.The outdoor War Museum was next on the agenda and this was as one may expect a sobering experience.The Japanese bombed Penang in December 1941 and with 30,000 invading troupes the British surrendered their 100,000 in a day. No Japanese lives were lost and it is hard for us to conceive this easy defeat—I suspect the Japanese may have wondered why there was no resistance. The British forces and the local people were then subjected to horrific torture by the cruel Japanese forces until the atom bombs were dropped in Japan and they surrendered. Many Japanese generals were held accountable and were put on trial and found guilty of war crimes.The day ended with a dinner at a local Malay restaurant which although was not a memorable meal it was nice to connect once again to the rally crews who at this time are spreading further apart.Over the next two days we wandered the streets of Georgetown. As in most of Malaysia the history and culture are evident in the streets. Once again we see the magnificent colonial buildings alongside narrow streets where the different ethnic cultures live to this day.The unique Baba Nonya culture developed when Chinese migrants intermarried with the Malay women and formed a distinct language and food. Many of these people appeared to be extremely wealthy and we visited a mansion which displayed the magnificent art and crafted furniture of the time. Now they are becoming more aligned with their Chinese heritage and appear ambitious and well educated.Malaysia prides itself on their multicultural and tolerant society but we getting the feeling that all is not well under the façade.The country was formed by joining twelve regencies each with its own Sultan who agreed to form the country of Malaysia. Each Sultan has a 5 year term and it then transfers to another Sultan. It is a hereditary position only a Malay Muslim can hold power.This means that the industrious Chinese and Indians feel they work very hard but have no power and we heard stories of resentment from both of these races.Recently 300,000 educated migrants left to find opportunities in the western world and 95% of these are Chinese.We heard comments saying that even though the government purports to hold the teaching of English in math and science they important they “talk the talk” but do not “walk the walk”. English was the official language before the British gave independence but with the concern that their own language would be lost a generation of young people had almost no English language skills. Realising that this would be an international disadvantage the government has promised to change this. It appears it is not being followed through and many people are resorting to private education for their children.Both the education system and the health system seem to surpass any other country we have visited other than our “western world” it would be sad if they continue to lose their brightest and best.We did enjoy our short stay in Penang and will spend more time as we retrace our steps on our return voyage next April.Our last stop on our northern journey will be at Rebak Marina in Langkawi near the Thai border and we will be happy to finally stop a while and smell the roses—well frangipanis anyway!!!There we will be joined by Ken and Tracy from Calgary and Dave and family will be coming from Hong Kong for Xmas.

Tis the season--the marina seems to be the backdrop of choice

2011-11-24T01:29:00.000-08:00

the guests

2011-11-24T01:27:00.000-08:00

well ordered day out

2011-11-24T01:26:00.000-08:00

Bhuddist cave temples

2011-11-24T01:25:00.000-08:00

$600 birds nests--maybe straight from those bird houses in Kumai

2011-11-24T01:24:00.000-08:00

Shoes or shoes!!

2011-11-24T01:22:00.000-08:00

Shopping in Ipoh

2011-11-24T01:21:00.000-08:00

Eating and drinking in Ipoh

2011-11-24T01:20:00.000-08:00

The grande and not so grande areas of Ipoh

2011-11-24T01:18:00.000-08:00

Lest they forget

2011-11-24T01:17:00.000-08:00

All things fishy

2011-11-24T01:15:00.000-08:00

Yet one more Bhuddist temple

2011-11-24T01:13:00.000-08:00

Hippy dippy party

2011-11-24T01:12:00.000-08:00

Haven't put on one of these in a while

2011-11-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

Pankor Marina

2011-11-24T01:09:00.001-08:00

We anchored across the bay and awaited high tide with 5 other boats to be led into the marina.Pankor Marina is in the process of being built, apparently 3 months ago there were no boats here and they have been working extremely hard to be ready for the 50 rally boats to arrive. The new owner, James, has gone to great lengths to convince us that this is an option where we can leave our boats while travelling home. They have a travel lift which will haul catamarans and are setting up trades to work on your boat. Many cruisers are taking advantage of this and leaving their boats here for several months. Others including us had minor boat repairs done. Our anchor windlass motor had seized and as our 90 metres of heavy anchor chain need to be hauled up every time we anchor it is a vital part of our sailing equipment.A local mechanic agreed to have it rebuilt for $500 in a week. To replace just the motor is not possible and would necessitate us buying a whole new windlass at several thousand dollars and a long delay to get in into Malaysia from England.We actually welcomed the forced stay as we have not had more than a couple of nights in any one place since leaving NZ in May. We would take the time in air-conditioned comfort to wash all of the curtains and upholstery on the boat. We would have time to seriously attack the ever growing mould which attacks in this climate.James made sure we felt very welcome and hosted a nice dinner the first evening. When he found that both Steve from Patamba and Brian from Further were both going to turn 6o the next day he offered to let us have the party in the marina facility and would let us use the DJ at no cost.The theme for this party was the 60’s and many very aging hippies arrived in flowing skirts, mini dresses or psychedelic shirts. We had downloaded lots of rock and roll and a great dance party resulted. Sometimes the greatest parties are unplanned and this certainly was one of them.James also organised a tour of Pulau Pankor, the island opposite the marina.It is a beautiful island with a colourful past. It was a pirate hideout when piracy was rampant in the Straits of Malaka and also a centre for tin mining. We visited the remnants of a Dutch fort which was built to control the mining in the 18th Century before the British negotiated their ownership.Now the island has a mix of fishing and fish drying and tourism.We caught the ferry across to the small village which has a distinct odour of dried fish. Many stores had baskets of dried fish of all kinds which mainlanders come especially to purchase. We visited the fish drying factory and despite the nauseous smell—to me, although others were not bothered by it—I quickly looked around at the young women who were packaging the dried fish and the store which sell all things dry before making a quick exit.Many kinds of dried fish were available to sample by the hardiest of us and I did sample the dried mangos which I thought may supplement my muesli but as many items in Asia they were so heavily sugared the original taste was gone.As we circumnavigated the island we saw a boat being built using huge planks of wood harvested from Sumatra.The other side of the island is the tourist side with lovely beaches and apparently good snorkelling around pretty coral.We were then treated to a wonderful eleven course Chinese banquet for lunch which had a great variety of tastes and flavours. We all warmly applauded the family who had hosted this great meal as they looked on with pride.The following day we started on our boat chores but were persuaded by Ann and Barry to take the next day off and along with Will and Margaret went to Ipoh.The countryside is green and lush, a testament to the warmth and humidity which pervades. Palm oil plantations now dominate the area and economy but tin mining and rubber plantations are still in production.Ipoh is an historical town which was the centre for the tin and rubber producing areas.We wandered around the magnificent old colonial buildings which are interspersed with the seedier concubine alley. The memorial for the “Death Railway” is here commemorating the almost 100,000 people who died building it in the Second World War.We combined the locally produced Old Town White Coffee, a very sweet milky mild coffee with dim sum for our morning tea.We enjoyed the delightful mix of stores where Ann and Margaret both found tops in an Indian store for very little money. We came across a specialty store selling Birds Nests and the cheapest package was $600 with the fancy ones far more.The best bean sprouts are also produced in the area and a specialty flat noodle is also made here.The restaurant which is most famous for the kwae teow, which uses the flat noodles in a soup with prawns and chicken, was closed—as seems to be the way when one is travelling—we always seem to arrive on the wrong day whatever that may be!!! After asking a lovely young woman she took us to another restaurant which was serving it and we enjoyed these world famous noodles for lunch.After lunch we got a cab to the one of the caves housing Buddhist temples. These are huge limestone caves and similar to the Hindu caves we had visited in Batu, Kuala Lumpur.We enjoyed wandering around the lovely landscaped gardens before heading back to catch the bus back to Pankor.Revitalised after our break we continued our scrubbing and cleaning and now when our friends Tracy and Ken from Canada come in a week we will not be embarrassed.A lot of the boats stayed to take advantage of the marina with the restaurants nearby and we have enjoyed the relaxed social atmosphere.Our motor is expected back shortly and we hope that we will not live to regret putting off buying a whole new windlass in the near future.Our next stop will be a 12 hour sail from here in Penang which promises to be exciting.

Dress code

2011-11-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

KL by night

2011-11-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

Harrods and everyone else!!

2011-11-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

Fishy feet

2011-11-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

Nightcap with Ann and Barry

2011-11-10T17:56:00.001-08:00

2011-11-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

Faces--or not--of Kuala Lumpur

2011-11-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

Chinatown

2011-11-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Street offering

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Buddhist temple--and year of the tiger

2011-11-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

Colonial Past

2011-11-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

Batu Caves

2011-11-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

War memorial and Petrona Towers

2011-11-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yachtie kids Halloween

2011-11-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

eating out---Asian custom

2011-11-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Raining--again!!

2011-11-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

Faces of Johore

2011-11-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

The old and the new

2011-11-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Sail Malaysia Participants

2011-11-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

Entertainment at the Government dinner

2011-11-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Johore to Port Dickson

2011-11-10T17:20:00.001-08:00

Malaysia, what a contrast to Singapore!!We arrived at Danga Bay at the marina where we would spend our first few days of the Malaysian Rally with most of the 50 other rally boats. The marina is free and run down—not sure why they do not charge for the berthage and then perhaps could fix the showers and toilets.We enquired about checking in but as it was already noon on Friday were told not to worry about it, they would arrange to check us in and out on Monday—no one seems to worry about such formalities.The first challenge was to get SIM cards for the phones and internet stick. We went to the Maxis store nearby which was doing it’s best to rival Telstra in Mackay, Australia in inefficiency. There were crowds of people and we were told there were no more SIM’s for data. Greg from Lupari 2 and I split the $3 taxi to the mall and finally managed to locate another Maxis store there. We were able to get the SIM’s but the internet one would expire in three days so we asked to have extra credit put on. The response was “cannot do” so the challenge was on to find someone who could “do”. Greg hit the jackpot when he found a man who did not find it a challenge and the task was accomplished and in typical cruising problem style had taken many hours.Back at the marina we dressed in our best clothes to attend the Government dinner. First was beer served in the bar as the Muslim Government would not be serving alcohol at the dinner.The tables in the dining room were covered in white tablecloths with silver cutlery and after we were welcomed the waiters came through holding candlelit trays aloft with our appetisers. What a lovely display and the rest of the meal followed this high standard. We had an 8 course meal with one course after another being served. The food was amazing and as we ate we were entertained by traditional dancing and several lounge singers. This equalled any banquet we had ever had anywhere in the world and surpassed the mass confusion at the dinners in Indonesia where we always had several hundred people lined up to choose from the buffet.The following day I went on the city tour while Ken waited for the refrigeration mechanics to see if once again we could resolve the mysteries of refrigeration.The tour took us into the city of Jahore Baru—JB—which is the capital of Johore state with over a million inhabitants.We had an excellent guide who explained the history and current politics of the region.It is located across the Straits from Singapore so had many centuries of trading. Traders from India bought the Hindu religion but in the 12th Century the Sultan converted to Islam and as was the way of most of the world when the ruler converts so do the people. Portuguese and Dutch both claimed it successively but Britain took sovereignty after the Napoleonic wars and developed the rubber plantations and tin mines. They bought in migrants from Southern India and China to work on these endeavours leaving the Malay people to continue farming and feeding the populace.The Japanese invaded during the Second World War committing many atrocities in the area, particularly against the local Chinese. It was from this city that they plotted the successful invasion of Singapore. The British expected an invasion from the South China Sea but it was by land, over the causeway and took them by surprise.After the war the British tried to reclaim Malaya but the locals rose against them and finally gained independence in 1957. Malaya along with Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah became Malaysia. Two years later Singapore decided to break away and became an independent nation.Today 60% of the population is Malay Muslim, 30% Chinese, mostly Buddhist and 10% Indian Hindus. As in Singapore and Indonesia they pride themselves on their tolerances.Our tour took us to see the building from which the Singapore invasion was plotted as well as the Sultans Palace and the large mosque.Our next visit was to the area which is known as Iskander. This is a huge area north of JB three times the size of Singapore which is being developed in a grandiose fashion. The idea is to decentralise government workers and encourage foreign investment to Malaysia. They hope it will rival Singapore and foreign companies will relocate here as a cheaper option. They are building huge highways and housing developments. They have already built a very impressive “House of Parliament” using local materials and architecture surrounded by beautiful gardens.They have plans for a Legoland to encourage tourism and there is a man made lake around which housing is planned and apparently being already being bought by Singaporeans as weekend places.Near the lake Puteri Marina has been built and some of the yachties were there instead of Danga Bay. Although it is much more modern it is as yet many miles from any stores or services and we were glad we had not chosen to be there. The whole area is meant to be finished by 2025 and they feel that as this is the fastest growing state after Kuala Lumpur---KL---it will all happen. One can only hope the vision will come true or they will have a huge white elephant.Our next stop was the pineapple museum where they are developing a sweeter pineapple and although we were able to sample them they are all being exported and are not available locally.We then went for lunch at the fishermen’s village and arrived as the skies opened for yet one more tropical downpour.We were led to a restaurant with a great view. As we were deciding what to eat Sam from Ramprasad who was sitting beside me gave a long wail and had a seizure. Luckily Bruce from Haven and David from Gavia, both doctors were nearby and quickly attended him. He lay unconscious but breathing for what seemed like forever before the ambulance came and David went with him to the hospital.It certainly put a damper on our lunch which arrived and we took most of it with us to eat later—it reminded us how fragile life is and how fortunate in this part of the world Sam was to have both doctors nearby.For those of you who know Sam—he stayed overnight in hospital where they did various tests and the results were normal. They recommended he have a CAT scan within a week and he the last I heard he intended doing that as an out patient. We hope it will all be resolved happily and wish him well.The climate here is torrid—30degrees every day and 80% humidity—and we are all talking air conditioners—here in the land of abbreviations—air cons. We started investigating buying one but as our boat is 110V and everything here is 240V we will only be able to use it when we are alongside at a marina. The power draw would prohibit the use at anchor anyway. Our refrigeration was still being worked on—we had 3 people who seem to sit around as one worked on the problem but they seemed to know what was wrong and it would be finished the next morning. The young man Dillon having finished schooling as a mechanical engineer is starting to work in his fathers business and is learning as he goes. They also sold reconditioned air cons for $150, as we were sweating just lifting the tea cup to our lips let alone drinking the hot liquid we decided to get one.Dillon and his wife invited us to the best Thai restaurant in JB for dinner and we had a lovely evening with them reminding us of the intimate moments which come along in our travels.Next morning I went in to the city for a $40 haircut and highlights and did the customs check in and check out. With the air conditioner and working refrigerator we were ready to head north for the three day passage to Port Dickson. They would be long days as there is no wind here at all—if there is any it is a headwind as the Northwest Monsoons have set in. The first day as we left late we only intended clearing the area to anchor for an early start the next day for the first of two 65 mile passages. Current was with us the first day but after anchoring and setting off the next morning it was against us. We kept expecting it to change but it never did so we were forced to burn fuel with both engines on full. We arrived at the fancy marina at Port Dickson just before dark and were happy to be alongside.Most of the rally boats had arrived and we joined a lot of them at the $9 buffet dinner. The bar served $3 beers and the swimming pool was lovely. We got our air con working and enjoyed the luxury of having no plans for several cool days—a rare treat this season!!Catherine who has been crewing on Gavia was leaving to go back to Canada and we enjoyed a farewell dinner on their boat along with Cats Paw.The following morning was an early start for the bus tour to go to Kuala Lumpur—KL—we would go on the tour but stay in the city for two nights rather than come back on the bus.We had an excellent guide and learned more of this multicultural society.As the economy flourishes with oil finds many migrants are coming. It is an obvious destination for Arabic Muslims and although they come with their radical beliefs the locals feel they can control this and will continue to be moderate and tolerant. I sincerely hope they are able to find the balance. Seeing the women totally covered in their chadors in this otherwise open happy society was quite a shock and one hopes assimilation over the next generations will allow the advancement of their female children.Our first stop was at the Batu Caves which is a huge limestone cave formation and is the local Mecca for Hindus. They have built the largest golden statue in the world and you walk up the steps past this into the cave. As seems normal with these Asian religious practices there are various stations and areas of worship. There is lots of colour with many golden idols and brightly coloured flower garlands for sale.We went to the war memorial which commemorated all of the wars the Malays have been involved in. Next was the best viewpoint to see the twin towers which were the tallest in the world but now have been surpassed by one in Dubai and one in Korea—how high can one go??The Sultans palace with ceremonial guards on horses and on foot and then the old cricket club were reminiscent of the colonial past.We also went to the huge Buddhist temple and found the animals of our birth year. Ken is the year of the tiger—with a Leo in our astrological calendar how can he not be aggressive!!—my dog was a particularly ugly dog which was sad as I had been happy to be a spaniel or lab. The bus tour now deposited everyone to one mall amongst eight other malls where we could have lunch.We left the rally here and along with Cats Paw got a taxi to the Classic Inn which turned out to be a great choice at $45 a night and was close to everything. With Barry and Ann we caught the train to Chinatown for the evening—as in all big Asian cities the metro train system is fast cheap and efficient. We wandered through the night market being bombarded with offers to buy knock off watches and designer purses and bags. Ann and I were tempted with a Prada bag which we felt we could get for about $30 each and discussed getting one after we had eaten. Ken of course was looking at watches, how many can you have?The vendors were not as high pressure salesmen as we had had in other countries and all had a smile on their faces—perhaps they are better off financially than elsewhere?As we were looking for somewhere to eat a smiley young man was trying to sell us DVD’s. When we said we were looking for a restaurant he pointed out one and he said he would be waiting for us afterwards. As we sat enjoying our dinner he popped in to see that we had not escaped! The dinner was great and as we left he was waiting for us and we all bought yet more DVD’s to while away our passages. We decided to forgo the handbags as they all had metal fastenings which we suspect in our marine environment would rust, we assume the quality of metal would be poor.A nightcap was had at a nearby hotel finishing our day in style.The next day Ken and I went back to Chinatown where I was offered the same bag at a starting price of $20 from a different vendor—wow, am I glad we didn’t buy last night!! I suspect that the night market attracts more tourists and therefore higher prices.We walked to the Central Market which was more Indian than Chinese with a wonderful array of Pashmina shawls amongst lots of other imported items. We had a great lunch there having our best Laksa yet. That is the Malay answer to the Asian soup meals and is spicy with noodles, tofu, prawns and squid. Ken had Cop Out embroidered on his Sail Indonesia shirt for $2 and we had to join all the tourists dipping our feet in a pool of cleaner fish. This is a common practice here and for $1 50 you get to sit while these fish eat all of the dead cells from your feet for 10 minutes. Initially they tickled badly and everyone would quickly pull their feet out with a squeal but once you got used to it it was quite nice. The lady was very smart to only charge $1 50 as everyone would try for that and she had a constant tourist business going every time we passed by.It was a public holiday and all of the locals were sitting around a small lake surrounded by shopping malls in the Petrona Towers. We did not go up in the tower as you would have to line up at 5am to get a ticket. At that time of morning it did not seem that important.The mall here as would be expected was full of the real Prada, Guess and other brand name products. Guards standing outside the stores attested to the prices inside and some of them were locked only to be unlocked if you looked like a prospective buyer rather than a robber!!I found a great pottery shop where I bought a mug and will keep some of the ideas for my future pottery business.We made our way, walking—Asians do not walk and when we ask directions for anywhere they say it is too far and we should either take a taxi or the metro. We ended up at the fancy tourist information centre which had been a headquarters in the tin mining industry and was a grand old building. Chocolate was sold there—they grow cocoa and have recently decided to enlist the help of the Europeans to make chocolate here with wonderful results—yummmm!!!That evening we had booked a buffet dinner with a traditional dance show which was a little cheesy but had not cost us much. We have the feeling they have left much of their original culture behind and are more into the 21st century than in the past.We made our way back to our hotel and packed for an early start so I could make a dentist appointment on the other side of the city.We got there in time for the appointment only to find the NZ trained dentist I had been referred to had been called to an emergency and we should come back in an hour. The area was very nice and was obviously a centre for expatriates. As we walked a young well dressed Indian mother was taking her daughters to kindy wheeling their Barbie bags—could have been anywhere in our world. The mall which by Asian standards was small had a lot of mid price brand name stores. I got some Rockport shoes at a similar price to that in Calgary. The grocery store was full of imported cheeses, deli products and meats. Unfortunately we were faced with several hours to get back to the boat in the tropical heat so had to forgo most of those luxuries.After the dental appointment we had lunch at a Tapas bar which was very European and then walked back to the station to get the train which would take us out of the city and we would catch a bus to Port Dickson.Our favourable impression of KL transit vanished when 2 trains were cancelled. We waited 30 minutes more and a small train arrived which we were able to push our way onto. It felt like the clips we had seen from Tokyo where they push you in to fit as many on as they could. We had an hour standing on the train—many had not got on so we were thankful for small mercies. When we got off we all herded ourselves the 200 metres to the bus stop to catch our bus. It was trying to cope with the full train and we were not able to get on the first one. Luckily we were at the front for the next one 15 minutes later and were able to get a seat for the hour bus ride. Finally we got a taxi and 3 hours after leaving KL were back at the boat. The cost was amazing---$2 for the first hour train trip, $1 30 for the bus and $3 for the 20minute taxi ride.We arrived back to find a lot of the boats had left and the rest were planning to leave in the morning. We would have to wait until the office opened at 9am so would not get as early a start as we would have liked.We got away shortly after 9 and had a favourable current to do the 60 miles to an anchorage for our first night.Next morning were up and left early with the current for the next 60 miles joining a number of boats anchoring up a river. We would leave from here early in the morning for the 25 mile trip to Pankor Marina.I am writing this on our last day and indeed we have a great current and are doing 8.3 knots with a 2 knot current in our favour. We will arrive by lunch time and be ready for tonight’s Government dinner.We will be happy to finally get there; we have one long day after this to Penang and one long day to Langkawi where we are booked for 2 months. The 450 mile trip up the coast has been a slog with hours of tedious motoring.

Passing yet more tankers as we travel to Malaysia

2011-10-30T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hindu Temple

2011-10-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

Little India

2011-10-30T03:33:00.000-07:00

Deepavali, Festival of Lights

2011-10-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

Singapore opulance

2011-10-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

More cityscapes

2011-10-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

Long Bar, Raffles Hotel

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Little India

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Night Scenes

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Mister Raffles would be amazed

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Bhuddist Temple

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Chinatown

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Immigration

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Singapore Skyline

2011-10-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

Us and them

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Singapore Straits

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Water Spout--to be avoided!!!

2011-10-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

Singapore

2011-10-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

Our first night we came across a “city” of fishing vessels and carefully made our way over long lines of bouys marking nets. We had no option other than to go over them but they seemed to be weighted allowing us to safely motor through.We continued with Green Ghost and Caminta, the Canadian boats who were coming to One 15 Marina with us up the eastern side of Batam. We anchored that night in a small bay and would cross the notorious Singapore Strait the next day.The monsoons are setting in and we are now getting showers and spotted a water spout not far from the boat—time to move on!!!We left again at dawn making our way past Batam. It looked very industrial and although when we googled it they promoted their thriving tourist market and great snorkeling. After where we had been in Indonesia I think I would pass on Batam.We approached the Strait with trepidation, it is the busiest Strait in the world and unlike Panama where we would be going with the traffic we needed to cross the 1.7 miles perpendicular to the traffic. There is a boat at least every 12 minutes and there are two lanes of traffic in opposite directions. It is impossible to convey the size of these massive boats which were as far as we could see in all directions. Our radar had so many purple lines—detected objects—it was mind boggling.We had been listening to the radio and realized that unlike our perception of tankers all knowing what they were doing in an orderly manner, it is chaotic. Vessels were calling each other saying they were on a collision course, others arguing whether they should go port to port or starboard to starboard as they passed. Others were complaining that vessels were anchoring too close and they should pull up their anchors and move. It is a huge effort to pull and reset their anchors and there was much arguing about this. Some colourful language on the radio can not even be repeated on this blog!!! One vessel having been requested for a port to port passing said that he was anchored and the other vessel said OK but let’s pass port to port and hold your course—the response was “I am anchored”. Almost all of the captains on the radio were Asians or Indians who generally seem to be excitable so it was pretty crazy. We need to keep our radio on in case we are being hailed but the constant chatter was tiring. We no longer think that as we are passed by a huge tanker they know what they are doing.We intended crossing at the narrowest spot and as we approached Green Ghost and Caminata threw up their sails and with their motors going took off after one huge tanker had gone past. We decided against the sails as we may have to stop or change course once we had passed through the first lane. We followed after the next boat and were able to go straight across without stopping. As we passed behind the huge tanker the wake from the engines tossed us around—although you want to pass close to the stern of the passing ship you have to be clear of the turbulence made by these huge vessels. Meanwhile we watched as Green Ghost went into irons (stalled their sails) in the middle but Caminata thought he could make it—wrong!!!!! He got the 5 toots from a huge LPG tanker he was intending going in front of telling him to stop!! He did this quickly and soon we were all safely across.The skyline of Singapore had become clear and it was very exciting to think we had finally sailed as far as and into Singapore—how cool is that!!!!We now entered the immigration anchorage where you need to take your boat and sit until the boat comes out and passes a fish net for you to put your passports in. They take them to their boat, process them and pass them back to you in the fish net. It is all very exciting and now that we are safely across the Strait we can relax and enjoy our entry.We went the short distance to the marina on the fancy Sentosa Island which has an MGM studio and other “American style” tourist attractions.The marina is very fancy and surrounded by high rises and many multi million dollar boats.There are restaurant, bars, a great pool, gym and a shuttle bus every 30 minutes to the MRT—underground to town. It is 7 minutes in the bus and the same in the train so we are close to everything.We celebrated with the other boats with cappuccinos, gelatos and other high class fare.The following morning we set off to become tourists in this great city.Like Hong Kong we bought a card with credit to use on the buses and MRT and picked Chinatown as our first stop.As we came up from the underground intending to pick a restaurant for lunch the skies opened and torrential rain poured down—as only tropical rain can do!!!!We rethought our plan of finding a good restaurant and escaped into the nearest one.In reviewing the menu we thought the $5 price tag on most items would mean they would be fairly small—wrong!! As we waited out the rain we slowly waded through the huge amount of delicious food we had ordered.The skies cleared and we walked to the huge Buddhist temple which has a tooth relic reputed to be the tooth of a Buddha. People have donated 450kg of gold to surround it. In Asia and India real gold is highly valued so when they decorate it is all solid and no plating is used.In other areas of the temple incense was burning, and chanting and praying was happening all around us.I was struck once again with the similarities of human religions—the Muslim call to prayer, the Gregorian Chants and now this Buddhist chanting all resonate with the same sounds. Hands in prayer are all common and prostrating oneself also.We wandered through Chinatown stopping to watch a Chinese play in a nearby park. We could not understand the words but it appeared to be the Chinese adaptation of a Romeo and Juliet story and was to end in tragedy.Men were gathered playing a type of checkers with money passing hands after each game.Our next stop was the Asian Civilization Museum where we intended a short stop. This turned out to be an amazing museum covering firstly, the history of Singapore, and then most neighbouring Asian countries. We were impressed by the carvings, weavings, ceramics and other artistic endeavors practiced in Asia for many centuries. You quickly come to the realisation that our claims of discovering the eastern world are very far off the mark---they were very sophisticated and trading was happening long before we even dreamt they existed.As the day closed the lights came on and this vibrant city continued to thrive into the night.Next day we met Barry and Ann from Cats Paw IV and wandered around Little India. This is one of the areas in Singapore which has not been “renewed” as much of Singapore has. It was at the height of festivities for Deepavali, Festival of Lights. This is the equivalent in the Hindu religion to Xmas and the manic shopping for brightly coloured decorations attested to this. The air was fragrant with brightly coloured garlands of flowers perfuming the air. Added to this was the noise and chaos expected in Calcutta and it was quite an overwhelming place.Gold jewellery was in high demand, this is kept as a sign of wealth and worn and passed on through generations.The noon downpour once again forced us into a restaurant nearby. This was “The Banana Leaf” where we were given a portion of a banana leaf which we took to be our place mat but subsequently found it was our plate. The food was great and cheap but we are reminded that beer doubles the price of your lunch.After lunch the rain abated and we ventured further into Little India stopping at a tailor where Ann got a great top and Ken resisted a tailored shirt—casual t-shirts are more out lifestyle now!!Next stop was at the Long Bar in the infamous Raffles Hotel to enjoy the $26 Singapore Slings which were invented here.Ken, Ann and I ordered an original Sling but Barry went for a beer, when we got the bill he realized he had been charged for the atmosphere as it was $20!!As Barry was still suffering from his infection in his foot they returned to their boat and Ken and I continued to wander the modern area along the river banks nearby. They had been holding the Asia canoe championships and it was lovely to see these great athletes effortlessly glide through the water.We made our way to the helix bridge which led to yet one more massive shopping mall—Singapore has more of these than one could ever imagine. This one had an ice skating rink where for $10 you could rent skates and join the Asians teetering about on the ice for an hour.The mall was one of the most opulent with mannequins wearing gorgeous dresses which had been worn by movie actresses at various film festivals.Most famous “house brands” were here and the windows were resplendent in glitz and glitter.As we neared the huge structure of three separate tall towers linked together on top with a boat like object which apparently has gardens, parks, restaurants and bars on it. We were too late to go up but will at a later date.We spent several days doing necessary chores and taking advantage of the pool and nearby supermarket where we were able to get whole wheat bread, fresh milk and healthy cereal—what a treat after Indonesia!!A day was spent looking at electronics at the Sim Lim Centre and Sim Lim Square—each building having 5 stories of overwhelming amounts of all things electronic!!We bought a camera which will go to 12 metres underwater so will double as an extra camera and also a snorkeling camera.We bought a 5 metre ribbon of LED lights which we can attach to our existing light in the cockpit to “brighten our lives”. When we hooked it up it was so bright that we felt we could be running a disco—or as the Asians do buy one of the many microphones there for sale and have a karaoke bar!! We may cut some off and dull it down a bit.We got an extra metre to add to my galley lights so will see if it helps there as well. We had priced similar light strips in NZ but it was a lot more expensive than the $40 for 5 metres we paid here.We joined Green Ghost and another British boat and went down to Little India to see the lights for the last day of Deepavali and eat Indian food.The streets were lit with decorative lights and as we wandered around were told of a great restaurant by a local Indian couple. This turned out to be great advice and we had a wonderful meal.Afterwards we wandered the busy street life enjoying the “life after dark”. You can buy almost anything here and one of the men who had a broken sandal paid $3 for a new pair—even if it only lasts till dawn it is a deal!!I went into a Hindu temple where people were praying, making offerings and involved in other rituals which I did not understand. It felt typically Indian, in which order did not seem the priority and different things were happening in various areas but I was impressed by the obvious faith of the people.The next day was to be our last in Singapore so we took our paperwork to customs to clear out, went back to Sim Lim square where Ken bought a clamp multi metre to test batteries, our old one was not working any longer.Early next morning we ventured out to the immigration anchorage again where our passports were stamped with exit stamps.We had waited for a “round the world” racing super yacht to clear in and were amused as they took off at a fast pace after clearance heading in to the marina. They obviously did not check the sand bar on their charts and suddenly they were aground tilted over at an odd angle!!! They were able to slowly work themselves off but it was a lesson that you do not become complacent until you are actually tied alongside!!Our 30 mile trip around the west coast of Singapore, did not involve crossing the Strait, and we would end up at Danga Bay on the Malaysian side of the river which separates the two countries.The Singapore side was lined with border patrol boats and signs advising to keep clear of the “live fire” areas. Malaysia, on the other hand does not seem to have the same concerns as there were no signs on their side. I assume the illegal immigration only goes one way!!We caught a favourable current and arrived in Malaysia at noon ready for the next chapter in our ongoing adventure.

Crossing back to the Northern Hemishpere

2011-10-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Special friends and Auld Langsyne together

2011-10-19T17:15:00.000-07:00