Sydney Climate

After a 60-day break, Sydney has finally reached 30 degrees, ending the longest summer run below 30 since 1996/97. In that summer there were 61 consecutive days below 30 degrees.

Advertisement: Story continues below

The record number of consecutive summer days below 30 degrees is 90, set in 1952/53. During that summer, not one day reached 30 degrees.

It was at 10.30am today when the city reached 30 degrees for the first time since spring. By 12.30pm it had got to 32 degrees, six above average.

The western suburbs took a bit longer to reach 30 today. Penrith still had not done so by midday. Regardless, nearly all the western suburbs have already reached 30 degrees this summer.

"This is consistent with being in a La Nina, when easterly winds are more dominant and there is more cloud cover than normal.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/sydney-finally-cracks-30-degrees-20120130-1qp69.html#ixzz1l1x3kkPN

Singapore yet more.....The Botanical Gardens

a day soon passes as you wander about these gardens, it's hard to imagine that you are so close to Orchard Road when you are surrounded by such quiet and space.Whilst Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping street where over 2000 brands compete with each other to take your money from your pockets the Botanical Gardens succeeds in filling your soul with sights,sounds and smells.Beautiful orchids,vibrant heliconias and verdant greenery all for free.Well not exactly you have to pay to go and see the orchids.

It was also a site for the congregation of decorated baby elephants statues that had been spread around the city in an attempt to bring attention to the plight of the Asian elephant  .www.elephantparade.com/elephants
Maureen quite liked the one sponsored by Ricky Gervais, I liked the Theatrical one and one called Seigfried by an artist called Andre Tempel.
One or two I found just to be a flight of personal fantasy or something that said more about the artist than the elephant in danger,the Unicephalant description tag was more about the artist Philip Treacy's own artistic development.

Elephants in Thailand are threatened by a growing interest in eating them !

who's a little devil

the Dorian elephant

Siegfreid

Unicephalent by Philip Treacy 

Whilst the foundation is not a charity it does claim to have donated 4 million euros to the welfare of the Asian elephant which has seen its population decline by 90% as the conflict between man and elephant has grown.I am sometimes worried about whether this type activity is more for the benefit of the organisation etc than the animal concerned.I was amazed by the relative frenzy of buying opportunities to get copies of small statues of the exhibits and the assorted paraphenalia.A well marketed event. Just hope people take notice of the effects our craving for growth etc is having on the natural world.

Singapore continues v.2 The Impregnable Fortress

Singapore's MRT system is really the best way to get around the city.We used it to take us to the Harbour Centre which serves all the incoming cruise ships and is also the gateway to Sentosa Island which is a theme park & casino complex.The Villa tie in here is strong because the Casino company Genting is the shirt sponsor.

The island is also the site of Fort Siloso which was a key installation in the defence of Singapore in 1942.This year sees the seventieth anniversary of its fall to the Japanese.By the end of January 1942 all British Empire troops had withdrawn from the Malay peninsular to the island, on February 8th the Japanese had landed in the North West of the island and within 6 days they were on the outskirts of the city of Singapore.Various delaying tactics were used to prevent the Japanese as units were reorganised but to no avail.

This shows the defence set up prior to attack by Japanese, the 12 gun batteries and airfields, www.fortsiloso.com

The Japanese surrender delegation, General Yamashita is seated second  left

The Signing of the British Surrender

By February 14 the Japanese were in control of the pumping stations and the reservoirs and the Allied troops in virtual disarray, hospitals were overcrowded and the fighting was intense.On the 15th February the British commander General Percival called for a ceasefire which the Japanese then bluffed into a full surrender.

More than 100000 British Empire troops had been defeated by a smaller force of 30,000 Japanese a defeat  Sir Winston Churchill described as the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history.What tends to get overlooked is that Churchill as chancellor of Exchequer was responsible for reducing the defence budget allocated to Singapore.The air defence consisted of just 5 squadrons of aged fighters down from 8 when the recognised number was 12.There is a myth that the guns could only fire out to sea at a seaborne enemy and therefore unable to fire upon a northern land attack.The real problem was that they had the wrong type of explosive ammunition they only had Armour piercing shells which are great against warships but have very little effect on personnel where High Explosive is more effective.


My attack on Singapore was a bluff – a bluff that worked. I had 30,000 men and was outnumbered more than three to one. I knew that if I had to fight for long for Singapore, I would be beaten. That is why the surrender had to be at once. I was very frightened all the time that the British would discover our numerical weakness and lack of supplies and force me into disastrous street fighting.

– Tomoyuki Yamashita _{Shores 1992, p. 383.}

The fighting ceased but the troubles were only just starting for the survivors as the Japanese took control.

Sydney Celebrations

Sydney has been gearing up for it's famous party....some say it is for Australia Day but others in the know....realise it's for a more important celebration....the visit of Maureen for her silver jubilee!!! So far we have witnessed a variety of events

The Silver Jubilee ice cream tasting

The Silver Jubilee Beer Festival

The Cocktail Ceremony

And Silver Jubilee Flower Display


Other activities are planned in the coming days  and thanks to all our blog sponsors no animals will be harmed and the public purse will not be called upon

Singapore continues v.1

Returning to our travels........rather than travails

Walking through the Padang we passed the Cenotaph which commemorated the men from the region who died in the WW1 on the front and those from WW2 on the reverse.Following the recapture of Singapore from the Japanese in 1945 it was rededicated by Lord Mountbatten who was part of the original commemoration party of Prince Edward in 1922.

We are able to see from this area an amazing hotel complex of three skyscrapers with a ship on top of the three of them!  The skypark ontop can hold 3900 people and has 150m infinity swimming pool which would probably give me the sreaming hebijeebies with the thoughts of just swimming over the edge.The idea comes from decks of cards and is of course a giant casino complex originally due for  Las Vegas but due to the economic downturn in 2009 in the USA the design got used here where there are no such problems....believe me.The grand opening was on February 17 2011 with 7 celebrity chef restaurants in the complex.  Awesome!The white flower structure in front is the Art Science complex which also doubles up as a wedding fascinator for Maureen's next wedding occasion.
                                      www.marinabaysands.com

The marina is a great place to walk around especially in the evening ,they also have the Float at Marina Bay, also known as Marina Bay Floating Platform, it is the world's largest floating stage,located on the waters of the Marina Reservoir, in Marina Bay, 

Made entirely of steel, the floating platform on Marina Bay measures 120 metres long and 83 metres wide, the platform can bear up to 1,070 tonnes, equivalent to the total weight of 9,000 people, 200 tonnes of stage props and three 30-tonne military vehicles. The gallery at the stadium has a seating capacity of 30,000 people. 

Coogee Cock up update

I appealed for clemency in the issue of the parking infringement for being an ugly parker.

I spoke to a very polite though adamant lady in the State Debt Recovery office who listened to me but said No. However I do have the right of a written appeal which subsequently went in ...when I get rattled about something I do tend to get a bit of a........fill in the appropriate word that comes to mind when you think of me.....on. So off it went and by Friday close of work here I had heard nothing, so who knows....no news is good news?.. or...no chance the wheels of bureaucracy grind tirelessly slow? Just as well it was Sydney and not Singapore heh!

At least it hasn't interfered with plans for Maureen's 60th birthday celebrations...we will be going to the Sydney Opera House for a Soiree.....hey who said this wasn't going to be a birthday to remember!!

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/la_soiree.aspx?gclid=CJLy8_OR3q0CFSdKpgodCwIMmA

Singapore continues

We ventured into the city by bus after fathoming out the intricacies of the ticketing process.They have a system where there is integrated pricing between the buses and underground, known here as the MRT Using an individual refillable electronic tap card  you just jump on and off remembering to tap the card both on entrance and exiting. Nevertheless we bought the single ticket variety which involves paying a refundable $1 deposit on the ticket.This cuts down on paper usage and so long as travelling out of peak time didn't cause too much hassle at the ticket machine...in fact we became proficient at obtaining tickets and refunds as a team activity.

We spent our afternoon walking around Clarke Quay, lying near the mouth of the Singapore River it was the heart of 19th century commercial activity in Singapore as it became more and more important in East West trade.Today it is a sanitised version of the shophouses that we saw in Penang with an array of Chinese and international eateries.

Now I had better say something about my diet which now has had by necessity to include a fair amount of rice in it.Rice had previously been confined to the lower parts of a menu and usually served with cream and perhaps a dollop of strawberry jam but I am changing...see trying to take in the culture and all that.    ps my waistline has trimmed too but I still look as if I'm pregnant with man boobs!!

We walked past St Andrews cathedral onto the playing fields associated with the Singapore Recreation Club on the Pedang established in 1883 by 30 members from the Eurasian community.where amongst other things they hold regular Tombola nights.     Mmm must check out whether they are CIU affiliated..then again probably not.

Right from the very start Singapore has been a controlled society, its modern founder Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles instructed the first Resident, William Farquhar to reserve an open space for public use only to find on his return some 3 years later amongst other things the encroachment of the mercantile community.He immediately revoked his permissions ,blocked new building and set up a committee to oversee his planned development of the city. Just think if he hadn't done this Singapore might just be a watered down version of the rest of Malysia or Thailand.

Coogee Cock Up

No not a song from Brotherhood of Man or a type of parakeet....I got my first ever parking ticket today in a place called Coogee.We had picked Vicky up after work and went to see the southern beaches and Coogee was great until we got back to the car to discover that just 2 minutes earlier we had been booked for parking inwards and not outwards. I asked the guy and he pointed to the other side of a telegraph pole where the condition was stated.We had looked at the confusing signs that litter the place and thought we were fine to stay there....yes you are it seems so long as you do it prettily.Anyway that's £60 that won't be finding it's way into the local  private economy of Coogee. Shame really it spoiled what had been a delightful day.

Singapore

This one is specially  for David...sort of sums up what Singapore is about

Singapore is the place we all know as the place where there is the death penalty for dropping chewing gum in the street or some equally ridiculous statement!

It is a very controlled place that gave me a 'Stepford' feel about it but I have to admit we liked it.Does that say something about us as we get older but this is no old person's hangout....it has not a buzz more of a well oiled purrr and the oil is money...loads of it.

No litter....no graffiti....no drunks....no tramps... no noisy people just polite kids who stand up and give you their seat on spotless trains etc.All the things you don't like, well they are not here and the stuff you do like and crave is!

My memories of Singapore as a kid were that it wasn't one of our high points during the conflict of the Second World War and I wanted to see if this was true.

Allan Colwill had told me that it was the best place to get a  first taste of Asia, well sorry Allan we did it the wrong way around.I thought of comparing the three countries we had been to and I came up with my own grading system based on the wildlife we have encountered during our visits.

Thailand is the rat.....Malaysia is the cockroach.................and Singapore the ant.

Now don't get the wrong idea and think these places are related to the animal but rather the level of comfort/discomfort met is reflected by the relative size of the animal concerned, plus the fact that on the last night in Chumphon on the railway station , encountering a rat, which admittedly was prompt chased away by a cat, we adjourned to the VIP room.I came across a cockroach in Penang as I was attempting to follow the Villa Chelsea match.We saw some ants in Singapore......(before they were quickly swept away......no only kidding). Just a very poor attempt at trying to compare the differing locations that's all.

The transfer from the Changi airport to where we were staying was seamless and smooth.
Full marks to AirAsia for their part in that however we did have difficulty getting into the apartment we were renting through Wimdu.I had not heard from the owner since receiving an acceptance message via their messaging system back in October.So whilst in Langkawi I contacted their customer service department to check if all was OK and I got a message saying that all was confirmed.So when we arrived at the building and there was no one to meet us with a key I started to worry....was it a scam?.

The apartment block was gated with a guard house.....of course what would you expect it's Singapore but he wasn't there as he was off to his lunch.After speaking to a few of the residents I reached into the guardroom to use his phone to call the owner, David, who didn't speak very clear English. This, combined with the radio in the box jabbering on in Chinese,  wasn't a good thing to be doing when the guard returned wondering who I was and what I was doing on his phone!
I wondered what the sentence for missuse of another's phone was in Singapore....hopefully just being locked up in Changi jail was the least they would throw at me.I shoved  the phone into his hand and said can you speak to him and find out how we get the key?  Hey I thought this trip was going too smoothly.He said in red box by door of 02-05 so off I went thinking wow this is something exciting for my correspondents to hear about and guess what ......no redbox....so back down to the guardhouse where the guard was now in uniform...( now to digress but I have noticed that since we have been in Asia there is a uniform fettish...not everyone has one,a fettish that is ...rather that they do like their uniforms, hats and all the other accoutrements that go with it.)....He spoke to David and then came back upto the second floor using the lift not the stairs, which sort of explains why I was getting rather heated.Well he too couldn't find a red box but having opened up a variety of cupboards found a red nike box ...with a key in it...and in true fairy tale style it fitted and we were in!Slaps on backs all round and with a huge sigh of relief as the thoughts of spending our stay in Changi Jail receded I went back to collect Maureen who was sat by the pool with the cases.

I wonder if this made the news on Singapore TV that night, probably right after the bit about the latest chewing gum execution , I should imagine ?

Manly mainly

Just got back having dropped Vicky and Gianni off after a superb weekend.....Sunday Roast Lamb ..simply the best along with freshly made mint sauce from the garden of our lovely home from home.

That also included getting lost in central Sydney and with the Harbour Bridge closed for repairs over 3 weekends and would you believe getting breathalysed in one of the random stop and checks...no alcohol consumed so the bottle of Leffe Veille Cuvee was well enjoyed on our return!!

Langkawi continues part 2

The Seven Wells Waterfall as viewed from the cable car

The journey paused at the mid station where we got out to see the most fantastic views of the island, just like flying over it so despite my moanings about the cost and the wait it really was worth it so I guess Maureen was right!!

Actually I was trying to nestle between the 2 bosoms!

We also took the opportunity to walk along the skybridge the photo of which Maureen has already posted on facebook.After some initial reluctance we moved along the middle of the bridge not knowing if it would sway or wobble but no such problems...except for getting too close to the viewing rails where the drop became very apparent and I needed to lean back and hold on to the rail to maintain my stoic British calm.....oh yeah!

Whilst looking down I noticed a bird sweeping along on some thermals and as it rose toward the height of the bridge it was an eagle which continued to sweep and soar...magical moment.I lost all concerns about the bridge as I was fascinated by watching this FREE show! Langkawi is also known as Eagle island and in some parts they actually put on a show of feeding these sea eagles for the tourists on boats so they get them swooping down around you by chucking chickens feet etc into the sea

There is an eagle there...truly

We then got back into the cable car to take us up to the very peak of the island and the views continued to be awesome.Coming back to the base also enabled you to realise that the tops of the trees you saw were in actual fact very, very tall trees.

We rejoined our driver who then took us along the north coast stopping off at a local crafts and arts workshop in a very interesting building that looked as if it might have been a mosque at some time.He dropped us off at the main town of Kuah the main commercial centre of the island and I have never seen so many people in banks they had security guards organising the queueing that I wondered if there was a Northern Rock type problem.

Skybridge at Mid Station

Kuah as indeed the whole of Langkawi is duty free and John Koo had told us that this is the place the Chinese from Penang go to get their cheap booze.He made loads from taking tours over there and utilising non used duty free allowances to buy up whiskey to sell on to  the bars in Penang.He also told us not to buy their duty free cameras etc as they were all more expensive than in KL  ( Kuala Lumpur) or Singapore.We didn't hang around too long here as it was extremely hot and we made our way back to the hotel to spend the last hours on the beach at the Four Points resort.

Four Points Resort beach

We spent the rest of our time on the island relaxing under the umbrella at this beach and swimming.

We had an early morning departure from the airport so we caught a fantastic dawn chorus of insects and birdlife as we walked from the hotel to the airport with our cases.The noise from one tree so deafening it actually drowned any of the noises you associate with an airport.

The flight to Singapore was just over the hour so again a fairly straightforward flight ...no problems with AirAsia other than hearing that QPR are chasing Darren Bent from the Villa after sacking their current manager.AirAsia are their sponsors and I think their owner is the new owner of QPR too.

Sweeping around Singapore before we landed I was amazed to see the amount of shipping anchored around...wondered if it was the Japanese invasion fleet. As we got lower you could tell that a great number were actually empty I wonder if this is normal or a sign of the European economic downturn?

Breaking News

Would you believe it....rain is forecast for the next 7 days....C'mon Oz!!

Langkawi continues (but without photos at the moment)

We visited Cenang beach on the first evening and took in our first real Asian sunset because most of the beaches we had visited were on the eastern coasts and this one did not disappoint us.
First mistake we made was to expect quick service at the beach bar and secondly to expect any alcohol but hey we don't need it do we???

anyway an enjoyable hour was spent watching the jetskis go whizzing past and the sun gradually settling  into the sea eating a passable Malayan sweet & sour chicken(I think it was)....Maureen is getting well impressed with my chopstick handling by the way. And rice too!!

The taxi driver on the way back to the hotel was an avid Arsenal supporter who ran through all their greats of the past few years and had actually heard of Aston Villa.He had opinions on Ashley Young who he reckoned should have stayed there and not gone to Man Ure.Amazing that the real British impact on these people seems not to be leftover post colonial heritage, grumbles and grudges but the blinking Premier League.

The following day we had planned to rent a car and venture around the island but when we arrived at the travel/excursion desk it was not there despite arranging for it the day before.So we rang for a taxi and  Abdul Habib became our driver for the day and we set of for the Langkawi cable car...needless to say the same old issues about charging arose.Now I can understand this in poor countries and would actually approve of it in many instances but these countries aren't full of poor people by any standard so I continue to take umbrage at this discrimination.They also had not opened by the time we got there and the first cars were due to start at 12 so we had an hour or so to kill.The driver suggested some sights that seemed to be of limited interest such as a crocodile farm  so we plumped for the Seven wells  waterfalls which sounded more suitable, so long as there was some water and they had had some rain before we arrived so fingers crossed and off we went.

After an initial climb which reminded us both of the climb to St Anne's well in Malvern, we turned off the main path right into a group of monkeys which looked quite interested in us hoping perhaps that we had food and other goodies in our backpack.Maureen took no chances and marched briskly through them shooing them away. The falls did have some water but were obviously in need of a boost but nevertheless looked refreshing but the warnings of viruses and bacteria in the water , I suppose due to the monkeys put me off from checking it out especially as I had a few open mozzie bites on my legs.
The sight of plastic and the odd old disposable nappy  in the numerous pools also put me off but some kids were happy to slide down the slippery rocks into some shallow pools whilst their parents looked on .

We were making our way back as the coachloads of Russian tourists made their way to the falls, they are very big and noisy I must say.....not the falls the Russians that is.We have seen very few Americans and when we do they tend to be single or in pairs not the coachloads.

Making our way back to the cable car we discovered that they were already open and the queues were  massive, even just to buy the ticket.If you wanted to you could buy your way to happiness and  the front by paying an extra 50MR about ten pound but as most of you know my feelings about NHS/Private medicine I couldn't bring myself to do it.  Besides I would have had to pay for Maureen too!!!

After an Alton Towers type wait we were loaded into our car that held six passengers but there were only five in with us,a couple from Perth WA and a charming little Chinese girl who was Vietnamese.The car doesn't stop so you have to stand in your groups of six to load and move forward at the appropriate time and away you go lurching at first but then very rapidly picking up speed.I had a very strange thought that the way people loaded themselves into these compartments would be an eminently suitable way of mass culling......just transport them to the top and tip 'em out the other side no fuss whatsoever!!        Note to self...must see shrink if  have more thoughts like this.

news update

We have landed safely in Oz and have met up with Vicky & Gianni and all is great!

More to come

Unfortunately our internet connection is very slow...this picture took 5 minutes to load!

Will write up our Last days in Langkawi and our time in Singapore ASAP but couldn't wait to show this photo..sooo good!!

Langkawi

After an active time in Penang which is a fascinating mix of cultures and heritage we made our way to the airport for a very short flight of less than thirty-thirty five minutes....I know not a very green way to travel but I had heard  the ferry ride can be very rough and the sea and I are not the best of mixtures...I can probably lay claim to be the only person to be seasick on a pedalo!Oh and it cost £2.65
but in true Ryanair fashion there were the add-ons...booking our seat for express loading cost £6 but did mean we got 1A and 1B on both inbound and outbound flights(Impressed with that AC?).We were expecting a Cesna but were pleased with an airbus320.The only flight I've been on when the flight attendants remained seated all flight too.


We had met a guy called John Khoo who was acting as a tour consultant and had arranged a taxi for us to the airport.John was in his sixties and claimed to come from Nottingham!We chatted with him for quite awhile covering his opinions on local government and the various contentious changes that had been made to street names and education etc since independence .
He was also a Khoo clan member and had very interesting opinions on the need for keeping together the geneology for future generations.

Anyway instead of a taxi turning up it was John himself who turned up to take us on a scenic drive to the airport which gave us a view of the whole of the east coast down as far as the airport.A nice man indeed.

Langkawi is an Andaman island , one of 140 such islands , and is considered the Jewel of Kedah, traditionally thought to be cursed, by naming it the jewel it might actually improve tourism to the island and hence the state.

90% of the population are Malay with some Indian and Chinese but certainly not as many as in Penang.

From the air the island really did look very beautiful and on the ground it did not disappoint either.
Our hotel was next to the airport and we actually walked our cases round to the hotel thereby saving on a fortune on taxi fares!!

The hotel which also serves the island's exhibition centre next door had seen better days and was being repainted.The service in it was shall we say uncertain......uncertain if they understood.....how long it would take...whether they had forgotten but hey we were here for some R&R so no worry.

The room over looked the pool and the runway and the airport fire station so no shortage of entertainment then!The firemen seemed to spend most of their time playing football since most planes arrive early and leave late.
Since we were not that close to the beach the hotel has an arrangement with the Four Seasons hotel nearby, with a shuttle bus to use the beach there.Day One there saw us around the the pool and making use of the early happy hour to settle down a couple of rather flat Tiger beers before dinner, which was a rather disappointing affair.

The following morning we caught the 12 o'clock shuttle to the beach....see getting up is still a problem for us but the beach was the best!

Penang Day 2&3 cont

We took a bus from the Komtar which is a complex containing Penang local government admin ,shopping centre and bus station all in one very convenient location.We headed out toward the Penang Hill funicular railway to the high spot of the island.

The view is truly breathtaking but it is a bit of a tourist rip off because you pay around £6 for your trip whilst the locals pay 60p and nowhere is the differential shown in figures at the pricing kiosks, only by reading the entrance charges can you work out that there is this large difference by a proficiency in Malay and having internet.Perhaps I'm being mean but can you imagine a different price for us and visitors to say Shakespeare's birthplace?

The air up here was certainly a few degrees cooler and fresher than the coastal plain.


New Year Day breakfast was taken at..........McDonalds! followed by a walk along the Esplanade back towards Georgetown via the Gurney Plaza shopping Mall where there was a frenzy at Hush Puppies for clothing!

I think I preferred the area around us as the beach area here was absolutely disgusting despite in being prime real estate area.

Penang Day 3 and 4

We are very handily placed in Chinatown in what is a traditional shophouse that has been converted.The Malaysian Chinese population were the immigrants from the southern provinces of China. They were divided into several different clans including the Hakkas, Foochows, Hainanese, Teochius and Cantonese. during the British period in the early 19th Century, 

The traditional Chinese shophouses and terrace houses are the two most popular residential buildings found in many urban areas in the country.

(i)  Shophouse

A shophouse, normally has two or more storeys, is a commercial and private structure. The tenants usually use the first floor for commercial purposes such as sundry shop, light industry or warehouse, and reside in the upper floors. The building is not free standing, rather, it is connected to several other shophouses, which create a shophouse block. This shophouse is repeated to form streets and town squares.Building materials such as brick, plaster, concrete and timber are commonly found in shophouses.Ours even had its own indoor fish pond with koi carp in it

(ii) Terrace House

A typical traditional terrace house has one-storey with a street-level porch in front. Usually, this type of building has big entrance doors with timber bars locked into the door head, metal-bar and louvered-panel windows; and a few openings. The building is often designed in a symmetrical organisation in which the entrance door is located in the middle with windows on both sides. Depending on the tenant's wealth, the terrace house sometimes has glazed tiles at the base of the front walls. Like the shophouse, the terrace house uses brick, plaster, concrete and timber as major materials.

(iii) Religious Building (Buddhist Temple)

Although there are a great number of Chinese embracing Christianity and Islam, the majority are still Buddhists. Like the mosques, the Buddhist temples can be found in villages as well as in small towns and cities. These temples possess significant characteristics which contribute to the Southern Chinese architecture. A typical Buddhist temple will have overhanging eaves made of clay tiles jointed by mortar, ornamented figures of people, angels, flowers or animals located on roof ridges; a big entrance door in the middle, windows of simple geometrical shape; and colourful mosaic tiles.

(iv) Clan or Association Building

Layout of Khoo Kongsi from Penang online

Since the Chinese are divided into several different clans and communities, there are many kinds of Chinese association buildings. These association buildings are intended for social gatherings, ethnic festivals and ceremonial functions. Architecturally, a typical Chinese association building has a one or two storeys, an ornamented clay-tile roof similar to the ones on the Buddhist temples, a big entrance door, a front porch typically large metal bars cover the windows which have both louvered panels and canopies.

The Khoo Kongsi is one of the finest examples of a clan house and was used for shooting some scenes from the recently reworked film Anna & The King which starred Jodie Foster because the Thai government had refused permission for filming in Thailand.

Both these examples are in Canon Street so named because of the barricades and artillery that were drawn up here during the Penang Riots of 1867 when rival clans or secret societies held nine days of street fighting over rival commercial interests.

We spent the morning of New Year's eve within these and all within 100 yards of where we were staying in Armenian Street.

120 Armenian Street was the base that Dr Sun Yat Sen used in the planning of the Cantonese  Spring Uprising of 1911 and is generally regarded as the father of modern China.We didn't get to explore this and would probably be worth a visit for that alone.

Penang Day 2&3

Waking early has been a continuing problem for us as we made our way through Thailand and it looks to be continuing in Malaysia too.Sleeping with aircon means waking up with a dry mouth though.

We walked out on our first night touching Little India with all the noises and smells that go with it.

For the first time we start to see the remains of earlier western influences on the area with the British colonial buildings readily visible in Georgetown.Georgetown has been recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site so much of its best points will be preserved for future generations.

The island has a rich multicultural history full of Malay,Chinese,Indian and European influences.

Georgetown was named after King George the Third in1786 by Captain Francis Light in what looks to have been a bit of sharp buisness with the Sultan of Keddah who received a annual bounty and some defence treaty in return for ceding the island to the British East India Company. Light built a small wooden fort that was eventually replaced by a brick and stone edifice later on some say out of Light's own pocket when he couldn't get the EIC to pay up.This was completed in the early 19 century in around a couple of WEEKS by Indian convict labour.The fort was intended to protect against the Sultan of Kedah, pirates and the French during Napoleonic times but in its entire history was never involved in any battle.

news update

Christchurch has experienced 131 earthquakes in the last 7 days!!!

Penang

Our journey out of Thailand was supposed to start at 22.45 by train from Chumphon down to Hat Yai where we would attempt to buy tickets to take us over the border and into Malaysia.We checked at the station and found that the train would not arrive at Chumphon until 3.30 in the morning.

If only we had known we could have stayed in the hotel room as we had already extended our stay there to 10pm however after spending a restless night on the station in the VIP room....hey who said travelling first class didn't come with some benefits!

The journey was supposed to take us to Hat Yai in around 8 hours where we would have to purchase a ticket to take us on to Butterworth which is the Malaysian mainland station serving Penang. The very helpful ticketing staff at Chumphon extended our ticket through for us subject to an additional fee . Phew that saved us messing around in Hat Yai ,a city of dubious charms that doesn't have many western visitors.It is also on the edge of a region which is undergoing some security issues due to on going ethnic rivalries so the less time spent there the better was my feeling.

There were many trains passing through Chumphon that evening along with the accompanying bells, whistles,alarms and shouting of food sellers, taxi hawkers etc so sleep was of an interrupted nature as the time passed by.Then earlier than anticipated an announcement that train train 35 , the Special express was arriving about half an hour earlier than anticipated so from restless bum numbing dozing we were into a frenzy of trying to find the correct coach, which just happened to be the very last one of the ten making the train.

We were accommodated in upper and lower bunk berths in our own cubicle along with a sink of a very questionable nature and after the attendant had remade the bed from the last occupier who we had happened to pass on the platform, we climbed into our beds.

The gentle rhythmic motion soon helped us to fall off to sleep and surprisingly we slept through till about 8 o'clock when the first sounds of breakfast being called roused us.We eventually arrived at Hat Yai at about 11 in the morning and because the train was separating we had to sprint the length of the station to the first two coaches which were the ones due to go forward!. Relieved to be in the correct seats we were looking forward to completing the rest of the journey however because of the lateness of the train the connection with Malaysian Railways was not made.So after a shorter 60 minute journey to the border station of Pedang Besar we had come to the end of our stay in Thailand.This station is undergoing a massive modification worthy of a Chunnel station we completed Malaysian border controls and were loaded on a bus to take us to Butterworth.Immediately the differences between Thailand and Malaysia were noticeable, roads had proper kerbings , roundabouts and proper looking directional signs and especially a 'tidy' appearance, but then we had just passed through the railway sidings at Hat Yai where rail flatbeds had been reclaimed by the jungle so all things are relative I suppose.It reminded me of the difference David and I saw on a journey once from US to Canada by train where as you crossed the border into Canada the scrapyards looked tidier and more organised than the inhabited areas we had passed through.

I had expected Butterworth station to be a rather imposing colonial station but we were dropped off in a un marked construction site car park with what appeared to be a couple of portakabins and no visible indication as to where to go or what to do!

We took up the offer of taxi ,taxi calls made by a very tall African  driver shielding his head from the sun with his newspaper.He swept up our cases and took us to his car,a wreck of a vehicle. By the time we had forced the rear doors open I was beginning to think was is this a good call.He said is car was very old but very reliable and then set off up a winding ramp that took us onto the ferry.....we thought we were heading for the very large bridge that connects the island of Penang with the mainland...wrong again! The ferry which again looked rather old gave us a pleasant arrival onto the island .Whilst we we waiting for the ferry to start he asked us where we were from and when we said England he said very good English people, Premier league etc...he supported Manchester City and I refrained from calling him a glory hunter!He proceeded to tell me that Villa were in 12th position from his newspaper.We discussed the upcoming Chelsea Villa game and he said that part of Chelsea's problems were that the Africans in the side were ganging up against Torres and would not play with him.Well that's encouraging then!. After a drive along the ferry terminal we did a short tour of Georgetown as he took us to Standard Chartered bank to pick up some Malaysian ringgits to pay him, he showed us Downing St, Buckingham St (with a large mosque on it!) through Little India into Armenian St and Chinatown.Just shows how racially intertwined this place is.

Our stay here was the Straits Heritage Boutique Hotel which has just two suites the Paeony and the one we had called the Phoenix suite which was on the top floor of a delightfully restored Chinese terraced house in a street that was originally occupied by Armenian merchants.Our driver insisted on coming in to see what it was like so that he could recommend it to others and the property manager called Tee seemed quite non plussed as this very tall African ran the rule over his ground floor!