Saturday, April 21, 2012
Penang once again
We arrived outside Tanjung City marina to make the decision whether to tie up in the marina or should we go south and anchor in the Jerejak anchorage we had been at last year.
The location of the city marina is amazing but we had heard horror stories of currents and ferry wash creating hazards to boats. It seemed pretty benign and when we saw several boats we knew already tied up we made the decision to come in.
With many hands waiting to help us tie up it was easy and once you are secured in the berth the ferry wash was negligible.
The marina is silting and many of the berths are now too shallow to use. Apparently new owners are going to put a breakwater around the marina which will lend it to being one of the prime marinas in Malaysia.
One of our first chores was to find someone to heat seal a seam on our bimini and we were happy to find a great company who did it in a day. Other boats were having anchor chain re galvanised also in a day and it appeared that in this city where most of the businesses are run by Chinese the Malay phrase of “no can do” is unheard of.
We had explored most of the heritage sites when we were here last so took the time to get the feel of life in Penang.
We loved the city and the mix of Chinese, Malay and Indian provides a great atmosphere. English is spoken widely and everyone was incredibly helpful. Once again we were struck by the amazing tolerance of religions.
Everything happens right in the city and it is alive with people drying fish and other odd things on the so called “sidewalk”—these are really places to dry things, store motor bikes, chairs and enlarge store space forcing you to walk on the road—the case in most places we travel anyway.
The smell of curry’s and flowers in Little India contrasting with the drying fish in the Chinese areas was exotic.
We spent a lot of time rummaging around the little stores which are very narrow but deep and are piled with an amazing assortment of goods. You can have anything fixed and anything ordered and here in a day. Ken found someone to rewind his eyelets on his fishing rod for $4 each but when he needed to have a new clasp on his gold chain the only gold available here is 22 carat and was $60!! The Indians are the gold merchants and all of their wealth is kept in this way—ours is kept in a boat—hmm perhaps we should have picked gold.
Penang is renowned for food and we ate out most days—local Malay dishes are tasty and are around $1-$2 each. Street food is everywhere and it appears most people do not cook.
We joined Janet and Geoffrey off Pegasus who we have known for many years for several dinners. The night market allowed us to have sate, duck, sushi and waffles and ice cream for dessert and another evening was spent at a great Indian restaurant.
The surrounding areas have modern shopping malls and supermarkets stocking everything one may want—once again we were buying ham and bacon in the “non halal” area at one end of the store where you pay for your purchases and have them wrapped and sealed there to ensure no contamination of the halal products elsewhere.
Sadly once again it was time to move on and we paid our 5 day bill of $55 at the marina which included power and water and headed off south in the Straits of Malacca for the two days it will take us to get to Pangkor where we will join the East Malaysia Rally.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Rebak Marina with Kristen and family
We settled into Rebak once to await the arrival of Kristen, Kyle, Adelyn and Grayson—complete with fridge door.
It was lovely to see them all again and we got them all back to the boat for a quick swim at the pool to acclimatise them to the tropical temperatures.
Next morning Kristen and I rented a car from Mr Din to stock up with food for their visit. It was fun to once again marvel at the exotic location we were in through fresh eyes. After this many years of cruising we tend to accept our surrounds with a somewhat blasé and sometimes impatient attitude. Visitors make us stop and see where we have been lucky enough to have sailed to and the new cultures we are exposed to.
First stop was the market to get a fresh chicken—unlike in other parts of the world this is already dead and plucked, I have him remove and keep the legs and neck. I have discovered the vendor who will give me ice to pack it in so added some fresh squid to the cooler bag. Woops—shortly after had black squid ink running down the back of my once clean white pants!! It is so hot here that the solution is to grab one of the market hoses and hose myself off—it will be dry in no time and the now grey stain will no doubt be added to in the course of the day—I am not sure why one is always attracted to white pants in the tropics.
We bought more exotic tropical fruit and vegs and then made our way to get new phone and internet cards—after 2 months in Thailand for some reason ours no longer worked. The phone cards were replaced but the internet one was impossible because the system was down—such are the frustrations of this life. After a quick lunch of prawns and noodles we headed back to Rebak to join the family for yet one more swim.
Kristen and Kyle who had advised us that neither of them ever drank hard liquor were now introduced to frozen marguerites at the happy hour bar for $3 each. At the end of yet one more hot day they have become a daily staple—Kristen was even heard to ask how much it would be if we did not wait till 6pm for happy hour!!! I see more in her future!!
The next day we rented a van to go up in the gondola which has the steepest rise in the world and Kristen –my brave daughter who used top hang off rock walls had to hide her eyes—where did that come from??
The kids had an elephant ride and rewarded the elephant with bananas which was fun.
We had befriended a couple from Norway and shared a number of dinners at the Hard Dock Café—the cheap yachtie bar—and many happy hours with them so we invited them to join us for a family day. We toured the island ending up at Bird Paradise where the kids loved feeding the various birds and animals. We had discovered it on Dave’s visit and as his children loved it we have made it a staple visit for small people.
Adelyn and Grayson became prime attractions everywhere and were photographed and cuddled by both locals and tourists. Many tourists are from Arabic countries and along with the Malays are very dark, they were in awe of the bright blue eyes both of the children have.
Grayson became the favourite at the pool of several of the pool boys who were happy to kick a soccer ball with him for as long as he wanted much to his delight. He also discovered despite not being able to swim that he could jump in and touch the bottom—it was a little unnerving not to pull him up after he seemed to be down their forever. We all spent many hours at the pool.
The tourists at the resort are multicultural. Many are Arabs on their honeymoons—ranging from women with their faces totally covered while their husbands are in shorts and baseball caps to those from more liberal countries whose women are even able to swim in a bathing suit at the pool. The remainder are mostly from Europe and a surprising number from Russia.
Kristen and Kyle took a couple of days and went by ferry to Penang where they had a great time and we loved having the kids on our own.
Our Norwegian friends generously invited Ken and I to join them at the lovely romantic cabana over the water where we had our own special dinner complete with our own waiter.
Sadly all things come to an end and it was time for one last swim before taking the family back to the airport for their long journey back to NZ. They had a wonderful holiday and of course we had loved having them with us. Rebak had once again proved to be the perfect location for small children to visit us. On their way home they had a day in Kuala Lumpur which is one of our favourite cities. Much to Ken’s disgust they did not buy a Rolex watch but Adelyn was brave enough to do the “fishy hand” thing if not the “fishy feet”.
After they had left it was time for us to clean up and stock up yet once again and ready ourselves for the next chapter in our journey.
We are now on our way to Penang, a 2 day sail where we will have a couple of days before heading to Pangkor to join the rally to East Malaysia.
We will take a few days as we round the south of Malaysia at Singapore where my friend Deb—Artables—will join us for a few days---instructions to bring maple syrup so far—but who knows what else by then!!
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